Fishing forecast for Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 18th September 2012

Well the recent reports that I have had have been very mixed. It seems that the Western end of Chesil has gone very quite, with very few Plaice and Dabs being caught. The Eastern end has proved a bit more productive, but big tides today could mean that the fish will stop feeding during the mid part of the tide when the flow is at its strongest. This is when I often look for alternative venues with a bit less tide flow. Portland Harbour or Preston Beach take some beating. I will be spending a couple of hours on Chesil at Ferrybridge this afternoon on bait, before switching to lures a bit latter and hoping to emulate the session I had on Sunday. In case you missed it have a look at the post below this one.

Water Temperature: 16.9*c             Weymouth High Tide: 9.07pm, 2.44m

Wind: NW 19mph

Sea Conditions

Chesil Beach: A bit of a swell still on the beach with 1m waves. Colour is almost clear but there are some rafts of weed building up, especially down in Chesil Cove.

Portland: 1m swell with a little bit of colour in the water.

Portland Harbour: Wavelets with clear water.

Weymouth Bay: Calm and clear

Chesil Beach forecast: With a stiff breeze the beach may be a little uncomfortable to fish today, but it could well be worth the effort. There is enough surf to make it worth while putting a big bait just behind the surf for a Bass. Bream and Trigger Fish should be within easy casting range on the Adelaide and the landing craft at Ferrybridge. Gurnard and Mackerel should be all along the beach, with Plaice and dabs towards West Bexington. The big tides mean that the Plaice normally keep there heads down until the tide eases. I prefer to use slightly shorter snoods on my traces to prevent the bait being lifted too high in the water. Unless you are targeting the large shoals of Mullet that are around Cogden. A long trace with floating beads and a size 4 hook with a small strip of Mackerel belly will work.

Portland: Should be good for Wrasse and Pollock but be careful of the swell when you are near the lower ledges. Fish at dusk tonight with high water only an hour away and you would be hard pushed not to catch Pollock if you use lures. White Sidewinders work really well.

Portland Harbour: I could well be moving from Chesil to Hamm Beach to seek shelter from the wind and to target Bass and Flounder. I have managed to get some Peeler Crab today so I am feeling confident. Evening tides are bringing in shoals of Scad and Pollock around Ferrybridge.

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. Lots of different species coming from both piers, with sizeable Wrasse and Pollock on the Stone Pier. Some Smoothound and Sole were caught from Preston Beach last night, so it could well be worth a visit again tonight.

Boat & Kayak fishing: A bit lumpy out on the sea today, but most of the Charter Fleet have gone out, but I was told that a trawler had been working the Shambles quite heavily last week, so that might kill the fishing there for  a bit. Kayak fishing will be limited to Portland Harbour today due to the wind. You could launch from Sandsfoot sailing club area and fish in the shelter of the breakwater. Gilthead and Black Bream, as well as Bass will be the main target. Lures and Peeler Crab will work well.

I have very limited slots available in September for guiding and one to one sessions., but I still have quite a few for October. Don’t miss out on the best months fishing. These can be tailored to your requirements including mixed days of bait and lure fishing. Drop me an email for more details [email protected]