Whats the water clarity like on Chesil?

It is not clear, but its not far from it. There is still a milky tinge to it, but within the next few days it will be clear. The picture below taken from the top of Portland shows how the water has cleared, but the Cove is producing some murky water due to the changes in the seabed there.

 With the clear water are the first signs of the Plaice returning. I had a report yesterday from a reliable source, who told me that a couple of his friends had managed a Plaice each at West Bexington.

I am heading West tomorrow, to do some filming and take some photographs of Lyme Regis for a new mark article. I will stop of at West Bexington and Abbotsbury to see if the Plaice are being caught in any numbers.

Sea Conditions: 

Water temperature 9.2°c.

Chesil Beach:  Calm  the water has a milky tine to it.

Portland: Calm with lightly coloured water

Portland Harbour: Calm with clear water

Weymouth Bay: Calm with lightly coloured water.

Chesil Beach forecast: I don’t think I will be rushing out just yet in search of a Plaice, as they are normally very thin at the start of the season, but I can be easily persuaded. There are quite a few Rockling around in the same area along with some nice Dabs.

Night sessions are producing large numbers of Dogfish. It is worth trying a large bait close in for a Bass.

Portland: As dusk is going to coincide with 2 hours either side of high water for the next few evenings, I will be out lure fishing for some Pollock. I can’t wait.

Portland Harbour: This is one mark that I am excited about, as divers are telling me that they have seen plenty of Mullet arrive in the past few days. They also report lots of small Flounder, but I wonder if they are mistaking them for Dabs. I remember from this time last year that we had a run of Dabs in the harbour. Three hook flapper rigs with size 4 or 6 hooks baited with Black Lugworm are deadly.

Weymouth Bay: I had a good look around Weymouth harbour yesterday in search of the Mullet. I spotted 3 in front of the council offices, but that was it. The pleasure pier is producing some small fish and the odd Flounder.

Guiding & Lessons: Now that we are well and truly in the grip of winter, most of my guiding trips for the next few months will be bait fishing trips. If the weather settles and the water clears for a week, then I will go for Pollock and Wrasse on lures. If you are thinking of booking a Plaice fishing trip, I am going to be running those from the second week of March. Until then it will be Wrasse from the rocks and Cod trips if the weather allows.  Have a look on the guiding link at the top of the page or drop me an email for more details to [email protected]