Keen coarse fish anglers who have just eight days to visit their favourite tidal rivers before the season ends at midnight on March 14, can expect to bag up with roach and bream.

Keen coarse fish anglers who have just eight days to visit their favourite tidal rivers before the season ends at midnight on March 14, can expect to bag up with roach and bream.

These fish have already begun their spring migration from winter quarters to local boatyard lagoons, draining dykes and off river moorings, writes Roy Webster.

This week silver fish species were being caught from the river Thurne from Martham to Coldharbour, the river Ant around Ludham Bridge and from the river Bure at St Benets Abbey, Upton and Acle.

At this time of the year anglers can enjoy almost total monopoly of the rivers because the only vessels plying the tidals are privately owned pleasure craft and pike anglers' boats.

There will be no special extension to the coarse fish season this term so anglers have to make the best of what's left. For open match anglers this is likely to take the form of an event on the river Thurne at Coldharbour. To confirm this is going ahead tomorrow week, contact Tony Gibbons (01603 400973).

Pike anglers should stick to the area of river where they have already met with success this winter. The best spots are likely to be the river Thurne from Martham Ferry to Somerton, the bottom end of Candle Dyke and the mouth of Catfield Dyke on Hickling Broad.

Despite being thrown open for unlimited permits for the remainder of the season, Horsey Mere attracted only two anglers last weekend, their reward just one or two small jack pike. It has been a similar sad story from Hickling and Heigham Sounds, where it is reported that bailiffs discovered unlawful baited lines probably set to catch pike.

The Environment Agency reports that winter surveys in the broads' boatyard lagoons and various off-river dykes have revealed substantial numbers of silver fish species in these areas that were systematically poached for small fish for a three-year period.

Sport on the match lakes where fishing is enjoyed for 12 months of the year has been most encouraging.

Tony Anderson, of the Yarmouth Browning/Pownalls match squad, won last week's Barford silver fish open with a massive bream haul of 61lb 15oz. At Hill Farm, Banham, Ormesby's Stephen Rouse (Nomads) headed the card with 40lb 1oz while on the Barford Willow open Mark Haverson (Browning/Pownalls) was runner-up with 61lb 6oz.

Stalham club members competed in two events. In the club lagoons the result was D Egerton 12lb 1oz, T Stapley 12lb, L Timms 8lb 5oz. At Melton Ponds the winner was S Rouse 50lb 1oz, then B Burlton 33lb 5oz and A Watson 27lb 4oz.

Along the local beaches there were a few codling caught from the north and central, but for quantity and indeed quality a journey south was required to marks at Pakefield, Kessingland, Southwold and Orford.

Diary date: Yarmouth's Sportsmans Angling Club annual meeting, Sportsmans pub, March 11, 7.30pm. New members welcome to attend.