Catch report & fishing forecast for Dorset including Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 11th January 2013

Another weekend is almost upon us and a chance for many of you to get out fishing. Well it looks like it could be quite a good weekend for it. Plenty of fish being caught at the moment, which is a little bit unusual for January, as it has normally gone very quite by now. There are some strong and very cold winds forecast for Sunday, but that should have little effect on those wanting to fish Chesil, as the wind is North Easterly, making it fairly sheltered on Chesil and it will also help to blast those baits out a long way.

Water Temperature: 10.3*c             Weymouth High Tide: 6.28pm, 2.14m

Wind: SW 11mph

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: It has picked up a little bit overnight with the wind, but it seems to be dropping of again. The waves are averaging 1.5m with a bit of surf. The water is very coloured.

Portland: Calm with a small swell, the water is  lightly coloured.

Portland Harbour: Calm with clear water.

Weymouth Bay: Calm with a bit of colour in the water.

Chesil Beach forecast: We are approaching spring tides, so the tides are going to be larger over the next few days. This will give plenty of tidal movement on the beach without the need for 6 or 7oz of lead to hold bottom. Because of the water flow baits such as Mackerel and worms will become washed out much quicker. I can see plenty of Whiting, Pout, Dogfish and Dabs being caught. However if you are coming down to Chesil from a distance to catch Cod, then you might want to re-think. Historically January is not a good month for Cod on Chesil, and recent catch reports indicate that this one is not going to be any different. Unless we get another decent blow it is not worth targeting Cod as your primary catch.

Portland: Wrasse and Pollock fishing should be good on the island in these conditions. You can target then with lures or bait. Live hardback crabs work really well for the big Wrasse. The Pulpit is a favourite mark for large Wrasse, however I would not recommend climbing up it to fish from. Float fishing around the Bill with strips of Mackerel or Ragworm should see some Pollock, however lures will catch you far more fish. Seaspin Leppe 22, Megabass Metal X Bubblehead in bronze and Ron Thompson Sidewinders in white are the best lures to use.

Portland Harbour: Flounder and Bass are in the harbour at the moment. Bass have been caught from under Welworthy Social club and at Ferrybridge. I see that Savage Gear have released the Panic Prey lures. These are an almost exact copy of the very popular Patchinko surface lures, but at almost half the price. I caught a lot of fish on the Patchinko a couple of years ago, so I will be trying them out. The only place that I can find that seems to have stock of them at the moment is Chesil Bait n Tackle

Weymouth Bay: Even though we are in the middle of winter both the pleasure and Stone pier are producing fish. Wrasse, pout and Pollock are making regular appearances, with some Flounders fishing from the end of the piers or into the harbour. Small Ragworm baits or small soft plastic grub tails work equally well for the Flounder. Catching them on light line tactics can be a lot of fun.

Poole Harbour: Reports from Poole harbour are still good with plenty of fish still around. They should stay for a few more weeks yet.

Boat & Kayak fishing: I did manage to get out on my mates boat yesterday and we had a great day. We fished around Portland and although we didn’t manage any Cod, we did catch Conger and loads of good sized Whiting. Once the tide had stopped running so hard we were getting fish as soon as the baits hit the bottom. I found the best bait was whole Calamari Squid. You know you have had a good days fishing, when you have to come home because you have ran out of bait.

Because the boat fishing is so good at the moment I am going to try and organise a half day trip out next week. The cost is likely going to be £25 per person and gear is available to hire if you don’t have your own. send me an email if you are interested in a trip.

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]