Poole is one of the finest bases for boat fishing on the entire South Coast. With the second largest natural harbour in the world right on the doorstep, plus easy access to the open channel and the wrecks, reefs and banks beyond, there’s incredible variety to be had from a boat — and Wessex Angling stocks everything you need to make the most of it.
Fishing Out of Poole
The waters off Dorset offer some genuinely exciting boat fishing throughout the year. Inside the harbour you’ll find flounder, bass and mullet in good numbers, while venturing out into the channel opens up opportunities for bream, smoothhound, tope, rays and bull huss. Get a bit further offshore and there are productive wrecks and reefs holding pollack, cod, ling and conger, particularly through autumn and winter. Drift fishing over clean ground in summer can produce some superb sport with bass and bream, and there are few better places on the South Coast to target a specimen tope.
The team at Wessex Angling fish these waters regularly, so if you want to know what’s been running and what’s worth targeting, pop in for a chat before your trip.
Charter Boats
If you don’t have your own boat, getting out on a charter is a brilliant way to experience the fishing around Poole and beyond. We work with some excellent local skippers and can help point you in the right direction for booking a trip. The charter boats operating out of Poole include Random Harvest, Silver Spray, Ocean Runner and Chopsea — all experienced skippers with great local knowledge who put their anglers on the fish. Whether you’re after a mixed species day, a wreck session or want to target something specific, there’s a charter to suit.
Get in touch with us in the shop and we’ll help you find the right trip for what you’re looking for.
Rods & Reels for Boat Fishing
Boat fishing demands different tackle to shore work, and getting the right gear for the job makes a real difference to how you fish and how you enjoy the day. We stock a solid range of boat and uptide rods, from light bream rods for inshore work through to heavier gear for deep water wreck fishing. Uptiding is a fantastic method for species like bass, rays and cod in the harbour and inshore marks, and we carry rods and reels set up specifically for this style.
For reels, we stock multipliers and lever drag reels from Penn, Shimano, Daiwa and Okuma — well-proven kit that handles the demands of sea fishing in all conditions.
Terminal Tackle & Rigs
We carry everything you need for boat fishing rigs — pirks, shads, Norwegian jigs, ledger booms, running ledger components, spreader bars, crimps and wire for trace making. Whether you’re fishing a simple two-hook paternoster for bream over the banks or setting up a heavy rig for wreck conger, we’ll have the bits you need. We also stock a range of ready-tied boat rigs for those who prefer to keep things simple on the day.
Bait
Fresh and frozen bait is available in the shop throughout the week. For boat fishing we’d recommend stocking up before your trip — squid, mackerel, sandeel, lugworm and peeler crab are all effective depending on what you’re targeting. Check our bait page for what we currently have in, and give us a ring on 01202 668244 to make sure we’ve got what you need before you head down.
