Solent morning bass window
Hengistbury Head: major bite 02:13–04:13; Portland Bill early flood
Sunday morning on the Solent fringe shows a tidy tide pattern: bass push hardest on the first flood and again in the opening ebb, when seams and edges concentrate sand eels and sprats at dawn.
Portland Bill, off Dorset, holds sea bass, pollack, wrasse and conger across its rough ground, with mackerel on the rock marks. Hengistbury Head near Christchurch favours bass on mixed coastal ground where the tide edges cut into sand and kelp.
Short shore rigs and windows
Short shore rigs are the game: a 9–10 ft lure rod rated 15–40 g, 10–20 lb braid and a 20–30 lb fluorocarbon leader. Soft plastics or jellyworms fished deep along the tide edge, and small minnows retrieved just above kelp, work best. Over cobble and reef use a rotten-bottom ground rig; a tiny Sabiki for sandeel pays off when the flow softens.
Fish two hours either side of slack, then the first hour or two as the flow builds or eases. A light onshore ripple with slight colour favours bass; cleaner calmer water suits pollack and garfish. Neaps to mid-tides are kinder on Portland lower ledges; spring tides often overrun them.
A silver bass flashing in the white wash by Portland's ledge as the flood eases remains the surest sign the morning window is open.
Recommended: fluorocarbon leader