July 2026 Dover Sole, Smoothhound, Conger Eel, Bream and maybe some Mackerel…

Dover Sole, Smoothhound, Conger eel, Bream and maybe some Mackerel…

July 2026

Early July, local beach fishing has been best in the evening into night, with smoothhound and bass being caught and squid and prawn baits proving successful. Lots of Strap conger eels can be a nuisance on any baits. Lugworm and ragworm is good for the flatfish, with the occasional dover sole being caught.

Mark Evans is pictured below with an 8lb Conger off an Eastbourne beach caught at the end of June using Anglers Den squid. Conger eels are one of the larger species of fish now regularly being caught from local beaches.

Moving through July, as the wind decreases and the tides are increasing, we are now seeing some nice Dover Sole as well as smoothound and bass from local beaches. Mark Almeida is pictured below with 65cm/6lb 5oz bass caught from the rocks at Eastbourne. Nice one Mark!

 

Squid and lug cocktail are a good bait for bass as well as smoothhound and smoothhound catches continue into double figures.

Black bream have starting to show and Terry Taylor caught one just shy of a pound from a local beach this week. It's been gret to see dover sole starting to be caught from local beaches. Jamie May is pictured with a 1lb+ sole and Andy Reeves a 1lb 4.5oz sole, both caught from local beaches. We are also seeing the occasional plaice! Best baits for the flatfish are lugworm and ragworm.

  

The mackerel will hopefully start to show as this wind settles down, as the boats have started to report larger shoals not too far offshore !!