Cod off Ramsgate are a cold water fish. The Kent and Essex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) gives the cod season in its district as October to March, and it notes that for sea anglers, cod fishing around wrecks is especially popular. So if you want a cod trip from Ramsgate, you are booking for late autumn and winter, you are booking around the weather, and you should go in knowing that recent winters have been patchy.
The short answer
Book between October and March, keep two or three dates open, and ask the skipper what has been coming up over the last fortnight. Early in the season the fish tend to be codling, with bigger fish more likely as the water cools. Whiting usually turn up with them and often keep the rods busy on days when the cod do not show.
Fishing from a licensed charter boat in English waters needs no rod licence from you. Our guide to fishing licences on UK charter boats covers the detail.
Why wrecks, and where they are
The sea off Thanet is full of them. The Goodwin Sands, a few miles off Deal and Ramsgate, have claimed ships for centuries, and the Kent Historic Environment Record lists wreck after wreck in the approaches to Ramsgate harbour. To a cod, a wreck is food and shelter: crabs, small fish and pouting gather around the steel and timber, and the cod hunt them there.
That is why winter trips from Ramsgate split into two kinds of ground:
| Ground | What you fish for | How it is fished | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inshore banks and rough ground | Codling, whiting, dogfish, rays | Anchored, baited rigs on the bottom | Shorter run out, more fishable days |
| Wrecks and the Goodwin Sands | Cod, pollack, conger, pouting | Drifting over the wreck with lures or bait, or anchored uptide for conger | Needs a longer trip and a calm sea |
Which one your trip reaches depends on the boat, the length of the day and the forecast. A wreck a long way out needs a full day and settled weather. On a short winter day with wind against tide, a good skipper will fish the banks closer in rather than drag you through a lumpy sea for an hour each way.
Month by month
| Month | What to expect |
|---|---|
| October | Water still mild. Codling start to show as the weather turns, mixed in with whiting, dogfish and the last of the autumn bass |
| November and December | The heart of the season for many skippers. Whiting numbers build, cod more likely on the wrecks and banks |
| January and February | Coldest water and the shortest days. Fewer fishable days, but this is when the bigger cod are hoped for |
| March | The tail of the season. Catches thin out as fish move off and spring species have not arrived |
Treat this as a pattern, not a promise. The IFCA’s own shore reports for Kent say cod catches around Ramsgate and Margate have been poor in recent winters compared with years past, with a decent fish now the exception rather than the rule, and with occasional runs of small cod in autumn. The decline is not just a Kent story: our post on the south coast cod decline looks at why.
That is the honest picture. A winter trip from Ramsgate is a day of mixed bottom fishing where cod are the prize, not a guaranteed cod harvest.
What you can keep
Whatever the boat, undersized fish go straight back. These are the minimum sizes in the Kent and Essex IFCA byelaw, as listed on the IFCA website in October 2026:
| Species | Minimum size |
|---|---|
| Cod | 35 cm |
| Whiting | 27 cm |
| Pollack | 30 cm |
| Ling | 63 cm |
| Bass | 42 cm |
Bass and pollack also have their own national rules on how many you can take and when, which change from year to year. Our post on the 2026 bass and pollack rules has them. Your skipper will measure anything borderline, and on most boats they know the rules better than anyone aboard.
Boats that fish these waters
Reelzy lists Ramsgate skippers who fish the winter ground:
- Hussler of Ramsgate is a 26 foot charter boat for up to six anglers, running 4 hour and 6 hour trips from Ramsgate Marina. It boards from the pontoon and can leave and return at any state of the tide, which helps on short winter days. Cod, whiting, skate and tope are all on its species list, and tackle and bait are supplied. Ask the skipper which ground a winter trip of each length reaches.
- Lady Ann is a family run boat that has worked out of Ramsgate for eleven years, takes up to ten people and does bottom fishing with whiting, conger, skate and dogfish among its targets. Bait and tackle are supplied, and any fish you keep is prepared for the table before you leave the boat, which is worth a lot on a cold January afternoon.
You can see every boat in the area on the Ramsgate fishing charters page, or read up on the fish itself on our cod species page and the whiting page.
How a winter cod day works
Most winter trips are bottom fishing: a weighted rig with baited hooks dropped to the seabed, either at anchor or drifting. Over a wreck the skipper positions the boat so the drift carries your gear across it, and you will lose some tackle on the steel, which is normal and part of the trip. Some skippers also have anglers jigging with metal lures or soft shads over the wreck, which suits pollack and cod that sit a little above the structure.
On a boat where tackle and bait are supplied, you do not need to bring any of it. The skipper sets up the rods and shows you what to do.
What you do need to bring is warmth. A winter sea off Kent is several degrees colder than it feels on the harbour wall, and a day on deck in the wind takes it out of you.
Before you book
- Ask what the boat has caught in the last two weeks. Not the best fish of last year. Recent catches tell you whether the cod are in.
- Ask where the trip goes. Wrecks, the Goodwin Sands or inshore banks, and whether that changes with the trip length.
- Read the weather policy. Winter trips get cancelled more often. Check whether a weather call means a refund or a new date, and keep a second date free.
- Dress for the sea, not the town. Thermal layers, a hat, waterproof jacket and trousers, and boots with grip. Gloves you can take off quickly to handle a fish.
- Bring food, hot drinks and a cool box. Alcohol is not allowed on some Ramsgate boats, Hussler included.
Ready to go?
Pick a weekday in November or December, keep a backup date, and message the skipper before you pay to ask what is biting. Start with Hussler of Ramsgate or Lady Ann, or compare everything on the Kent fishing charters page. If this is your first time at sea, our guide to a first sea fishing trip from Ramsgate covers the rest.
Cover: "Sea angling boat off Broadstairs, Kent 1" by Acabashi, CC BY 2.0, edited (colour, retouching).
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