The Solent, Weston Shore.

Weston Shore, morning sunshine and a rising tide

Netley Abbey is fairly well signposted on brown signs from the M27 exit at Burseldon via the A3397;Travelling from Netley back towards Southampton you come onto Weston Parade, a road that runs alongside the shingle beach. There are free car parks and additional parking on the road. There are toilets at the far end where the road swings sharply inland. West of this bend is the area known as The Rolling Mills section, the mills are long gone, they used to roll brass for shell cases for WWI. The area is now a grassed public area leading around to Woolston.

About half tide, water has reached the shingle

This is a fairly shallow venue, there are extensive mudflats at low tide where worms can be dug. The venue becomes fishable when the water reaches the shingle at about half tide. Species caught here are flounder, eels and bass all of which are quite happy to hunt in shallow water. Fish can be caught very close to shore so it is worth a cast of a five or ten yards if you are not catching further out.
Light tackle such as a carp rod set-up will work well here as heavy weights are not required to hold in the tide. At my last visit two ounces was enough to hold.... and a fish came at five yards.
Best baits here are worms or shellfish such as slipper limpet, razorfish or mussel. larger flounder and school bass will readily take fish or squid bait.
There is a tackle shop in Bridge Road, Woolston and another, coincidentally, in Bridge Road, Burseldon on the A27. There are some shops in Netley. A fairly child friendly venue, there is a playground half way along the road where it is possible to fish and keep an eye on the kids.


OTHER LOCAL VENUES.... Netley.....Magazine Lane

Approximate Tide Times for the next seven days

A short distance across loose shingle to fish at high tide

updated 27 June 09 tide time link added
6th July note re. Rolling mills added

The Solent, Taddiford Gap.

Taddiford Gap, view from the top of the cliff.

Taddiford Gap is a location reached via the A3058 between New Milton and Milford on Sea. There is a pay and display car park in a small valley on the seaward side of the road, it is easy to miss. There is a lay-by towards Milford where you could park for free but there is already quite a walk (about 400 yards) along a level path to the beach from the car park. There are no toilets of any other facilities nearby.
There is a climb down to the beach which is easy enough when the ground is dry. Do not even think about climbing down during or after periods of heavy rain....

Taddiford Gap, dangerous unstable soil slips.

As can be seen from the picture above the soil is clay and sand and is soft and unstable after heavy rain; sections slump and ooze onto the shingle beach. A further feature that may be off-putting is the fact that the area to the west of the access point is much favoured by nudists, especially gay nudists.
The beach is sheltered from northerly winds and is pleasant to fish, looking as it does out across to The Needles. The ground is generally clean sand and shingle. Species caught here are the usual for this stretch of coast, sole and small turbot are quite commonly caught here along with smoothound at times. Mackerel and gar show up on some tides and it is always worth casting a large bait in close for a bass. Light gear can be used as casting distance is not really important, ragworm, squid, sandeels and mackerel all catch fish here.
The nearest tackle and bait shop is Loni's Angling Centre at 119-123 Old Milton Road which is off the A337 towards New Milton or if travelling via Christchurch, Davis Tackle at Bargates.

Tide Times for the next seven days

The Solent, Eastney Beach

Eastney Beach, looking west to Southsea.

Eastney Beach is in the Eastern Solent and lies to the east of the South Parade Pier at Southsea and is reached via The Esplanade. The mark is popular in the spring as plaice tend to come inshore to feed up after spawning. The favoured spot seems to be in front of the yellow bus shelter near the St Georges Road junction but fish are caught from the whole length of the beach. This spot is probably favoured as it is easily found and there are toilets across the road by the junction and there is a matted wheelchair access strip over the shingle which makes for easy walking onto the firm shingle and sand of the inter-tidal part of the beach. There is plenty of (expensive) roadside parking and a car park about three hundred yards to the east of the yellow shelter.

Eastney Beach, looking east, low tide.

This venue can be fished at any state of the tide.In addition to the plaice, other flat fish such as flounder and dabs are caught along with the usual small species with rarer species such as gurnard turning up in summer. The beach is gently sloping and you will be fishing into fairly shallow water. There is a small tackle and bait kiosk at the pier and several others nearby such as Allan's Marine and Lock, Stock and Tackle * in Portsmouth and Southsea.

for 'rough terrain' wheelchairs.

* website down Aug '08

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The Solent, Hampshire

South Parade Pier, Southsea.

The waters between the Isle of Wight and the south coast from Portsmouth to Lymington are known as The Solent. The influence of the Isle of Wight makes for strange tides in this area, double tides or long 'stands' of high water.
Fishing marks in this area are, Eastney Beach, Magazine Lane (Marchwood), Hythe Reclaimed Land, Calshot, Lepe, Netley, Weston Shore, Hurst Shingle Bank ,etc Further west from Hurst but included here for convenience are Milford, Taddiford Gap, Hordle and other beaches along to Christchurch.