[rodandanet]

Hi all. I was wandering if any of you know of any piers, jetties or walls or boatyards, close to the Southampton area that are worth a visit for fishing??? As I’m from Sampton (note the accent) I have rarely had to fish outside of the rivers itchen or test for my bass but places to fish from are sadly on the decline. For example the royal pier used to be excellent fishing but was burnt down many years ago. TWICE!!! Nearby is the town quay which the security gaurds are only to happy to evict you from upon arrival. Ocean village is strictly ‘no fishing’ the dock’s is ‘no fishing’ hazel rd, ‘no fishing’ this leaves cobden bridge and northam bridge where gangs of mindless thugs threaten or verbally abuse you half the night!! That really just leaves Weston jetty. This I would happy with if it fished like it did in the 70’s. back then you could stand on the jetty, look down at the water and imagine yourself stepping on the fishes backs and using them as stepping stones all the way to hythe!!! There were really that many fish!!! Now you don’t see any fish :~(…. if you catch absolutely anything from there you have had a good day! This is forcing me into looking for new venues to fish so any help would be greatly appreciated. Great forum by the way :~)

 

[Drew]

Hi Rod,

Welcome to the Forum.

I'm sorry I can't help you, I'm a charter fisher, however young Ben (Smooth One) should be able to help. He has an excellent knowledge of the area and spends all his time on the shore.

Cheers

Drew

 

[mag-elite]

have fished magazine lane in marchwood very good for pout smoothies and bass but need to take plenty of tackle as can be a bit of a grave yard for leads and the such also try and fish half way along near the green bouy less lost tackle there and very deep water 90 ft at high tide best bait is prob crab or worm or even cooked prawns work well and r very cheap,if your willing to travel then go to gosport and fish haslar wall again smuts and pollock plus at the mow get a good view of the navy fleet in the solent hope this helps!!!!

 

[smooth one]

i wouldnt recomend going to haslar wall at the moment
i think it might be shut off because of the boats there
not sure though
to be honest i only ever fish from beaches although i hear princess parde peir in pompey and millentium peir are quite good fishing if you can get past all the holiday fishers
what is it you are after at the moment, and i might be able to point you in the right way

 

[rodandanet]

Ok. Thanks for the info. Although Magazine lane sounds like a good spot, I don’t think it will quite suit my techniques. I like to use a 6-7ft spinning rod, 12-15 lb line with minimal weight (no more than half oz and preferably none.) and a 3/0 or 4/0 hook. I like to target bass. my best this summer is around 3 and half lb which is a little bit disappointing as I have normally caught a couple, at 4 or 5 lbs by now. It seems the bigger ones are a little slow coming up the rivers this year. My favorite places to fish are piers and boatyards.
I Don’t really fancy a trip to pompey coz im prone to outbursts of “oh when the saints” and “when I was just a little boy” both of which are likely to get me thrown in!!!