Fishing forecast for Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 29th August 2012

I finally managed to get my 200^th lure caught Bass for the year yesterday. Getting the last two was a bit of a struggle compared to the other 198. It just seemed as though I had some sort of jinx, as I had managed to find and hook quite a few over the past week, I was not able to land them.

200th Bass for the year so far. It is small but welcome

It is going to be another windy afternoon, creating some uncomfortable fishing conditions if you want to fish Chesil Beach. However there are plenty of other options that will give some good fishing with out being blown all over the place.

Water Temperature: 17.7*c             Weymouth High Tide: 3.38pm, 1.64m

Wind: SW 29mph gusting 37mph

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Rough with 2m waves and some larger ones in excess of 3m. There is a long surf run of and lots of rafts of weed all along the beach. the water is carrying a fair amount of silt creating a milky green colour.

Portland: Rough on the West side , with a large swell exceeding 2m at times pushing down the East side. Plenty of weed in the coves and a fair bit of colour in the water.

Portland Harbour: Wavelets with almost clear water except Ferrybridge where some dirty water is coming out of the Fleet.

Weymouth Bay: Wavelets with clear water.

Chesil Beach forecast: The conditions are making the beach almost unfishable. The long surf run off causes your line to go slack then become buried under the shingle. If you do decided to give it a go the main target will be Bass in the surf. A Mackerel head on a 5/0 hook is going to be a very good bait.

Portland: Not ideal conditions for fishing the rocks. The Wrasse will move out into deeper water but you should still be able to catch Pollock and Garfish on a float fished strip of Mackerel. I like lure fishing for Bass when the conditions are rough like today. Choice of lure is very important as you need something that will bight in hard when you are fishing the higher ledges. I have been using the Seaspin Buginu which has a good weight to it and the lip would normally make it dive to around 1m, but fishing from a height reduces its normal swimming depth to around 10-15cm making it ideal for the rocky marks around the Bill. Do not fish the ledges close to the water, you will get washed off.

Portland Harbour: This is a good mark if you fancy some shelter. Both bait and lure fishing will produce Bass from all along the area from Ferrybridge to Sandsfot sailing club. Peeler Crab will be the best bait, but Ragworm will take fish. If you want to lure fish then you need to use either a Savage Gear Cannibal Shad or Sandeel and fish them just fast enough so that they don’t hit the bottom. Alternativly and my favourite lure for the shallow water around there is an IMA Komomo II which has a wonderful wiggle even when fished slowly. It fishes just under the surface making it an ideal lure where the water is shallow and there is a lot of weed. A simple straight forward retrieve is all you need to make this lure work.

Weymouth Bay: Preston Beach is a good mark if you want to get out of the wind and have some comfortable fishing. However due to the numbers of holiday makers on the beach this is a night time only venue at the moment. Some nice Bass and Rays have been landed from it this week.

Both the Stone Pier and the Pleasure Pier will produce fish today. Float fish Mackerel or Ragworm for Wrasse, Pollock Garfish and Mackerel.

Boat & Kayak fishing: The charter fleet will be staying in port today, but the forecast for the next few days looks good. When they do get out again, I am sure they will be back into the good numbers of Bream that are around at the moment. The commercial boats have been catching a lot of Bass in the Race at the start of the flood. They have now switched to joey Mackerel as their main bait. I am organising a 5 hour boat trip on Tuesday the 4^th of September so if you want to join me then drop me an email to [email protected] The cost is £25 for the trip. Rods and Reels can be hired for £10 if you don’t have your own, but numbers are limited for the tackle.

It is a bit too windy for the Kayak today, even in the confines of Portland Harbour, though die hard Kayakers could take advantage of the shelter offered around Sandsfoot Castle.

I was out with a Client on a one to one short guiding session yesterday and he managed to land a nice Bass. Unfortunately he managed to lose a very big one, probably the best of the season so far. For those interested,  I have a few slots available in September for guiding and one to one sessions. These can be tailored to your requirements including mixed days of bait and lure fishing. Drop me an email for more details [email protected]