Avon Beach, Dorset

SPECIES
This is a good species venue with flounder, bass, eels, pout and dogfish, plus winter whiting and a few codling available.

BAITS
King rag and maddie rag works well for most species here, but crab will also take the eels, flounders and bass, with lugworm tipped with rag a good winter codling bait. For the whiting always tip worm with mackerel or sandeel strip. White rag is especially effective for the daytime flounder.

TACKLE & TACTICS
The beach has groynes along its length, but is shallow and mainly clean sand. It faces southeast and fishes best in a light southerly wind, though being protected from the prevailing winds it can be fished during gales from the west.

It can produce on all sizes of tide, but is best on the bigger springs from low to high water. Daylight can produce smaller fish, but the mark is noted for its night fishing.

The bulk of the fish are caught at close range within 70yds, but as weed is sometimes evident a 4-6oz beachcaster with good bite detection is ideal combined with a 6500 sized reel, 15lb line and a 60lb shock leader. Top rigs are a three-hook flapper or a three-boom rig using Kamasan B940 Aberdeen hooks sizes 2 to 6. The bigger bass are caught dropping a big crab or mackerel bait just out from the edge and letting line off to give the bait natural movement.

You can pick up the bigger flounder by adding float beads above the bait during daylight. Pouting can be caught in big numbers here, and are best targeted on size 6 hooks to 12lb hook links in calmer conditions baiting with small chunks of crab tipped with white rag.

LOCATION
From Christchurch take the Mudeford road, Avon beach being about 600yds east of Mudeford and accessed down a series of minor roads, the beach being well signposted. There is some free roadside parking, but its best to park in the pay and Display car park adjacent to the beach.