milford on sea

Occasional Joined: Oct 11, 2006 Posts: 120

ive been looking on googleearth and was wondering if there is a name for the point at milford on sea and if so how is it fishing and what bait works best iwas thinking of going at the week end ?????????
cheers :roll:

Member Joined: Oct 08, 2006 Posts: 15 Location: Portsmouth

I think that milford on sea at the corner is Hurst Spit , had a few people tell me that they have had a few congers an bass off there cos your fishing direct oppisite from the needles, could be mythical congers but worth a try let us no how you get on . Good luck

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:27 pm

Hurst Shingle has a fierce tide run, out at the end fishing time can be limited as you will not hold bottom. The length of the beach from Milford to the end is fairly snag free and is best fished on the ebb tide when currents are less. Not the best time of year for fishing here. Access is from the Keyhaven side of the Spit, park alongside New Road (free), over the footbridge and up onto the shingle bank. To top of the bank is compacted shingle and not too bad for trudging along, but the walk right to the end with a lot of tackle is not for the fainthearted. I would not rate the fishing as getting any better as you get towards the end so save your energy and don't walk too far. Weed can be a huge problem at this venue at certain times of the year.

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 9:58 pm

i'd agree with t/n, haddock,
tides are fierce and make spring tides difficult enough without the summer weed problem , you will need grip weights at the best of times and out at the castle when the tide runs 6oz wont touch the sea bed let alone hold a bait still, there's been some good fish taken there but i've heard of nothing recently.

gord, but there's always hope happy

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 10:22 pm

Just reinforcing the earlier replies. Google Earth to the fort at the end of the spit, this is Hurst Castle. A decent cast will put you into 8 knots of tide on a bad day, imagine half the Channel trying to get through a one-mile gap. It's so-many-cubic-Everests, or somesuch statistic.
Use your judgement on when you can actually get a bait into the water, you need a long period of slack water at high or low tide. Shingle-walking is an art-form, 50lb of match kit makes it almost an hour's walk, just a spinning rod and it's less than half that. No vehicles permitted.
The entire length of the spit is changeable - a glorious days' fishing can be immediately followed by a blank at this time of year. In summer, it's more stable and it's a nice walk to the castle or catch the Keyhaven ferry there, fish light gear for mackerel, garfish, pollack and bass. No reason conger shouldn't be here, their dinner is but I've not heard of one. Some occasional double-figure cod though.
At this time of year, save your energy - if it's going to be a bad session, start fishing as soon as you get on the bank. Plenty of specimens taken here: 8lb bass, 5lb plaice(not me, but seen), 2.5lb dogfish. If it's going to be a good session, then it'll be very good indeed.
See S. Coast catch report for Milford three threads below this one. MK

Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:15 pm

yes, i too agree with everthing that is being said here too.
The walk down the shingle spit to Hurst Castle is one hell of a trek, only made worse by the fact that you can see where you are going to all the way, but it doesnt seem to get any closer!
Tides are madness too but there can be some good fish caught there in the summer. Best to save yourself the walk this time of year and fish close to the beach entrance i think.