The first trip of the year dedicated to congers was mounted by Plymouth skipper Malcolm Jones, of Sea Angler II, for members of the locally-based Seafarers SAC.

With only five anglers aboard, the skipper had the time to fish on his own account and showed his ability by taking the heaviest eel of the day that weighed 67lb.

Tony Webb, who has had a very good run of success with cod and pollack on previous outings, had the second best eel of 66lb and another half dozen or so were in the 50lb class. All were weighed on the boat and released.

The neap and medium tide periods will be eagerly fished from charter and private boats out of the South West Channel ports, with the ultimate target being an eel big enough to displace the record fish of 133lb 4½oz that has now reigned untouched since June 1995.

Camborne Angling Association's Annual Open Shore Festival is over this coming weekend June (11-12).

It offers a first prize for best specimen of £150 and the list goes down to eightth place.

Entries will be taken from 4pm on Saturday at many of the main West Cornwall tackle shops and at the St Dennis AFC. Entry fees are £5 for a senior and £2.50 for a junior. This is also a Cornish Federation of Sea Anglers heat for the Western Morning News Trophy.

The Hayle estuary should provide sizeable examples of the gilt head bream. The beaches either side of Trevose Head are good for small-eyed ray and bass and the deep water headlands, such as Trevose, Pentire and Rumps Point, rarely fail wrasse hunters.

Bull Huss are still providing hot action especially at the many headland marks between the Yealm Estuary and Berry Head.

Hilsea Point was successfully fished by Phil Smith of Plymouth's Roving Rods SAC for a superb specimen of 12lb 10½oz.

It is time for the exotic Couch's Bream to make its first appearance of the year at reefs notably "The Pells" off Cornwall's Atlantic coast.

Given suitable weather, trips to the area could well produce examples of this prized species.

Cath Elcox holds the Cornish Record for the species at 5lb 12oz but the size potential is vastly greater as the European all-time best is a massive fish of 17lb caught off Gibraltar's Europa Point.

Cornish waters also attract – but in lesser numbers – Pandora Bream and the boat record for this one is 3lb 6oz by Chris Stone. But like the Couch's, it grows much larger and the European record is 14lb 1oz.

To these can be added the far more common Black Bream, a species that serves Cornish boat anglers well from boat and shore from now until mid-November.

The respective records are 5lb 4oz and 4lb 13oz.

Coarse anglers at Emperor Lakes, in South Devon, have achieved superlative results, none more than Malcolm Best who had mirror carp of 37lb 12oz and 29½lb.

Steve Ellison also found a near-30lb mirror and the heaviest of a number of ghost carp was a new venue record fish of 32lb.

Martin Thacker banked a mirror of 34lb 12oz and the best of the commons was a fish of 34½lb by Dave Reekie.

The venue's Day Ticket Water provided Pete Marriott with a new junior record catfish of 50lb 2oz that proved a challenging opponent.