Best way to fish kimmeridge

[sharpy]

Hi Guys, i have heard that kimmeridge is a great spot for bass, seen a few pictures of the ledges etc.. But wanted to know if anyone had any experience of the fishing there?

[pingu]

sorry sharpy not my area but guess help will arrive soon,
nowhere seems to be fishing well at the moment, and bass still need a few more months really
good luck when you go

[PlanktonBoy]

I fished just along at Mupe bay last month, its a cracking area mate.
But a lot of it is along the army firing ranges and isnt allways open to the public.
There has been some nice pollack coming out and i am told there is also good catches of wrasse in the summer.
I have heard kimmeridge is very snaggy so expect tackle loss.
This area is certainly on my list to fish a lot this year.

[sharpy]

Going to head for kimmeridge end of next month for some bass plugging, heard that there are several pods that return there every year. Just a case of finding the special spots and fishing them hard at the right time. Travelling light, wearing waders and watching the tide are the main concerns..

[Crusty]

I know Kimmeridge fairly well but I've mainly fished for wrasse. Shameful as I am aware of the bass that exist there. Some decent mullet move in here in the summer months too feeding on the maggots washed out of the weed that collects there.

Take care re the army range that starts to the righthand side of the bay. I've fished near this boundary before and seen and heard shells whizzing over the cliff.

Mike Ladle, a legendary bass fisherman fishes it a lot, plugging during the summer. Check his site as there are some great articles re plugging in it - the address is below - remove the A's. Many of the photos in his articles clearly show Kimmeridge. Worbarrow Bay, which is close by is also an excellent venue to target bass with plugs.

My advice would be to use some of the floating plug varieties or poppers as this will keep it away from the snags.

Ahttp://www.mikeladle.com/osa.htmlA

[sharpy]

Cheers for the info mate, i suppose the best way to fish the ledges would be at low tide up to high. But what about the high tide, it looks like you could get cut off in some places. Any idea? Which are the best ledges to have a go at? Cheers...

[Crusty]

At high tide most of the beach is covered. It's a bit hairy on big spring tides when walking back along the main beach as the tide is up to the cliffs at times. In a swell it's positively dangerous.

At Kimmeridge, a lot of guys fish from the rocks on the right hand side of the bay (as long as ranges open, weekends only) and walk further round the right into Charnel Bay. There are more rocks here to fish from as well. take extra care going around the next corner though towards right as the tide reaches up to the cliff here and you will be cut off.

There is a set of steps going down into Charnel Bay which can be used if the tide is high and you avoid the main beach.

Send me a pm with your number and I'll call you if you like - probably best. I was thinking of playing about plugging there myself this year (I'm no expert on plugging I must add) so I may tag along at some point.

Dawn and dusk best times rather than merely tide although I would think some depth of water or flooding tide is best.

Chris

[sharpy]

Cheers Chris, you are right about the time. Early morning/evening flood tide will kill for bass there. I want to concentrate on bass this summer, had 15 in total last year. But have alot more interest/knowledge this time round. Plugging and spinning is the way to go i think but i do have the facilties at home for livebait. Will try live sandeel/prawn in a few special places to see. Because I live in weymouth there are loads of different marks to try.

[DamageInc]

What kind of bass are we talking about here? Spotties? Calicos? I'm not too familiar with Atlantic fish.

[Crusty]

I guess you would call them "European Sea Bass".