Fishing forecast for Chesil Beach, Portland & Weymouth. 15th July 2012

I am hearing some pretty mixed reports from Chesil at the moment. A lot of people are saying that the fish are just not on the Beach, whilst others have been having quite a lot of success. I had a fantastic day lure fishing for Bass yesterday with a couple of clients that had booked one on my lure Workshops. We managed a number of Bass from Portland with Adam catching one of around 4lb. I later joined my mate Paul down at West Bexington, as he called me to say that the Bass were in very close smashing the mackerel. Unfortunately by the time I turned up they had moved on and the water down that end of the beach was too coloured for lure fishing. He had managed three nice Smoothound and some Dogfish and Gurnard, all on Peeler Crab.

A nice lure caught bass

Don’t forget you can join me on a lesson or a one to one session and it could be you holding a nice Bass. For more details see lessons

Water Temperature: 14.6*c                 Weymouth High Tide: 4.04pm, 1.51m

Wind W 18mph

Sea Conditions:

Chesil Beach: 1m Swell with a bit of weed at the Portland end and almost clear water. At the Abbotsbury end it is a different story with milky brown water that is coming from the rivers at West Bay and Charmouth..

Portland: A bit of a swell, but the water is clear.

Portland Harbour: Calm. Water is clear except on the ebb around Ferrybridge

Weymouth Bay: Calm but the water coming from the harbour is very dirty and contains lots of fresh water.

Chesil Beach forecast: Plenty of Smoothound and Bass on the beach. Peeler crab is the best bait in the current conditions. Mackerel can be caught at the Weymouth and Portland end of the Beach, but you will struggle at the other end due to the water clarity.

Portland: Wrasse. Pollock, Garfish and Bass can all be expected on lures and bait fishing. If you do wan to bait fish then the best way to keep your tackle would be to use a float set up. Worms for the Wrasse and Mackerel for the Pollock and Garfish.

Portland Harbour: Not fishing very well at the moment, due to netting and freshwater. I have heard of very few Bass and only a couple of Flounders.

Weymouth Bay: Similar to Portland Harbour, the fresh water is badly effecting the fishing in the Bay. Smaller fish can still be found around the Piers and Bass do not mind fresh water.

Boat and Kayak fishing: Those venturing to the outer harbour walls and the entrances of Portland Harbour are having some success, but those trying around Sandsfoot and the marina are not having such a good time. Security around the sailing academy is becoming much tighter and I could see areas cordoned off by buoys all around there.