RECORD numbers of fish have been spotted in the Severn Estuary this season, but the Black Rock Lave Net Heritage Fishery say there have been just four catches to date.

However, one of their fishing trips went with a real bang when they landed a cannon ball.

And Paul Watkins had success when he took an 18lb fish to win the Bob Leonard cup for first fish of the season and is a strong contender to win the season’s biggest fish.

The fishery remains as popular as ever as a heritage attraction, being filmed for the ITV program Coast and Country, which will feature Bob Leonard and Matt Fox (the oldest and youngest members), when it is broadcast on ITV at 8pm on Friday 4th August.

Two trips have been undertaken on calm, non-fishing days in July to Denny Island, a mid-channel island west of the lave net fishing grounds, and on the second trip the fishermen were amazed to pull out the cannon ball.

Lave fisherman Martin Morgan said:

“As far as the catch rate you need luck with the weather and some of the boys are still quite inexperienced regarding catching, as it takes years to learn, and a few have been very close to the net but not caught.

“There are lots of other reasons: effort has also been down this season so far with some of the boys’ work commitments.

“An average season will only see us and around eight fish and luck can change in an instant. Of course our group limit is five per month for the three month season.

“There are good runs this year, as it varies from year to year, but the trend seems to be going upwards.”

People are welcome to watch the lave net fishing from the safety of the Black Rock picnic site.

The lave net fishing at Black Rock has been passed down through generations for hundreds of years, and the last fishermen following the ancient tradition in Wales all come from local villages of Sudbrook, Portskewett and Caldicot.