Portland Bill offers the sea angler a wealth of marks to
explore either with legering, float or spinning gear.
The area to the east of the point has dozens of rock
ledges and is generally calmer unless the wind is from
the east or southeast. There is excellent sport to be
found for the regular and holiday angler alike with
Mullet, Wrasse, Bass, Pollack, Garfish and Mackerel. Any
method can work at Portland Bill.
Juniors -
Portland Bill is an excellent place for youngsters to
practice their fishing. There is a wealth of small
wrasse and Pollack along with the odd rarity such as red
scorpion fish. Below are two pictures of my niece with
her first wrasse. She was float fishing with Ragworm
near to Pulpit Rock. As always please make sure that
children are supervised and safe.
Click the images to see full size.
Float Fishing
- The area is an ideal spot to leisurely watch a float
for the evening. Use light gear at different depths with
thin Mackerel strips, rag worm or bread to tempt the
smaller fish. Try ground baiting with mashed up bread
and Mackerel to bring in the mullet, Mackerel, Wrasse
and garfish.
Below is a picture of my son Tyler with a lovely
Garfish taken on float fished mackerel strip. Garfish
fight like the devil himself on light gear. Click
the image to enlarge.
Saltwater Fly Fishing
- Mullet and Bass often
come in close to feed on insects that thrive on the
washed up weed that gathers in the inlets. It is worth
turning over the weed and throwing great armfuls of it
into the sea during late afternoon to release the
insects into the water. Then use a #8-9 weight fly rod
and grub shaped fly. And you thought trout fishing was
fun, just wait until a mullet takes your offering!
Lure Fishing - See my page on lure fishing,
click
here.
Ledgering
- Portland and Chesil Beach are considered to be the
best fishing marks on the south coast. The majority of
anglers use ledgering tactics from Chesil for all
species, see the Chesil Beach page and links. Portland
Bill offers the angler excellent Wrasse and Pollack to
bottom fishing methods. The ground is very snaggy and
tackle losses will be high so use a rotten bottom rig
and do what the local do and use nuts, bolts and spark
plugs for weights instead of expensive lead. For Wrasse
the area of deep water around Pulpit Rock is the best
when fished with crab and worm baits, but don't ignore
other marks such as Church Ope and Chesil Cove.
Below are
some pictures of the area around Portland Bill, click
the image to see it full size. |
