Down Your Way

This rough ground venue is full of fish for most of the year, but you need the right gear and technique to find success at this top location

Spotlight on Samphire Hoe, Kent.

During the summer, the whole length of Samphire Hoe wall is a great venue for some fun float-fishing for a large number of species, but in winter it becomes a beast and a place to avoid in a big sea or large tide.

However, at times of calm and during neap tides, it’s easily fishable and produces good catches, including codling, pouting, dogfish, pollack, wrasse, whiting and others.

Your chosen location along the wall is important because a huge ridge of rocks runs parallel to the seawall and is said to be littered with discarded Chunnel earth-moving machinery that was dumped there when the wall was built. Cast over this and it’s difficult to get your gear back, especially when a big sea or tide is pulling.

There are gaps in the rocks, and in some conditions the ridges and rocks are closer to the wall and can be easier to handle.

So pick your time and place. It’s always a good idea to move a few yards along the wall if you lose gear because a different angle in the tide can make all the difference.

WEST END

The west end (Folkestone side) is particularly snaggy, with a large, long reef of rocks and kelp at 100-plus yards making it difficult to fish over unless you can cast long and retrieve fast.

Most fish are inside the reef and, as on the rest of the Hoe, under the wall is the hotspot, especially the pollack and pouting. Hanging a wire boom rig down the side with ragworms for pollack is a good method around the corner stretch.

On some days the fish move away from the wall, so a light, long mono paternoster rig allowed to run down the current will also work well.

Under the wall there are lots of pouting, and a short paternoster rig dropped among the rocks will catch them, as well as the bigger wrasse. Make an effort to drop your baits between the holes in the rocks because 3ft deeper under the rocks is where the better fish are found.

AROUND THE WESTERN CORNER

If you walk to the western corner you will find the promenade extends for a further 200 metres. Although the water shallows here, this region can be worth the walk because, in places, there are fewer snags.

This is a great spot to cast a plug or lure early in the morning when no one is around, and is popular with the local bass dinghy anglers.

EAST END

The Dover end of the wall is slightly less snaggy in places and you can find some sand and fewer rocks around the yellow square halfway along the wall from the car park towards the eastern end. However, fewer snags means fewer fish, and for bites, the heaviest ground is also most productive.

Casting out to the limited sand patches along this stretch is especially productive

AROUND THE EASTERN CORNER

Sheltered from a south-west wind, this section is a bolt hole for anglers in rough weather and can produce all the species to float or bottom baits.

It shallows off towards the cliff face and looks ideal for bass. The corner of the wall is considered the hotspot, but it is snaggy and requires a single hook and fast retrieve, with braid on a fixed-spool reel one option. in winter for the codling. with peeler crabs worth trying; fish it on a pulley rig and you will get your tackle back more often.

In autumn, a great method is to fish a sandeel under a float at 12-14ft and allow it to trot along the wall if you can. On early mornings you can find yourself alone and you can walk the length of the wall with this method – don’t forget to alter your fishing depth to suit the tide.

“A wrasse stronghold and can produce the occasional surprise”

Close to the wall is a hotspot for pollackTOP TIP: Fish 30lb all through if you are casting out from the wall and stick to Fishing along the Hoe is behind a chest-high wall just one or two hooks. For down the wall, consider using very light line (0.20mm snoods) for more bites.BAIT: Ragworms in summer, crabs and lug in winter, with fresh mackerel strip great for down the wall.SPECIES: Codling, pouting, dogfish, pollack, bass, while in the autumn anything is possible.BEST TIMES: The low-water ebb because the tide changes is a hot time; it lasts just an hour, but there are usually fish moving through.GROUND: Very rough.

The western corner looks towardsFolkestoneTOP TIP: A long walk, but has a ramp and no steps, so it’s perfect for a tackle trolley.BAIT: Ragworms, peeler crabs and lug/squid in winter. Try a head-hooked ragworm so it swims.SPECIES: Pout, codling, dogfish, pollack, bass and, in autumn, anything. It’s a wrasse stronghold and can produce the occasional surprise species as well.BEST TIMES: The flood tide over high water offers the deepest water in this section of the wall; try baits fished between the hexagon-shaped wall.GROUND: Clear, sandy patches in places, but some large reefs of rocks.

TOP TIP: A few free offerings alongside the wall can attract all species and is worthwhile.BAIT: Use ragworms in summer, crabs and lug in winter, with fresh mackerel strip great for down the wall.SPECIES: There is a chance of a codling, whiting, pollack,bass and (pictured left) pout and wrasse throughout this section.BEST TIMES: Flood tide over high and during the last hour of the ebb.GROUND: Very rough.

TOP TIP: A great place to trot a float during the flooding tide.BAIT: Ragworms in summer, crabs and lugworms and squid in winter.SPECIES: Codling, pouting and dogfish, also whiting, wrasse, pollack and bass (pictured below) throughout this section.BEST TIMES: Flood tide over high and just after. It’s worth a try in darkness.