Fishing forecast for Chesil Beach, Weymouth, Portland & Kimmeridge Bay. March 29th 2012

Another glorious Dorset day, with lots of sunshine, but make the most of it as the forecast for the weekend is not so good.

Wind forecast: NE 10mph. Current wind: NE 5mph

Sea conditions: lovely and calm, with very clear water on all marks , 9.4*c Weymouth HW 11.01am  1.6m high.

Shore fish forecast: If you intend to fish Abbotsbury, West Bexington or Cogden then beware. The crabs are going to play havoc with fish and worm baits on the beach for the next few weeks, so try using Mussels as a cheaper alternative to Peeler crab. Squid will last longer on the hooks than fish bait, but if you do intend to continue using worms, then be prepared to r-bait every 5-10 minutes.Smaller tides mean that you will be better off using a plain lead to try and find the fish holding spots. Fingers crossed that the conditions will be good for the Weymouth Angling Centre Flatfish open this Sunday.

If you head towards the Weymouth end of Chesil Beach Hermit Crab will do well for the Smoothounds that will follow the invasion of crabs. So,expect some good night time action with the Smoothounds if you can get through the packs of dogfish. I will be on the beach myself tonight. Hopefully I will be able to get hold of some fresh crab.

Ray fishing should be good from the Western end of Chesil all the way to Charmouth. Use fresh Mackerel or Sandeel, and you will also have a chance of a Bass now.

Mackerel, Herring and Sandeels will be all along the beach. It is a good time to try and catch the Herring and Sandeel and freeze them for bait.

Portland will now fish well for Pollock and Wrasse, as plenty of anglers found out yesterday. Marks all along the Bill and Chine will do very well. Lure and fly fishermen will pick up Bass, Pollock and Wrasse on accessible ledges. With the smaller tides you will have to really look for areas that show sign of tidal flow.

Kimmeridge Bay will now start to produce some nice Bass, Wrasse and Pollock. Lures are without a doubt the best method for those species on the rocky ledges, but Mackerel, squid and worms will also work. Once again the smaller tides make these marks not quite so good as many of the usual fish holding zones are not covered over.

Weymouth Stone and pleasure pier are going to be a better bet for Plaice than the beach, as the crabs do not seem to have got in to the bay in as large numbers. Plenty of Wrasse will show along the stone pier. Float fish with Ragworm to avoid the snaggy bottom.

Boat forecast: Excellent chance of fish including Turbot and Plaice if you are out with the Weymouth charter fleet. Smaller tides and excellent weather are a great combination for smaller boats to get to marks that are normally out of there reach. Some nice Smoothound and Spurdog should come from the Adamant shoal.