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

Well I wish I had lots of new interesting news and reports to give you today, but unfortunately we are in the middle of January and not a lot happens. If you fancy some beach fishing then there is one piece of good news, it would seem that there are still some Cod on the beach and almost all of them are coming from Abbotsbury. I know of a 17lb Cod that was caught on Monday.

Water Temperature: Sub-surface 8.2*, Surface

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Calm with a short swell. The water has a milky tinge to it.

Portland: A 1m swell with slightly coloured water.

Portland Harbour: Small choppy waves with clear water.

Weymouth Bay: A lot of surf running along the Esplanade and towards Preston Beach.

Chesil Beach forecast: With the exception of on odd Cod and some Dabs there is not a lot coming from the beach during the day except hordes of Dogfish. Night time is producing the normal Whiting, Dogfish and Pout. As we are on small tides you can reduce your weight to a 4oz plain sinker and let it roll around to find the fish holding areas.

Portland: Good conditions for a Wrasse from the East side of the Island. If you don’t mind fishing from heights then Chine would be a good choice. You never know what else you might pick up from these cliff marks, with Rockling and Conger fairly common, especially if you use fish baits. With high tide coinciding with dusk today, it would be well worth having a go for the Pollock on lures. The area around the Bill and Church Ope Cove are the easiest to access. White Sidewinders, Seaspin Leppe 22 and Megabass Metal X bubble heads are my favourite lures for Pollock. Simply cast them out and retrieve at a steady pace. Don’t be too keen to strike when a fish hits. Pollock often have lots of goes at the lure before they hook themselves.

Portland Harbour: With some surf in the harbour it would be worth having a go with Ragworm for a Bass.

Weymouth Bay: The piers are fishing well for Whiting, both during the day and at night. Plenty of Pout are also being caught with the odd Flounder and Pollock. Preston is good for Flounder and Whiting. It would not surprise me to see some late Bass or an Undulate come from this mark.

Poole Harbour: You still have a few weeks of decent fishing left for Flounder in Poole harbour. Best baits are Peeler Crab if you are feeling flush, or Ragworm. They might not be the most attractive fish, but on light gear they are sporting.

Fish of the month competition: I have one potential sponsor showing interest in supporting this competition, if any others would like to come forward even if it is just to sponsor one month then please contact me.  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 & 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]