Brighton Inshore Fishing - Catch report 23rd July 2026

A quick chat on my WhatsApp groups confirmed that the spider moult has either stalled or finished. I'm in two minds about this. Although the moult undoubtedly had the bigger basses undivided attention, making the lure fishing from the much tougher, whe. the winds swung onshore it made for some of the best shore bassing we have had in a while. But now it's over, instantly the results have improved.

Numbers will never be big, but note, in the statistics, the ratio of fish landed to fish killed. Mostly quality fish. A complete reverse of the situation during the moult. Amazing.

Also factor in the tiny tides when considering the following.

1st sailing - 4 rods - 6 bass landed with 4 killed. Didn't try off the top

2nd sailing - 3 rods - 12 bass landed, maximum kill. Mostly off the top.

3rd sailing... 3 rods. Stopped counting at 16. Only 2 required for the table. All bar one off the top.

Max kill... It's been a while since those words have been written.

The other big change was that the fish were very happy to take off the surface. The 2nd sailing was actually slow until that change was made. Fish were refusing the shad. yet smashing the surface lure. Which basically means, the classic shore fishing afloat that I love to offer, is back and likely to stay until I leave for Portugal in January

Things really are.looking up. Especially the bass.