Spring tides are not always the best tides to fish.

A lot of people think that big spring tides are the best tides for fishing, well this weekend proved that it is not true for marks such as Chesil. What should have been a good weekend of Plaice fishing, turned out to be not so good for most people. The tide was moving so fast that it didn’t give the Plaice much of a chance to feed. I have noticed this when the Cod are around as well. It will fish well up to a few days before the big tides, then die off when they are are there most powerful. However certain species such as Smoothound seem to love the big tides.

The good news is that as the tides drop off the fish will be even hungrier, so should be easier to catch. Not everyone faired as badly as I did, especially those that opted to fish West Bexington. It certainly seemed to produce more Plaice than anywhere else.

As the tides drop throughout the week, the fishing should improve considerably. The water clarity is really good at the moment and the divers tell me that there are quite a few big Wrasse moving back into the rock marks.

Sea Conditions: Water temperature 8.4°c

Chesil Beach:  Calm and clear water.

Portland:  Calm and clear water.

Portland Harbour: Calm with clear water

Weymouth Bay: Calm with clear  water

Chesil Beach forecast: WIth smaller tides and the wind continuing to come from the East, the PLaice fishing should be good this week. The first of the Smoothounds are starting to show, so if you fancy one of those then get yourself some Peeler crabs.

Portland: With great water clarity, the Pollock and Wrasse fishing should be pretty good. Try lure fishing for both species. it will save you a lot of lost tackle.

Portland Harbour: I spotted the first signs of bait fish returning to the harbour. This means that the Bass will be along in about 4 weeks time.

Weymouth Bay: Lots of small Pollock and Whiting still around on the piers. Expect to see some returning Flounder amongst the Dabs at Preston.

Guiding: I am now taking bookings for plaice trips as well as some basic fishing workshops for the next month. In the workshops I teach all sorts of skills, that will give you a good grounding for your fishing adventures for the rest of the year. I am happy to do lure or bait sessions and the workshops are 2 hours lonng and limitied to 3 people. If you are thinking about booking a guided lure or bait session for the later on in the year, then now is the best time to do it, to grab the best tides.

This year we will be offering boat guiding sessions from your own boat, from Weymouth and Portland and shore guiding in the Poole and Purbeck area. If you want more details then drop me an email to [email protected]