BEACH FISHING: It has been a tough couple of months on the region's beaches and the form looks to continue in the same vein for the next week or so. I don't have a full set of match results, but those I have seen would tend to back up the pleasure anglers' reports - with few fish caught at all and those that have been caught have tended to be flatfish and undersize codling.

It has been a tough couple of months on the region's beaches and the form looks to continue in the same vein for the next week or so.

I don't have a full set of match results, but those I have seen would tend to back up the pleasure anglers' reports - with few fish caught at all and those that have been caught have tended to be flatfish and undersize codling.

Reports from Walberswick, Kessingland and right round the coast to Cley make similar reading with flatfish and undersize round fish caught if anything, though I notice a couple of school bass mentioned too.

Sheringham ace Tony Thomas won Holt's last match of their winter league fixtures with two flounders at Trimingham. I think I'm right in stating that would be the win that seals the league title for Tony this year in a close-run competition.

A friendly 'Dads v Lads' match at Pakefield over the weekend saw 33 anglers compete in reasonable fishing conditions.

Like Holt's match, this match was won with two flatfish, Roger Tipple's flounder and dab enough to claim individual honours for the Lads team. In fact Roger was the only angler to card more than one fish!

It wasn't enough to see the Lads to a team win though as the Dads filled the next four places. I'm told experience won through on the day.

It's a sorry state of affairs, though, when only five of the 33 fishing caught, even with some top local anglers competing.

As you'd expect with a season like this, there's been a lot of conjecture about when the spring run of codling will start and if we'll have one at all.

I think we will get a few cod back, but I think it'll be when we're fishing for bass in the mid to late spring.

Commercial fishermen I've spoken with tell me there are large shoals of herrings and sprats still and without any signs of low pressure to break up those shoals, the cod will be munching their way through them - assuming they've finished spawning

I guess the only good news is that they should be packing on the weight. I don't think we'll see the mature fish in spring though. I think it will be the smaller 2 to 4lb fish if we see any.

The larger fish tend to be fish eaters and won't be grubbing around for crabs, shrimps and worms with their smaller cousins.

Hopefully the bigger fish will put in an appearance next autumn, when there should be some real monsters among them.

Without the luxury of the Gulf Stream warming our waters and with the surface temperature currently around 4-5 Celsius, it's going to be a little while before things start to shift again.

Some wise old hands reckon the next set of spring tides will mark an upturn.

I hope they're right, but personally I think we'll see some codling back when the bass arrive.