Species guide
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 July.
check_circleIn season: May - OctoberScomber scombrus
Fast, beautiful and obliging - the tiger-striped summer visitor that fills feathers, smokers and a million childhood memories.
check_circleIn season: June - OctoberDicentrarchus 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 conger
The wreck's resident monster - all muscle and bad attitude, with UK fish recorded over 100 lb.
check_circleIn season: March - JunePleuronectes 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 - JuneRaja 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 - SeptemberMustelus 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 - JuneSpondyliosoma cantharus
The spring speedster of south-coast reefs - small, silver-black and absurdly strong for its size.
check_circleIn season: May - SeptemberSparus 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 - SeptemberScophthalmus 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 - OctoberLabrus bergylta
The rocky shore's painted bruiser - every fish patterned differently, every one determined to drag you into the kelp.
Season: October - MarchGadus 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 - FebruaryPollachius pollachius
The bronze brawler of reefs and wrecks - hits a lure like a train and dives straight back for the kelp.
Season: September - FebruaryMerlangius merlangus
The eager silver biter of winter nights - small, abundant, and the saviour of many a blank session.
Season: November - AprilMolva molva
A deep-water wolf in eel's clothing - long, toothy and greedy, haunting the wrecks where the big pollock live.
