The Poole Harbour Guide 2013 FREE

most boats not fishing at all. Instead, the month is spent
preparing boats and equipment for the season ahead.
Given the right combination of tides and weather, the
offshore fishing at anchor is probably at its best in
February with blonde rays, conger and spurdogs. Some
boats begin to fish the offshore wrecks for large pollack.
March sees the arrival of plaice inshore and these are
usually targeted outside of the harbour but in the vicinity
of the harbour’s approaches. Towards the end of the
month, turbot start to populate sand and gravel banks
and offshore wreck fishing for pollack gathers pace.
Offshore anchor fishing begins to slow down but good
catches are still reported.
April is the month that many consider to be the real
start to our season. At sometime during the month,
hard fighting black bream will become established on
many marks around Poole. These fish attract anglers
from all over the country and on occasions can be
caught in vast numbers. Fishing inshore gathers pace
with many of our so-called summer fish beginning to
show up more and more in catches. Several types of
ray, tope, wrasse, pollack, bass and mackerel are among
the many species that can now be encountered.
Offshore wreck fishing continues to improve further with
the first of the summer cod usually making an
appearance around the third week of the month.
May is a great month for the black bream. Now well
established, these fish occupy the efforts of most of
Poole’s charter fleet inshore. Mackerel become much
more widespread and finding enough for bait or a tasty
meal becomes fairly easy. Bass catches improve along
with tope and rays. Offshore, the cod numbers continue
to improve and by the end of the month good catches
of cod into double figures can usually be expected. From
May through to September, some of the larger charter
boats in Poole run trips to France and the Channel
Islands. Trips to the Channel Islands generally target
turbot and brill or large tope but anglers enjoy wreck
fishing for cod, pollack, conger and ling on route. Trips
to France are generally spent fishing many of the wrecks
on the French side of the English Channel.
June is probably the best month of the year to sample
fishing. Local waters and distant waters seem full of fish
and together with what we hope will be settled
weather, fishing is usually at its best. Variety is fantastic
and whether you just want to work a spinner in the
harbour, drop a large bait in the bay or work a lure
offshore, you can usually be sure of a good day. It’s
worth mentioning that if you want to sample Poole’s
fishing at its best, then you should plan well ahead. The
summer months are busy times for our charter fleet and
Recreational Activities
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28 Balena Close Creekmoor Ind. Estate
Poole BH17 7EB
Tel: 01202 695480
Email: solutions@robton.co.uk
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