Another miserable week as we all had to suffer windy conditions with showers and longer spells of rain on most days. The worst, unfortunately, was reserved for the weekend, which saw almost constant rain, together with strong winds, through Saturday night and over Sunday.

Last Tuesday’s latest qualifier at Westwood was a close affair for the also-rans but Alistair Ogilvie scored a comfortable victory with over 23lbs to spare. He used 6mm expanders over 4mm feed pellet for a net of carp and F1s. Bob Fitzjohn chose worm and caster down the track to take second to finish a mere 8ozs ahead of Steve Higginbottom in third. Results: 1 Alistair Ogilvie Maver Bait Tech 65lbs 8ozs; 2 Bob Fitzjohn March AC 42lbs; 3 Steve Higginbottom Westwood Lakes 41lbs 8ozs; 4 Chris White Westwood Lakes 38lbs 10ozs.

Thursday’s over-50s contest also took place on Skylark and here Dave Powell needed a little over 40lbs to take the honours using pellet and pole to beat Jeff Duggan by over 7lbs. Results: 1 Dave Powell Garbolino Peterborough 42lbs 8ozs; 2 Jeff Duggan Westwood Lakes 35lbs; 3 Ron Roberts Westwood Lakes 31lbs.

Despite the miserable weather Saturday brought one of the closest matches seen at Priory Lakes. No huge catches here but Edgar Purnell emerged the easy winner, at first using the method feeder with sweetcorn tight over to the island from peg 76 for three carp. As the bites dried up a switch to the pole and pellet produced a few skimmers plus two more bonus carp. After that just 2lbs separated the next five anglers as Dave Gash took the runner up spot taking carp and skimmers on the pole and pellet at 14m. Catch of the day, though, must go to Phil Clark who landed 21lbs of silver fish, all taken at 3m to hand. Results: 1 Edgar Purnell 36lbs 8ozs; 2 Dave Gash 22lbs 10ozs; 3 Lyle McGeechan 21lbs 5ozs; 4 Phil Clark 21lbs 3ozs; 5 Pete Allan 20lbs 14ozs; 6 Brian McKeown 20lbs 10ozs.

Back to Westwood and Sunday’s open on Hawk Lake took place under truly horrific conditions and not surprisingly attendance was well down on previous matches. Even so a little wind and rain could not prevent Alistair Ogilvie recording his second win within the week. This time around he used worm and caster to take a good catch of ide and barbel to beat Brian Harding by a little over 7lbs. Results: 1 Alistair Ogilvie Maver Bait Tech 53lbs 8ozs; 2 Brian Harding Maver Bait Tech 46lbs 4ozs; 3 Luke Morley Westwood Lakes 38lbs 12ozs.
Anyone wishing to contact the complex should write to: Westwood Lakes, Five House Lane, Wyberton, Boston, PE21 7JA or ring Alex on 07846769003. Website: www.westwoodlakes.co.uk & www.westwoodlakestackleshop.co.uk

Boston & DAA juniors will be starting their evening sessions on Wednesday May 9. These evenings are primarily for novices and beginners; however, more experienced youngsters are also welcome to attend. These coaching sessions will continue each Wednesday until the end of August. Meet at 6pm at Thorn House Lakes and finish at 9pm. Thorn House Lakes are situated near Cowbridge, North of Boston off the B1183 on the lane leading to the Golf Club. Fishing tackle is available for those who wish to use it but a small amount of bait will be required for the evening. The sessions are led by Licenced Angling Coaches. Parents of younger children are required to be on hand throughout on the evening. Further information, if required, is available from Coaches Ernie Heseltine 07816211795 or Dave Creasey 07966234987. Boston & DAA are holders of the 'Clubmark Award'.

Please note that Fishtoft AC members are asked to meet next Sunday at Royle's 8.30am.

Review for April 22

To be added

Review for April 15

Fancied peg pays dividends for Stamp

Quite a showery week – after all it is April – and to go with it, very cold and windy to boot.

Starting with the week’s round of matches at Westwood and Tuesdays open on Skylark was well attended by 32 hopefuls and won by venue regular and 2011 County Championship team winner Mick Stamp. Mick drew the fancied peg 14 and caught ide, bream and stockies by alternating between maggot and pellet on the long pole. Results: 1 Mick Stamp Sonubaits 44lbs 8ozs; 2 Pete Lambdin Westwood Lakes 36lbs; 3 Adam Wakelin Preston / Sonubaits 35lbs 14ozs.

Another good turnout of 39 anglers for Thursdays over 50s which, again, was won by Colin ‘Smudge’ Smith from fancied peg 40 on Skylark. He fished pellet in the left hand edge and tight across to finish a full 30lbs ahead of second placed Paul Oglesbee who used meat tight across for his weight. Results: 1 Colin ‘Smudge’ Smith Bagem 65lbs 2ozs; 2 Paul Oglesbee Westwood Lakes 35lbs; equal 3 Stan Stanovich & Tony Smith 29lbs 12ozs.

Sunday’s latest qualifier, involving another 33 competitors on Skylark, saw local youngster Luke Morley take the honours ahead of another local expert, in the shape of Alistair Ogilvie. He used 4mm expanders over crushed pellet and 2mm micro pellet to take carp and F1s for his winning net, whilst Alistair Ogilvie chose to fish worms and caster off peg 6. Luke also won the golden peg, worth £200, for his efforts. Results: 1 Luke Morley Westwood Lakes 40lbs; 2 Alistair Ogilvie Maver Bait- Tech 32lbs 8ozs; 3 Gareth Mills Westwood Lakes 31lbs 12ozs; 4 Boris Kilmer Army 31lbs 4ozs. Please call and speak to Alex for any information and dates of open matches. Book in early to avoid any disappointment. Tel. No. 01205 724162.

Round five of the East Coast junior league took place at Shepherds Lake Hunstanton on a very cold and windy Sunday. The resident carp failed to show and with just one tench and a skimmer it was left to the roach to provide some sport. An overnight frost made bites hard to come by in what proved to be a very close match with three teams tying for the top spot. Top lad on the day was Adam Swain who fished pole to 8m using maggot over ground bait for just over 5lbs of small roach, plus a bonus tench. Joint second were Kirsty Reed and Brendan Strolger who were pegged next to each other on pegs 15 &16 and with most anglers managing just a couple of pounds it was a tight match. Results: 1 Adam Swain Kings Lynn B peg 10 5lbs 1oz; equal 2 Kirsty Reed Kings Lynn A peg16 & Brendan Strolger West Norfolk Academy peg 15 3lbs 11ozs; 4 Danny Martin Lincoln A peg 9 3lbs. Teams: equal 1 King’s Lynn A, Lincoln A, & West Norfolk Academy 10pts; 4 Kings Lynn B 16pts. With just 3 points separating the top three teams going into the final round it looks like being one of the closest finishes in the league to date. Final round is on May 6 at Townsend Lakes.

The All England Junior Pole Championships takes place at Westwood Lakes on May 19 - any anglers aged under 22yrs wanting to fish should contact match organizer Dave Rance on 01529 461415 before closing date May 11.

Fishtoft AC members are asked to meet at Moon Lake, Tattershall for an 8.30am draw.

Review for April 8

George warms to task despite chill wind

A good start to the week but that soon went downhill as rain arrived during Tuesday and continued from time to time through to the Easter weekend, which turned out to be a damp squib for many, as well as being not too warm.

Due to a very cold easterly wind the weights were well down on this latest Priory Lakes open on Saturday. Winner George Gosling drew fancied peg 70 and started on the long pole at 13 metres with pellet to no avail. A switch to maggot brought instance success as he then took 1 carp, a single bream, and roach at regular intervals for a well-deserved win. Phil Clark, on peg 93, fished maggot and pellet and switching between the long pole, and tight in to the margins, he also landed 1 carp, a bream and a few skimmers for second position. Third place went to Edgar Purnell on peg 80 and fishing straight lead tight to the island he tempted 2 carp on hair rigged meat and followed that with 1 bream down the margins. Results: 1 George Gosling 19lbs; 2 Phil Clark 15lbs 10ozs; 3 Edgar Purnell 14lbs 7ozs; 4 Dexie Hall 14lbs 1oz; 5 Nick Mummery11lbs 10ozs; 6 Trevor Styring 9lbs 10ozs.

Fishtoft AC used Marsh Lake on the Moon Lake complex on Sunday and here Mark Cook won by the proverbial mile. He took carp between 1 and 3lbs using both the swimfeeder with maggot and pellet on the pole down the track. Nearly 34lbs separated him from Ron Roberts who used pole, paste and pellet to pinch second spot from Gordon Manning who also tempted all his fish to pellet or maggot with the pole. Mick Morgan failed to make double figures taking small carp, again using the swimfeeder for fourth. Results: 1 Mark Cook 53lbs 4ozs; 2 Ron Roberts 19lbs; 3 Gordon Manning 17lbs 8ozs; 4 Mick Morgan 9lbs 14ozs.

The Westwood round of matches last week produced another decent set of weights, the best going to Danny Hurst at over 70lbs, but I will come back to that one later. Most catches now are taken on the pole and maggot or caster and starting with last Tuesday Spike Milligan won the open on Skylark with nearly 10lbs to spare off the golden peg 5. Steve Lane was that runner up and he in turn beat Gary Shinn, pegged next to the winner, by 5lbs. Results: 1 Spike Milligan peg 5 60lbs 8ozs; 2 Steve Lane peg 16 50lbs 10ozs; 3 Gary Shinn peg 6 45lbs 8ozs.

Still on Skylark and the over 50s match on Thursday produced much lower weights with Dave Rowell taking the spoils with just over 8lbs better than Dave Partlett in second. Results: 1 Dave Rowell 37lbs 8ozs; 2 Dave Partlett 28lbs 14ozs; 3 Tony Smith 27lbs.

