It looks like the spring run has finally arrived, with thornback rays and dogfish arriving on our East Coast beaches.

Walton Pier has to be the top spot at the moment.

The bigger tides saw the first of the rays being caught, along with a good amount of dogfish.

The stem of the pier produced lots of codling, all in the 2lb to 3lb range.

Colchester angler Adam West had a good day’s fishing, catching five good-sized codling and dogfish during daylight hours.

Clacton Pier has also been in on the act and Dean’s Tackle have reported a varied selection of fish being caught, including codling, whiting, dabs, dogfish, rays and even the odd plaice.

All in all, a great week for the pier!

The beaches have seen their fair share of fish, with codling still showing from Holland-on-Sea.

Richard Holgate was again among the fish, landing some good-sized codling from this venue.

The second phase of the Clacton sea defence work has now started in earnest and all the beaches between the pier and Holland are closed to the public.

I’ll keep you informed on their progress.

The St Osyth beaches, famed for their thornback rays, are now fishing well, with the first run of rays hitting the beaches.

Brightlingsea angler Gary Hambleton fished a daytime tide here and caught one of the first rays, nabbing it on a pulley rig, using lugworm bait.

Colchester angler Neil Cocks headed for Bateman’s Tower, in Brightlingsea.

He reported that flounders are feeding well and ended his session with seven, plus some small bass.

Colchester Sea Angling Club fished their latest match on the new Holland beaches.

Fourteen anglers fished on a bright day, with plenty of colour in the water.

Steve Yallop was first, with 4lb 7oz.

Martin Close came second, with 3lb 12oz, and Mark Peters third, with 2lb 7oz.

The heaviest round fish was a 2lb 7oz codling, caught by Steve, and the heaviest flatfish was a 1lb 3oz flounder, caught by Martin.

Their annual club presentation is at the Grapes pub, in Colchester, on Saturday, starting at 8pm.

Clacton Sea Angling Club headed for the Coast Guard beaches at Walton for their evening match.

Fifteen anglers turned out and fish were hard to find.

In first place was the in-form Rob Tuck, with 145 points.

Second place went to John Wilson, with 97, and in third was Lawrence Chisnall, with 91.

The heaviest fish was a 30cm whiting caught by Terry Quartermaine.

The boats have had another good week, although north-easterly winds have curtailed a few days.

Seawatch reported a good amount of codling to 4lbs, plus more rays are now being caught.

The Brightlingsea-based Sophie Lea has also been catching its fair share, with lots of those plump spring-run codling and thornbacks showing on most tides.

Clacton Boat Club members Dave Holland and Rocky Rochelle fished a mile off Clacton Pier and caught codling to 4lb, plus rays to 8lb.

All the rays were returned.

My trip this week was to the Frinton beaches, in front of the golf course.

I fished a flood tide during daylight hours and had two plump codling around the two to 3lb mark, plus lots of small codling.

This is a good sign that proves those bigger breeding fish have had a good spawning year and can only bode well for the future.

The clocks change this weekend so there is a jump of an extra hour on the tides for Sunday.

The tides for the weekend are 5.51pm on Saturday and 8.10pm on Sunday.