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CHESIL REPORT
by Heggy
The late algae bloom caused by the recent
period of hot weather and flat calm sea has not done the local angling
any favours, although not killing sport completely it has knocked it
back considerably, even the number of dogs dropped off. Catches
consisted off a few Smooth Hound during the daylight hours with fish up
to 7lb, one or two early Gurnards and one or two late Plaice. What is
needed is a good blow to stir things up then things should start to
improve. We should see plenty of Gurnards, more Hounds, the first proper
catches of Bream. July heralds the start of the Scad season and the end
of the month normally means its time to look for Triggerfish. Once
considered an exotic species and a rarity in UK waters they are now just
another species that is regularly taken from Chesil. One pleasant
surprise was the amount of decent Garfish along the bank, most years
these larger fish are only around for a couple of weeks but this year
they have stayed for some time. Local angler Phil Cheeseman broke the 22
year old Weymouth A.S Garfish record with one of 1lb 11 1/2oz, helping
him win the latest club match, whilst another Chesil regular, Ian Dancey
from Southampton took two in the recent Daiwa/Samalite league match,
totalling 3lb 4oz and also helping him win this particular match as part
of a 19lb bag. It was this time last year that the Codling showed up in
extraordinary numbers, whether or not they show again this year is
anybodies guess, only time will tell.
Local rocks fairly quiet as expected, the
larger Wrasse should start to show towards the end of August, beginning
of September, with the large Gars still on the beach it may well be
worth a go from marks around the Bill, although Crab pots with excessive
amounts of slack continue to be a nuisance. Church Ope Cove should
produce a few Rays and Sole after dark and the odd flat during the day
but remember this venue is also popular with other beach users at this
time of year. Now is the time to try the harbour for Gilthead Bream in
calm conditions and Bass when its rough, fish light for the best
results.
Eels starting to show in Weymouth harbour
with many over the 2lb mark and fish to well over 4lb a good
possibility, best last year was 41/2lb and again like Portland harbour
go light for maximum sport. Plenty of Thick Lip Mullet around with the
best so far at 5 1/2lb but most of the Thin lips seem to have gone up
into the lake. All in all things look good for the next month or so in
the area.
Weymouth Report By Paul Whittall -
Skipper of Offshore Rebel
Click Here
June has been a very pleasant month so
far...warm weather, calm seas and, most importantly, some good fishing.
The bream have moved away from the Northern Shore, as they normally do,
and are expected to return to the Portland area marks in July. However,
reasonable catches are still being made by boats heading further east
and rounding St. Albans Head to Windspit and Dancing Ledge. Apart from
its delightful name, Dancing Ledge also offers Rays, Pollack, mackerel
and wrasse, all of which are good fun on light tackle. St. Alban's Head
has a deep hole close inshore where very good Pollack fishing can be
enjoyed using Rag Worm or live eels.
The tides work well to allow a try for
Bass on the way back to Weymouth with drift fished Sand Eels the best
method. The Lulworth Banks are also worth a try using coloured feathers
bumped along the bottom for Pollack with Red Gurnard and the occasional
Bass likely. There are a number of small wrecks around the Lulworth
Banks area, all of which are stacked with pout but likely to produce
Pollack and maybe a Bass on the drift plus the chance of a Conger at
anchor.
The Adamant Bank has been fishing very
well for Tope and an assortment of Rays and Dogfish.
On a very big tide, fishing the ebb has
seen good catches of Bass on lures or Eels. These banks can also produce
an unexpected Brill or Turbot.
The Shambles Bank is pretty quiet at the
moment but there is always a good chance of a Turbot. As ever with this
very prized species, a good deal of patience is required with dedicated
Turbot anglers knowing that a whole day's fishing can produce absolutely
nothing. When a decent sized Turbot is caught it is a fish to be proud
of.
There are a few Bass running along the
southern edge of the Shambles and by the West Shambles Buoy with
Portland Race having produced some excellent Bass sessions already. Live
Mackerel fished on a light lead tends to produce the bigger fish.
To the west of Portland is the Kidney
Bank. Today, Monday 16th, Blonde Rays to 28lb were caught along with a
few small Tope and stacks of Dogfish. Again, there is the chance of a
Turbot or Brill taking the baits intended for the rays. Just south of
the Kidney Bank is a very rocky area of seabed which leads southwards to
the aptly named 130 metre 'Deep Hole'. This is fishing very well (it
must be fished on neap tides) for Huss, Conger and Tope with excellent
sessions for these three species being reported.
Close inshore to Portland there are
plenty of Wrasse and Pollack for the light tackle enthusiast. Mackerel
are patchy, probably because the sea is full of the 'May Bloom' so
expect to take time to catch your bait.
There are plenty of wrecks around the
Weymouth/Portland area. Anchoring sessions have been reasonable for
conger to 65lb with a few good ling into the 20lb bracket taking legered
Mackerel flappers. Drift fishing is producing some surprisingly large
Pollack for this time of year with a few fish reported over the weekend
touching the magic 20lb mark.
As ever, I refer you to Mark Harding's
excellent reports on Alderney for detailed and up to date reports. Many
of the Weymouth charter boats are making the trip to Alderney now and
angers meet at Mark's harbour side shop to swap stories from which Mark
is able to piece together detailed observations. Alderney offers a lot
of very exciting fishing which charter boats cannot take you to....have
a look at
Mark's Alderney Angling website for
some mouth watering details on the sort of fishing he enjoys with his
'small boat'. Small boat owners in Alderney really do live in an angling
paradise...but you must have very detailed knowledge and a small boat to
experience the very best that the island has to offer.
July is a lively month with everything
available. The water will clear so the Mackerel will return as will the
Bream. Plaice catches may feature from the Portland Bream marks. Bassing
will improve in the Portland Race and surrounding areas with Bass also
starting to appear on a few wrecks. Conger, Tope and Ray sessions will
all become much more productive from a variety of marks south of the
Shambles and to the west of Portland.
With all the non stop gloom around,
rocketing fuel prices and the feeling that there are just so many forces
targeting charter skippers and anglers, it would be good to anticipate a
month of sunny weather, good fishing and friendship at sea.
Thank you all for coming to Weymouth and
we look forward to taking you fishing with us next month.
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