BEACH & SEA FISHING: Things are ticking along quite nicely on the region's beaches. Catches haven't been spectacular but the slow and steady improvements continue at most venues.

Things are ticking along quite nicely on the region's beaches. Catches haven't been spectacular but the slow and steady improvements continue at most venues.

Some very nice fish have been reported by boat anglers only a mile or two offshore. Local ace Paul Kerry had some excellent cod around the 10lb mark aboard a friend's boat off Lowestoft while boats out of Aldeburgh, Orford and Southwold have all reported catching similar sized fish.

Unfortunately these big fish haven't found their way inshore yet and there's no guarantee we will see these fish off the beaches but there's a chance when the crabs start to moult.

Beaches in the south have produced mainly whiting, flatfish and undersized codling. There have been a few dogfish and occasional codling in the 2-4lb bracket, though smaller fish tend to be the mainstay of catches.

It's a similar story at Lowestoft and Yarmouth, with probably a few more school bass being reported along with the whiting and codlets.

With the exception of dogfish, larger fish tend to be at a premium, though I think it's reasonable to expect a few more better bass over the next week or so.

The stretch of coast covering Yarmouth to the shingle ridge of north Norfolk has probably been the pick of the region's venues.

Whiting, flatfish and undersized codling have dominated catches still but there seems to be better chances of good fish amongst the bits.

The shingle ridge continues to produce quite a few flatfish with some decent flatties reported at night, tipping with fish baits seems to winkle out the better flatties.

I fished Trimingham last week and aside a couple of large pouts only managed small fish. It was a similar story for other anglers along the stretch that day but there have been decent codling and a couple of bass reported over recent tides.

This area should come into it's own over the next couple of weeks as the bass make their way inshore hunting the first moulting crabs. Hopefully a few of those cod the boat anglers have been catching will turn up too.