Rays and sharks · Shore and boat

Lesser spotted dogfish

Present most of the year in the west. Bigger hooks and baits help avoid them, but they still take a whole squid.

Lesser spotted dogfish
Image: Jonathan Couch, A History of the Fishes of the British Islands (1862–65), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Know it
Small, sandy and covered in dark spots. Skin like sandpaper. It wraps around your arm.
Bait
Mackerel, squid, almost anything
Rigs
Two-hook flapperPulley
Table
Good eating Sold as 'rock salmon'. Kill it, then skin it with pliers from the head down. Firm flesh, good in curries.

Season

Typical months on the North West and North East coasts, with this month ringed. Seasons shift a few weeks with water temperature and run differently around the coast: see each region's headline fish below.

Irish Sea
North Sea
PeakPresentRareIrish Sea = North Wales to Cumbria · North Sea = Yorkshire to Northumberland

Legal minimum size

Lesser spotted dogfish

Last checked 18 October 2026

Measured from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail (rays: wing tip to wing tip). Each region links to its regulator.

AreaMinimum
North West EnglandNo legal minimum
North WalesNo legal minimum
Yorkshire to the TyneNo legal minimum
NorthumberlandNo legal minimum

No size for this fish is listed in the regional rules we checked for Cardigan Bay and the Llyn, Pembrokeshire, Gower and South Wales, Severn estuary, Somerset and North Devon. That may mean none is set, or that the national rules apply: check locally.

and 11 other regions

Rules change, usually each spring. Check the regulator for the area before you keep a fish.

Tips

Dogfish

Bigger hooks and baits help, but don't stop them: a dogfish will happily take a whole squid on a 4/0. They're good eating, skinned.

Where to catch it

Regions with marks where lesser spotted dogfish is one of the main fish, and how many marks.

Cardigan Bay and the Llyn 10Pembrokeshire, Gower and South Wales 11Severn estuary, Somerset and North Devon 6Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 3South Devon 4Dorset, Hampshire and the Solent 2Sussex 4Suffolk, Norfolk and the Wash 1West Highlands, Argyll, Clyde and the islands 7Ayrshire, Galloway and the Scottish Solway 5

How to cook it

Sold as 'rock salmon'. Kill it, then skin it with pliers from the head down. Firm flesh, good in curries. Simple ways to cook it at home. More on bleeding, gutting, filleting and freezing in From sea to plate.

Method 1

Curry or stew

Skin the fish, cut it into chunks and simmer gently in a curry or tomato sauce for 8 to 10 minutes. The firm flesh holds together well.

Method 2

Battered

Cut skinned fillets into pieces, dip in batter and deep fry until golden, as chip shops do with rock salmon.