I'm A Sole Man

The enigmatic sole is a favourite with boat and shore anglers, not least for its eating qualities - here are two crackers!

Paul Aldridge got the call that sole were on the feed in his area – what happened next was the stuff of dreams. Paul recalls: “I was invited to go night fishing on Sunday by my good friend Paul Batty on his boat Last Cast in Southampton Water, as he had heard that sole were being caught.

“We cast off around 7.30 that evening, motored out and anchored just off the main channel. It was a lovely flat calm water and we baited up the rods using rag worm and settled down to see what would come. Little did I know what surprise was waiting for me. The bites were steady and we soon started to catch, mainly small fish including a few small sole.

“Just after midnight my rod suddenly bent over and I was into a half-decent fish, and after a nice little battle the fish came to the surface. A small ray I thought, but to my surprise it was an enormous Dover sole.