Portland provides some excellent lure fishing, with
dozens of marks from the rocky ledges at Portland Bill
to the fast flowing waters of the Fleet Lagoon. See
below for my tips on lure fishing for each species.
-
Bass - Bass can be caught on almost any lure,
depending on what they are feeding at the time. For
Portland Bill and the rock marks try a brightly
coloured jointed plug during early morning or late
evening. For the Fleet and harbour try a similar
plug but smaller as the fish tend to be juveniles
and therefore smaller in size. The Fleet is an
excellent place to try your hand at fly fishing or
free lined live prawn. Fish near to Ferry Bridge
just as the tide starts to run in, especially during
the evening. Don't forget the ever popular Dexter
Wedge, fig.1 no's. 6&7. They cast very well
due to their weight and take Bass and Mackerel from
the beach.
|
Two Bass that I caught in the
Fleet 27th May 2005 |
My friend Derek with his first
ever Bass |
|
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 |
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Mullet - Mullet can be caught on small spinner
type lures like type 9 and 10 in Fig. 1.
Remove the treble hook and replace it with a strong
size 1 or 2 and bait the lure with rag worm or sand
eel. Weymouth Harbour is an excellent place for
mullet but also give Sandsfoot castle and Portland
Bill a try.
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Pollack - Pollack tend to go for sand eel type
lures but will also be caught on jelly worms. At the
time of writing (May 2005) they were regularly being
caught on brightly coloured jointed plugs like no.
10 in fig. 2 at Portland Bill during the
evenings. Try deep spinning with frozen (or live)
sand eel in the deep water around Pulpit Rock at
Portland Bill.
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Mackerel - Mackerel will take a bare hook if it
is shiny, any lure that imitates their natural prey,
whitebait, will catch them. Most people use
beachcasters with 6oz leads and a string of feathers
to harvest the shoals. I see people carrying bucket
loads of fish home and I am sure that many go to
waste. It is much more fun using a light spinning
rod or a course fishing match rod and a single lure.
Small Dexter Wedges are ideal for this purpose as is
any lure that is silver or white. A single Mackerel
puts up a great fight on light tackle so give it a
try.
Note - Since this page was written in
2005 an excellent new range of weighted sandeel/shad
type lures have hit the market. These are Tempest
Sidewinders and are great for most predatory fish
including bass,
click here.
The
pictures below show a selection of lures from my tackle
box, click each image to see it full size. Each lure is
numbered in the large picture. The table on the right
explains each lure and what you might catch with it.
|
Figure 1 |
A
selection of spinners and spoons from my tackle
box
|
| 1-4 - A selection
of spoons in different weights and colours. Good
for Bass, Pollack and Mackerel. |
| 5 - A silver
pirk-type lure that imitates small prey fish.
Heavy for its size and casts well. Good for Bass
and Mackerel. |
| 6&7 - Dexter Wedges
in different sizes and weights. Excellent for
Bass and mackerel |
| 8
- A smaller coloured spoon
for close in work, lightweight so it will not
scare the fish with the splash. Good for Bass. |
| 9&10
- Two small spinners that
are ideal for mullet. |
|
|
Figure 2 |
A
selection of plugs from my tackle box
|
| 1 - Jointed silver
hollographic shallow diving plug for Bass and
Pollack. |
| 2 - non-jointed
coloured shallow diving plug for Bass and
Pollack. |
| 3 - Rapala rattling
plug. I caught plenty of fish in the Caribbean
with this one but non yet here! |
| 4
- A large surface popper
plug for big Bass. |
| 5
-
A small surface popper
for smaller Bass and Mackerel, I have caught
garfish on these at Portland Bill. Use when the
fish are feeding close in on Chesil of Portland
Bill. |
| 6 - Fladen Bass
Bullet, excellent sinking lure for Bass, casts
well on light tackle. |
| 7 - Gold and red
jointed shallow diving plug for Bass and
Pollack. |
| 8 - Non-jointed
shallow diving plug for Bass. |
| 9 - Small minnow
type plug for close in Bass and Mackerel. |
| 10 - My favourite
plug for Bass and Pollack at the Bill, brightly
coloured, jointed and rattles. |
| 11 - Ron Thompson
non-jointed shallow diving plug. Red is thought
to induce takes in predatory fish like Bass and
the silver adds to the effect. |
|
|
Figure 3 |
A
selection of soft imitation lures from my tackle
box
|
| 1 -
Storm casting shad. Heavy and casts well. |
| 2 - Blue Fox
'Slyflex Minnow' |
| 3 - Storm 4" Rattle
Grub - Fished with a lead head size 1/0 hook for
Pollack. |
| 4 - Flourescent
lead head eel - Fished with a size 1/0 hook for
Pollack. |
| 5-7 - A selection
of Eddystone eels for Pollack. Deep spin them
with a 1oz bomb and a three way swivel. |
| 8 - Jelly worms are
always useful for Pollack, fished over the kelp
beds with a 1oz bomb as above and allowed to
drift in the current. |
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