The Good Friday match switched to Hawk Lake and here Alistair Ogilvie finished well clear and beat Adam Wakelin into second place by the good margin of 18lbs. Adam, in turn, squeezed home into second by less than 2lbs on Mick Stamp. Results: 1 Alistair Ogilvie 61lbs; 2 Adam Wakelin 43lbs; 3 Mick Stamp 41lbs 3ozs.

Sunday’s ‘Teams of Three’ series took place on both Skylark and Hark and individually Paul Oglesbee took the honours from Skylark , beating Jimmy Brooks, on Hawk, and Gavin Butler (Skylark) by 8lbs-plus and 10lbs respectively. Teamwise the Westwood All Stars made it two on the trot, easily beating the fancied Garbolino Lincs County team by a few points. Results: 1 Paul Oglesbee 58lbs; 2 Jimmy Brooks 49lbs 12ozs; 3 Gavin Butler 48lbs. Teams after two rounds: 1 Westwood All Stars 2pts; 2 Maver Bait Tech Black 5pts.

Finally to Easter Monday and that top weight of the week, taken by Danny Hurst, came from the open match on Kestrel. Here he beat Gavin Butler, who produced a better catch than the day before and also moved up a place to take second spot, by over 11lbs and in turn Gavin left Matt Hall over 8lbs adrift in third. Results: 1 Danny Hurst 71lbs 6ozs; 2 Gavin Butler 60lbs 2ozs; 3 Matt Hall 51lbs 10ozs.

Monday also saw the Castle AC make another long trip to Decoy where they fished Horseshoe Lake, and well worth it for most with a string of 100lbs plus catches. Ian Kent emerged the worthy winner taking fish both up in the water and on the deck using JPZ. Danny Pettigrew used the pole and pellet at 8m but had to settle for second 13lbs behind as Kev Hunt also finished well over the ton fishing pellet in the margins. Young Davis Gurton was over the moon with his catch taken on pellet at 10m but finished a full 40lbs adrift of third place. Results: 1 Ian Kent 133lbs 4ozs; 2 Danny Pettigrew 120lbs 1oz; 3 Kev Hunt 116lbs 14ozs; 4 Davis Gurton 76lbs 14ozs.

Review for March 25

Kent cruises to a 20lb margin of success

Kicking off with the usual Tuesday sweep from Lake Ross where the match took place under superb conditions last week. After the last time out when third was the position occupied by Ian Kent, he put a 20lbs gap between himself and Lionel Elding to take the top spot on this occasion. Pellet at 14m was the action for Ian with Lionel relying on similar tactics for second, and 14lbs in front of Derek Hunt who chose instead to concentrate on a swim no more than 3m from the side. Mick Morgan and Danny Pettigrew found themselves on equal terms for fourth, Mick on his usual coconut size method and Danny using the waggler up in the water. Results: 1 Ian Kent 77lbs 8ozs; 2 Lionel Elding 57lbs 7ozs; 3 Derek Hunt 43lbs 8ozs; equal 4 Mick Morgan & Danny Pettigrew 25lbs 12ozs.

The week improved day on day and although we had to endure cool nights, daytime temperatures reached the mid-teens over the weekend, leading up to this next report. Sixteen hopefuls turned out for Saturday’s open match on Priory lakes where 9 double figure nets featured in one of the best matches here so far. Clayton Bowring drawing the same peg 115 as last week with a much better outcome this time out. He took 11 carp fishing hair rigged pellet a mere 12″ deep after seeing fish cruising just below the surface. A comfortable win then over Ray Pauley who fished the method feeder tight across to the island for 8 carp from peg 74, all those falling to hair-rigged meat, plus a couple taken from down the margins. George Gosling on peg 70 took 5 similar fish on the feeder with meat, and two down the margins for third place. Results: 1 Clayton Bowring 41lbs 3ozs; 2 Ray Pauley 38lbs 2ozs; 3 George Gosling 29lbs 10ozs; 4 Edgar Purnell 21lbs; 5 David Bell 19lbs 4ozs; 6 Nigel Winters 18lbs 3ozs.

Sunday brought that cool start but things improved quickly to a gorgeous sunny day for Liam's Elite at North View lake, Gedney Hill. Here Brian Thompson used his favoured pole and paste method to outclass the field and finished with 29lbs to spare over Chris Chapman. In turn pole and pellet gave Chris second place and 12lbs better than Lee Sallabanks who used the method feeder and sweetcorn to beat Ken Clarke by mere ounces. Results: 1 Brian Thompson peg17 80lbs; 2 Chris Chapman peg1 51lbs; 3 Lee Sallabanks peg5 38lbs 9ozs; 4 Ken Clarke peg20 38lbs 2ozs; 5 Ron Roberts peg18 32lbs 10ozs.

The Westwood lakes round of matches start with 23 anglers taking part in the Tuesday £1000 qualifier on Skylark. On a roll is Adam Wakelin who made it two out of two and finished 10lbs better than Pete Lambdin in second. Adam used his favourite worm and caster tactics to take bream, barbel and F1s from peg 9 for his winning weight, as did Pete in taking bream, tench and ide. Results: 1 Adam Wakelin Preston/Sonubaits 70lbs 10ozs; 2 Pete Lambdin Westwood 60lbs 8ozs; 3 Dean Smith Lincoln Whisby 51lbs 8ozs; 4 Gary Shinn Liam's Elite 38lbs 8ozs.

Another good turnout of 34 hopefuls on Thursday for the over 50s open , also on Skylark, and here Mansfield veteran Fred Bispham took the top spot with another mixed bag of silver fish. He finished just ahead of Garbolino Lincs County angler Spike Milligan who fell just over 4lbs short in second and Ken Clarke another 3 ½ lbs back in third. Results: 1 Fred Bispham Peg 1 Angling 52lbs 8ozs; 2 Spike Milligan Garbolino Lincs County 47lbs 12ozs; 3 Ken Clarke Westwood 44lbs 4ozs; 4 Barry Hawkins Ropsley AC 42lbs 8ozs.

The first in the ‘Teams of 3’ series started on Skylark on Sunday with local expert Steve Winter taking the honours. He also landed a mixed bag of bream, carp and F1s on pellet for a clear cut win with a 66lbs 10ozs total. Sheffield based Ian Elliot grabbed second using worm and caster down the track to weigh in same species and just edge out former world champion Bob Nudd in third. Results: Teams: 1= Westwood All Stars & Middy 8pts; 3 Maver Bait Tech Black 15pts; 4= Stampy’s 3 & Norfolk Boys 16pts. Next match April 8th.
For the Sunday opens on Skylark please book in with Alex on 0784 6769003.

Weights remain a little depressed at Royle’s where Fishtoft AC gathered for their latest fortnightly club match on Sunday. Even so Steve Lamyman won this at a canter taking mainly F1s to pole and pellet to finish over the 40lbs mark. Next up and a full 25lbs behind was Nick Mummery who stuck to the pole, maggot and pellet combination at 13m for second place. He beat Brian Clarke by a little over 4lbs, Brian tempting all his catch to the pole at just 6m whilst Mark Cook relied on the feeder, maggot and pellet for fourth.

Review for March 18

Another season draws to a close

Well that’s it boys and girls for another season on open rivers and drains, all coming to an end on Wednesday 14th March. Many will say good riddance to what has been a trying season on most waters, some of which have been virtually unfishable for one reason or another for most of that time.

That also goes for the River Steeping over the summer but, although not throwing up any sparkling catches, has provided good nets of roach and skimmers for those in regular attendance over the winter period. Eight of those turned up on the last day for a sweep on the roadside stances and here Pete Harker showed the way home with a net of roach and skimmers to pole and pinkie. This is the preferred method for most but Derek Skinner’s favourite tactics of pole and breadpunch paid dividends in taking second place with a touch under 5lbs, and followed by organiser Don Green a few more ounces back in third. Results: 1 Pete Harker 5lbs 7ozs; 2 Derek Skinner 4lbs 15 ½ozs; 3 Don Green 4lbs 3ozs.

Not reaching the dizzy heights of the previous week but even so another good set of weights from Lake Ross last Tuesday 13th. Veteran angler Mick Corkrum, found only on the carp match scene these days, showed them all how it was done. He finished less than 2lbs clear but fish caught on the tip turned out to be that much bigger than those from his counterparts, plus a few from the margins as a bonus. Kevin Hunt took that second position he also landing 4 or 5 fish on the pole and a few more from the inside line. Ian Kent had to settle for half of his previous week’s weight and took fish on the long pole and then the waggler. Hookbaits for all being pellet or maggot as Paul Cater used the feeder together with those to come home fourth. Results: 1 Mick Corkrum 53lbs 9ozs; 2 Kevin Hunt 51lbs 13ozs; 3 Ian Kent 48lbs 8ozs; 4 Paul Cater 33lbs 11ozs.

