Meagre
Fish · Last reviewed 2026-08-10
A large predatory drum of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, audible drumming with its swim bladder, and a prime estuary and surf target.
Catching Meagre
Everything here on fishing for it. Each entry opens the page behind it.
- Ground
- When
- Jun–Dec — months recorded at the places that document it, not a season for the whole range.
- Where
- 3 places FishingHQ documents — strongest claim anywhere: seasonal · From a boat, From the shore
Meagre is the large drum of European and West African waters — a long, silver, powerfully built predator that runs into estuaries and along surf beaches and reaches well over a metre.
Like all sciaenids it produces sound. Males contract muscles against the swim bladder to make a deep drumming that carries through the hull of a boat and, in spawning aggregations, is loud enough to locate fish by. Fishermen have used that for a very long time.
It is closely related to the dusky kob of southern Africa and Australia, and the two are frequently confused in international angling writing — a genuine case where regional common names and similar-looking congeners cross.
How it is caught
Where Meagre is documented
Places where public sources describe this species as fished, with how it is fished and how strongly the evidence supports it. This is not a range map and it is not a recommendation — it is what has been written down about a fishery rather than a record of any individual catch, and being listed is never permission to fish.
The Bay of Biscay
1 documented place
Bay
Seasonal
From a boat · From the shore
Around Jun, Jul, Aug, Sept
What these strengths mean
- Seasonal
- Well supported, and concentrated in part of the year rather than spread through it.
Identification
No photograph of Meagre has passed identity review yet, so none is shown. A photograph is published only once somebody has checked the animal in it against the diagnostic features described on this page.
- Scientific name
- Argyrosomus regius
- Family
- Sciaenidae
- Water
- Saltwater, Brackish
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
- Regions
- Mediterranean, Western Europe, West Africa
- Long silver body with a bronze or golden sheen and a distinctly yellow-tinged mouth interior.
- Two dorsal fins, the second long-based, and a pearly row of pores along the lateral line.
- A row of small pale spots following the lateral line, characteristic of Argyrosomus.
- Large otoliths and an audible drumming sound produced by the swim bladder in adults.
Size
- Typical
- 3–12 kg (6.6–26 lb)
- Large
- 20–40 kg (44–88 lb)
Exceptional: FishBase records a maximum of 230 cm and 103 kg
How meagre are fished, and why
A large sciaenid that hunts in estuaries and surf, often at night and often in coloured water, and the methods follow a fish that finds prey by sound and vibration as much as by sight.
SURFCASTING with large baits is the classic shore approach, and the timing is specific: dusk, darkness and moving water in estuary mouths and along surf beaches.
LIVEBAITING works because the fish takes live prey readily and because a struggling bait produces exactly the vibration signature the species responds to.
SPINNING with large lures works in the same places when the fish is actively hunting.
AND THE FAMILY TRAIT IS WORTH KNOWING. Sciaenids are drum fishes — they produce sound with the swim bladder, and they have acute hearing. That is established biology, and it is the reason quiet approach and vibration-producing presentations both matter more with this species than with most, though the angling conclusions drawn from it remain convention rather than tested.
What experienced anglers do — why, and the sources (2)
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Habitat association, depth range, feeding ecology and prey of the species, from which the method association follows.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified
- IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Recognised angling methods and the tackle classes used for them internationally.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified
Lifecycle and reproduction
Fast-growing when young and long-lived, with females growing larger than males. Populations are localised and estuarine-dependent as juveniles, which links stock health to estuary condition.
Spawns in spring and early summer in estuaries and coastal waters, forming aggregations in which males drum audibly. Juveniles use estuaries as nurseries before moving to open coast.
Feeding and senses
Takes fish — mullet, sardine, sand eel — and crustaceans, hunting actively in the water column and along the bottom, principally in low light.
Hunts in turbid estuarine and surf water using sound and lateral-line detection alongside sight. Sound production and detection are unusually important, and drumming is used in spawning behaviour.
Through the year
Enters estuaries and shallow coastal water to spawn in spring and early summer, dispersing to open coast and deeper water later in the year.
Distribution
Eastern Atlantic: Norway to Gibraltar and Congo, including the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Migrated to the Red Sea via the Suez Canal
This is a biological range — where the species occurs, not a prediction that you will catch one. To browse the fishing geography FishingHQ holds, start at fishing places.
Why anglers care
A prime target of southern European and West African shore, estuary and boat fishing, taken on live and dead baits, large soft plastics and lures. Its significance is size and accessibility — meagre is one of the largest fish an angler can realistically take from a European surf beach. Practitioner consensus favours low light, moving water and live bait, though large soft plastics have become widely used.
Handling and returning
A large fish that must be supported horizontally and never held vertically by the jaw. Wet hands, minimise air exposure, and revive properly after a long fight. Gill covers are sharp on large fish.
Going further
- Meagre vs Dusky kob — how to tell them apart.
Where to go next
Similar and related fish
Where it lives
Where you will find it
- PortugalA major shore and estuary target, particularly around the Sado and Tagus and along the Algarve, and one of the largest fish available to a shore angler here.
- The Moroccan Atlantic coastOccupies turbid inshore water and river mouths along the coast, hunting by sound and lateral line in conditions where sight is useless.
- The West African coastOccupies estuaries and turbid inshore water along the northern part of the coast, hunting by sound and lateral line.
Sources and evidence
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Family, maximum size, depth and environment, distribution and the IUCN assessment for Argyrosomus regius.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The Least Concern assessment for Argyrosomus regius, assessed 19 February 2020.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Why the 10 connections on this page are here, and the sources
Similar and related fish
Backed by research — 1 connection
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
Dusky kob
An identification comparison naming both binomials: Argyrosomus regius and Argyrosomus japonicus.
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Morphological and distributional data for Argyrosomus regius and for Argyrosomus japonicus.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Separate assessments treating Argyrosomus regius and Argyrosomus japonicus as distinct species.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How it is caught
What experienced anglers do — 3 connections
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Livebaiting at sea
A practitioner claim about how Argyrosomus regius is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for meagre.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for meagre and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Spinning
A practitioner claim about how Argyrosomus regius is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for meagre.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for meagre and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Surfcasting
A practitioner claim about how Argyrosomus regius is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for meagre.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for meagre and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Gear for this fish
What experienced anglers do — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Soft plastics
A practitioner claim about tackle commonly used for Argyrosomus regius.
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of this presentation for meagre.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of comparable presentations for the species group.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Where it lives
Backed by research — 2 connections
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
Estuary
A habitat association for Argyrosomus regius taken from the environment and distribution data on its FishBase summary.
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The environment, depth range and habitat description recorded for Argyrosomus regius.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Surf beaches
A habitat association for Argyrosomus regius taken from the environment and distribution data on its FishBase summary.
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The environment, depth range and habitat description recorded for Argyrosomus regius.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Where you will find it
Backed by research — 3 connections
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
Portugal
Occurrence of the species in these waters: a statement about the animal's distribution, not a venue recommendation.
- The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution and habitat association of fishes in north-west European and eastern Atlantic waters.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Distribution, depth range and habitat association recorded for the species.States this directlyPassage read and verified
The Moroccan Atlantic coast
A distribution association between an animal and a kind of water, rather than a claim about any named mark.
- FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, depth and fishery accounts for the species of the eastern central Atlantic and Mediterranean in the FAO regional identification guides.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association and depth range recorded for the species.States this directlyPassage read and verified
The West African coast
A distribution association between an animal and a kind of water, rather than a claim about any named mark.
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association and depth range recorded for the species, including its occurrence in the water body concerned.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Assessment and range account for the species, including the systems and coasts it occupies.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.