THE fishing has been hard for a couple of weeks with a combination of strong winds and an influx of sprats.

However, I’m happy to report that fishing has improved dramatically.

The sprats have thinned out and there has been a big influx of cod with lots of fish of 3-4lb showing.

The best baits are lug-tipped with squid.

These fish are showing up in all the inshore and offshore marks.

There are very few whiting or pouting so most bites you get will be from the codling. There are still some thornbacks around, we had two on Sunday with the best at 13lb, both took a lug and squid combo.

Most of these fish have moved off into deeper water but will soon return in big numbers in March.

The shore and pier marks have been very quiet but with this latest influx of codling they will start improving soon.

Big spring tides are the best and the best baits again are squid and lug.

The Estuaries have been poor but will soon improve with codling pushing inshore and occasional Thornbacks. The prospects are superb, with a lack of whiting and dogfish and an abundance of cod this is shaping up to be our best spring for a long time.