The latest Priory Lake open attracted 13 anglers on Saturday with most looking to draw pegs 115 – 117. Paul Mosley drew 117 made and no mistake by taking a good net of skimmers and carp, using pole and 2mm micro pellet with expander pellets on the hook. Nearly 10lbs behind was Brian McKeown who took 6 carp on the method feeder to the far island and 3 more to the pole and pellet on 10m pole in the margins. Third place fell to Lyle McGeechan who landed just 3 carp on the pole and another to the feeder and maggot.
1 Paul Mosley 46lbs; 2 Brian McKeown 36lbs 8ozs; 3 Lyle McGeechan 18lbs 14ozs; 4 Clayton Bowring 14lbs 2ozs; 5 Ray Pauley 9lbs 5ozs; 6 Edgar Purnell 8lbs 5ozs.
On to Sunday with the Castle AC match being held on 6 Islands, Lake Decoy. Here Paul Cater held on to take the honours using mainly open end feeder and pellet with a few fish thrown in to the pole. For Paul Oglesbee all fish fell to the pole, most out at 16m and some down the margins at 5m using pellet. Staying in the 70lbs range, just, and Ian Kent used sweetcorn over pellet at just 6m to hang on to third, less than 3lbs better than Mike Witton who also used corn to the island.
1 Paul Cater 87lbs 14ozs; 2 Paul Oglesbee 78lbs 6ozs; 3 Ian Kent 70lbs 9ozs; 4 Mike Witton 67lbs 10ozs.
Over to last week’s round of matches at Westwood, where the Tuesday £1000 open was a tight affair. Milldon baits angler John Gooden took the top spot from peg 9 on Skylark lake fishing maggot at 10m on the far shelf to tempt a mixed bag of bream, barbel, ide and F1s. He just held on to edge out Ken Clarke whose all pellet catch of F1s saw him fall a mere 4ozs short, and Mick Brumpton the same distance back in third.
1 John Gooden Milldon Baits 46lbs; 2 Ken Clarke Westwood Lakes 45lbs 12ozs; 3 Mick Brumpton Westwood Lakes 45lbs 8ozs; 4 Pete Camdin WWL 44lbs 8ozs; 5 Gary Shinn Liam’s Elite 43lbs.
The Thursday over 50s proves to be ever more popular with nigh 40 anglers taking part. Ken Clarke stays in a rich vein of form and went one better this time out to win with ease over Ted Rowe. His favourite pellet approach gave him a 9lbs advantage over Ted at the weigh in, he using worm and caster for a mixed bag of bream, chub, and tench for second.
1 Ken Clarke WWL 41lbs 4ozs; 2 Ted Rowe Wades Tackle 32lbs 4ozs; 3 Smudge Smith Bagem 25lbs; 4 Wayne Swinscoe Maver Bait Tech 21lbs 10ozs.
The final round of the Bourne League used both Skylark and Hawk Lakes on Sunday and despite the poor conditions, catches held up well. Lake regular and England international Adam Wakelin showed his class once again by taking bream, skimmers and tench to hold off Boston’s Luke Morley. Teamwise the ever consistent Maver Bait Tech made it four wins in the series to retain the title for the second year running. The team was made up of Alistair Ogilvie, Steve Winter, Chris Jenkinson, Alex Bates and Steve Slater and Wayne Swinscoe.
1 Adam Wakelin Preston/Sonubaits 46lbs 8ozs; 2 Luke Morley WWL 41lbs 10ozs; 3 Mick Stamp Preston/Sonubaits 38lbs 12ozs; 3 Alistair Ogilvie Maver Bait Tech 32lbs 10ozs.

Review for March 11

Kent close to ton return in emphatic victory

A changeable week and more in keeping with mid-March, last Tuesday being one of the better days for a change. Lake Ross was the scene for the latest of the Tuesday series, weights being on a par with previous results. All, that is, except for Ian Kent who won by the proverbial mile with a net going just under the ton. Not that he had it easy as fishing out at over 16m on the pole and pellet up in the water creates its own problems but even so, well done Ian. In the normal course of events Dave Creasey would be looking at taking the winner’s spoils as Lee Feary won last week’s fixture with 40lbs, but such is life. Everyone used the pole and pellet as did Phil Jackson to finish third, with Terry Gooding getting in on the act and taking fish close in on his ‘special’ whip for fourth. Results: 1 Ian Kent 98lbs 2ozs; 2 Dave Creasey 44lbs 5ozs; 3 Phil Jackson 31lbs 1oz; 4 Terry Gooding 22lbs 11ozs. After all the trials and tribulations of these last few weeks it was not hard to guess that the best weather would be reserved for the final few days of the season from Saturday onwards through to the final day on Wednesday 14th.

Saturday saw the final round of the 10 match series take place at Priory Lakes where Trevor Tute led the field with 15pts. Another 5pts ensured the overall victory even though he failed to make the top five on the day, Edgar Purnell finishing runner up on the day and in the series for a 21pt total. The day’s winner, drawn at peg 70, was Dave Daniels who took three carp on the straight lead with hair rigged meat and three more down the margins on long pole. Edgar Purnell tempted seven fish on the straight lead tight across to the island on hair rigged luncheon meat from peg80 for that second spot. Close behind in third was Lyle McGeechan who fished the margins for another 4 larger fish from peg 87 using pellet paste. Results on the day:1 Dave Daniels 33lbs; 2 EdgarPurnell 27lbs; 3 Lyle McGeechan 24lbs; 4 Brian McKeown 17lbs 10ozs; 5 Malc Green 17lbs 4ozs; 6 Phil Clark 14lbs 4ozs. Final league: 1 Trevor Tute 20pts; 2 Edgar Purnell 21pts; 3 Roger Oxspring 23pts; 4= Phil Clark & Dave Daniels 25pts; 6 Paul Mosley 26pts.

On to Sunday with the local round of the Angling Times Supercup taking place on a warm and sunny golf course section of the Sibsey Trader Drain. Nothing really to shout about as eight of the 21 starters failed to trouble the scales in a somewhat dour match. Individually odd tench charted the course as Lincoln Whisby angler Chris White headed this list with a single fish of 3 ½lbs taken at 6m using worm and caster. Another one, not quite going 3lbs, fell to chopped worm used by Boston’s Ian Kent for the runner up spot. Probably the best performance of the day goes to Andy Dillamore who worked hard with pole and breadpunch to conjure up nearly 2 ½lbs of small roach for third place. Teamwise the match went to Lincoln Whisby who put together 21 section points for a clear victory over Boston BAC in second and trailing home a long way adrift was Spilsby AC. Results: 1 Chris White Lincoln Whisby 3lbs 8ozs; 2 Ian Kent Boston BAC 2lbs 14ozs; 3 Andy Dillamore Boston BAC 2lbs 7½ozs. Teams: 1 Lincoln Whisby 21pts; 2 Boston BAC 14pts; 3 Spilsby AC 1pt.

Fishtoft AC stayed locally and chose Royle’s, Leverton for their Sunday sweep. Method feeder and maggot brought a narrow win for Jerry Clifton as Ernie Heseltine chose pole and pellet at 11m to finish less than 1½lbs behind. Mick Morgan finished just into double figures with feeder, maggot and pellet for third, whilst Alan Dixon could manage only half that weight for fourth. Results: 1 Jerry Clifton 27lbs 10ozs; 2 Ernie Heseltine 26lbs 4ozs; 3 Mick Morgan 11lbs 4ozs; 4 Alan Dixon 5lbs 8ozs. Members are asked to meet again on Sunday 25th at Royle’s for an 8.30am draw.

A warm and sunny Kestrel Lake, Westwood was the scene of the latest Liam's Elite club match. This actually did nothing for good catches as Ron Roberts took a few carp to score a comfortable win. Several large barbel showed their faces and particularly to Derek Hunt in taking second position ahead of Lee Sallibanks who, along with the top two, chose pole and maggot tactics to achieve those higher weights. Results: 1 Ron Roberts peg10 28lbs; 2 Derek Hunt peg11 19lbs 14ozs; 3 Lee Sallabanks peg4 17lbs; 4 Tony Vamplew peg22 12lbs 8ozs; 5 Dave Wilson peg25 8lbs 12ozs.

Staying at Westwood and the first of the £1,000 qualifiers got under way on last Sunday on Skylark. Here Mick Stamp drew peg 13 and presented pellet across to the island and put a net of mainly small F1s and tench on the scales for his narrow winning weight. Less than 2lbs separated him from Hunstanton’s Rob Pepper who fished maggot down the track to tempt 7 bream, small skimmers and F1s off the golden peg 5 for second place. Results: 1 Mick Stamp Preston /Sonubaits 58lbs 4ozs; 2 Rob Pepper Hunstanton Tackle 57lbs 6ozs; 3 Jimmy Brooks Anglers Corner 50lbs 12ozs; 4 Toby Pepper Maver Bait Tech 49lbs 4ozs; 5 Steve Higginbottom WWL 47lbs 4ozs.

Thursdays over 50 s open was once again well attended and the ever consistent John Gooden took the spoils fishing and feeding maggot at 11m from peg 30 on Skylark, his catch consisting mainly of ide. Second place was once again taken by Chris Mawer who fished paste down the track for mainly F1s. 1 John Gooden Milldon baits 31lbs 10ozs; 2 Chris Mawer 29lbs; 3 Ken Clarke WWL 22lbs 8ozs. Fixtures: Every Tuesday £100 qualifier Skylark, draw 9am fish 10 till 3. Every Thursday over 50s open Skylark, draw 9am fish 10 till 3.

The Fenland Pike Club travelled to the North Level, Wisbech on Sunday and fish seemed very scarce under similar conditions as Boston. One specimen of just over 11lbs was enough to clinch victory for Gordon Bell and followed by 2 much smaller models each for David Bourne and Andy Walker in second and third respectively. Results: 1 Gordon Bell 11lbs 6ozs; 2 David Bourne 7lbs 12ozs; 3 Andy Walker 7lbs 6ozs.

The fourth round of the East Coast junior league was fished on the River Steeping on Sunday, the five teams of four enjoying the warm sun. Not so the resident roach, which were hard to find, the better weights being made up by the increasing number of skimmers showing again along this stretch. End pegs produced the top weights and so team points were won and lost by just the odd fish, with no more than one or two ounces separating top and bottom. Best catch was taken by King’s Lynn youngster Tom Cockle from peg 1 where he used the long pole with pinkie over ground bait. Team-mate Harry Blackmuir, pegged next to overhead cables, found some skimmers for his second place, just a few ounces behind. The team points were shared between Lincoln and Kings Lynn, and so pulling back some six points from West Norfolk Academy. Results: 1 Tom Cockle Kings Lynn 3lbs 10ozs; 2 Harry Blackmuir Kings Lynn 3lbs; 3 Luke Thompson Lincoln 2lbs 7ozs. Teams: equal 1 Lincoln and Kings Lynn 8pts; 2 West Norfolk Academy 14pts; 4 Kings Lynn B 17pts. Next round is on April 15th at Sheppard’s Port, Hunstanton.

