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By Vic, 7 April, 2007 10:49

Fished East arm at Brighton Marina on the night of 3/4/07 in the hope of picking up something decent (yeah right).

Got there at about 7.30pm to a brisk NE breeze/wind. Set up at bay 20 and it looked like I was the only one out on the whole of the arm – at least it was peaceful.

Decided to only fish one rod as the bait situation was not good. Packs of ‘King’ ragworm that were more like pauper rag, only marginally bigger than maddies (Harbour ragworm) and a pack of frozen slipper limpet. I had no whole calamari that I would normally use to target bass.

Anyway, made the best of it and fished on. The breeze/wind got stronger but was weird to see the sea totally flat calm with no movement. Bite detection was a problem but I persevered. A couple of small pin whiting broke the fishless situation – I had begun to wonder if there was anything there.

The wind continued to gather pace and it began to get a bit uncomfortable but I carried on anyway in the hope of at least one decent fish. It was not to be – by midnight I’d had enough of whiting – all pins – no sign of the bigger ones that had been there over Winter.

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By Vic, 3 February, 2007 23:59

Fished the East arm at Brighton Marina somewhere in the high teens/20’s.

Got there at about 8pm, bit of movement in the water, clear sky, bright moon, no wind but quite cold. On one rod, I used 2 hook flapper, one hook with large Sandeel fillet, the other with squid strip, lobbed out about 20yds or so.

First fish came quite quick, a whiting of about 12oz. which fell to the sandeel. Rebaited and cast again. Second rod set up with running ledger and large calamari bait, lobbed out a few feet from the base.

The next few fish were a mixture of small whiting and small rockling. It was an even split between the baits.

All went quiet until about an hour after high water, when a few more reasonable whiting came in, all around the 12oz to 1lb.

Packed up at 1.30 when all went quiet again.

Final tally was 9 whiting, 5 rockling. Not too shabby since I hadn’t managed to fish for the last couple of months. Now next time I will make sure I get some worm before setting out.

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By Vic, 2 November, 2006 01:03

Decided to fish the East arm at Brighton Marina last night, so headed off armed with a load of lugworm and for a change, some frozen sandeel.

Arrived at around 9.30pm with the water very low and set up in bay 58 near the rocks. Conditions were a flat calm with no wind at all. Very overcast and heavy cloud.

First rod was set up with a two hook scratching rig baited with nice juicy lugworm. A gentle lob placed the bait a short distance out from the wall. Put the rod in the rest and turned to set up the second rod. Bang!! The rod lurched over over with a violent take, I grabbed it and leant into what seemed a decent fish.

A few seconds later, a decent looking bass was rolling at the base of the wall, problem was, my drop net was still against the back wall along with the rest of my gear, the cord still coiled up nice and tight. I tried, but there was no way of getting to the net without letting go of the rod or letting the fish take a load of line. In the end I decided on trying to hand-line it up the wall – big mistake – twang! as the snood line parted and Mr. bass was off into the distance. (I swore that it turned and stuck two fins up at me). I reckon on it being around the four pound mark, maybe a bit bigger.

I was well pissed off, but nevertheless, attached a new snood, re baited and chucked it again – after uncoiling the drop net and putting it in a convenient spot.

Second rig was a flowing trace baited with sandeel fillet and lobbed a few feet out from the base.

The scratching rig brought in never ending double hits of Pout and a few smallish whiting.

Whilst having a ciggy, the sandeel rod lurched over suddenly. There was a definite tugging going on, but it only resulted in a whiting of around a pound.

Some twitching on the scratcher caught my attention. It failed to develop, so I brought it in, only to find one of the smallest thornbacks I have seen hanging onto the size 2 hook. After sending it back, I recast and then repeated the action again with an even smaller thorny. Try as I might, I couldn’t get any bigger than that.

At about midnight, the wind got up and became quite a brisk SW breeze that added some movement to the water.

In the next couple of hours, it was more Pout, more whiting, a couple of school bass and one crab.

