Fishing forecast for Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 8th September 2012

Lets make the most of this weather, as the winds are forecast to pick up a bit tomorrow and then really pick up midweek. The tides are fairly small for the next couple of days this means that the period in which some species such as Plaice feed is limited to when the tide flow is at its greatest. This period is between the 3^rd and 4^th hour after high and low water.

Water Temperature: 17.1*c             Weymouth High Tide: 11.52pm, 1.50m

Wind: Very light S to SW wind

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Calm and clear

Portland: Calm and clear.

Portland Harbour: Calm and clear

Weymouth Bay: Calm with clear water.

Chesil Beach forecast: If you are looking for some fantastic sport then head down to the Western end of Chesil. Large shoals of Mullet both Grey and Golden Grey have been reported from Cogden and West Bexington. This is a common occurrence at this time of year. The Mullet start to move out of the harbours and look to feed up before heading further offshore for the winter. They will happily take a strip of float fished Mackerel. Use some ground bait to get them feeding and keep them in your area. You will find that you catch quite a lot of Garfish at the same time. On other parts of the beach you should be able to catch Mackerel with ease. Some nice Bream have been caught from marks from Chesil Cove all the way to Moonfleet, for those lucky enough to have a boat to access the middle section of Chesil. Night tides have provided a few Smoothound and the usual dogfish and Pout.

Portland: Gill nets are still in place around the Bill. You will still pick up the odd Wrasse and a few Pollock that will escape the nets. If you fancy a Conger then a night fishing session from Chine or Blacknor could well result in a sizeable fish. Big baits will be needed and expect lots of tackle loss.

Portland Harbour: I have seen lots of people fishing from Ferrybridge over the past couple of days. Almost all of them have had very little success as they have mainly been fishing with bait on the bottom. Basically you are wasting your time. The tidal flow through the gap at Ferrybridge is pretty strong at most times, but the main problem is the weed that flows in and out just gathers on your line and bait very quickly. If you must use bait then head a bit further along the beach towards the sailing club at Sandsfoot or inside the fleet under the Ferrybridge Pub. The best way to fish Ferrybridge is with lures. Both hard and soft plastic lures work very well. My favourite lures to use there are surface lures. Not surface poppers but walk the dog style lures.

Weymouth Bay: You never know what the Piers will throw up at this time of year. The harbour is full of big Mullet and some Flounder.

Boat & Kayak fishing: A great weekend to be out on a boat or Kayak. The charter fleet have been having some fantastic results on the Plaice from the Shambles. Black Bream and Turbot have also featured heavily in the catches. We managed to get into some nice Tope on our trip out on Tuesday. Most of the anglers on the boat were not expecting the Tope and were bitten off. Ollie Morris was lucky enough to have his stay on and was delighted to land a nice 12lb fish.

A nice Tope

Despite my desire to get out on my Kayak this week, I have not found the time to do it. I would love to get into Portland harbour especially as they have now opened it back up after the Olympics. I know that there are lots of Gilthead Bream, Bass and Thornback rays all waiting to be caught. With nice Pollock on the Hood entrance and safe sheltered fishing, I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather go this weekend.

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]