Don Green’s final Sunday sweep moved down to Dovecote in order to accommodate that junior team match and here Bob Smith roared back to top form with a comfortable victory over Gregorz Chalat. Both took a steady stream of roach using pole and pinkie but Gregorz had to concede, finishing nearly 1½lbs adrift when the scales came round. Compatriot Janusz Kedzierski was also always in the hunt and squeezed home third 1 ½ozs behind in third but the same gap in front of Nev Soulby who took fourth. Results:1 Bob Smith 8lbs 12ozs; 2 Gregorz Chalat 7lbs 5ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski 7lbs 3½ozs; 4 Nev Soulby 7lbs 2ozs.

Review for March 4

Hard work pays off for winner Lee

A good week for early March with plenty of sunshine and daytime temperatures holding up in double figures. After that, things went slowly downhill with a dreary day on Saturday and constant heavy rain, eventually turning to snow and temperatures plummeting through Sunday, outlook is for more of the same this coming week.

Last week’s match at Lake Ross brought another decent set of weights and Lee Feary had to work hard for his winning net. He used the pole, waggler and quivertip to keep the fish coming, most falling to pellet in his case. Maggot and pellet were the baits to do the most damage as Ian Kent stuck to the pole at 14m for his second place. Both the pole and quivertip methods brought third for Dave Creasey who held on to deny Phil Jackson that position. Results: 1 Lee Feary 40lbs; 2 Ian Kent 35lbs 7ozs; 3 Dave Creasey 31lbs 4ozs; 4 Phil Jackson 26lbs 5ozs.

Near perfect conditions once again for Saturday’s round five match of the Lincoln Co-op Saturday League on the West Common stretch of the Foss Dyke canal. Peg 1 was drawn by Malc Firmstone who needed no more telling as he pole fished breadpunch for roach and took the odd perch and skimmer to worm for a narrow victory. Just a pound down was John Blades who employed very similar tactics and added a couple of tench and perch to lobworm at 9m for second spot. A little over 2lbs behind was Alan Houlton who stuck to pole and breadpunch at 10m for an all roach catch to land his third place. With one match remaining John Small and Malc Firmstone top the league on 32pts with Dave Small in third on 31 pts. Results: 1 Malc Firmstone (Garbolino/Harrisons Lincs County) 12lbs 2ozs; 2 John Blades (Lincoln Whisby AS) 11lbs 2ozs; 3 Alan Houlton (Garbolino/Harrisons Lincs County) 8lbs 15ozs.

On to Priory Lakes and Dave Daniels won this latest open but would readily admit that lady luck was on his side. Trevor Tute drew opposite Dave on the narrowest part of the lake and decided not to fish there, which left the way clear for Dave to also use that far bank. He started on the pole, but a switch to the straight lead with hair rigged meat saw him land nine carp and so holding off Malc Green on peg 80. Malc, who fished the margins to his left and right baiting with sweet corn, took five carp and the runner up spot. Brian McKeown on peg 116 tempted three carp on long pole and one more on the straight lead with double red maggot in the first one and half hours but then had to wait until the last hour to land one more for third place. Results: 1 Dave Daniels 32lbs 8ozs; 2 Malc Green 29lbs 4ozs; 3 Brian McKeown 25lbs 12ozs; 4 George Gosling 17lbs 7ozs; 5 Edgar Purnell 14lbs 10ozs.

Despite a thoroughly miserable day the hastily rearranged fixture for the Fenland Pike club onto the West Fen Drain brought out some good fish for four of those who took part. Some notable double figure specimens as Ernie Crisp won this match with ease as he landed three such fish going 11lbs 2ozs, 12lbs and 13lbs 14ozs. Not to be completely outdone Steve Leverton also took three good models including the best of the day at 14lbs 2ozs to claim second position, well ahead of David Bourne in third. Results: 1 Ernie Crisp 46lbs 12ozs; 2 Steven Leverton 29lbs 2ozs; 3 David Bourne 12lbs 4ozs.

Fishtoft AC took on Spitfire Lake at Bain Valley on Sunday and this time skimmers were the main species on the menu. Most people caught for the first 2 hours but as weather deteriorated and temperatures dropped from 7ºC down to 1ºC bites for everybody came to a grinding halt, with no one catching a single fish in the last 3 hours. Worm and a meatpunch on the feeder took a level stone of fish to see Mark Cook take the winner’s spoils, he being the only one to break double figures. The pole and maggot over pellet brought second to Ernie Heseltine with a pound to spare over Mick Morgan who also used similar tactics to keep Terry Gooding in fourth place. Terry himself put the feeder to full use with maggots both big and small as hookbaits. Results: 1 Mark Cook 14lbs; 2 Ernie Heseltine 9lbs; 3 Mick Morgan 8lbs; 4 Terry Gooding 6lbs 8ozs.
Next week meet at Royle’s lakes, Leverton for 8.30am.

A reasonable turnout of some 14 anglers for the Sunday sweep on the R. Steeping at Wainfleet. Weights were well below par for the vast majority, 2lbs being a good weight. Andy Scott almost threw in the towel at the half way stage but instead a change of tactics brought almost instant success. Changing to a much closer line with breadpunch he started to land decent sized skimmers and hybrids and with some 34 in total in his net at the weigh in he won the match at a canter. Don Green managed second place with a level 4lbs of small roach and after that catches dropped away into that 2lbs category led by Derek Skinner. Results: 1 Andy Scott 8lbs 13ozs; 2 Don Green 4lbs; 3 Derek Skinner 2lbs 14 ½ozs; 4 Alec Rawlings 2lbs 8½ozs.

Last week’s matches at the Westwood complex brought an overall increase in catches as the latest Tuesday open on Skylark was won by match organiser Ron Roberts. He used his favoured groundbait and dead maggot approach at 8m down the track to tempt a mixed bag of carp, tench, bream, chub and F1s for his winning net. The runner up spot went to Preston and Sonubaits backed Mick Stamp who took an all F 1 catch on pellet and corn from peg 18 to finish only 6lbs down on the winner. Results: 1 Ron Roberts (WWL) 76lbs 4ozs; 2 Mick Stamp (Preston/Sonubaits) 70lbs 2ozs; 3 Ken Clarke (WWL) 59lbs 8ozs; 4 Paul Oglesbee 46lbs 8ozs.

A good turnout in the over 50 s match, also on Skylark, saw Smudge Smith top the 33 strong field. Not such high weights but Bagem backed Smudge presented soft 4mm pellet expander at 11m to take an all carp and F1 catch from peg 16. Second placed Ken Clarke finished well adrift over 16lbs back and took all his net down the edge from peg 32 on pole and worm. Results: 1 Colin Smudge Smith (Bagem Match baits) 53lbs 2ozs; 2 Ken Clarke (WWL) 36lbs 8ozs; 3 Chris Mayer (WWL) 29lbs 8ozs; 4 Steve Bulbeck (Stickleback AC) 27lbs 12ozs.

Skylark was once again the lake used for Sundays open and was once again a tight finish. Out on top this time was Gary Shinn from peg 6, tactics being pellet and maggot down the track for another mixed bag of F1s, carp, bream and small barbel. Running him close in second was venue regular Luke Morley from peg 35, he fishing pellet across to catch small F2s and carp. Results: 1 Gary Shinn (Liam’s Elite) 41lbs 9ozs; 2 Luke Morley (WWL) 39lbs; 3 Spike Milligan (Garbolino Lincs County) 38lbs 8ozs; 4 Paul Oglesbee WWL (/Liam’s Elite) 37lbs; 5 Mick Stamp (Preston/Sonubaits) 30lbs.

Fixtures:
Tuesday open match, draw 9am, fish 10am to 3pm.
Every Thursday over-50s open, Skylark lake, draw 9am, fish 10am to 3pm.
Sunday open match, Skylark Lake, draw 9am, fish 10am to 3pm.

Review for February 26

Three-pound victory margin for Kent

A much warmer week but again temperatures fell away towards the weekend – a light frost on both mornings doing nothing to bring catches back to normal, but a better week to come.

Decent weights from Lake Ross last Tuesday but most of the contingent had to fish out on the pole at extreme range, as far as 14.5m. So much so that Lionel Elding had to return home to fetch an additional section to do this and so cost 45 minutes of the match time – still managing to finish fourth. All specimens fell to either maggot or pellet, the latter being the successful bait for the winner Ian Kent, with 3lbs to spare over Kevin Hunt. Results: 1 Ian Kent 41lbs 15ozs; 2 Kevin Hunt 38lbs 15ozs; 3 Phil Jackson 30lbs 10ozs; 4 Lionel Elding 26lbs 1oz.

The penultimate round of the Priory Lakes winter league took place on Saturday but weights came in even lower than last week’s match here. Trevor Tute drew the same peg 93 but a catch of three carp on red maggot from the bottom of the shelf was not enough to ensure victory this time around. Instead he had to settle for second behind Dave Daniels who used meat to the island and down the margins to land four carp and a convincing win from peg 104. Even so Trevor still leads the series by 4pts from Edgar Purnell and Phil Clark another point away in third. Results: 1 Dave Daniels 22lbs 2ozs; 2 Trevor Tute 14lbs 7ozs; 3 Barry Gadsby 11lns 10ozs; 4 Roger Oxspring 9lbs 9ozs; 5 George Gosling 7lbs 12ozs; 6 Edgar Purnell 5lbs 14ozs. League to date, 1 Trevor Tute 15pts; 2 Edgar Purnell 19pts; 3 Phil Clark 20pts.

