IT proved an up-and-down week, with a lot more small fish showing.

Those thornbacks are still there to be caught, but most are feeding after dark.

Small bass are now showing quite well from the beaches either side of Walton Pier, plus whiting and the odd flounder.

The very high tides during the week seem to have brought in a lot of very small whiting, but dogfish are being caught quite regularly, as well as rays after dark.

The Walton Pier Club held their latest match here in very wet and windy conditions.

Fifteen hardy anglers ventured on to the stem of the pier and all caught fish.

In total, 113 were caught and all were on the small side.

First place went to Peter Harris, with 3lb 7oz.

In second spot was Joe Marvell, with 3lb 1oz, and in third was Fred Parker, with 2lb 11oz.

The heaviest fish - a 1lb 5oz dogfish - was caught by Andy Grant.

Walton Sea Angling Club also fished the pier for their evening match.

They headed for the top of the pier in light winds and calm seas.

Dogfish and whiting were the main catch, although a thornback ray was lost at the side of the pier.

Top spot went to Rob Tuck, with 6lb 11oz. Second place went to Bill Paquette and third to James Everett, with 5lb 12oz.

The heaviest fish, a 2lb dogfish, was caught by Vic Pearce.

The Frinton beaches have seen one or two early soles showing this week, with just a few school bass but still no news of rays being caught.

After dark will be the best time to target these fish.

The Holland and Clacton beaches are fishing much the same as last week, with small whiting and dogfish, with a few rays being caught on the night tides.

Colchester Sea Angling Club fished the Clacton beaches for their match this week and, after reports of bad weather, the conditions were actually very reasonable, with light winds and no rain.

Phil Buy took first place, with 5lb 3oz, Mick Bradley second, with 2lb 2oz, and Malcolm Wright third, with 1lb 15oz.

The heaviest fish was tied between Phil Buy and Malcolm Wright.

They both landed a 1lb 15oz dogfish each.

The Clacton Pier Charity Shield was held at the weekend and it was a sell-out, which raised £555 for local charities.

Many thanks to Sean Piero and Matt Stewart for organising this great annual match and Phil Buy and Neil Cocks for running the weigh-in.

The senior winners were James Everett (219 points), Steve Yallop (170), Thomas Garton (124) and the junior winners Shane Crump (110 points), Joshua Buist (45) and James Day (28).

The ladies’ winner was Linda Fletcher, with 52 points.

Reports from anglers fishing Clacton Pier are all saying the same thing - that there are lots of small fish, with some thornback rays on the night tides. Chris Hayes fished here and caught dogfish and dabs and told me there were many small fish caught.

The St Osyth beaches have slowed down a bit on the thornback ray front.

They are still there to be caught but, as the water has warmed up, the crabs have started feeding and are stripping anglers’ baits in minutes.

Danny Allen fished here and reported baits were not lasting long enough for rays to find them, especially fish baits.

It’s always worth trying squid baits as it is a far tougher bait and wrapped on with elastic cotton should give you 15 minutes between casts.

The high tides for the weekend are 8.03am on Saturday and 9.24am on Sunday.