Catch report & fishing forecast for Dorset including Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 30th December 2012

I know the burning question on many of your lips is can I fish Chesil? The very simple answer is NO! The wind has dropped a little this morning but the sea is very rough with waves exceeding 4m. The shingle bank is a single steep bank instead of the series of ledges you are used to. This steep bank continues to fall away making it even more dangerous.

I was so bored yesterday having been desperate to fish that I walked around a number of my regular marks looking for some inspiration as to where would give me the best chance of a fish. Hopefully I may have identified a few spots that produced yesterday and will hopefully do the same again today. It seems that the Bass have decided to make a bit of an appearance with fish being caught from Preston, Ringstead and Church Ope Cove.

I received an email from Lee Morgan, who lives in Stevenage, but is a regular visitor to Weymouth. He sent in a report of a good session he had early yesterday morning at Ossmington. Casting only 20-30yds out and using light gear on a simple running ledger he managed 3 Bass on frozen Lugworm. Good on you Lee for braving the elements and catching some fish.

 

Water Temperature: 9.9*c             Weymouth High Tide: 7.58pm, 1.96m

Wind: WSW 30 gusting more than 40mph shifting to SW later this afternoon.

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Very rough and dangerous, the water is heavily coloured huge rafts of weed have built up all along the beach but especially in Chesil Cove.

Portland: The West side of the island and the Bill are very rough. The East side is more sheltered with a swell of 2m.

Portland Harbour: Wavelets with slightly coloured water.

Weymouth Bay: Calm but heavily coloured and lots of freshwater coming out of the harbour.

Chesil Beach forecast: Too dangerous and rough to fish.

Portland: Whilst the West side is a bit too rough to fish, marks such as Church Ope Cove and Chine may well provide some good fishing. Large fish baits will help catch large Bull Huss and Pollock. The water is going to be too dirty for Wrasse fishing but there is always the chance of a Cod and Bass.

Portland Harbour: Flounders are showing up in decent numbers in the Harbour as it does not have as much fresh water in it as most other marks. I did not get a chance to fish the harbour yesterday, but with the reports of Bass around I would give Sandsfoot and the area along the Rodwell Trail a go. Water clarity will allow lure fishing over the reefs.

Weymouth Bay: Preston has produced some fish recently and it should provide a good sheltered fishing mark again today. Preston was one of the areas that I visited yesterday on my wanderings. I talked to a couple of anglers who showed me a couple of Bass they had caught. One was just under 4lb. They also claimed that they had a small Codling, but had returned it. As I didn’t see the fish myself I cant confirm that, but I know that Preston has produced all sorts in the past. It is one of the most under rated beaches in the area.

Weymouth harbour should be fairly busy with the Weymouth Angling Society’s Bangers and Beans competition from 2-7pm this afternoon. If you want to get out and have a friendly fish it is a great competition for all ages and abilities. You don’t have to be a member of one of the best fishing clubs in the country. For more details have a look at their website www.weymouthanglingsociety.com

The Purbecks: With the wind being a little more Westerly it will give you an opportunity to fish Osmington Mills, Ringstead Bay and Windspit. Reports of Bass from two of these venues has me urgently packing my bait gear and heading off there today. A serious word of warning though. The Environment Agency have issued landslide warnings for all along the coast. The water has saturated the clay cliffs making them very susceptible to falls and slippages. Do not walk under cliffs or near cliff edges. We have already lost 3 people to landslides in Dorset this year.

Poole Harbour: Large amounts of flood water are having a big effect on the flounder fishing. One or two fish have been caught but I would have to think long and hard as to whether it was worth travelling a long way to catch a single Flounder.

Fish of the month or week competition! I am going to start running a fish of the month competition and if I can get a sponsor or two interested, I will run a weekly competition. I will release more details of the prizes in the next couple of days. The competition will be for what myself and the sponsor think is the best fish for that period. It may not be the largest fish, as all factors including location and tackle will be taken into account. The fish must have been caught from the waters of Dorset or Devon and have been caught during the period of the competition. You need to email me a picture and give details of where, when and how it was caught. To ensure your secret spots are kept secret I only need to know the rough location so get sending your pictures in now to [email protected]

Guiding: Due to the Bass fishing falling off I am only taking bookings for traditional bait fishing sessions for January, I will be targeting Cod, and Whiting from the beach and large Wrasse and Pollock from the shore. I am happy to fit in a few short Pollock and Wrasse lure sessions from the rocks, but these will be limited to 1/2 day or 2 to 3 hour sessions. These can be tailored to your requirements. Drop me an email for more details [email protected]