As the tide fell away, so did the bites, as did my ciggy and coffee supply. Time to call it a night and head off home.

As an aside, all the Pout fell to lug, almost all the whiting fell to sandeel or lug/sandeel mix. bass fell to lug as did the Thornies.

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By Vic, 13 October, 2006 15:56

I decided on Brighton Marina East arm as the venue for last night.

Arrived at about 9pm. and made my way to bay 58, to find I was the only one fishing in this area – lovely peace and quiet!

Weather was fine, clear sky, no wind at all, smooth sea with just the hint of a swell. The only sound was the incoming tide against the rocks below.

One rod was set up with standard paternoster with size4 hooks and baited with lugworm in the search for sole. The other rod had single paternoster with size 2/0 hook pennel rig baited with whole calamari and lobbed a few yards from the base.

A couple of hours passed with just a handful of Pout to show for it. This could be bait wasting exercise I thought to myself.

At around midnight or so, the lug rod arched over savagely, I lifted into what seemed like a reasonable fish. Got it to net and a few seconds later, a lovely conditioned bass of around 2 1/2lbs.was lying on the deck. Normally this would have gone back, but it had taken the small hook down so deeply, it had caused serious injury. There was no way that it would have survived, and so was quickly dispatched.

At this point, the second rod lurched over and the ratchet screamed as line was pulled from the spool – another bass? No, a pollack of around 2lbs. had struck the pennel rig. This was brought to the net and landed. I couldn’t believe it when I saw that this too had taken the hooks right down and had to meet it’s maker. I hoped that this wasn’t going to be the theme for the night.

After re-baiting casting, I sat down for a coffee and fag. I sat and studied the glowing rod tips when I saw the worm rod nodding a couple of times. I left it for a few seconds before lifting into the fish. A palm sized sole was duly landed – not quite the size I was hoping for but a sole none the less. This was lip hooked and was returned unharmed. A short while later another small sole was landed nda returned.

A few casts later, I was retrieving the worm rig and had got to the base just before lifting it out of the water, when the rod was wrenched downward so quickly, I nearly lost my grip. Another pollack slightly larger than the first had followed the worm and struck almost at the surface. It was duly landed and returned.

That was about it for the rest of the session apart from the usual suspects. So with a bass in the bag for lunch and pollack for the cat (although I do like it fresh like this, so the cat might have to fight me for it), I headed for home with plans for a near future return.

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By Vic, 14 September, 2006 00:02

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Brighton Marina is situated off the main A259 coast road just East of Brighton town centre and is therefore readily accessible by road. Parking is excellent and is free in the multi storey car park opposite ASDA (The signs say parking limited to 4 hours but this can be safely ignored). Don’t be tempted into parking in the actual ASDA carpark, it will cost you. There is also a regular bus service in place. Post code for satnav is: BN2 5UF

The West arm can be accessed by exiting the Western end of the multi storey car park from the rear as if going out to ASDA car park then turn left and you will see a car washing business. Immediately to the right of this is a narrow pathway; follow the path uphill and at the top, turn left and continue along the path and out onto the arm. Marked as the orange line on map. There is also access via the car park at the Eastern end of Madeira Drive, although this is a pay car park.

Due to the easier access, the West arm tends to be a lot busier than the East, particularly during the summer months when it can be crowded with ‘mackerel bashers’. The ground here tends to be rough,so tackle losses can be high when bottom fishing. There is cleaner ground towards the seaward end.

Species caught here include: bass, Thick Lip Mullet, Golden Grey Mullet, black bream, mackerel, garfish, Ballan wrasse, Corkwing wrasse, scad, pollack and more. Spring time from about April sees the arrival of the squid in numbers and great fun can be had fishing for these with the use of squid jigs.

Most used methods used here are float fished fish strip for the mackerel, Gars, pollack and other mid water species. Float fished live prawn is a killer method for bass, pollack and wrasse.

