Catch report & fishing forecast for Dorset including Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth

This has been a mad couple of days for me. The launch of the new look site has kept me so busy that I have only managed to get out fishing twice over the past four days! I am out on my first lure fishing Bass guide of the season today. I have to admit to being a bit nervous. Conditions are not bad, but you always worry about finding the fish when the water is this cold.

It seems that the May water has arrived already. For those of you that don’t know, May water is a local name given to an algae bloom that normally occurs at this time of year. It causes the water to turn green or brown. It can be quite thick and you can feel it on your line sometimes. This has a negative effect on the fishing, as water clarity is effected. When Plaice fishing make sure you use plenty of beads and bling to help the fish see the bait. If you are after Mackerel, which there seems to be plenty about now, use silver tinsel type feathers. Spider crabs are also causing problems on Chesil, as they have arrived in large numbers. They have a nasty habit of snipping off your snoods to get to your bait. Bring plenty of hooks with you and adding floating beads can sometimes help keep it away from them. Another tip that normally keeps the snoods going for a bit longer, is to make your snoods (the section of line from the main rig body to the hook) out of 50lb braid. As anyone who uses braid will tell you how much of a pain it is to cut.

As I have said before this site is not just about sea fishing as Martin Harvey proves. Martin Harvey, who likes to fish Chesil and has been waiting for the Mackerel to show, decided to indulge in his other passion, course fishing. He fished  Woodland Lake, Coking Farm Fishery, Gillingham, Dorset. Mainly looking for Carp but well aware the lake held some nice Catfish. He managed to land his first ever catfish and also the lake record weighing in at 33lb. He spent 3 days and 3 nights with just this one fish to show for his efforts, but what a fish. He said it was hard fishing as the carp were not feeding, changing rigs, tactics and baits several times eventually netted him the fish. 72 hours well spent hours and very much worth the wait! A fish of the month contender for sure.

Sea Conditions: 

Water temperature 9.8*c.

Chesil Beach: Calm with very little swell. The water is slightly coloured.

Portland: Calm with good water clarity.

Portland Harbour: Calm and clear.

Weymouth Bay: Calm and clear.

Chesil Beach forecast: Plaice, Dabs and Rays will be around to the West of Chesil. Abbotsbury seems to be the main area for the larger catches at the moment. Smoothound and Mackerel are coming in all along the beach, with Herring still around.The usual Dogfish and Pout are showing up at night with Pollock towards Portland.

Portland:  Lots of Wrasse and Pollock being caught around the Bil, but netters have been spotted along the Eastern side of the island, making Church Ope Cove a long walk for nothing. As usual dawn and dusk are the best times for the Pollock. If you fancy a go for a large Conger then this month is the time to do it. Top marks are Blacknor Point on the West side and Chine on the East side. You need heavy gear and rotten bottom rigs to tackle the Conger that can exceed 60lb. It has been a few years since a monster that size has been landed but I am sure they should be around.

Portland Harbour: Lots of bait fish in the harbour but little sign of anything else. Even the Mullet seem to be absent. It has to be worth a go with some Peeler Crab around Ferrybridge to see if the Bass are in yet.

Weymouth Bay: I had a wander around the harbour this morning. I noticed that the Thin Lipped Mullet have disappeared again and all that is left is a few dozen Thick Lips. Tonight is Weymouth Angling Society’s junior night on the Stone Pier. If you are interested in getting your kids into fishing, or just want to see how many fish are being caught, go down there and talk to one of the club members.

Guiding & Lessons: If you are looking for Bass guiding in Dorset or any other guiding, then I am opening up the diary again for the next 6 months. Now that they fish have started to show, I should have some good sessions.  Have a look on the guiding link at the top of the page or drop me an email for more details to [email protected]