Catch report & fishing forecast for Dorset including Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 28th December 2012

It seems that there is a slight lull in the wind even though it is forecast to be blowing 26mph this morning it is not. However the beach is still very rough and the surf line exceeds 30m, so even if you did get your casts out to a 100m with a 7oz lead, you will just lose all your gear as it gets buried under tons of pebbles. Despite the severe conditions some stupid people are still fishing the beach. It is always non locals that think they know better and put lives in danger. Personally I think if you are that stupid you deserve to be washed away, but I feel sorry for the guys that have to risk their lives rescuing pig headed morons. I don’t care if you have travelled from the other side of Bristol or even Aberdeen. If Chesil beach is too dangerous then go drown some worms in Portland or Weymouth Harbour. You might not catch anything but you will still be able to go home to your family at the end of the day.

If you have ever been tempted to fish a competition but have always been a bit daunted by the thought of mixing it up with serious match fishermen, then why not come and have a go at the Weymouth Angling Society’s Bangers & Beans competition. It is being held on Sunday the 30th of December from 2 – 7pm and is a great afternoon. It is normally fished within the confines of Weymouth Harbour and as has been shown in past years it can be won by anyone. Often it is kids or women anglers that win it with Flounders or Pollock, sometimes from right in front of the Angling Society HQ. The club stays open for the duration of the competition and you can buy drinks (very cheap) and other refreshments. At the end of the competition everyone gets a plate full of bangers and beans. For more details have a look on their website www.weymouthanglingsociety.com

Water Temperature: 9.6*c             Weymouth High Tide: 6.58pm, 1.91m

Wind: SW 26 – 32mph gusting more than 40mph

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.

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. My top tip for tomorrow morning is to catch the 2 hours either side of high water and fish the reefs around Sandsfoot Castle with a lure. This time last year I had a couple of good sessions when like now high water coincided with dawn. Surface or just sub surface lures will work best. Seaspin Pro-Q and Coixedda are great examples to use as well as Luckycraft Gunfish.

Weymouth Bay: Preston has produced some fish recently and it should provide a good sheltered fishing mark again today. With the amount of freshwater coming out of the harbour and flowing across the bay, it wont be great fishing but it should produce some fish. Not a lot to say about the piers, not seen too many poeple fish them and those that have are not reporting good results.

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]