Bottom fishing a flapper rig or ledger with worm bait will take the resident flatfish such as flounder and plaice. During the Summer months, worm tipped with mackerel sliver or squid will account for some decent bream. mackerel head mounted on a long flowing trace and ledgered close in will take the bigger bass as will whole calamari squid and mackerel fillet.

The East arm, although more inconvenient to get to, is generally less crowded and gives those who do not enjoy sharing space with others, the opportunity for quieter, solitary fishing. That being said, the Summer months will see it packed to capacity, so get there early for a decent spot. If considering it on a sunny bank holiday, my advice is stay at home or fish elsewhere.

It can be accessed by three different methods:
1. On foot. Walk along the boardwalk, which begins from roughly outside the security office and ‘The West Quay’ Wetherspoons restaurant. Follow the boardwalk to the very end where you cross over the sluice gates through a car park area and onto the East arm. (Yellow line on map)
2. Driving. Best method if there’s more than one of you in the car; from the main roundabout drive along the main ‘street’ until you reach the ticket barrier. Take a ticket which gives you 1 hour free parking. Continue along ‘The Strand’ until you reach near the very end where you’ll see a slip ramp to your left. Drive up the ramp, across the small bridge and then turn right. Drive along here to the car parking area at the end. Now drop off your mate(s) with all your gear and then drive back and park up at the multi storey before making the walk back along the boardwalk to meet your mates who should by now have set up all your gear, bought you a coffee and are greeting you on their hands and knees. (Red line on map)
Beware! There is no long term parking at the Eastern end of the marina for non-residents. There is free parking in specified bays but this is for one hour only.
3. If you feel fit and agile (like me), you can park for free in the small clifftop parking area off of the west-bound A259 opposite the Roedean pitch ‘n’ putt. You then take the small path down the cliff face, turn right at the bottom then left onto the East arm approach by the boat yard. Not too bad going down but can be challenging after a long day or night e specially if you’re like me and tend to take way too much gear! (Blue line on map).
**Update** The clifftop carpark area is currently unavailable due to adjacent heavy construction site and access. Hopefully this is only a temporary situation.

Species caught here and methods used are the same as for the West arm and include: bass, bream, sole, plaice, flounder, smooth Hound, Thick Lip Mullet, mackerel, garfish, gurnard, Red Mullet, herring, Ballan wrasse, Corkwing wrasse, scad, pollack and more.

‘The Tackle Box’ is an excellent and well stocked bait and tackle shop run by Dave Grinham which is located on the West Quay (not arm) opposite McDonalds. When you enter the marina, there is a roundabout at the bottom of the hill. Take the third exit so that the petrol station is on your left. You will see some steps next to the petrol station leading up to the quay. After parking in the multi storey, go up these steps, past the RNLI shop down a short ramp and the tackle shop door is on your right. There is also a disabled person access ramp opposite McDonalds. They supply live fresh lug, Rag and crab as well as frozen baits. If you are travelling any distance to fish the marina, I would suggest phoning ahead to reserve fresh bait. Tel: 01273 696477

There are a few restrictions in place on both arms regarding the keeping of fish which should be strictly adhered to:
1. Minimum landing size limits. Fisheries Inspectors have been at the marina recently so stick to the limits and you’ll be ok.
2. Limit of 50 mackerel per person per session (who needs more than that anyway).

If you require disabled access on to the arms, ring Dave beforehand at the shop and arrangements can be made to have the gates opened to allow wheelchair access.
Fishing charges
Day fishing 0600-1800 is £3 for one rod or a £5 for two
Night fishing 1800-0600 is £3 for one rod or £4 for two. (over 18’s only unless accompanied by an adult)
Juniors and OAP’s £2 per rod.

For up to date information on what’s being caught and where, there’s a wealth of information from an obsessed local angler and fishing guide called Rob. If you’re new to angling or need some help, it’s well worth the time and money to grab a session or few with him. Take a look at his site here: Fishyrob’s Diary

For more Photos, please Look at My Flickr Album Pages
More info available from the Marina Tackle Box Site
…and even more information on this venue such as facilities, tides and directory, visit the Marina website.