THE first cod are starting to show up.

Most have been reported along the north Essex coast and the best so far was a cracking fish of 12lb, caught on the Walton charter boat Misty Lady.

These early fish will soon be joined by more as these big spring tides take off and, by next weekend, I would expect to see quite a few more.

The best baits are squid and lug.

There are a lot more thornbacks showing up in all areas, with one charter boat reporting over 60 on Saturday.

A lot of these fish are small, which is a good sign for the future.

The piers and estuaries have been fishing well, with small codling, good whiting and thornbacks all showing up.

There are some better whiting showing up, with several fish around 1lb reported.

The best baits for these lovely little fish are lug and mackerel strip.

There should be some bigger fish showing offshore, too, as the sea temperature drops.

There are lots of small thornbacks everywhere and plenty of bigger ones too, plus a few dogfish and whiting.

Prospects are excellent and there should be more cod showing up in the next few weeks, with the real prospect of some bigger fish coming in.