Staying Safe on Solent Shore Marks

This is the single most likely way to get into serious trouble on this coast, and it's almost entirely preventable. The Solent and Isle of Wight shoreline is full of ledges, causeways, spits and reef platforms that are comfortable dry ground at low water and completely submerged four hours later.

The danger is rarely that the water rises too fast to outrun. It's that it comes in behind you. You walk out along a reef at low water, fish for two hours facing the sea, and turn round to find the gully you crossed is now chest deep with a tide running through it.

If you do get cut off: don't wade and don't swim. Tidal flow through a gully is far stronger than it looks and will take you off your feet. Get to the highest ground available, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard, and stay put. People who wait are almost always fine. People who try to wade back are the ones who make the news.

Remember also that the Solent's double high water means the water can sit high for a long spell rather than turning promptly. Don't assume that because it's past high water it's safe to cross back yet.

If you're in the sea wearing a lifejacket you are around four times more likely to survive. That statistic comes from immersion research and it's the reason the RNLI pushes lifejackets so hard at anglers specifically.

Realistically, nobody wears one on a flat sandy beach in July, and that's a reasonable judgement. Where it genuinely matters is rock ledges, piers, harbour walls, steep shingle with a big drop-off, and anywhere you're fishing alone after dark. Those are the situations where an unexpected entry into the water is plausible and where getting back out is hard.

Two myths worth killing. Chest waders do not help you float — and a flotation suit is not a substitute for a lifejacket, because it won't reliably turn an unconscious person face-up. A modern auto-inflating lifejacket is light enough that you'll forget you have it on.

Carry a means of calling for help, keep it on your person rather than in the rucksack twenty yards away, and ideally have more than one.

• Mobile phone in a waterproof pouch, on you at all times. A phone in a tackle box is no use once you're in the water. Signal is patchy on parts of the island's south-west coast, which is worth knowing before you rely on it.
• Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) sends a recognised distress signal with your position anywhere on the planet. Must be registered. Worth considering if you regularly fish remote marks alone.
• Handheld VHF/DSC radio reaches vessels and shore stations in range directly. Requires an operator's licence.
• Tell someone your plan. Which mark, and what time you expect to be back. The cheapest safety measure there is.

Source: RNLI — Calling for help

A lot of the best Solent marks are on ledges — Bembridge, Ventnor, the reefs at Seaview, the south-west chines. They're also where the falls happen.

• Wet rock with weed on it is genuinely treacherous. Studded boots or cleated soles make a real difference; ordinary wellies do not grip.
• Never turn your back on the sea on an exposed ledge. Sets come in groups and a rogue wave on an otherwise calm day is the classic way anglers get swept off.
• Watch the swell before committing. Stand and observe for ten minutes. If waves are washing over the ledge at all, it isn't fishable, regardless of how good the mark is.
• Chines and cliff paths erode. The island's southern cliffs are actively unstable in places. Stay off the cliff base after heavy rain and don't climb down anything that isn't a maintained path.

Much of the best fishing here happens after dark, particularly for bass and squid. The fishing case for it is strong. It also doubles the consequence of every other risk on this page.

• Walk the mark in daylight first. Never fish an unfamiliar rock venue for the first time at night.
• Two light sources. A head torch and a spare. Finding your way off a reef by phone screen is not a plan.
• Preserve your night vision. A red beam is enough for rig work and won't blind you or spook fish in shallow water.
• Fish with someone. If you must go alone, tell somebody exactly where you are and when you'll be back, and actually text them when you leave.
• Cold is a real hazard. Sitting still on a windy pier in February gets dangerous faster than people expect. Layers, hot drink, and know when to call it.

Check the inshore waters forecast, not just the general weather. Wind against tide produces a short steep sea that's far more dangerous than the wind speed alone suggests, and it's common in the Solent where the tide runs hard through the narrows.

A big onshore blow that coincides with a spring high water will push the sea further up the beach than any tide table predicts. That combination is when people get caught out on ground they've fished safely a hundred times.

The hardest skill in shore angling is turning the car round. There will be another tide in twelve hours and another spring next fortnight.

Not life-threatening, but they end sessions and are easy to avoid.

• Weever fish. Small, buried in the sand at low water on shallow beaches, with venomous dorsal spines. Standing on one is extremely painful. Treatment is water as hot as you can tolerate, which breaks down the venom. Wear something on your feet when wading.
• Spined fish. Bass have sharp gill plates and spiky dorsals. Weever, dogfish and rays all need careful handling — a cloth or grips and a disgorger keep your hands out of it.
• Casting space. A 5oz lead on a big cast is a serious weapon. Look behind you every time, especially on a busy summer beach.
• Hooks in fingers. Carry cutters that will get through a hook shank. A barb pushed through and snipped comes out far more easily than one pulled back.