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Fish guide

Hake

Merluccius merluccius · Cod and relatives

Hake
Photo: Fernando Losada Rodríguez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What fish is this?Identify a fish from a photo

A long, silvery-grey predator of deep offshore water, usually at least 100 m down. Shore anglers rarely catch it.[1]

How to recognise it

  • Silvery grey with a brown or green sheen, a large head and mouth, and a straight-edged tail.[1]
  • Triangular first dorsal fin followed by a very long second dorsal and anal fin, and a straight black lateral line.[1]
  • The inside of the mouth is black.[2]

When and where

Found over
deep water, open water[1]
Baits
mackerel, herring, squid[3]
Light
Hake stay near the bottom by day and move up to feed in low light and at night, so night or overcast conditions fish best.[3]

Sources

  1. British Sea Fishing: Hake
  2. FishBase: Merluccius merluccius
  3. Angling Direct: Hake species guide

These notes are a draft: we gathered them from the sources above and are still checking them. We don't work out best times for this fish yet. The size rules come from the same checked byelaws as every other fish.

Size and bag limit

Minimum size
Sizes vary along the coast. Pick your spot to see the rule there.
Bag limit
None set for the whole UK.
Minimum sizes around the UK
AreaMinimum size
Kent & Essex IFCA27 cm
Sussex IFCANone
Southern IFCANone
Devon & Severn IFCANone
Cornwall IFCA30 cm
Isles of Scilly IFCANot checked yet
North Western IFCA27 cm
North Eastern IFCANot checked yet
Northumberland IFCANot checked yet
Eastern IFCA27 cm
Welsh GovernmentNot checked yet
Scottish GovernmentNot checked yet
DAERA (Northern Ireland)Not checked yet