Species guide
What can I catch?
British waters hold world-class sport, from winter cod to summer smoothhound packs. Here are the species our skippers target most - when they show, where they live, and how to fool them. 10 of 15 are in season this June.
check_circleIn season: May - OctoberMackerel
Scomber scombrus
Fast, beautiful and obliging - the tiger-striped summer visitor that fills feathers, smokers and a million childhood memories.
check_circleIn season: June - OctoberBass
Dicentrarchus labrax
The silver prize of British saltwater - wary, hard-fighting and heart-stoppingly handsome, from surf tables to estuary creeks.
check_circleIn season: June - NovemberConger Eel
Conger conger
The wreck's resident monster - all muscle and bad attitude, with UK fish recorded over 100 lb.
check_circleIn season: March - JunePlaice
Pleuronectes platessa
Britain's best-loved flatfish - brown velvet with bright orange spots, and a springtime ritual on sandbanks across the country.
check_circleIn season: March - JuneThornback Ray
Raja clavata
The commonest British ray - a kite-shaped bottom-dweller studded with thorns, famous for flattening rod tips on spring estuaries.
check_circleIn season: May - SeptemberSmoothhound
Mustelus asterias
The summer "mini tope" - a pack-hunting small shark that runs like a train when it finds your crab bait.
check_circleIn season: April - JuneBlack Bream
Spondyliosoma cantharus
The spring speedster of south-coast reefs - small, silver-black and absurdly strong for its size.
check_circleIn season: May - SeptemberGilthead Bream
Sparus aurata
The golden-browed prize of the harbour flats - a Mediterranean visitor that has made Poole Harbour its UK home, and fights like fury in thin water.
check_circleIn season: April - SeptemberTurbot
Scophthalmus maximus
The king of flatfish - a sandbank ambusher worth more per pound than almost anything in the sea, and a prized catch on the famous banks.
check_circleIn season: April - OctoberBallan Wrasse
Labrus bergylta
The rocky shore's painted bruiser - every fish patterned differently, every one determined to drag you into the kelp.
Season: October - MarchCod
Gadus morhua
The classic British winter quarry - a heavyweight of the chip shop and the wreck alike, with a huge appetite and a bigger mouth.
Season: September - FebruaryPollock
Pollachius pollachius
The bronze brawler of reefs and wrecks - hits a lure like a train and dives straight back for the kelp.
Season: September - FebruaryWhiting
Merlangius merlangus
The eager silver biter of winter nights - small, abundant, and the saviour of many a blank session.
Season: November - AprilLing
Molva molva
A deep-water wolf in eel's clothing - long, toothy and greedy, haunting the wrecks where the big pollock live.
