Cod fishing has gone flat

Well what can I say? Another weekend with very few codling on Chesil and the few that were caught were all pretty small. I would love to know what happened to all those fish we had for the past two years . I expected to see a good number of Cod in the 8-10lb range this year. Instead it has been one of the worst cod seasons I can remember.

One of the big factors that has affected the Cod fishing, has been the almost constant easterly wind. This has kept Chesil unusually calm for long periods. There is however a positive note to this and that is the number of good flat fish that are still around. Trev Fox managed a lovely late season Plaice from the western end of Chesil, proving that the Plaice stay until well into December.

Regular contributor Ben Stockley, has also been amongst the flat fish, with a good haul of dabs, including this stunning 1lb 6oz fish

Sea Conditions: Water temperature 10.8°c

Chesil Beach: Calm with clear water

Portland: Calm with clear water

Portland Harbour: wavelets clear water

Weymouth Bay: 1m surf extending out to 50m with lightly coloured water

Chesil Beach forecast:  there has been a large drop in the water temperature over the past week. This should bring the Whiting in close, especially at night. I prefer fishing at Cogden and West Bexington for them.

daylight s still proving good for Garfish, Plaice and Dabs. sprats are starting to show. This is never a good sign for the Cod, but the Bass will chase them in. Lure fishing off the beach during December can produce some good hits of Bass. A sprat immatation lure always seems to work well.

Portland: perfect conditions for a big Wrasse and some Pollock. This is probably the best time of year for a shot at a big Wrasse. The suddden drop in temperature will have pushed the smaller ones off into deeper water. This means that the bigger ones actually get a chance to find the bait. Hardback or Hermit crab are the top baits.

clear and settled water, make for perfect lure fishing conditions for Pollock. It is also one of the better times for Bass around the island.

Portland Harbour: still lots of baitfish in the harbour and that will keep the Garfish and Bass in there as well. As usual it is lures for me, but large Squid baits can be deadly for the Bass especially at night.

Weymouth Bay: whilst the wind continues  to below from the east the beach will still have a lot of surf running. This is great for a late bass and Flounder.

The Piers will continue to provide good sport on lite tackle. The squid  should definitely be around in numbers now.

Guiding: The new guiding season is underway once again. Although we can only keep one Bass, we can certainly catch more. I am hoping that the winter fishing ban and the new commercial quotas, combined with an increase in the minimum landing size, will make for some great Bass fishing. I specialize in lure fishing and I am offering Fly fishing this year as well. I am still more than happy to go after the multitude of species in this area with bait, whether that is big Wrasse, explosive Smoothound fishing or targeting the tastier fish such as Plaice and Bream. If you want to book a session or find out more information drop me an email at [email protected]

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