What fish can you catch in April?

What can I catch on Chesil in April? It only seems like last week, that I was talking about what might turn up in March. Thankfully I got that forecast spot on, as the Plaice, Herring and early Mackerel showed up pretty much as I thought they would. April on the other hand can be a bit more difficult to predict.

I can see at least another week, where we are likely to see some Cod, but after that I wouldn’t expect to see them until the end of August. The Plaice are around in good numbers now, and we are starting to see regular catches of Mackerel. Thin Lipped Mullet started to arrive last month, but the next few weeks will see the thick lips make an appearance. THe first of the True summer species will start to show towards the end of the month, with Gurnard and a few Bass. We often have a few big Smoothound at this time of the year as well.

This time last year we had an unusual run of small Tope. If they come back again this year, they will be a bit bigger.

The good news for everyone looking to fish this bank holiday weekend, is that even though we had a bit of a blow for the past few days, the water started to clear yesterday, and it is now looking pretty calm and clear. I am sure we will see plenty of Mackerel for those Easter BBQ’s 🙂

April is a great month for Wreck fishing. There are some lovely Pollock around and some big Cod start to show on the wrecks. I am going to be spending a few days fishing on Snapper with Luke Pettis, one of Weymouth’s new Skippers. Luke is out wrecking on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. The tides and winds look perfect for a great days wrecking. I am going to be filming, and trying out a few new bits of kit on the boat on Wednesday, so if you fancy a great wrecking trip for hard fighting Pollock, and possibly being part of one of my latest videos then contact Luke for a place on 07833 492948. If you don’t want to be filmed don’t worry I wont include you.

Sea Conditions: Water temperature 8.5°c

Chesil Beach:  Small amount of swell with almost clear water

Portland:  Small amount of swell with almost clear water

Portland Harbour: calm and clear water

Weymouth Bay: Calm and clear water

Chesil Beach forecast: It is looking good for Plaice this weekend, especially from Abbotsbury and West Bexington. As well as Mackerel, expect to see a few Rays all along the beach. Night time will have plenty of Dogfish and Pout, with the chance of an early Smoothound.

Portland: Lots of Wrasse showing all over and plenty of pollock as well. Try fishing the Bill for the large Garfish that come during April. They only stay for a few weeks, but they are a lot of fun. The Red Crane is one of the best marks to try this with either a small shallow diving lure, such as a IMA Komono II, or a float fished strip of Mackerel.

Portland Harbour: The harbour will start to see more Mullet and Flounder, however marks such as Hamm Beach will be full of Windsurfers.

Weymouth Bay: If you are looking to introduce your kids to fishing, or you are a novice yourself, then Weymouth Stone and Pleasure Piers are excellent marks to learn to fish. They have lots of different species including Pout, Wrasse, Pollock, lots of mini species and you might get some Mackerel and Garfish.

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]