Sole (Dover Sole)

By Alex Clayton · Updated 23 October 2026

The fish on the restaurant menu feeds mostly after dark, in water shallow enough to reach from a beach with a short cast.

Dover sole (Solea solea, also called common sole) is a small-mouthed flatfish that UK shore anglers catch on summer nights, mainly from June to September. Before you keep one, check the size: the minimum is 24cm in every IFCA district checked for this guide.

This page covers identification, the legal size, timing and marks, the rig, and fishing the bite. For the rest of the family, see our guide to UK flatfish species.

How to Identify a Dover Sole (and Not Confuse It With Lemon Sole or Plaice)

The “sole” you order and the “lemon sole” printed beside it on the menu are not close relatives. Dover sole belongs to the true sole family, Soleidae. Lemon sole is in Pleuronectidae, the same family as plaice.

A Dover sole has a greyish-brown upper side, a white underside and a small, arched mouth set low on the head. Both eyes sit close together on the right side. The dorsal and anal fins run along the body and join the tail fin with a membrane. Adults reach about 70cm, mature at 3 to 5 years and have been recorded living to 26. Small sole are called “slip”.

Species	Quick tell	Guide
Dover sole	Small arched mouth, dorsal and anal fins joined to the tail	This page
Lemon sole	Small head, smooth slimy skin, orange patch behind the pectoral fin	How to identify UK sea fish
Plaice	Bright orange spots on the upper side	Plaice guide
Flounder	Prickly bumps at the base of the dorsal and anal fins, common in estuaries	Flounder guide
Dab	Lateral line curves in a half-circle above the pectoral fin	Dab guide

One naming trap: the “Dover sole” sold in North America is a different Pacific species, Microstomus pacificus. In the UK the name means Solea solea.

On the beach, the fastest check against plaice is the fins: plaice has orange spots and a separate tail, while sole fins wrap round to meet it.

Dover Sole Minimum Size: 24cm in Every IFCA District Checked

Some sites quote a flat 25cm minimum for sole. Every official IFCA schedule checked for this page says 24cm, and the district where you land the fish sets the rule.

District	Sole minimum size	Source
Eastern IFCA	24cm	Eastern IFCA MCRS booklet
North Eastern IFCA	24cm	NEIFCA minimum sizes
North Western IFCA (all fishers)	24cm	NWIFCA minimum sizes
Kent and Essex IFCA	24cm	KEIFCA minimum sizes
Southern IFCA	240mm	Southern IFCA MCRS byelaw
Devon and Severn IFCA	24cm (schedule revised June 2020)	D&S IFCA minimum sizes
Cornwall IFCA	24cm	Cornwall IFCA general information sheet

We could not confirm a current sole figure for Sussex IFCA, Cumbria IFCA or Northumberland IFCA, so check their byelaws before you keep a fish there. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are also unconfirmed, so check with the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government Marine Directorate or DAERA.

Measure from the snout to the tip of the tail fin, and return anything under the minimum to the sea. The Angling Trust notes that minimum sizes differ between districts and are under review, so the local byelaw is the final word.

Fishing outside the districts listed? Check with the local authority before you keep a fish.

When and Where to Catch Sole From the Shore

Sole often feed within 20 to 30 yards of the tideline after dark, so timing matters far more than casting distance.

Sole fishing in the UK is a summer-night game. Angler guides put the main shore season at June to September, after dark. It follows the spawning months: sole spawn mostly from February to May, in shallow water of 6 to 12°C. Across their wider range they prefer 10 to 60m of water, down to 200m, at 8 to 24°C.

Fish clean sand or mixed sandy beaches, where sole hunt worms, molluscs and crustaceans at night. A 2014 retailer write-up of a summer session at Sizewell in Suffolk describes fishing most of the flood up to a midnight high tide. A rising tide after dark is the pattern angler guides most often describe, though it is reported experience rather than a fixed rule.

Best for: warm, calm nights on clean sand. Skip if: you can only fish in daylight over rough ground.

The Best Rig, Hooks and Bait for Sole

Bites that never connect usually mean the hook is too big for the mouth. Angling guides name oversized hooks as the main reason anglers fail with sole.

Set up like this:

Tie a two-hook flapper with short snoods of about 4 to 6 inches.
Use fine-wire hooks in sizes 4 to 8, or long-shank hooks in sizes 4 to 6.
Bait with a small piece of ragworm or lugworm, sized to the hook.
Clip on a lead heavy enough to pin the bait to the bottom. The Sizewell session used 4oz (about 113g), which is an example, not a rule.
Cast short, 20 to 30 yards.

Item	Spec	Why
Snood	4 to 6 inches	Keeps the bait on the seabed
Hook	Fine-wire 4 to 8, or long-shank 4 to 6	Fits the small mouth
Bait	Small piece of rag or lug	Easy for a small mouth to take
Lead	Enough to hold bottom (4oz in the example)	Stops the bait rolling
Range	20 to 30 yards	Where sole feed after dark

Keep the snoods short. Long ones lift off the seabed in a tide run, and a bottom-feeding sole misses the bait. You don’t need a beachcaster at this range: the same retailer session used carp rods.

The verdict: scale everything down. The rest is patience.

Night Fishing for Sole: Reading Bites and Keeping Light Low

Striking at the first knock loses more sole than any other mistake. Night fishing for sole rewards waiting, because an early strike pulls the bait away and spooks the fish.

Let the bite develop. Set the rod in a tripod and watch the tip. When the knocks build into a firm pull, wind down and lift steadily rather than making a big sweeping strike. The small hooks and baits from the rig section above help here, because a small-mouthed fish can take the whole bait before you lift.

Keep the beach dark, because sole feed close in. Use your head torch only when you need it, on a low setting, and point it away from the water when you bait up or unhook.

Missed three bites in a row? Drop a hook size and wait longer before you lift.

Handling and Returning Undersize Sole

Have a measure ready on the beach before the first cast, because slip under 24cm turn up among the takeable fish.

Wet your hands, lay the fish flat on a wet mat or measure, and check snout to tail-fin tip against the size table above. Small hooks come out quickly, and a disgorger helps with deeper ones. Return undersize sole to the sea straight away, lowering them in at the waterline rather than dropping them from height.

Frequently asked questions

Why is it called Dover sole?

The name is usually traced to Dover, the English port that landed the most sole in the 19th century, when London demand for the fish was high. It is the standard explanation, though the exact origin is not documented in an official source.

What is the minimum size for Dover sole?

The minimum size is 24cm in every IFCA district checked: Eastern, North Eastern, North Western, Kent and Essex, Southern, Devon and Severn, and Cornwall. Check Sussex, Cumbria, Northumberland, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland with the relevant authority. See the minimum size table on this page.

Is Dover sole the same as lemon sole?

No. Dover sole is a true sole (family Soleidae), while lemon sole belongs to Pleuronectidae, the plaice family. Lemon sole has smooth, slimy skin and an orange patch behind the pectoral fin. Our fish identification guide covers the differences.

When is the best time to fish for sole in the UK?

Summer nights are best, mainly June to September, according to angler guides. Fish clean sand on a rising tide after dark, with small hooks and small worm baits cast 20 to 30 yards out.