BRIXHAM Sea Anglers Club held it's annual presentation at their Castor Road headquarters where the wall memorabilia includes original mounts of the 133lb 4oz record conger and a previous all-time best cod of 53lb. Both came from wrecks in the nearby Lyme Bay.

The club was again at the head of what was the final NFSA specimen medal list, doing so with a magnificent 155 awards, the breakdown being 13 gold, 32 silver and 110 bronze.

The Angling Trust has confirmed that the future of this national competition is secure under it's Marine Division, but in some circles there is less confidence.

Highlight of the lengthy presentation, involving more than 100 trophies, were special awards to members of the club's team (Copping, Repton, Cockram, Upham) who, for the fourth time in succession, won Division One of the Plymouth & District Shore League.

Requiring dedication of the highest order in all weathers over a total of 40 day and night heats, the squad came up with superb percentage catches across an incredibly wide spectrum of species. Leading trophy winners were John Heather (conger 102 ½lb), Daryl Farley (blonde ray 23 ½lb shore), Ashley Cockram (ballan wrasse 6 ½lb shore), Sean Coulson (black bream 4lb 5oz shore) and Russell Farley (small-eyed ray 12lb 5oz (shore).

Mike Concannon tells me that the rush of big ling at Lyme Bay wrecks is continuing. Catches have been led by a specimen of 38 ½lb, rating the biggest for at least five years taken from Dave Harrison's Dartmouth-based Gemini,while others between 30-34lb have taken baits. Before this very recent re-emergence of the species it was generally considered that ling of substantial weight were virtually non-existent. Nature has its own hidden agenda.

Entries for the 2009 Dartmouth Plaice Festival are being taken for the event, to be fished over the weekend April 18-19 in boat and shore categories.

Organised by the Dartmouth Angling and Boating Club, the competition again offers an extensive prize list and a pot of several hundred pounds for the angler with the best weight from two fish caught on either day.

Boats will head for the tideswept Skerries Banks and with the plaice season now at its height and given reasonable weather conditions, fish should respond well to cocktails from a choice of peeler crab, king and harbour ragworm, sandeel, razor fish and squid.

Plaice fishing is a light tackle game and the best result is by using a light uptider or a 12 lb-class boat rod, ideally not less than 7 ½ ft long, matched with a small level-line multiplier carrying 12 lb test monofilament.

The trace, a minimum of 10 ft in length, is connected to a fine wire size 1 or 1/0 hook with an offset point behind which are a dozen small coloured beads. When the rod tip indicates a fish's interest by a slow but definite pulling down, three feet of line is immediately slacked away to relieve tension.

Seconds later, the plaice will make a determined attach and a full even sweep of the rod is sufficient to set the hook. A small shiny spoon on a link within the beads is useful, to kick up spurts of sand as the terminal rig moves over the bottom under the impetus of the drifting boat.

Shore entrants will have the best chance of catching fish from the banks of the Dart at Greenway Quay, Dittisham, and Gun Cove. On the open coast, Blackpool Sands Cove, Slapton, Beesands, Hallsands and Lannacombe offer the possibility of good fish. In the Salcombe River, Mill Bay, Smalls Cove, and East Portlemouth Beach give a fair chance of success.

The contact telephone numbers for more information are (01803) 835201 or 07717 574630.

Fly fishermen using Kennick Reservoir now have the benefit of a brand new anglers' lodge, the culmination of energetic fund-raising by Kennick Fly Fishing Association and generous sponsorship from South West Water, who control the venue.

It was officially opened by Chris Loughlin, Chief Executive of South West Water, who said: "Trout fishing used to be a formal organised recreation for a select few, now it has become available to all".