Fishing Forecast for Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 20th October 2012

You may remember that yesterday I commented on my dilemma of whether to spend the whole day lure fishing with my friend from London or hit the beach in the afternoon. To be honest I wish I had done both, but I kept on at the lures all day, but what a morning I had on the lures. I hit a few milestones by catching my 400^th Bass on lures this year and my 1000^th lure caught fish this year. My mate managed to capture the 400^th Bass on video, in a session that seen me land 5 fish in my first 4 casts and 3 of those were Bass. In the first hour I managed 20 fish and ended up with 33 fish in a 2 ½ hour session I didn’t catch anything over 2 1/2lb but it was manic action. Every fish except one was caught on a Seaspin Binginu 105 bui. I would show you a photo of it but I lost it. I am going to the tackle shop today to replace it and buy a few extras. As far as I know the only two tackle shops in the country that currently stock this lure is Chesil Bait n Tackle in Weymouth,  and Art of Fishing in Plymouth and Cornwall. I will put the video up when my mate sends it to me.

The afternoon was very different as we moved to a mark that was too coloured for the fish to see the lure and all we ended up with was some interest from a few Garfish. Later I had a walk along Chesil and the Anglers fishing there were doing pretty well. Plenty of Whiting were coming during the daylight hours and I did see a few Codling landed. Ragworm and Squid strips on a two or three hook flapper were the most effective bait for the Whiting, Dogfish and Pout . For the Codling it seemed that Lugworm out fished Crab baits yesterday.

Water Temperature: 14.3*c             Weymouth High Tide: 11.01pm, 1.91m

Wind: SW 8mph

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Calm but with a 1m swell. The water is a light brown colour.

Portland: A 1m swell with water that has a green tinge to it.

Portland Harbour: Calm and clear water.

Weymouth Bay: Calm but the water is still holding colour from the river water.

Chesil Beach forecast: Pretty much the same as yesterday.  I am pretty sure there is only going to be one thing on most peoples mind today and that is Cod. Good tides, no wind and coloured water. If you can get some nice Lug worm or Peeler Crab you stand a very good chance of getting one. The last time it went like this they were feeding on just about everything and I did hear of a 23lb fish caught on a size 3 hook and a small bit of Ragworm. I don’t think that it will matter too much which part of the beach you fish. The biggest problem will actually be finding a space on the beach, especially at the more easily accessible spots. If the sprats are around still then the Bass and Mackerel will be in close chasing them. If you could catch a Joey mackerel (and in these conditions that will be difficult) then use it as a live bait and I guarantee you will get a Bass.

Portland: The calmer conditions and better water clarity should see the Wrasse back on the feed. I would expect to see some Bass and Pollock being caught on lures from Church Ope Cove and the Bill today. Fishing with a laree mackerel bait should see some Bull Huss being landed from Chine or Blacknor.

Portland Harbour: If you want to get away from the crowds on Chesil, or can’t be bothered with heavy beachcasters, then Portland Harbour would make an excellent choice. Quite a few bass around Sandsfoot and the sailing academy, along with some nice Flounder. I did see someone catch a 2lb Flounder from Hamm beach yesterday. He was tight in to the start of the sailing academy and was using a 3 hook flapper with Ragworm.

Weymouth Bay: Stone and Pleasure Pier will produce some nice fish and you never know what it will throw up. Garfish, Pollock, Mackerel and Bass plus Flounder and Wrasse. The water inside the harbour is too dirty for any Mullet fishing. I hada  walk along Preson beach and the water is dirty but calm at the Bowleaze end. This would be a good option for a Ray or early Whiting.

Boat & Kayak fishing. The charter boats will be out in force this weekend. Some of them have gone over to running their Bass trips. Plenty of Bass in and around the Race and in front of the Shambles. Still plenty of Plaice and Bream in the same area, especially the mussel beds surrounding the Shambles. For Kayak anglers it could be the last chance to take advantage of some settled weather for a while. If you fish along the breakwater walls you never know what you will catch. Whilst I was lure fishing for Bass yesterday I could see lots of birds working about 200m off the back of Portland Marina.

Guiding:  A few extra guiding days have become available for Bass over the next two weeks. Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to catch some of the best sessions before they disappear. I have a couple of more sessions available in October mainly for Bass fishing but I might be persuaded to do a bait session for Cod or a late Plaice. 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]