Over to Westwood and as the weather improved so did the catches as the top two in Tuesday’s rover match managed to top 40lbs. Opting for peg 30 on Skylark, Jim Smith used his favourite paste and worm tactics to win the day with a net consisting mainly of bream and tench. Only a single pound separated him from Gary Shinn who targeted F1’s and stockies from peg 20 on Hawk to finish runner up. Results: 1 Jim Smith WWL 41lbs 8ozs; 2 Gary Shinn Liam's Elite 40lbs 8ozs; 3 Mick Brumpton 34lbs; 4 Steve Lane Marakyu 33lbs 8ozs.

Slightly lower weights for the rest of the week and in the over 50s match on Thursday Chris Mawer topped the field with a mixed bag of bream, carp, chub & F1s. He used paste, pellet and maggot alternatively on the hook and fished at just 6m out from peg 28 on Skylark. Not too far behind was the ever-consistent Colin ‘Smudge’ Smith who took all his fish on 4mm expanders from peg 6. Results: 1 Chris Mawer WWL 35lbs 4ozs; 2 Smudge Smith Bagem 29lbs 8ozs; 3 Ted Rowe WWL 26lbs 7ozs; 4 Ron Roberts WWL 24lbs 14ozs.

A switch to the consistent Hawk Lake for the Sunday open proved worthwhile as Lincoln angler Mick Brumpton improved on his mid-week result to win this one at a canter. He alternated maggot and pellet at 13m a mixture of barbel, carp, ide and F1s to come home with 13lbs to spare. That second place went to Neil Parkinson who took an all carp net from peg 11, with Boris Kilner and Mark Afford mere ounces adrift in third and fourth respectively. Results: 1 Mick Brumpton WWL 39lbs; 2 Neil Parkinson Dynamite baits 26lbs; 3 Boris Kilner 25lbs 8ozs; 4 Mark Afford WWL 25lbs 4ozs; 5 Mick Stamp 24lbs 14ozs.

Westwood was also the scene of the latest Liam's Elite fixture, which saw 17 members turn out on Skylark on Sunday. Using maggot with the long pole Ken Clarke won the day with 6lbs to spare over Ron Roberts. Ron took his catch using both maggot and paste and finished just a single better than Dave Wilson who stuck to the pole and pellet method. Results: 1 Ken Clarke peg6 41lbs 4ozs; 2 Ron Roberts peg10 35lbs; 3 Dave Wilson peg18 34lbs; 4 Paul Oglesbee peg32 30lbs 8ozs; 5 Andy Dillamore 29lbs 8ozs.

Fishtoft AC chose Hurricane Lake at Bain Valley for their latest Sunday match and was bound to do much better than last week’s disaster. Not brilliant though as only the top two managed double figures with Nick Mummery coming home with a little over a pound to spare over Mark Cook in second spot. Pole at 8m with maggot over ground-bait for roach was the winning method as Mark chose caster at 6m for his catch, also of roach. Not too far behind, as it turned out, was Ernie Heseltine who also used caster as hookbait for roach and skimmers and failed to break 10lbs by a matter of 4ozs. Rod Asher also finished in that same 9lbs range and he also landed a good catch of roach and skimmers to chopped worm at 11m for fourth. Results: 1 Nick Mummery 11lbs 8ozs; 2 Mark Cook 10lbs 2ozs; 3 Ernie Heseltine 9lbs 12ozs; 4 Rod Asher 9lbs. Next week meet again at Bain valley for an 8.30am draw.

A good turnout of 18 hopefuls for the latest sweep on the River Steeping at Wainfleet on Sunday. Weights on average were a little higher than last week but the winner’s actually being somewhat lower. Nip and tuck for Graham Cripsey but he finally took the honours by just 4ozs from Andy Scott who had to settle for second spot this time around. Pole and punch for roach was the choice for Graham, and 4th placed Derek Skinner, whilst most of the others stuck to pinkie, including the runner up. Results: 1 Graham Cripsey 6lbs 15ozs; 2 Andy Scott 6lbs 11ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski 5lbs 10 ½ozs; 4 Derek Skinner 5lbs 7½ ozs.

Over on the Foss Dyke Canal and the 4th round of the Lincoln Co-op league took place on Saturday. Double figure nets for a change as the match was fished in mild and near perfect conditions on the West Common stretch. Pole and breadpunch produced some roach for Dave Small but the first put in tempted a bream of some 3lbs. After that a change to lobworm brought a tench of 4lbs, these in total being enough to guarantee victory over John Blades with nearly 2lbs advantage. For his part John stuck to the pole and punch at 14m and took an all roach net going just into double figures. Malc Topliss chose chopped worm at 10m and landed a net consisting mainly of perch, plus a couple of tench for third from the next peg to John. Results: 1 Dave Small Lincoln Whisby AS peg 7 12lbs 8ozs; 2 John Blades Lincoln Whisby AS peg10 10lbs 11ozs; 3 Malc Topliss Lincoln peg11 9lbs 10ozs. After four rounds: equal 1 John and Dave Small 26pts; equal 3 Malc Firmstone & Bill White 25pts.

Further evidence of illegal activities on our local waters came to light last week. Nets were spotted in the Sibsey Trader Drain and on inspection one was found to contain two mink and even worse the other a dead otter. The Environment Agency confirmed these gruesome finds on Monday and is asking that the public keep a constant vigilance and report any dubious activities to the hotline by ringing 0800 807060 ASAP.

Review for February 19

Paul’s ‘same peg’ luck finally dwindles

Almost tropical in comparison to the previous week’s ice age where temperatures plummeted to -15ºc around the county and beyond. The gradual rise throughout last week brought a slow thaw and made most waterways fishable once again by this last weekend. Even so the thermometer again plummeted to give bright but cold days and night frosts over the weekend.

A bitterly cold south west wind blew in for the Saturday open at Priory Lake and left everyone hoping to draw in the pegs 115-117 range. Paul Mosley’s luck held out, or so it seemed, as he drew 116 for the third match in a row. It definitely looked all over as he took three carp in the first 15 minutes. But, after that his swim died and could manage only one more fish to hold on to third place. Trevor Tute is currently the man in best form but spent the first 1½ hours fruitlessly searching for fish using the straight lead at peg 93. A switch to the pole and red maggot brought instant results as he took a further 5 carp from the bottom of the shelf for a comfortable win. Trevor Styring opted for the swimfeeder and also using red maggot he landed 4 carp plus a couple of bream to cruise into second spot, Brian McKeown also taking 3 similar fish to red maggot for fourth place behind Paul Mosley. Results: 1 Trevor Tute 29lbs 12ozs; 2 Trevor Styring 22lbs 4ozs; 3 Paul Mosley 14lbs 5ozs; 4 Brian McKeown 12lbs 8ozs; 5 Nigel Winters 9lbs 12ozs; 6 Ray Pauley 9lbs 11ozs.

Much the same conditions for Liam’s Elite members on Lake No.1 at Priory Lake on Sunday as another overnight frost greeted members. Stewart Abbott drew the favoured peg 1 and made full use as he used pole and red maggot to finish with 50lbs to spare over his nearest rival. This turned out to be Chris Chapman who just made double figures using sweetcorn and swimfeeder from peg 9 and beating Nigel Raynor at peg 19 and Paul Oglesbee at peg 3 by just under 3lbs. Results: 1 Stewart Abbott 61lbs 4ozs; 2 Chris Chapman 11lbs; 3 Nigel Raynor 8lbs 10ozs; 4 Paul Oglesbee 8lbs 2ozs; 5 Ian Kent 6lbs 10ozs.

On to the Thursday over 50s match at Westwood Lakes and after that fortnight’s enforced break Smudge Smith hit top form to score a hard fought victory. From peg33 on Skylark the Bagem backed rod presented pellet at 12m to the far side ledge and took small F1s to 2lbs, plus the odd bream to win with just 4lbs to spare. Alan Treadwell opted for an all maggot approach to land mainly barbel, and with a few F1s thrown in he finished well in front of Steve Bulbeck in third. Results: 1 Smudge Smith Bagem 30lbs 8ozs; 2 Alan Treadwell Miracle Baits 26lbs 8ozs; 3 Steve Bulbeck Stickleback AC 18lbs; 4 Barry Hawkins Ropsley 15lbs 6ozs.

Local clubs settled for the upper Hobhole Drain on Sunday and first up was the Fenland Pike Club who amassed 13 decent sized fish between them, the best of the day going to Kenny Sizer at 11lbs. No stopping Spider Pawson though as he made it three on the trot, having taken 2 fish for his winning margin of just over 5lbs. Ernie Crisp also landed 2 smaller specimens for his runner up spot, which left Dave Bourne in third with 3 even smaller samples. Results: 1 Spider Pawson 18lbs 8ozs; 2 Ernie Crisp 13lbs 4ozs; 3 Dave Bourne 11lbs 12ozs; 4 Kenny Sizer 11lbs.

Fishtoft AC chose the Alladin’s Cave area for their latest sweep but here no one broke the pound as only small perch and skimmers showed any interest after those sharp frosts. Four small skimmers were enough to guarantee victory for Ernie Heseltine who took these using pinkies combined with the pole. Eleven tiny perch fell to pole and chopped worm for both Mark Cook and Nick Mummery who came home in second and third places respectively. As you may gather from this, only ounces were on offer and those top three were the only ones to trouble the scales. Results: 1 Ernie Heseltine 11ozs; 2 Mark Cook 6ozs; 3 Nick Mummery 3ozs. Members are asked to meet next Sunday 8.30am at McDonald’s.

Another hotly contested match and this time between Andy Scott and Don Green on the R. Steeping last Sunday. Roach again was the target for all of the 18 anglers present and both the top two featured fish to 4ozs in their catches. Andy totalled some 80 fish in his winning net, whilst Don’s were slightly smaller and counted in at 97. Both anglers used the pole and punch but Andy added some better models to hemp. After that weights fell back somewhat as Graham Cripsey came home third with a net weighing less than half of the winner’s using mainly pinkie. Results: 1 Andy Scott 9lbs 5ozs; 2 Don Green 8lbs 2ozs; 3 Graham Cripsey 4lbs 6ozs; 4 Brian Blackamore 4lbs 3½ozs.

