As you can see from the photos, the last month has seen weather conditions ranging from flat calm and sunshine to wind and rain. In fact wind and rain has predominated over the last two weeks and as usual I am envious of those who have the flexibility to nip out at short notice to take advantage of a weather window.

Despite these challenges we have plenty of catch reports to share. The geography of the Solent area means there is always somewhere to shelter from the wind and if the worst happens, there are always mullet in the harbours at this time of year! Heber Crawford has been sending me mullet photos through the month, each one larger than previously, culminating in a corker of 6lb 2oz (pictured).

This is also the time of year when big tope arrive in packs with some large breeding females among them. As usual with fishing, some days provide hectic sport and the same mark days later produces very few. Daniel Churchill, Heber Crawford, Heber Junior and Luke Bedson show some impressive tope but star of the month was Andrew Gilling with a tope of 68lb.

The offshore reefs and wrecks produce pollack when the weather allows for a run to mid-Channel. Arron Shons and Tim Andrews show the quality of fish that can be caught. Carol Stenson also shows off a quality fish and deserves a special mention. Carol has been bravely battling serious illness and on the good days she likes nothing more than getting out among the fish. She has a magic touch, often scoring first fish, most fish and biggest fish over other anglers on board. I think this proves that the way a lure moves is a deciding factor, because the tackle and location are otherwise identical. I take my hat off to Carol for both skill and bravery.

We have an active Junior section in SMAC and it is great to share the joy in young faces as they show off their catches – Mikey Primmett, Jake Kelly and Lennox Patel show that size and enjoyment are not relative.

At the other end of the seniority scale is the Southsea Marina Disabled Angling Club and this month we have a story about Terry Watson. Terry was previously a more active angler but after many less active years was finally persuaded to come out to sea again on the SMDAC boat Lady Elsa, with skippering services provide by Steve Kelly. A dogfish is not usually honoured by a mention but it is when it is caught in such special circumstances. Plenty of bass were also caught on SMDAC trips, demonstrated by Terry, John Wearn, Dick Stubbs and Dennis Haydon.

Finally, we have a few photos from the Langstone Harbour Fishermen’s Association where John Evans won the Plaice Cup, Luke Scott second prize in the Pollack rankings, Ray Plomer the Pout cup and John Mardlin was overall champion.

PS. You might think you need special kit to take a great photograph. Not necessarily, Heber Crawford uses his phone for very well composed fish selfies and I thought his rather angry-looking conger was worth including just for artistic merit.