Fishing Forecast for Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 11th September 2012

Sorry everyone for the lack of updates but I have been so busy I have almost not even had time to go fishing. I say almost, as I did get out on Sunday with my friend Paul for a quick Mullet session down the harbour. As anyone that has fished for Mullet will know, they are not easy to catch, and on Sunday they stayed true to form. I didn’t manage one, but Paul did. We got the Mullet feeding but in typical fashion they would ignore the hook bait. We discussed a change of tactic that paid off. I am going to try it again before letting you in on it, just in case it was a one off.

Water Temperature: 17.1*c             Weymouth High Tide: 3.23pm, 1.52m

Wind: NE 19mph

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Choppy with a 2m swell, the beach will flatten out quite a bit as the wind comes round from the NE. Water is slightly coloured with rafts of weed all along.

Portland: 2m swell with a bit of colour in the water.

Portland Harbour: Wavelets and clear

Weymouth Bay: Medium sized waves creating a nice surf.

Chesil Beach forecast: The small tides are not producing consistent catches. It seems the fish are only feeding for short periods during the main tidal run, which normally only lasts for a couple of hours. This has caused quite a bit of frustration for a lot of anglers. The best time is between 2 and 4 hours after high water and low water.

This is important to remember especially when fishing for Plaice and Bream. Keep your weights as small as you can and use a rolling ball weight or plain sinker rather than a grip lead. Longer traces mover better in the smaller tidal flow.

The Mackerel are also a bit patchy at the moment, but one fish that seems to be in abundance on the beach is mullet. Small strips of mackerel just behind the surf line are working really well. Garfish are also around in good numbers and we are still seeing plenty of Smoothound.

Portland: I am not sure if the gill nets are still in place around the Bill, as I have not had a chance to get down there. Hopefully they will have been removed and this will allow some decent Pollock fishing again. As always lures are the best method for catching them especially at dusk. If you want to use bait then Mackerel or Squid strip will catch. You will also get some nice Wrasse on worm baits.

Portland Harbour: According to those responsible for ruining my fishing for the past 6 weeks, Portland harbour will be fully open again on Thursday. The normal restrictions regarding Portland Port area are still in place but the rest of it will be open again. Bass, Mullet, Flounder and Scad are the main species in the harbour at the moment, with a few Gilthead Bream along the Rodwell trail area.

Weymouth Bay: Lots of Mullet in the harbour and some of them are huge. They seem to be feeding quite aggressively before they move off to open water. With the wind coming out of the NE it may be a chance for a Bass in the surf from Preston Beach. Peeler Crab really is the best bait for Bass in the surf.

Boat & Kayak fishing: The Shambles is fishing really well for Plaice at the moment and the reefs around it have been producing some really nice big Black Bream. The strong winds have made kayak fishing a bit difficult for a few days, but the NE wind will give you some areas to some shelter in Portland Harbour. Bass, Pollock and Thornback Rays are the main target. Lure or live Prawn will take the Bass.

I have a few slots available in September for guiding and one to one sessions. These can be tailored to your requirements including mixed days of bait and lure fishing. Drop me an email for more details [email protected]