WHAT a difference a week makes.

Reports didn’t look good for this summer’s tope season, compounded by the lack of mackerel shoals.

Well, this week it’s all change! The boats that have made the effort to travel further out to sea to the tope grounds have found the sharks feeding.

Yes, they are a member of the shark family and, if you remember, I was lucky enough to catch two small ones off Walton Pier recently.

Don’t worry, though, swimmers – these sharks are absolutely harmless! The Brightlingsea charter boat Sophie Lea headed for the tope grounds and found them feeding.

Mick Frost caught the biggest, weighing in at 45lbs.

The charter boat Gloria B2 also had a good day among the tope and reported that the mackerel shoals were there and definitely feeding.

The tope is one of the bigger species of shark that appear in the Thames estuary.

The dogfish and smoothhound, which we see, are also a smaller brethren of the shark family.

Reports of big bass from the boats are still patchy and most, at the moment, are around the 2lb to 4lb range.

However, there is still plenty of the summer left for those bigger fish to appear.

In fact, the big bass will turn up with the first of those whiting shoals.

Clacton Pier has continued to see a few bass and the odd ray during daylight hours, with after dark bringing those bigger fish closer to the pier.

The beaches have been patchy, but there certainly has been a lack of anglers.

The Holland beaches are producing a few small thornback rays and school bass.

The Frinton beaches are the place to head for if you fancy fishing for sole, or the chance of a bigger bass, and this area is also producing small rays as well.

Clacton Sea Angling Club headed for Walton Pier for their latest evening ebb tide match.

Some anglers headed for the lifeboat area to fish between the piles for the resident summer fish and other competitors fished the club hut area at the bottom of the pier hoping for a bigger bass.

When the match ended, it proved the bottom of the pier was the venue to be and first place went to Lawrence Chisnall, with 12 fish for 3lb 6oz.

Rob Tuck was a close second with 11 fish for 3lb 2oz and Nik Highfield was third, with five fish for 2lb 15oz. The heaviest fish prize went to James Everett, with a bass of 1lb 1oz. The species caught were bass, eels, whiting, pouting, pollack, dabs and sole.

If you fancy a chance of a bigger bass, the Coast Guard and Naze beaches are the places to head for at this time of year.

The ground here is rougher, with rocks and hard mud, which will hold the small crabs and bait fish that the bass love to feed on.

If you have any fishing reports or photos, you can send them to me at popplewell1@btinternet.com. The tides for the weekend are 1.14pm on Saturday and 2pm on Sunday.