A period of exceptionally low tides made fishing hard going in the upstream tidal areas with fish moving fast in speedy darting shoals and refusing to settle and feed for long.

The dace have been the most obliging with a good shoal seen around the outfall near to the boat house on the Cherry Tree reach at Dunburgh, where two double figure bags were taken on the stick float and caster.

Beccles has been packed with a tremendous shoal of fish near to the main road bridge. With a fish-a-chuck on the waggler, baiting with maggot, eight species came to hand – chublets to 6oz then roach, rudd, dace, tiny skimmers, perch, ruffe and obliging weighty gudgeon fat and fit to bust with spawn.

Those fishing bigger with worms on the pole found some perch well over a pound caught all around this area. Stripeys in the Quay were ready to spawn, often milting in the hand while being unhooked. While the Dunburgh dace had the rough to the hand feel as yet no spawning follicles appear on the bream or roach in the river.

Fry were observed at the river's edge and in the back dykes of the Maltings at Bungay by club fisheries officer Geoff Kerman then tripping along the bank to further upstream, at the Falcon he had a fantastic bag from the Meadow above the Weir. Rod-bending beauties of three rudd over 1lb and the best 1lb 10 oz.

Gentle loose feeding saw these come alongside three chub to 4lb 3oz but all of them nervously only just dibbling the float for a bite. Meanwhile, below the weir veteran Ronnie Davey from Bungay, now virtually fully recovered from Weill's disease, was enjoying putting together a great bag of quality roach on his whip.

This area is available on a day ticket from shops and well patrolled by not only club but also EA bailiffs with recent success in identifying non-statutory licence holders even in these closing days of the annual licensing period.

Harleston Club still waters with four weeks to go before they close. Their season have fished fantastically well again this year for carp with an exceptional number of 100lb plus bags from a whole range of methods. Their steep banked Bottle Turton Pit has produced some of the best tench caught in the area even right through the winter from its gin clear deep water and several roach over 2lb have been taken.

The massive Ocean Pit may not show the roach that are present often but the milder weather this week saw fish move into the shallower bay of the 110's with quality redfins taken up in the water on waggler and caster.

Feeder fishing with a long chuck invariably pays off with some really big bream in the last few weeks of the club as season and a trip out with big baits can be worthwhile there.