Fishing forecast for Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. October 19th 2012

I have a problem today! I have a friend traveling from London in the early hours to go lure fishing for Bass with me, and I have 20 nice fresh peeler crabs waiting for me at the tackle shop and the beach just screams COD!! I doubt I am going to be able to do both today without staying out for a marathon session and upsetting my long-suffering wife. Looks like I will have to hope the Cod are still around tomorrow and Sunday. I think they should be.

Water Temperature: 14*c             Weymouth High Tide: 10.11pm, 2.12m

Wind: There is almost no wind today

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: Calm but with a large swell and long run off this morning that should die of this afternoon. The water is pretty heavily coloured.

Portland: A 1m swell with water that has quite a lot of colour to it.

Portland Harbour: Calm and clear water.

Weymouth Bay: Calm but the water is still holding colour

Chesil Beach forecast: Oh 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: I am heading there first thing to try and get myself a nice Bass or three over high water on lures. With the colour in the water I may get some Pollock as well, but I am pretty sure that Wrasse fishing will not be on until it has settled out tomorrow.

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]