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Overview

How to target

Dover Sole
Species ID: dover-sole

Dover Sole

Dover sole favour clean sand or muddy sand with gentle tides—think soft beaches, estuary mouths and harbour aprons that front onto sand. Warm, settled spells with a little colour i...

🌊 Tide: flood 💨 Wind: calm 📅 Peak: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct

Best tide

flood

Moon

neap

Season

May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct

Wind

calm

Max weight

3.2 kg

Day vs night

Day 20%
Night 90% (best)
Dover sole favour clean sand or muddy sand with gentle tides—think soft beaches, estuary mouths and harbour aprons that front onto sand. Warm, settled spells with a little colour in the water are ideal. Best fishing is the last hours of the flood into the first of the ebb on small to mid neaps, especially after dark. Cast short: place baits in the first and second gullies, along scours by groynes and harbour walls, often 10–30 m out. Use light, pinned-down rigs such as 2–3 hook flappers or clipped rigs with long snoods (45–80 cm) and small long-shank or bait-holder hooks (size 4–2). Prime baits are small worm offerings—blow lug, rag, and maddies/harbour rag; toughen with a sliver of squid, razor or fish skin in stronger tide. Start with just enough lead to slowly roll across clean ground; change to weak-grip wires if the run is too strong. Bites can be delicate; let them build rather than striking immediately. Keep noise and light to a minimum, return undersized fish, and check local IFCA and MCRS rules.

Temperature

9–18°C

Depth range

1–15 m

Baits

  • Harbour Rag (Maddies) 9.5/10
  • White Rag 9.3/10
  • Ragworm 9/10
  • Blow Lug 8.2/10
  • Mussel 7/10

Rigs

  • Long & Low 9.3/10

    Classic sole rig: very long snood keeps small worm baits pinned on clean sand/mud. Minimal hardware = less resistance to shy bites. Ideal at night in estuaries and surf gutters where fish feed close in.

  • Running Ledger 8.9/10

    Lets the fish mouth the bait with almost no resistance. Great over clean to light mixed ground in gentle tides. Fish small size 2–4 hooks with lug/rag close to the edge and channels.

  • Two-Hook Flapper 8.2/10

    Covers two lanes along the gutter without clipping. Short to medium casts on calm beaches/estuaries. Small hooks and rag/lug/sandeel strips; keeps baits hard on the deck for roaming sole.

  • Loop Rig (Portsmouth Loop) 7.8/10

    Clipped-down long snood that releases on impact, pinning bait to the seabed. Useful when you need tidy casts to reach the outer gutter in light tide while still presenting a static bait for sole.

  • Up and Over 7.6/10

    Single long snood clipped for distance when sole sit beyond the first bar. Streamlined for range yet fishes the bait flat on the bottom after release; good on clean surf beaches in a pushy swell.