Review for February 5

Follow-up success achieved by Phil

A real touch of winter last week as we woke to a covering of snow last Thursday, with temperatures at best reaching just 3ºc for a number of days. Those conditions continuing right through the weekend with severe frosts, plus another good covering of snow putting paid to most fixtures.

Another good set of weights from Lake Ross last Tuesday and taken before the wintry weather set in. Two wins on the trot now for Phil Jackson who even topped last week’s effort by a pound or so. Most fish were again caught on pole and pellet at long range as Ian Kent came home second, a touch under 60lbs this time. After that it was a continuing case of déjà vu as Kevin Hunt also took third place but on this occasion with a much lower weight in the low 30lbs range, and had to settle for a tie with Terry Gooding for that position. Terry of course went his own sweet way and tempted all his fish to feeder and dead maggot. Results: 1 Phil Jackson 68lbs 9ozs; 2 Ian Kent 59lbs 4ozs; equal 3 Kevin Hunt and Terry Gooding 32lbs 4ozs. Match again next Tuesday, draw at 8-30am.

A struggle for the half dozen or so that turned up to the Tuesday match at Westwood Lakes. F1s and a few carp were the main target as Steve Lane used pole and maggot to take his fair share to win this at a canter. Mark Cook also took similar fish to feeder and maggot but finished some 17lbs or so down to the winner, Chris Varney in single figures taking third place. Results: 1 Steve Lane Marukyu Baits 27lbs 14ozs; 2 Mark Cook Boston 10lbs; 3 Colin Varney Wisbech 7lbs.

No match for Fishtoft AC on Sunday due to those 4 inches of snow but members are asked to meet at McDonalds next Sunday 8.30am, weather permitting.

The Sunday sweep on the River Steeping went the same way and as the snow started falling on Saturday evening the decision was then taken to abandon it, more due to a thick layer of ice on the river than travelling conditions. Nothing even from the Foss Dyke Canal which, if anything, is in a worse state than most other waters in Lincolnshire. The outlook is not good as even lower daytime temperatures, fog and severe frosts are forecast for the next few days.

Review for January 29

Pole tactics pay as Phil sweeps to victory

Another spell of variable weather since my last report – temperatures ranging, briefly, between 4 and 10°c but falling away to the lower figure over the weekend. This colder weather looks set to continue well into this week and so could further depress attendances, as well as catches.

The Tuesday sweep returned to Lake Ross, Spalding last week and despite the soggy conditions some sparkling catches were returned by most. The pole at 11 to 14m lengths did the most damage and combined with pellet or maggot this brought three weights going well over the half hundredweight. Phil Jackson was the winner here and beat his previous second placed weight by 20lbs. Ian Kent came close in that same 60lbs category just 4lbs adrift, and beat Kevin Hunt into third by some 8lbs. Results: 1 Phil Jackson 67lbs 14ozs; 2 Ian Kent 63lbs 14ozs; 3 Kevin Hunt 55lbs 6ozs; 4 Dave Creasey 47lbs 1oz. Anyone interested in joining these matches please ring Ian at Boston Angling Centre, 01205 353436.

This latest winter league match at Priory Lakes on Saturday was a popular win for Nigel Winters. Nigel who drew peg 117, the same peg he was third from last week, made no mistake this time with eight carp all taken on the straight lead and double dead red maggot to beat off Phil Clarke by pound and half. Phil drew peg 115 and chose the feeder with hair-rigged meat tight to the island for just three carp and the runner up spot. Third placed Pete Allen, at Peg74, produced four smaller fish on the pole and pellet at 12m. Results: 1 Nigel Winters 21lbs; 2 Phil Clark 20lbs 12ozs; 3 Pete Allen 19lbs 6ozs; 4 Dave Daniels 16lbs 8ozs; 5 Paul Mosley 15lbs 2ozs; 6 Roger Oxspring 7lbs 8ozs.

Fishtoft AC paid a visit to Moon Lake, Tattershall on Sunday and found only odd carp showing any interest. A mixed bag of roach, perch and skimmers fell to the pole, dead maggot and worm combinations to give Gordon Manning a narrow victory. Rod Asher used same tactics for a similar net and added a single carp to land second place ahead of Mick Morgan. Mick tempted another lone carp plus a couple of large skimmers to beat Nick Mummery, he netting a single carp for his fourth place. Results: 1 Gordon Manning 8lbs 2ozs; 2 Rod Asher 7lbs 8ozs; 3 Mick Morgan 6lbs 2ozs; 4 Nick Mummery 3lbs 10ozs. Next week meet at Westwood Cafe for 8.30am draw.

Liam’s Elite did little better on other pegs of Moon Lake and only Ron Roberts could boast otherwise. He won the match with ease using maggot down the margins and latched on to a 13lbs carp towards the end of the match to make it a comfortable win. Paul Oglesbee was way out in front up to that point and was happily catching silvers on the pole and pellet but had then to settle for second place. Tony Vamplew stuck to the maggot feeder and came home some 3lbs down in third, beating a tied 4th between Pete Wise and Chris Chapman by a mere 2ozs. Results: 1 Ron Roberts peg25 20lbs 2ozs; 2 Paul Oglesbee peg18 9lbs 12ozs; 3 Tony Vamplew peg23 6lbs 8ozs; equal 4 Pete Wise peg10 and Chris Chapman peg12 6lbs 6ozs; 6 Dave Wilson peg14 5lbs 4ozs.

The West Common stretch of the Foss Dyke Canal was home to round three of the Lincoln Co-op league on Saturday and here was devoid of all colour in clear bright conditions. Not conducive to good catches but organiser John Small showed a clean pair of heels to the rest, winning by over 3lbs from Bill White in second. Most of the top anglers fished pole and breadpunch at 14m for roach as Malc Firmstone needed just over 4lbs for his third position. Results: 1 John Small Lincoln Whisby AS 7lbs 14ozs; 2 Bill White Lincoln Whisby AS 4lbs 10ozs; 3 Malc Firmstone Garbolino Lincs County 4lbs 5ozs. After three rounds: 1 Steve Gilbert 20pts; equal 2 John Small and Dave Small 19pts.

Round two of the Rilmac winter league was fished at the Woodcocks and Odder stretches and for the first time this winter the canal was carrying colour. The top two, in the shapes of Alan Henry and John Small, both used identical tactics of pole fished lobworm for perch at 14m and down the tins, plus a top up with some roach to bloodworm and joker. Alan won the day from peg 29 at Woodcocks whilst John had to settle for second from peg 39 at Odder, exactly 1 ½lbs behind. Weights then fell away a little as Roger Wakenshaw used mainly pole and breadpunch for roach and perch from the next door to the winner at Woodcocks for third spot. Results: 1 Alan Henry Dynamite Trentmen 9lbs 13ozs; 2 John Small Lincoln Whisby AS 8lbs 5ozs; 3 Roger Wakenshaw Lincoln Whisby AS 5lbs 11ozs. Teams on the day: 1 Dynamite Trentmen 10pts; 2 Lincoln Whisby AS 13pts; 3 Garbolino/Harrisons Lincs County 17pts; 4 Washingborough 24pts; 5 Grimsby 26pts. League after two rounds: 1 Dynamite Trentmen 2pts; 2 Lincoln Whisby AS 4pts; 3 Garbolino/Harrisons Lincs County 6pts; 4= Washingborough and Grimsby 9pts.

Weights also came in a little below par in the latest River Steeping sweep on Sunday. Many of the 16 hopefuls struggled for a pound or less but Alec Rawlings showed the way home with a 5lbs plus catch of roach to breadpunch. Both Trevor Ogilvie and Pete Harker used pinkie and punch for their nets of roach, which when the scales came round, found they had to settle for a second place tie. Results: 1 Alec Rawlings 5lbs 4ozs; 2= Pete Harker & Trevor Ogilvie 4lbs 8 ½ozs; 4 Graham Cripsey 2lbs 12ozs.

Boston and DAA members are reminded that their upcoming AGM, together with the prize-giving, will take place at the Squash Club, Rosebery Ave. next Tuesday 7th February 7.30pm. Those who intend to stay on for the AGM after the prize-giving should make sure they have a valid (2012) membership card.

Review for January 22

Paul secures narrow victory margin

Hard frosts are thankfully now behind us – for the time being that is, and have been replaced by more unsettled conditions. After that freeze up, warmer, but much wetter and windier weather moved in during late mid-week and over the weekend.

Freezing conditions last Tuesday at Royle's and most anglers struggled under these conditions. Only free water was under the fountain and most fish were caught here, invariably using the quivertip and maggot. Paul Cater just held on to win by less than 2lbs over Dave Creasey who in turn kept Kevin Hunt in third by a slightly better margin – most of these fish being F1s but also included a couple of carp. Results: 1 Paul Cater 21lbs 4ozs; 2 Dave Creasey 19lbs 11ozs; 3 Kevin Hunt 17lbs 4ozs; 4 Mark Cook 15lbs 2ozs. Match this week is again an 8-30am draw.

Blustery winds made it hard work for most of the anglers at Priory Lakes on Saturday but that did not stop Trevor Tute taking the top spot again. He drew peg 80 and fishing the straight lead to the island he landed 6 carp to double red maggot for a narrow victory. Pegged on 104 Dave Daniels also fished the straight lead and this time used sweetcorn on the hook to tempt 6 similar sized fish to finish just 1½lbs behind, while Nigel Winters came home third, another 11lbs back. Results: 1 Trevor Tute 29lbs 12ozs; 2 Dave Daniels 28lbs 8ozs; 3 Nigel Winters 17lbs 8ozs; 4 Paul Mosley 10lbs 2ozs; 5 Edgar Purnell 7lbs 8ozs; 6 Phil Clark 5lbs.

