Fishing forecast for Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 17th July 2012

After that blow yesterday the beach has been stirred up quite a bit. As the worst of the winds didn’t last for more than a few hours the beach has not coloured up too badly at the Portland end. I will be heading towards Cogden this morning to see if I can pick up a Bass on some Peeler Crab that I have left. I fished Portland Bill yesterday afternoon with lures whilst the winds were at there strongest. It was certainly exciting fishing and it gave me a chance to try out a lure that I thought would fish in those conditions. I have taken some video of the session that I will post up later.

Water Temperature: 14.7*c                 Weymouth High Tide: 6.40pm, 1.94m

Wind SW 18mph

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Still a 2m swell on the beach with some rafts of weed in Chesil Cove. The water at the Portland end of the beach is slightly coloured, but at the West Bexington end it is milky brown.

Portland: A bit of a swell up to 2m, but the water is clear.

Portland Harbour: Calm. Water is clear except on the ebb around Ferrybridge

Weymouth Bay: Calm with the water finally becoming clearer.

Chesil Beach forecast: Today should be a good Bass day on the beach. Peeler Crab, or large squid or Mackerel baits will produce the best results. The Rays also like it when the water has been stirred up and is dirty. This year has produced a lot of Rays from West Bexington, alongside some very nice Smoothound. Once again the best bait for both species is Peeler Crab. There is still Plaice on the beach but they are widely dispersed all along the beach. Large shoals of Mackerel are present all along the beach, but you will need to be a fairly decent caster to be able to clear the surf and get out to where they are.

Portland: Great care will be needed for fishing the rock marks today, but there are a lot of fish around the Bill. Wrasse. Pollock, Garfish and Bass can all be expected on lures and bait fishing. If you do want to bait fish then the best way to keep your tackle would be to use a float set up. Worms for the Wrasse and Mackerel for the Pollock and Garfish.

Portland Harbour: Still fishing poorly at the moment, but as the freshwater levels start to drop more fish will move back in.

Weymouth Bay: Similar to Portland Harbour, the fresh water is badly effecting the fishing in the Bay. Smaller fish can still be found around the Piers and Bass do not mind fresh water.

Boat and Kayak fishing: Most charter boats will be staying alongside today and it will be pretty lumpy outside of the Harbour. Take advantage of being able to launch at Castletown before it is shutdown for the Olympics. Portland Marina has now been closed to everyone not involved in the Olympics.