I wish I could bring you some good news on the cod front but alas it is much the same as last week. The cod are pre-occupied feeding in the higher levels on those sprat and herring shoals. I have had reports from anglers fishing beaches and piers that on calmer days they have seen the fish feeding on the surface as they chase small bait fish. To be honest, until we see a decrease in these shoals it will always be difficult to locate any feeding cod shoals. I’m afraid it’s just a case of trying different venues until you find a few feeding fish.
Having said all that, it’s not all gloom and doom as there are plenty of whiting, dogfish and pouting for the pier and beach angler.
The Walton Pier Club headed for their local venue for the latest weekend match. Conditions were certainly blustery but they found the fish feeding, 18 anglers fished and they caught 246 fish between them.
First place went to Peter Harris with 15lb 2½oz with runner-up Joe Marvell weighing in 7lb 6oz and third placed Colin Harris 7lb 3oz. The heaviest fish prize went to Peter Harris with a 2lb 6oz codling.
Clacton Sea Angling Club also headed for the pier for their night match. 6 anglers fished and caught a total of 115 fish, consisting mainly of whiting, dabs and pouting.
| 1st | James Everett | 387 pts |
| 2nd | Dave Collet | 362 pts |
| 3rd | Vic Pearce | 277 pts |
| Longest fish – Vic Pearce with a 36cm whiting | ||
The match week finished with Walton Sea Angling Club also heading for Walton Pier for an evening match. They fished an ebb tide and once again whiting were the main catch with a few pouting and dogfish plus the odd codling.
| 1st | Rob Tuck | 11lb 14oz |
| 2nd | Chris Mills | 10lb 10oz |
| 3rd | Jon Wilson | 7lb 11oz |
| Heaviest fish prize – Chris Mills with a 1lb 13oz codling | ||
The beaches have been slightly slow on the fish front this week, with no reports of cod, but whiting and a few dogfish have been caught. The best place to try for a few fish are the Holland and Clacton beaches, there will always be whiting and the odd ray to be caught.
Colchester Sea Angling Club headed to Deal in Kent for their monthly match, high winds were on the forecast, but luckily they were in the lee of the wind and the fishing was comfortable. There were plenty of fish to be caught, mainly whiting, dogfish and pouting.
| 1st | Mark Peters | 20lb 14oz |
| 2nd | Steve Yallop | 19lb 10oz |
| 3rd | Mark Sessions | 18lb 14oz |
| The heaviest fish was won with a fine 3lb 7oz codling for Mark Peters | ||
If you have any fishing reports you can contact me at popplewell1@btinternet.com.
The tides for the weekend are Saturday 6.14am and Sunday 7.23am.
