JULY seems to have arrived with an influx of bass.

July 1 heralds a relax on the ban on catching and keeping them, although we're only allowed to keep one per session.

It has to be better than nothing.

The boats have seen plenty of bass caught this week, with fish to 8lbs caught on a variety of baits and lures.

The Brightlingsea-based Seawatch Charters has been among the bass.

With clear seas, they have been feeding, along with some thornback rays and bigger smooth-hounds.

Private boats have also reported an increase in bass catches this week.

Neil Marples took his own boat, Milore, out from Walton’s Titchmarsh Marina and fished just off the local coastline.

He caught bass to 4lbs and thornbacks to 10lbs, plus a very large smooth-hound which was unfortunately lost at the side of his boat.

Mackerel are still showing, although the shoals are sometimes hard to find.

However, hopefully over the next month we will see the shoals building.

Once again those bigger tope are feeding well but travelling the distance to their off-shore areas is very prohibitive.

The beaches and piers have had a much better week, with rays and bigger bass. Walton Pier has produced some bigger thornback rays this week, with rays into double figures.

Young Joshua Buist fished an evening tide at the end of the week and landed a fine ray weighing in at 6lbs, caught on a whole squid bait.

My trip this week was to Walton Pier.

I fished an ebb tide around the Lifeboat Station in breezy conditions with a jelly lure under the pier in the hope of bass and I was rewarded with a 5lb 8oz bass after only a few minutes of fishing.

I had one other take much later in the tide from a bass around the same size, but unfortunately it didn’t want to be landed!

The club hut area on the lower part of the pier has also seen bass being caught.

Peter Harris landed 14 bass to 42cms, also on the ebb tide.

If you fancy a trip for the bass, keep your hooks small.

Size one is big enough and ragworm will be the top bait.

School bass are feeding well all along the Walton and Frinton coastline with a few soles now also being caught, although usually by this time of year we should be seeing a lot more bigger soles showing.

It looks they might be slightly later this year.

Clacton Pier has slowed down on feeding thornback rays and dogfish but the bass catches have also increased here.

Clacton angler Michael Lloyd had a weekend trip and reported bass and flounders.

The early morning tides here will produce bass to lures or ragworm baits.

The high tides for the weekend are 12.16pm on Saturday and 12.53pm on Sunday.