Fishing forecast for Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 1st October 2012

What can I say other than it looks like silly season has begun. With the merest hint of the mention of the C word and anglers flock for miles to hit Chesil Beach. I have to say that I don’t quite understand the obsession with Cod. They don’t taste anywhere near as good as a Bream or a Bass and in fact they taste pretty much the same as Pollock (bland and boring). Even if you do catch a decent size one, it has the same fighting qualities as a carrier bag. Chesil has a reputation of being a Cod Beach, yet each year thousands of anglers spend a small fortune on bait and fuel to get here and go home fishless. The main reason is Chesil is a big beach and the Cod in the main are concentrated on very small areas of the beach. Most of them are no more than 50m stretches. If you are off the mark by as much as 1m then you may as well be fishing a 100 miles away. The locals that have built up the knowledge of these individual marks and keep them very much to themselves. I will be offering a very limited number of Cod guiding sessions over the next couple of months, with a priority being given to those that have already been on a Bass guiding session with me and have been good on there word, of keeping my top marks to themselves.

Having said all that, I will still keep everyone informed of the general areas that the fish are coming from and what are the current best baits and rigs to use. I had a very long walk along the beach on Saturday all the way from Bridging Camp to Chesil Cove. The number of fish and the different species I witnessed was incredible, but once again they were in pockets. I saw a lot of Bream coming from the Ferrybridge area along with a number of Cod up to 9lb. The angler fishing next to one chap that had 3 Codling had landed a 2 1/2lb Plaice and an almost double figure Smoothound. Further along at Bridging Camp all that I could see being caught there was Dogfish and Garfish. The bait that seemed to be working best this weekend is Black Lug. Still some shoals of Mackerel but hardly any Bass yesterday.

Water Temperature: 15.3*c             Weymouth High Tide: 8.41pm, 2.34m

Wind: SW 28mph gusting 35mph

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Rough with 3m high waves. The water has a milky tinge to it.

Portland: A large swell all around Portland with slightly coloured water.

Portland Harbour: Wavelets with slightly coloured water.

Weymouth Bay: Fairly calm but the water is still coloured coloured.

 

Chesil Beach forecast: Personally I would not fish it for safety reasons and as such I will give it as a no go zone. I fished it with a friend yesterday afternoon. We were the last ones on the beach at 7pm with nothing to show and conditions were better than now but it had become unsafe to fish any longer.

Portland: Wrasse fishing is still not great with the swell that is hanging around, but the Pollock fishing should be very good at dusk. Church Ope Cove would be my number one choice for the Island today with most of the weed that was in the cove now dispersed. Dusk will produce Mackerel, Scad, Pollock and Bass, with the possibility of a Mullet earlier on.

Portland Harbour: I have no idea whether the Bass have arrived in the harbour as was expected, because the water has been coloured lure fishing has not been good. I saw a lot of lure fishermen out yesterday and only one had managed to get any Bass.

Weymouth Bay: Both piers are a good bet for Pollock, Garfish, Mackerel, Wrasse and even some small Bream. Mullet fishing in the harbour should produce hectic sport if you can get them feeding. The normal bread and Mackerel ground bait will get them turned on more than just plain bread. It also has the added bonus of bringing in a Bass and Garfish.

Boat & Kayak fishing: If you are after some Bass of the race then now is the time to target them. I know that they are now being taken in large numbers using green Sidewinders. It is not unusual to catch 30 or more Bass in a session. Please remember that Bass are very slow growing, so only take what you need for yourself.

For those wishing to get out in the Kayak, then this is one of the best times to fish Portland Harbour. The spring tides always bring in large numbers of Bass. Thornback Rays and Bream will be the other main targets. Fish the harbour entrances for Mackerel, Wrasse and Pollock. Bass are often found around the entrances as well.

Guiding: I have only got a few slots available for October now and they will almost all be for the best of the bass fishing. As I mentioned earlier there will be a very few Cod or bait fishing days in October and will be based around what I believe are the best tides. I am taking bookings for both Bass and bait guiding sessions for November. 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]