After being frozen off Bayliss Pools carp lake last week, 14 of our Winter Leaguers were just about blown off it today! High winds and an overcast sky made for tricky conditions to see those tiny bream bites, but Tony Poolton managed to find some good size ones to win with 33 Lbs 12 Ozs.  Second was local lad Tony Randall, with 18 Lbs 13 Ozs and third was Terry Thompson with 17 Lbs 4 Ozs.  All three used a groundbait feeder and red maggot to tempt mostly bream, skimmers and some quality roach.  For the full result and league standings after selecting the best 4 from 5 results, click on the link below.  The final leg will be fished on the river - as soon as conditions allow!

Winter League 2011 - 5 Sheet1.pdf (38.01 kb)

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After all the bad weather, we finally got to fish the postponed third leg of our Winter League series on Withy Pool, Telford. Despite the pool only having been completely ice free for barely 24 hours, the 12 members who turned out to fish this match on a really wet, mild day, had a good day's sport. Eventual winner was Nick Bastock with an impressive 14 Lbs 2 Ozs net of bream, skimmers and roach all taken on the long pole and red maggot. Second was yours truly with 8 Lbs dead, which consisted of 3 small bream, some cracking roach and rudd plus skimmers all taken on the tip with red maggot and a 2 Lbs carp caught on the long pole and a 22 hook to a 1 Lb bottom! Third was Ken Arnold with 7 Lbs 7 Ozs. Everyone caught on this new-to-us venue and were very pleased to do so after such a long enforced break. I think we will book the venue again - when its not raining please!

This means that Ken Arnold is now leading the League with just 9 penalty points, followed by myself, Dave Upton and Tony Randall all on 12 points.  Three matches to go and all to fish for!

Click on the link to see the full results so far.

Winter League 2011 - 3 WINTER LEAGUE 2010-11.pdf (37.99 kb)

I know that there has been much talk about the apparent lack of silver fish in the river.  Indeed there has been a lot said in the angling press on this subject too.  I want to ensure members that I am working with Dr Chis Bainger, from the Environment Agency, on this issue.  For those of you that remember him, Chris came to our AGM back in 2003 and gave us a presentation on this very subject.  This was because the Foot and Mouth outbreak had produced some very poor catches and match weights.  Using the Society's match catch records, which go back to the 1930's, Chris demonstrated that all rivers, not just ours, have cycles that species produce.  As an example, I, like many members, had rarely seen any bream over the 15 years that I have fished our water.  Then, in 2009, suddenly everyone was catching them.  Good fish too, going to over 5Lbs.  Then there were the big "cock" dace that were in the river in the late 1990's that disappeared after the Foot & Mouth epidemic in 2002.  But they were back in 2005.  Now there are many theories out there about what's causing a lack of silver fish at present, Cormorants, Goosanders, Mink, Otters etc. etc.  But I can assure you that Chris is doing everything he can at present to get to the bottom of things and to come up with a plan to sort it out.  I will try to get him to speak at our AGM again on 19 February at 7:30 pm in Leighton Village Hall  So come along to hear what he has to say and ask any questions.

The Big Freeze has played havoc with the Winter League fixtures.  We only managed to fish 2 of the 3 matches before Christmas and, as a result of the river being un-fishable and all the still waters being frozen solid, have had to postpone the first one of 3 in the New Year, scheduled to be fished on the Withy Pool on 9 January.  This match will be fished on the Withy Pool, Telford.  Draw 0900 Hrs and fish 1000 - 1500 Hrs.  I have negotiated a £3/angler peg fee.  Just hope we don't get blown away by the storm force winds, or drowned by the torrential rain that is now forecast!