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

Very mixed results from various marks this weekend. I know quite a few people headed of in search of the Plaice and most were unsuccessful. There were a few exceptions with a couple of thin 3lb fish coming from the left of West Bexington. What I have been surprised at is the number of Smoothound that are still being caught. It has to be a good sign for wh goen the water warms up again. If that ever happens. As is typical at this time of year we are going to be stuck with an Easterly wind for next week at least. At least it should keep the rain away and keep Chesil calm. This will make for good Plaice fishing in a few weeks time.

I can’t see me doing much fishing this week with the exception of a trip to Cogden on Wednesday. What I am looking forward to is my first proper lure fishing session for Bass this coming weekend. I have some new lures I am very keen to try out.

Keep an eye on the site over the next day or so, as I am about to release some exciting information regarding a new course that will be starting in April.

Sea Conditions: 

Water temperature 7*c and still dropping.

Chesil Beach: Small waves, and very little swell. The colour is slowly dropping out of the water and it looks to have a milky tinge to it.

Portland: Calm and almost clear water

Portland Harbour: Surf on the Easterly facing beaches with clear water.

Weymouth Bay: A small surf going out about 100m. The water has a bit of colour in it.

Chesil Beach forecast: With better tides that are rising to a decent sized spring the beach is likely to improve. Dabs, Plaice and Rays will be the main target from Bexington and Abbotsbury. If you fancy a go down the Portland end of the beach then you could hit some Conger and Pollock at the moment. Marks such as the landing craft and Checkpoint will soon start to pick up.

Portland: Good tides for a dusk session at the Bill today, in search of Pollock. There should be plenty around at the moment, and they should be bigger than average. This time last year I was doing very well on White Sidewinders and Metal X Bubbleheads. This year I have a couple of new weapons I want to try out in my lure box. Don’t forget that the Wrasse are still around and the chance of a big one is still on the cards. Once the water warms up again it will be more difficult to get through the small Wrasse.

Portland Harbour: The few people that I did speak to over the weekend did not get into any fish from the harbour, but I do expect the first Mullet to start showing soon.

Weymouth Bay: Still plenty of Small Whiting and Pollock coming from the Stone Pier. Some of the LRF guys have been getting some good results from all along the inner harbour. If you are looking for Flounder then have a go in Weymouth Harbour. I think the bitterly cold NE wind has put a lot of people of fishing at Preston.

Boat Fishing: The Weymouth charter fleet having been having some great wrecking trips with plenty of double figure Pollock coming on most trips. I have spoke to a few skippers this morning and they expect to be out this weekend again.

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]