Brighton Inshore Fishing - Catch report 6th May 2026

I always feel a bit sorry for clients booking in with me after I have been away from the bass for a while. At this time of year, so much is going on from a food related perspective that a few days with them is needed to get ahead of the game. My two weeks in Portugal left me stabbing in the dark. All I could really do with the first sailing is get around as many marks as possible and see what I could find. Except the stiff NNE wind meant that antthing more than a mile offshore was problematic. Not due to lumpy seas but to the wind pushing the boat across the tide. And that is with a boat built very raked down to avoid exactly this windage. Add a cabin and the problem intensifies when on the drift. Not that it mattered too much this morning, as I had been chartered as much to give my input on a future charter vessel operation down the solent. Results then really, were far less important than the chat. Which was good, because all we managed between three of us were two small schoolies. But we did thrash out an interesting outlook on Ali's future plans. And big thanks to Steve, for bringing him along.

2nd sailing was a little more eventful, as I already knew where not to look. This and the wind reducing a little, meant I was able to fish out a little way. Fish were not where I left them 2 weeks ago, but they had returned to another favourite spot of mine and during the lulls in the wind, this is where the bulk of the 6 bass landed (though just 2 killed) . With me superhero from the covid times, nurse Mose, and returning to me, local Rene. But a very pleasant surprise for me, he bought his Czech father in law Bore. (That should be a hooked R which makes the name sound more like Borje.. ) Having just spent a week speaking Czech with my lovely friend Luijsa in Portugal, I very much enjoyed having him aboard. Lots of missed plucks and bangs, but with cuttle fish and bream very active at the moment, hard to tell for sure if any were bass. But I do have a good starting point for tomorrows 0530 sailing, And from other observations made today, in relation to commercial fishing operations, other changes are also imminent. Exciting times ahead, and I predict a much better bass from the shore season for 2026 also. The reason it was pretty poor last year, is already fixed. Now, we wait for events to unfold.