Lymington in Hampshire sports a large modern charter fishing fleet that work the waters of the Solent, The Needles, right round the Isle of Wight, and also the many wrecks that lay out in the open channel. The port is popular with anglers from all over the UK, especially those seeking a really big cod, for the Needles marks have built up a reputation for producing 40lbers that no other area can compete with on numbers alone.

WHERE TO FISH
The area sports a choice of open, clean ground, mixed rough and rocky seabeds. The top mark has to be the Needles on the western tip of the Isle of Wight. This lays roughly 8 miles from the port in deep water. Marks towards Sowley offer good ray fishing, with inshore marks off Park Shore and Thorness Bay good for more general species.

Some boats still target porbeagle shark and threshers over ground off St Catherines Point on the southern side of the Isle of Wight. Freshwater Bay has a good bass populace and also holds turbot, brill and rays.

SPECIES
A huge variety available here. February and March are the slow months, though odd late lunker cod are possible from the Needles along with spurdog, plus pollack from the wrecks. By April thoughts turn to bass and plaice with the latter species making counts towards 50 fish per day at times. Deeper water holds spurdog, conger and pollack.

By late April small eyed ray, thornbacks, bass, and even large female tope will be established. May sees some of the rougher ground holding smoothhounds, and the first of the black bream put in an appearance. May also gets the mackerel season underway. The Needles area holds bass that shoal under launce sandeels, rays, spurdog, and tope to 60lbs. June, July and August have the wrecking boats in full swing chasing pollack, ling and conger. Wrasse of good size show from the inshore reefs. Clean sand banks give the opportunity of blondes rays to 30lbs. Thresher shark and a few porbeagles are also possible.

September, and the approaching autumn sees an increase in the number of whiting with some quality fish over 3lbs. Codling show towards the beginning of October as do the bigger cod around 20lbs from the deep water marks. Solent marks hold codling, whiting, rays, pout and dogs at this time. The Christmas and January period is the best time to try for the 40lb cod that lurk around the Needles.

TIDES
The narrow strip of water between the mainland and the Isle of Wight concentrates the already bottlenecked waters of the upper English Channel. Tides are fast, with the area between Hurst Castle on the mainland and Sconce Point on the Isle of Wight not called the Hurst Race for nothing.

Fishing fast tides are a fact of life here, but for the best of the wreck fishing, then try to time your trips towards the smallest neap tides. Some skippers prefer the middle sized tides for inshore fishing when rays, plaice and bass are the target.

TACKLE
This area with those vicious tides can turn up some superb fish for those willing to adopt to wire line fishing. A 30lb class rod fitted with a roller butt and tip ring with a Penn Mariner 49L multiplier reel makes the best combination. This is the tackle to take on the deep fast water of the Needles. Otherwise, anglers fishing standard mono line may need to consider a 50lb class rod and carry leads upto 3lbs in weight.

Some of the inshore marks suit uptiding with 4-10oz rods, 7000 sized multipliers and 18lb line. The wreck pollack take redgills on flying collar rigs and also pirks. Some anglers do well with big lead heads weighing 10ozs and Mr Twister type lures fished straight up and down.

BAITS
The top bait for Needles cod is a whole large squid or two smaller squid fished in tandem. This is by far the most productive and will also take rays, spurdog and conger. The smoothound should be targeted with hermit crab or peeler crab, that latter also taking reef bass and wrasse. Offshore bass like live launce eels. Rays take mackerel and squid baits. Black bream are keen on squid or mackerel strips. Winter codling inshore take ragworm, with spring plaice taking cocktails of rag\squid or rag\sandeel strip, sometimes peeler crab.

ALTERNATIVE SHORE VENUES
Hurst and Milford Shingle Banks for bass, cod and rays. Southampton water for flounders and eels. Taddiford for sole. Use slipper limpet baits for bass after autumn storms.

Comment...