Sunday brought almost gale force conditions and combined with some early showers and with a raw feel, this made life difficult for both river and lake angler alike.

Fishtoft AC chose Royle's lake for their latest winter sweep and here Terry Gooding scored a comfortable win with 8lbs to spare over Mark Cook in second spot. Terry opted for the feeder and combined with dead red maggot he landed a few carp for his victory as Mark chose different combinations of feeder with pellet, pinkie or dead maggot. After that weights fell away as third placed Mick Morgan and Alan Dixon in fourth failed to make double figures using similar tactics. Results: 1 Terry Gooding 34lbs 8ozs; 2 Mark Cook 26lbs 8ozs; 3 Mick Morgan 8lbs 8ozs; 4 Alan Dixon 6lbs. Next week meet at Moon lakes Tattershall for 8.30am draw.

Difficult conditions for Don Green’s sweep on early pegs of the River Steeping at Wainfleet and resulting in a close contest as only 12ozs separated the top three in the prize list. A few good roach amongst those weights as Don Green himself led home the 12 man field. Pole and breadpunch was the winner’s choice as was the case for most of the others. Second placed Kevin Soulby, on the other hand, relied more on pinkie for his net of roach, but punch for Bob Smith & Ben Brighton in third and fourth respectively. Results: 1 Don Green 5lbs 15ozs; 2 Kevin Soulby 5lbs 10ozs; 3 Bob Smith 5lbs 3ozs; 4 Ben Brighton 4lbs 8ozs.

The latest Fenland Pike club fixture also took place on the River Steeping on Sunday and here three small fish was enough to bring success to Gordon Bell in a tight contest. Dave Vaughan landed 2 better specimens for second whilst last week’s winner Spider Pawson had to settle for third place this time around with two slightly smaller models of around 5lbs or so each. Results: 1 Gordon Bell 13lbs 13ozs; 2 Dave Vaughan 12lbs 8ozs; 3 Spider Pawson 10lbs 10ozs.

Review for January 15

Ray makes light of frosty conditions

Temperatures took a dramatic downturn as the weekend approached with hard frosts on either side of and over both the Saturday and Sunday nights.

That overnight frost put paid to any decent fishing for round 7 of the Priory Lake winter league on Saturday. That is except for Ray Pauley who drew the flier peg 116 and needed no second telling. Starting on the feeder and dead red maggot Ray had five carp in the first one and half hours before a switch to the pole brought three more. A simple case then of switching between the two methods to keep the fish coming for an easy victory. Miles behind in second was Roger Oxspring on peg 70 and from here he used double maggot to land two carp and a single bream to finish over 40lbs down, as was the case for Edgar Purnell who took three similar carp on the long pole from peg 115 for third, and another 3lbs back. Results: 1 Ray Pauley 59lbs 14ozs; 2 Roger Oxspring 16lbs 4ozs; 3 Edgar Purnell 13lbs; 4 Phil Clark 7lbs10ozs; 5 Barry Gadsby 7lbs 9ozs; 6 Paul Mosley 6lbs 4ozs. No match for Fishtoft AC this week, but members are asked to meet at Royle’s, Leverton, 8.30am Sunday.

The Tuesday open contests have now been changed to rover matches across all four lakes of the complex and this week it paid off for Steve Lane. Steve opted for peg 7 on Skylark and fed Marukyu 130 ground bait with 4 mm JPZ pellets on the hook to take F1s and skimmers for his winning total. Second placed Steve Higginbottom chose peg 27 on Skylark and had plenty of bits for his catch which included 73 of the new F1s. Over on Kestrel Alan Newton used his favourite method and dead maggot combo from peg 26 to take 3rd spot with less than a pound behind the second place. Results: 1 Steve Lane, Marukyu, 52lbs 10ozs; 2 Steve Higginbottom, WWL, 45lbs 8ozs; 3 Alan Newton, Anglers Corner, 44lbs 10ozs.

Thursday s over 50s match on Skylark produced much lower weights all round as Ray Tusker needed just over half that of Tuesday’s to beat Ron Roberts by less than 3lbs and another 4lbs down to Smudge Smith in third. Results: 1 Ray Tusker Ropsley AC 27lbs 4ozs; 2 Ron Roberts WWL 24lbs 10ozs; 3 Smudge Smith Bagem 20lbs 7ozs.

Even lower weights for the Sunday match on Skylark and no doubt the heavy frosts then taking their full toll. Danny Abbott won the day with a mere 15lbs plus net of F1s and followed by Gary Shinn and Mick Brompton in a tie for second, 3lbs and more adrift of the winner. Results: 1 Danny Abbott, WWL, 15lbs 6ozs; equal 2 Gary Shinn, Liam’s Elite, and Mick Brumpton, WWL, 11lbs 12ozs; 3 Jimmy Brooks, Anglers Corner, 7lbs 12ozs.

Fixtures:
Every Tuesday until March rover matches on all lakes, draw 9am fish 10-15am till 3-15 pm £11 all-in. Every Thursday over 50s Skylark, draw 9am fish 10 till 3pm £7.50 all-in. 2012 qualifiers starting in March. Contact Alex on 07846769003.

The latest open match on the River Steeping took place on Sunday but not before a lot of ice breaking and clearing – and so starting half an hour later than usual. Pete Miles took the match by a good margin from last week’s winner Graham Cripsey. Both used pole and pinkie for roach but Graham’s weight fell short by a wide margin and was the only other to break the pound mark. Don Green chose breadpunch and even with some 140 tiny fish in his net he failed to break the pound. Results: 1 Pete Miles Horncastle 4lbs 1oz; 2 Graham Cripsey Skegness 1lb 5½ozs; 3 Don Green Team Milldon 13ozs.

Back to Saturday and a very cold and clear West Common stretch of the Foss Dyke canal played host to the Lincoln Co-op second round match of the Saturday league. The method, pole, combined with breadpunch, was the choice for most of the field and Steve Gilbert put it to best use with a clear cut victory. Drawn at peg 5 he fished out at 13m to take some quality roach and beat Dave Small by a couple of pounds or so – he taking similar fish at 6 and 12m. John Blades came home third with much the same approach and finished just 2ozs short of Dave’s total. Results: 1 Steve Gilbert, Lincoln Whisby AS, 6lbs 13ozs; 2 Dave Small, Lincoln Whisby AS,4lbs 7ozs; 3 John Blades, Lincoln Whisby AS, 4lbs 5ozs; 4 Malc Firmstone, Garbolino Lincs County,3lbs 1oz. League to date: Steve Gilbert and Dave Small are joint leaders on 14pts after two rounds.

Review for January 8

Pat profits with 54lb victory weight

Another very windy start to the weekend with severe gales over the whole country but much better conditions as the week wears on.

A little shelter from fringe conifers made things a lot better for those in the winter series on Lake Ross where Pat James topped a string of good weights with one reaching just over the half century in pounds. He used feeder and meat for his winning catch while Phil Jackson stuck to the pole and maggot/pellet at 11m for his second place. Still in the 40lbs range came Terry Gooding who used the feeder and red maggot to hold on to third by a pound or so ahead of Ian Kent. Results: 1 Pat James 54lbs 2ozs; 2 Phil Jackson 47lbs 10ozs; 3 Terry Gooding 42lbs 2ozs; 4 Ian Kent 41lbs 4ozs. Draw again next week at the lake, meet at 8.45am fish 10 to 3pm £12 all-in. those interested in fishing ring Ian at Boston Angling Centre 01205 353436.

Peg 82 again turned up trumps as Paul Mosley took his turn to win from this peg for the second week running. Not taking anything away from Paul as he tempted a single carp to the feeder and red maggot before a switch to the long pole brought an almost instant response as one bream followed another to the net to give him a convincing victory by a 10lbs margin. Edgar Purnell had to settle for runner up again from peg 117 as he landed four carp, three of those from the margins and one from out in the lake. Trevor Tute led home the rest only ounces behind with three carp plus a few rudd from the next peg 116 and Dave Daniels a further 7ozs back in fourth. Results: 1 Paul Mosley 24lbs 4ozs; 2 Edgar Purnell 14lbs; 3 Trevor Tute 13lbs 11ozs; 4 Dave Daniels 13lbs 4ozs; 5 Malc Green 13lbs; 6 Barry Gadsby 10lbs 4ozs.

A much kinder day for Liam's Elite on a mild and sunny Hawk Lake at Westwood. Here Kev Hunt caught from the off on pellet and long pole to the far shelf for a comfortable win. Ron Roberts opted for the same tactics but finished 7lbs down in second but 5lbs ahead of Ian Kent who used the maggot and pole combination to clinch third, only ounces ahead of Brian Thompson. Results: 1 Kevin Hunt peg 19 31lbs; 2 Ron Roberts peg 9 24lbs; 3 Ian Kent peg 14 19lbs; 4 Brian Thompson peg 11 18lbs 2ozs; 5 Pete Wise peg 15 14lbs 8ozs.

Fishtoft AC paid a visit to Royle's at Leverton and here under those same conditions Mark Cook, with 5 small carp, was the only one to make double figures. He fished the feeder and pellet or dead maggot for his victory and doubled the next best weight, that of Terry Gooding who stuck to maggot and feeder tactics to land two carp. Results: 1 Mark Cook 10lbs 4ozs; 2 Terry Gooding 5lbs. Next Sunday meet McDonald’s 8.30am.

