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

I had no intention of doing an update today, as I had expected it to be just the same as yesterday, but in true fishing fashion, conditions have changed overnight. The wind has dropped but the sea state has increased, creating a fairly large swell and back surf on Chesil. Please be careful in these conditions as large waves often appear out of nowhere, swamping unsuspecting anglers. Looking at Windguru, conditions for tomorrow look better than they were forecast yesterday.

Quite a few anglers made it on to the beach yesterday, but once again results were mixed. A few Plaice were landed from the Western end of Chesil, especially around Abbotsbury and to the right towards the old coastguard cottages. Other fish included Rockling and Dabs. Further to the East around Ferrybridge it was more pout and Dogfish with a few Pollock and even a couple of Smoothound. I spoke with a couple of guys fishing right in at Chesil Cove who had managed to land 4 Wrasse up to 3 1/2lb on Ragworm.

Sea Conditions: 

Water temperature 6.2*c. Yes unbelievably the temperature is still going down.

Chesil Beach: There is a 2m swell with the odd wave over 3m. The water is still very coloured.

Portland: 2m swell and lightly coloured water

Portland Harbour: Wavelets with clear water.

Weymouth Bay: A bit of surf on Preston Beach with almost clear water.

Chesil Beach forecast: recent reports indicate that there are Plaice,Dabs,  Rockling, Pout and Dogfish being caught during the day. However almost without exception the Plaice have been caught at long range on clipped down rigs baited with Ragworm.

Portland: With some sun shining and warming the rocks up a bit, the Wrasse should move in and feed. They should be close enough to catch them on float fishing gear. Use Ragworm and set the float depth to about 6ft. Pollock will be around  at dusk and will be fairly easy to catch on lures.

Portland Harbour: With lots of windsurfers around today, fishing will be restricted to Ferrybridge and round to Castle Cove, or Castletown. Flounder and early Bass will be the main targets.

Weymouth Bay: The Stone Pier has produced a few small fish and is always a good back up mark. Preston has the biggest chance of producing a Bass in the surf. Stay light and watch for signs of birds feeding in the surf and follow them if you can.

Boat Fishing: I have just been on the phone to a couple of the Weymouth Skippers who are sat at home today with this wind. They are confident that they are going to get out tomorrow and hopefully Sunday. A few of them still have places left on their trips. They all report that the Wreck and Plaice / Turbot fishing is fantastic at the moment. Chris Caines has done a lot of work on the new look  Deapsea website. I think it looks great and is a lot easier to navigate through. You can find charter boats from all over the country and local accommodation if you want to stay over. Have a look and see what you think for yourself  Deepsea

Guiding & Lessons: Normally I would be looking to book guiding sessions for the next month, but with the water being so cold, I am going to limit the guiding to bait fishing for April and I will start the Bass guiding in May. I am still happy to give lessons in both bait and lure fishing during April, but don’t expect to catch too much on lures until nearer the end of the month. I am starting the first of the River Cottage Shoreline course from the 4th of April.  Have a look on the guiding link at the top of the page or drop me an email for more details to [email protected]