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

This week marks the 1st anniversary of the site, and I have to say I am amazed at how successful it has been. Looking at my stats from March to December last year the site had just short of 3 million hits. Since January this year it has already had almost 1.1 million hits. This encourages me to keep going with the site, and in the next few months I aim to make it even more informative and interesting. I have just taken delivery of a new Gopro HD Hero3 waterproof camera. I took it out yesterday to see what kind of results I got from some underwater shots. I was amazed at the quality of the video images. I will be using it to show lure techniques in detail. I also have something special in mind for it, but if it goes wrong it could cost me a lot of money, but as they say no pain no gain 🙂

I know I don’t always  get my forecasts correct, but I try to base them on my own knowledge, what I am catching at the time (if I am lucky enough to be out) and what information that I get from others.  From the feedback I receive I am not too far off the mark most of the time. For this to be possible I would like to thank a number of shops and individuals who have helped me:

Almost all the tackle shops from Weymouth to Seaton regularly provide me with catch reports from reliable sources.

Leo from Poole who was one of my first individual contributors, and has provided catch reports from all over Dorset.

Bob and his group of fellow anglers that fish the coast from Exemouth to Cogden. I can’t wait for these guys to take me Ray fishing and show me how its done.

Trevor, thanks for keeping me informed of what’s going on in the areas that I can no longer access. Your reward is in the post.

Celebrations and thanks aside, I am sure you want to know how Chesil is fishing. Well to be honest it is very hit and miss. One day it is producing a load of Plaice then nothing but the odd one or two for the next couple of days. At this time of year it has to be expected. With another cold front coming in on Sunday it looks like everything is going to be back to the normal fish arrival cycles we have been used to. Don’t expect to see many Mackerel before April.

The shore fishing may be a bit slow at the moment but boat fishing is as usual pretty good out of Weymouth. The local charter fleet have been out catching some great bags of Pollock from the offshore wrecks. Some of the boats have stayed closer to home and had some lovely catches of Turbot and Brill. It is still quite early for both species and though they are a bit thin on the ground, Turbot up to 14 1/2lb have been landed from Tiger Lilly.

 

Sea Conditions: 

Water temperature 6.9*c

Chesil Beach: Despite the wind being almost non existent there is quite a swell running. Be careful this is when the beach is at it’s most dangerous. The water has a milky tinge to it.

Portland: 1.5m swell and almost clear water

Portland Harbour: Calm with clear water.

Weymouth Bay: Calm with a slight colour in the water.

Chesil Beach forecast: The tides may be small but the swell that is hitting the beach provides perfect conditions for Plaice and Dab fishing. It is not too strong to put the fish off coming closer to shore to feed off the food disturbed by the constant breakers. Bass love these conditions as well. As the water has cleared a lot you could choose to fish either with bait, or my favourite a lure.

Portland: The conditions look great for Wrasse fishing with lures today. Low water seems to do better for Wrasse on lures, especially in the winter. Pollock should make an appearance as well. Best times for the Pollock are dawn and dusk,

Portland Harbour: Reports from the harbour show that it is still very quite, but it should not stay that way for long. As soon as the water temperature starts to rise that is one of the first marks to start to liven up.

Weymouth Bay: It is quiet on Preston Beach, with hardly anyone fishing it, but the Stone Pier is still producing small Pollock, Pout and Wrasse. The forecast for late Sunday and Monday is very strong NE winds. That should really stir up the beach and might  bring in some early Bass.

Boat and Kayak Fishing: Use the next couple of days to get out if you can. Conditions are lovely even for smaller boats and kayaks. The Shambles will start to fish well any time from now. Small boats can safely fish Portland Harbour and the harbour entrances are always good for Pollock at any time of the year. Reports from further down the coast suggest that the Thornbacks are around again, so they should move in to the harbour.

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]