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

Yes I know the site looks different every time you look at it, and you may even see changes as you are looking at it today. Hopefully this will make the site even better for you as a reader and make it easier for users of mobile devices and tablets. One point that has been fed back is that because of the frequency of the posts, some interesting articles are being missed by those that don’t come back every day or two. So we are going to work on a new home page that will highlight the most interesting articles for the week. Don’t worry as the fishing reports and forecast are not going away, they just might not be on the front page.

As part of the new look and style of the website and so that I can get other features and articles in, I may reduce some of the daily forecasts. If nothing much has changed since the day before then I wont change the forecast. However if like today the wind has got up and changed everything, then I will update the forecast.

The wind certainly has changed things around. Chesil has become a lot rougher over night. Had the water temperature been up another one degree then I would be down on the beach fishing for Bass. As it is there may well be quite a few Bass around in that surf. A large Mackerel flank or head, or maybe even better a whole Herring (as that is the main bait fish at the moment), just cast out no more than 10 yds behind the surf line. As you might be able to see from the webcam the surf is running back from the shore for about 25yds, so a 30 to 35yd cast will get you where the Bass would be.

Sea Conditions: 

Water temperature 9.6*c.

Chesil Beach: Rough with 2m waves sometimes exceeding 4m . The water has a lot of silt in it..

Portland: Rough with 2m swell and coloured water.

Portland Harbour: Wavelets and clear.

Weymouth Bay: Calm with a slight tinge to the water.

Chesil Beach forecast: It is rough on the beach, so if you do go out take great care. Your pretty much going to be out of luck if you are thinking of going for Mackerel or Herring today. Coloured and rough water tend to keep them at distance, and as they are sight feeders, if they can’t see it they cant chase it. Bass on the other hand feed  by sight, smell and vibrations, and they are tough old fish. Which is why the thrive in the food rich surf.

Dogfish, Pout and Rays are all happy to feed in rough and dirty conditions as well, but with a gale force wind blowing into your face it makes casting for them a bit more difficult.

Portland: When it gets rough on Portland you can often find areas to fish out of the wind and today is no exception. Church Ope Cove, will give shelter from the wind and at the moment the weed has not built up in the bay. Water clarity is reasonable, meaning that Wrasse, Bass and Pollock are all possibilities. Unless you fancy your luck for a Bass in the turbid waters around the Bill, then I would give that mark a miss. Once the su ngoes down your chance for a Bull Huss and Conger are far greater. The Bull Huss like dirty water over rough ground. Chine, Church Ope and Durdle Pier are all good marks for this evening. Best bait is normally Mackerel.

Portland Harbour: I have seen a lot more bird activity within the harbour over the past two days. Expect the Bass soon. I have spotted some small shoals of Mullet up the Fleet and around the marina.

Weymouth Bay: Plenty of small fish coming from Stone Pier with the odd decent one amongst them. You should start to see Garfish and Mackerel being caught on light float tackle from now on. I have not heard of anyone fishing Preston end of Weymouth beach, but with small tides you are only likely to pick up a few Flounder.

Boat and Kayak report: As I mentioned earlier, some of the posts are coming up so fast you might have missed yesterdays boat forecast. So have a look at the post below to read the first of the weekly boat articles.

Guiding & Lessons: At last I can see some light at the end of the tunnel for the Bass and other predators that love lures. I know they are not in yet, but they wont be far away, With that in mind, I will be filling up my diary for guiding sessions from the last week in May. Next Thursday is the next date for  the River Cottage Shoreline course, and I believe there are still a couple of places left on it..  Have a look on the guiding link at the top of the page or drop me an email for more details to [email protected]