WAVENEY VALLEY: Matt Sillett didn't have many yards to travel to reach one of the Beccles Scores which are centralised in the town, near to his home, and an early start on opening day rewarded him handsomely.

By 5am he was into the bronze bream as the 4lb to 6lb beauties obliged on the feeder, taking 12 of them in his session. By 10am the action was over and, like many fishing the Beccles reach, the strong flow of the up-tide slowed feeding down to a halt.

Puddingmoor Park was more free fishing that provided sport and boaters moored up at Barsham found a good shoal of bream too.

At Hardley Dyke the 'enormous' pike seen cruising and snaffling at least six ducklings, and savaging small roach from a teeming shoal over the last 10 days, eventually took a jigged preserved sand eel.

Having had practically everything in the book put at her nose by an estimated dozen different holidaymakers meeting stubborn refusal over a period of 10 hours, Chelmsford angler Billy Grant eventually weighed it in at 8pm for 27lb 4oz.

Less successful was his almost week-long pursuit of the shoal of about a dozen grey mullet, many estimated at 5lb, seen swimming up and down.

Although one of 2lb was eventually taken on a small piece of bread,it didn't answer his question as to whether he could fish for a sea fish in the statutory closed season.

Meanwhile, up at the Cherry Tree's reach at Ellingham the peaked water induced some quality fish to feed.

Hard working treasurer Colyn Taylor, who recently through club officer's holidays and hospitalisations ended up being treasurer, secretary, president and Fisheries Officer for a couple of weeks, single-handedly running the club (with appreciations to his wife Viv for answering the phone), caught a range of species.

Ably fishing the pole chublets and chub to 2lb came to the net alongside quality dace and a few net roach on the red maggot.

Further upstream some decent bream showed too, giving a fine struggle on the whip to bread baits on a size 16 with a bit of light crumb and porridge oats cloud for the secretary.

As for the non-tidal reaches it was hard going if you picked where the otters had been playing, but at Homersfield and Mendham Marshes some good chub were reported taken on big baits.

Bungay Common had the dace feeding near the chestnut trees upstream from the silver bridge and good chub came from Target Hills in the runs between the streamer weed on big baits.