With good conditions on the way we will be looking forward to seeing an improvement in the fishing, which will no doubt please many boaters and land-based anglers.

Welshpool has been through such an awful season, so bad that many anglers have just about had enough and can’t wait to get out on the water again.

The local jetties, according to reports however seem to be going along fairly well with locals who know where to go probably with bigger smiles.

On a recent trip I came across a regular visitor to the area and he said he has been doing all right through the winter, which is different to most reports I have received. Frank Henderson from Morwell says that he and a mate often come down and try their luck off the jetty at the eastern end and just about every trip will go home with something to put on the plate. He says that the eastern end of the structure seems to be the best place to wet a line. He also likes to have a variety of baits, which includes pipis, squid and sand worms. He explains that fish are finicky things and the bait they will go mad on one day will not be touched the next trip.

There has been a modest sprinkling of whiting through the winter where they have been to the 37cm mark as well as a few silvers that are being caught in he Lewis Channel. The fish are not in big numbers by any stretch of the imagination but they will grow in the warmer months. The larger fish of prey will also make an appearance when the cycle will again commence.

There have been quite reasonable numbers of garfish making an appearance, along with mullet. Colin Johnson discovered this when he visited the area with a mate and they ventured out near the old jetty on a fine sunny day. They had enough for a reasonable meal and, being their first trip, they can’t wait to get out again.

I have received reports from visitors who have just come down just to suss the area out. Jess was with two friends who decided to have a look at the area around Welshpool jetty. Being such a great day they decided to try out the newly constructed rock wall near the jetty. The tide was nearly at high water level and they had some whitebait at their disposal. With their baits in the water they waited for a few minutes until the action began and a very nice mullet was brought aboard. According to Jess it was huge, by mullet standards, and shortly afterwards the other rods took off. As it turned out the water was boiling and the fish were going crazy. It was a matter of being at the right place at the right time. The good fishing continued for the best part of an hour and the ‘boiling’ water moved further up the inlet, but the crew was happy.