This is a shallow venue on the edge of the New Forest National Park and situated at the mouth of Southampton Water.
It usually comes on song during the last three hours of the fl ood tide and the first couple of hours of the ebb.
It is a sheltered south-east facing shingle beach and makes a good back-up venue during a southwesterly blow.
Night sessions are recommended. Weed can be troublesome when the tide is ebbing.
SPECIES
Plenty of small black bream to rattle the rod tip by day, but as darkness falls expect silver eels, bass, pouting and some small smoothhounds. Other species such as Dover soles, plaice, flounders and dogfish will appear.
BEST BAITS
Peeler crabs will take the smoothhounds, eels, bass and pouting. A small ragworm tipped with a sliver of squid works for bream, while ragworms will also account for many species found here.
TACKLE
During the day it can pay to cast at distance for black bream, but keep your hooklengths light along with a size 4 short-shank hook.
Other species will run fairly close to the shore in darkness, so a 40-yard lob is more than adequate. You do get the occasional doublefi gure hound, so set the clutch on your reel. Some good bass are taken along this stretch, but there is often too much weed for plugging. They do take a freelined bait fished right in the gutter.
GETTING THERE
Leave the M27 at junction 2 heading south towards Totton and then follow the signs for Fawley on the A326. As you pass Fawley oil refinery take the B3053 which leads directly to Calshot. There are several pay and display parks and pay and display roadside parking. Some free parking is available near the access point close to the best fishing at the eastern end of the venue just past the beach huts.
Directions : Leave the M27 at Junction 2 heading south towards Totton and then follow the signs for Fawley on the A326. As you pass Fawley oil refinery take the B3053 which leads directly to Calshot.
