Brighton Inshore Fishing - catch report 23rd May 2026

A cracking first sailing. Reports from friends fishing ashore down towards Shoreham of birds everywhere, but we only got as far as the pier where Heldar, Milan, Saaron and Liam pulled the bulk of the 58 bass landed. maximum kill. For the last hour we left the shoal to vessels exiting the marina to look for a trophy fish in the rocks. More sub 3lb fish but none of the 60 pluses we were after. Still, happy faces with the fresh bass needed for afternoon BBQs in perfect weather.

And that is pretty much where the good news finishes. I went in for breakfast, collected my next crew, Steve, Andy, and Jonathon and his 10 year old lad Ed. Genuinely excited for them, we came out to find very little indeed. Everything had vanished on the change of the tide. Just one bream (happily a table bream) and a single schoolie for 3 hours of running around. The only real plus, was Ed can now cast really quite well. Which is actually quite a plus as Jonathon can now take him fishing ashore.

A hunt for a silver lining for 3rd sailing also. With the strongest part of the flood I was hoping for better things. Aboard with me Duncan, his lad Cas (both already anglers) and their friends Andrew and his lad Ali, new to the gig... Silver lining...? Well, the non anglers are now officially anglers. And really enjoyed it. Highlight of this trip was a chunky 3lb wrasse, accompanied by 2 schoolies and a small bream. How a billion bass and mackerel and a gazillion immature sandeel and sprat can vanish in the time it takes to have a full english with scramble, and a latte, could become one of the major philosophical debates of the 21st Century I feel.