I have many happy hours on the Southern Breakwater at Dover. It's the place I have caught several of my firsts of species including Codling, Dabs and Dogfish. I was introduced to the delights of the Breakwater by Phil Whiting, and you can read in detail some of my exploits and all of his at the UK Sea Fishing Diary.
In Dover there are three Piers that allow fishing, The Southern Breakwater, the Admiralty Pier and the Prince of Wales Pier.
To fish the
Breakwater you have to catch a boat, which goes Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday if the
weather is suitable. You can fish both the inside and outside of the wall. The tidal run
can be very fierce on the outside and you will need to use 8oz long tailed grip leads, and
cast uptide to get to the bottom. Here I have caught more fish than any where else, as
well as my biggest fish, 4 1/2lb codling. The species have been Codling, Pollack, Whiting,
Pouting, Dabs, Flounder, Poor Cod, Rockling, Dogfish, Plaice and Lobster. The baits used
vary but mostly consist of lugworm and lugworm cocktails. The most useful general rig I
have found is a long flowing wishbone with appropriate sized hooks. For Pollack I use a
rod holder that allows the rod to hang out over the wall, and use french booms about 10
turns off the bottom with wriggly rag worms on the inside of the wall. The tidal run is
much less on the inside, but it can be very snaggy, particularly further out. I have
caught a lot with a gentle lob. Generally once the tidal run is mastered, fishing is easy
as distance is not required and coffee and snacks are available from the tuck shop run by
the Dover Sea Angling Association. The codling hot spot is right at the eastern just past
the lighthouse.
The Admiralty Pier is quite difficult to fish. The tidal run is very fierce and large long tailed grip leads are essential, at least 8oz. Tactics I have used are similar to the Breakwater.
The other pier is the Prince of Wales. This is inside the harbour. Fishing is very easy here and suitable for children and disabled anglers. It is possible to drive your car right up to your peg.
The other place I have fished is Langdown Bay. I tried plugging for Bass there with Phil Whiting once to no avail. The small figure fishing is Phil ;-)
There are several bait and tackle shops in Dover. I generally use Bill's (01304 204542) and Channel Angling (01304 203742). The quality and reliability are first class. The Dover Motorboat Company run the boats to the Breakwater and may be contacted on 01304 206809. The Dover Sea Angling Association also have a web site.