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

Still struggling with no Mac, so sorry for the lack of frequency of the posts at the moment.

The weekend has pretty much gone as I expected with about 10% of anglers that targeted Plaice actually managing to catch some   spotties, and some of them were decent fish.  A couple were over 3lb and had it been a bit laterin the season, they would easily have gone 4lb. One of the biggest obstacles to catching Plaice on Chesil is that many of the fish are at distance, putting them out of reach of a lot of anglers. I have fished beside some very good fishermen such as Dave Chidzoy, and watched as he has blasted baits to the horizon, then wound in with double shots of Plaice. Depressing or what? But there is something you can do to help yourself out, and that is join a casting club. There is a Weymouth casting club that meets regularly and welcomes casters of all abilities. I believe they meet at Maiden Castle near Dorchester. Unfortunately I don’t have the full details about the club, but I do know some of the members read this site. If one of the members can drop me an email with details, I will put the information up for those that may want to join.

I think this year could be one of the best for Plaice for a long time. Reports from Brighton and Eastney in Hampshire are indicating bumper catches. It has been helped with the setting up of the Lyme Bay Marine Reserve, which has seen reduced commercial fishing pressure in the area over the past couple of years.

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Small waves, and very little swell. The water  has a lot of colour in it still but it is clearing slowly.

Portland: A 1m swell with slightly coloured water

Portland Harbour: Wavelets with clear water.

Weymouth Bay: Small surf clear water areas away from the harbour entrance.

Chesil Beach forecast:  Apart from the obvious target of early Plaice, there are a lot of Rockling and small Whiting coming all along the beach. Night tides are producing the normal Dogfish and Pout.

Portland:Wrasse are the top target today on Portland, with clearer water allowing them to see the baits. Hardback Crabs will sort out the bigger Wrasse that are still around. Tides are not great for Pollock today, but it might be worth a go at Church Ope Cove over high water this afternoon.

Portland Harbour: The harbour is still very quite, with only the odd Flounder worth targeting.

Weymouth Bay: Whiting, Pollock, Pout and Flounder are being caught from the Stone Pier. With a bit of surf running at Preston, there is always an outside chance of a Bass in the surf on Peeler Crab.

Boat Fishing: The Weymouth charter fleet having been having some great wrecking trips with plenty of double figure Pollock coming on most trips. Small boats have also been having success from the Hood entrance.

Species Hunt: I think I will create an album to show the different species that I catch this year and see how many different ones I can catch. I know that species hunting is very popular on a number of forums. Why not join me and see what different fish you can catch over the year. I am going to set myself a target of 30 different species. Drop me an email and let me know your targets and how you get on throughout the year. I especially want to see your pictures of some of the more unusual species that you catch.

Guiding & Lessons: I know it is the heart of winter, but now is a good time to think about booking a 1 to 1 lesson or get on one of my fishing workshops. This will give you plenty of time to practice the techniques you learn before the fish turn up again in the spring. Have a look on the guiding link at the top of the page or drop me an email for more details to [email protected]