ONCE again, there is not much good news to report this week.

Those hurricanes are still sweeping across the Atlantic towards us and the only saving grace is that they do calm down slightly as they hit Great Britain.

However, they are still strong enough to cause problems for boat and beach anglers alike.

Boat fishing was all but curtailed last week, with very little action.

Any boats that have found a break in the weather have found very few cod.

The thornback rays are still feeding, though, along with lots of small whiting.

Colchester Sea Angling Club braved the high winds midweek for the last match in their Trans Dec series.

They headed for the St Osyth beaches – only to find that a storm was blowing and the fishing was going to be too uncomfortable.

Instead, they put plan B into action and headed for calmer conditions on the Harwich beaches.

Even here, conditions were difficult to say the least and most fish were caught at just 40 yards out.

First place went to Neil Cocks, with 1lb 10oz.

Malcolm Wright was second, with 1lb 7oz, and Martin Close third, with 1lb 5oz.

The heaviest fish prize went to Malcolm, with an 8oz eel.

The top three anglers at the end of the Trans Dec series were Phil Buy, followed by Mark Peters and Neil Cocks.

The Walton and Frinton beaches have had a slow week, mainly because of strong cross winds that have made fishing very hard going.

There are still lots of whiting to be caught and the odd dogfish.

Walton Pier has also had a slow time, with whiting and the odd codling to be caught.

On calmer days, dabs have been showing well from the head of the pier.

The Holland and Clacton beaches are similar to Walton, with lots of small whiting, the odd bass and dogfish.

Clacton Pier seems to be producing a few more fish.

Peter Rose reported some bigger whiting and he tells me more fish are showing on the inside arm of the pier, with still the odd ray showing.

The tides for the weekend are 12.01pm on Saturday and 12.23pm on Sunday.