The best fishing for years

This past week has seen some of the best fishing on Chesil Beach that I have known for years. Unbelievably amongst the summer species we have had a run of Codling. We have even had a return of my favourite eating species the Red Mullet, with decent numbers showing up all along the beach.

It is not just Red Mullet, but Gurnard, Bream, Smoothound and Mackerel in good numbers.

I fished the Weymouth monthly boat competition yesterday and between us we managed 13 species including a nice Undulate Ray caught by Simon Hambridge as well as Cuckoo Wrasse, Small Eyed and even a Ballions Wrasse.

Sea Conditions:

Water temperature 17.2 °c.

Chesil Beach: Calm with clear water

Portland: Calm and clear water

Portland Harbour: calm with clear water

Weymouth Bay: Calm with clear water.

Chesil Beach forecast: Enjoy the summer species whilst they are here. Mackerel, Bream, Gurnard, Plaice, Scad, Red Mullet, Rays and Smoothound. How much more do you want 🙂 If you want the Bream and Gurnard you are best to try towards the Portland end of the beach. For Plaice and Rays head West to the shallower waters of Abbotsbury and West Bexington. The anglers in the know tell me that Ragworm is the best bait to be using right now. However if you are after a Smoothound, you can’t be live Peeler or Hermit Crab. The Rays love Sandeel.

Portland: If you want some hard fighting Wrasse and Pollock then you need to be looking at Portland. Wrasse love rough ground and Portland has plenty of that. You can catch Wrasse just about anywhere on the Island, and you have three main options to choose from when targeting them: Float fishing with Ragworm offers the best chance of not losing all your gear. Generally the fish are on the smaller side. Bottom fishing with Ragworm or Crab will produce some very big fish, but you will lose a lot of gear. You don’t have to spend a fortune on Peeler Crab, as Wrasse will happily take hardback crab. Your third option and my favourite, is to use soft plastic lures.

Pollock can be caught all over the Island as well, but are often found in more concentrated pockets such as Chesil Cove, The Bill and Church Ope Cove. Dawn and dusk are aways the best time to target them. Float fish a strip of Mackerel or use lures for beset results.

Portland Harbour: Now is the time for Gilthead Bream. They can be caught on Mussels, Peeler Crab and Ragworm. However one of the better baits is lugworm. I have had them on the sandbars either side of the channel coming out of the Fleet at Ferrybridge. It is not unusual to pick up Bass at the same time. 

There are some nice Mullet towards Castletown from the end of Portland Marina.

Weymouth Bay:Loads of fish being caught on both piers. I have yet to have a go for the Mullet in the harbour this year, but there looks like plenty to choose from.

Preston can often produce some nice Rays at this time of year. You are always in with the chance of a Bass, especially on the flood and over high water.

 Lyme Regis: There is quite a lot of weed effecting the fishing on Monmouth beach, but within the harbour there are lots of Mullet, including Golden Grey Mullet. Plenty of Mackerel being caught from the Cobb and there is always the chance of a Bass.

Guiding: I still have a few slots left between now and October, so if you are interested in lure or bait fishing drop me an email to [email protected]