Just the one open contest due to extreme winds and Sunday’s match on Kestrel saw Steve Lane start the year with a win from fancied peg 16. He used his flavoured SF20 liquid on sweetcorn hook bait to tempt carp to 7lbs at 11m. Second placed Gary Shinn stuck to his trusty waggler and maggot combination to place a good net of ide and stockies onto the scales from peg 22. The Army boys took the next two places as Shane Safford, with just under 20lbs, was led home by Boris Kilner in third. Results: 1 Steve Lane, Marukyu Baits, 36lbs 10ozs; 2 Gary Shinn, Liam’s Elite, 27lbs; 3 Boris Kilner, The Army, 22lbs 8ozs; 4 Shane Safford, The Army, 19lbs 7ozs.

Every Tuesday until March, rover matchers on all lakes of the complex, draw 9am fish 10-15am till 3-15 pm £11 all-in
Every Thursday over 50s on Skylark, draw 9am fish 10 till 3pm £7.50 all in
2012 qualifiers starting in March, contact Alex on 07846769003.

A patchy event but Graham Cripsey stole the show in the open match on the River Steeping on Sunday. A net of good roach was topped up by the odd skimmer to 12ozs to give him a comfortable victory. Just over 1½lbs down in second was Brian Blackamore who, like the winner, took all his fish on pole and pinkie. Janusz Kedzierski did likewise and finished third with just under 7lbs and beating Ben Brighton for a change – he sticking to breadpunch for his fourth place. Results: 1 Graham Cripsey 9lbs 2ozs; 2 Brian Blackamore 7lbs 8ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski 6lbs 13½ozs; 4 Ben Brighton 5lbs 5½ozs.

Only seven fish were caught between the nine Fenland Pike club hopefuls on the West Fen Drain at Frithville on Sunday. Even so some good specimens amongst them and none more so than the winner Spider Pawson who landed one super specimen of well over 18lbs to win the day. He was followed by David Bourne who also put two nice 7lbs fish on the scales for second and Andrew Leverton with a single eight-pounder for third. Results: 1 Spider Pawson 18lbs 10ozs; 2 David Bourne 14lbs 6ozs; 3 Andrew Leverton 8lbs 12ozs.

An early reminder to all Boston and District AA members that the 2012 AGM will be held on Tuesday February 7 at the Sportsman, Rosebery Avenue at 7.30pm. A current membership card is needed to gain access to the meeting.

Review for January 1

Trevor maintains his fine form

Much warmer last week but that also brought with it one or two longer spells of rain, but at least it stayed dry and reasonably warm over the Christmas period. Much of a muchness running up to New Year with seesawing temperatures, alternating spells of cloud, wind and rain, and not much sunshine.

The winter league on Priory Lakes started up again with round two on New Year’s Eve and nothing much changed as Trevor Tute continued his fine form. Drawn at peg 82 he took five carp to double red maggot for his winning total. After taking three fish to the feeder close to the island he then swapped to the long pole and landed two more after fishing tight to the corner margins. Down the margins was also the method for runner up George Gosling who took two similar sized fish and added a few good roach, also to double red maggot on the long pole from peg 70. Results: 1 Trevor Tute 23lbs; 2 George Gosling 14lbs 12ozs; 3 Edgar Purnell 12lbs7ozs; 4 Ray Pauley 13lbs7ozs; 5 Roger Oxspring 11lbs 2ozs; 6 Malc Green 9lbs15ozs.

The River Steeping open match took place on Monday following the New Year this time using pegs upstream towards Crow’s Bridge. This stretch produced much the same sort of result despite the adverse conditions from the previous few days. Roach again were the main target and fell to a variety of baits and in different sizes accordingly. A mid-range sample fell to mainly pinkie and big maggot to give Horncastle’s Steve Miles a comfortable victory over second placed Don Green. Don chose the pole and breadpunch and put a few better fish on the scales, beating Pete Harker by just 5ozs, he taking all his net of small fish to mainly squatt, mixed in with a few pinkies. Results: 1 Steve Miles Horncastle 7lbs 11ozs; 2 Don Green Old Leake 6lbs 1oz; 3 Pete Harker Sibsey 5lbs 12ozs; 4 Nev Soulby Horncastle 4lbs 6½ozs. Next Sunday meet as normal.

Over to Westwood Lakes and a cracking match on Monday to start the New Year. The pairs match was spread over the three lakes and attracted 50 competitors (25 pairs). Individual weights were very close (apart from the winner's) as was the final points scores to determine those leading pairs. Individually Adam Playford ran out an easy winner with 10lbs to spare over Jason Lebosquet in second spot. He in turn held on to third by the skin of his teeth in beating Matt Arnold by a level pound. The pairs result was just as close with only 2pts separating the top three, Adam Playford and partner Jimmy Brooks emerging the winners with a perfect score of 2pts. They were followed by Tony Evans and Matt Arnold on three points with Adam Wakeling and Jason Lebosquet on four points. Individuals: 1 Adam Playford Anglers Corner Kestrel Lake 51lbs 14ozs; 2 Jason Lebosquet Skylark Lake 41lbs 8ozs; 3 Matt Arnold Hawk Lake 40lbs 8ozs.

Also at Westwood Lakes, the fur and feather on Tuesday December 27 was fished on Skylark with 31 anglers turning out for the contest. Middy backed Mark Rodgers came out on top with a good net of F1s using 4mm pellets as hook bait over 2mm feed pellets and put 67 fish on the scales for his final total . Venue regular Nick Brumpton used his flavoured maggot approach at 11.5 m to take small stock carp and F1s from peg 16. The ever-consistent Steve Winter drew peg 5 and caught steady all day on soft 4mm pellet and dead maggot combination. Results: 1 Mark Rodgers, Middy Tackle, 46lbs 12ozs; 2 Mark Brumpton, Westwood Lakes, 39lbs 10ozs; 3 Steve Winter, Maver Bait-Tech, 32lbs 7ozs; 4th Rob Morris, Spro Lincoln, 31lbs; 5 Paul Oglesbee, Westwood Lakes, 30lbs 11ozs.

Review for December 18

Paul thinks small to net top prize

Thankfully for our area those dire predictions of a stormy spell of weather for the weekend did not materialise. Sunny spells and odd wintry showers instead but even so temperatures failed to rise much above 3ºc with night frosts. Outlook is for a much warmer spell by midweek with temperatures rising to the double figure mark, and could probably stay there into the Christmas break.

Almost a complete wipe out at Priory Lake on Saturday as overnight frost did its worst. Only two carp caught and one of those being foul hooked. Paul Mosley decided to go for smaller silver fish, which turned out to be a wise move on his part. Using the long pole with maggot on a size 20 he took a good number of small roach and topped it off with a chub of 1lb approx. for his winning weight from peg 110. That foul hooked carp plus a few perch was enough to bring second spot to Pete Allen while a couple of small chub and a few bits brought third place to Brian McKeown. Results: 1 Paul Mosley 5lbs 10ozs; 2 Pete Allen 4lbs 6ozs; 3 Brian McKeown 2lbs 9ozs; 4 Steve Davis 2lbs; 5 Dave Daniels 1lb 10ozs; 6 Phil Clark 15ozs.

Fenland Pike club members had to break the ice on Sunday morning on the Duke of Wellington section of the upper Hobhole Drain. Not many fish caught after that clearing session but Ernie Crisp scored an easy win with 2 fish, each in the 6lbs range. Best fish of the day went to Gordon Ball at just under 10lbs and earned him the runner up place, well in front of Stephen Leverton with one small specimen. Results: 1 Ernie Crisp 13lbs 2ozs; 2 Gordon Ball 8lbs 12ozs; 3 Stephen Leverton 2lbs 2ozs.

A frozen lake and the thermometer at -2ºc meant that many members of Liam’s Elite would struggle to put anything on the scales on Sunday. This last match of the year at Moon Lake attracted 17 members of whom 11 put something on the scales, and not much at that. A 5½lbs carp helped Ian Kent to the top spot, this taken using worm on the long pole. Brian Thompson used the maggot and straight lead to take a mixed bag of silver fish – and second place. A maggot and pole combination brought third to Gareth Boaler whilst Gary Shinn and Andy Dillamore fought out an honourable draw for fourth. Results: 1 Ian Kent peg13 6lbs 8ozs; 2 Brian Thompson peg11 4lbs 13ozs; 3 Gareth Boaler peg21 2lbs 4ozs; equal 4 Gary Shinn peg2 and Andy Dillamore peg18 2lbs.

Over to Westwood Lakes and all matches last week were switched to the more sheltered Kestrel lake but anglers still found it difficult to present anything well. In form Ron Roberts won Tuesday’s open using a favoured inline method with double dead red maggot, combined with Marukyu130 ground bait on the method from peg 21. Not too far behind was second placed Paul Quinton who used similar tactics to the winner
and a late switch to the maggot feeder saw him have a good last hour. Results: 1 Ron Roberts Westwood 34lbs 10ozs; 2 Paul Quinton Westwood 31lbs 2ozs; 3 Gary Shinn Liam’s Elite 23lbs 10ozs.

Thursday’s over-50s open, also on Kestrel Lake, was extremely tough but Bagem backed Smudge Smith came out on top from peg 7 using small open ended feeder with banded pellet. Results: 1 Smudge Smith Bagem 21lbs 14ozs; 2 Ron Roberts Westwood 19lbs 8ozs; 3 Fred Bispham 16lbs 4ozs.

Sunday’s open was won by Marukyu backed Steve Lane from peg 10 by the narrow margin of just 2ozs. He opted for the open-ended feeder with dead red maggot as hookbait, Gary Walton using identical tactics to take the runner up position. Results: 1 Steve Lane Marukyu baits 21lbs 7ozs; 2 Gary Walton Spilsby AC 21lbs 5ozs; 3 Steve Davis Dave’s peg 16lbs 12ozs.

Fixtures:
Tuesday December 27, Westwood Fur and Feather on Skylark, draw 9am fish 10 – 3pm.
Monday January 2, Open Pairs on Skylark & Kestrel, draw 9am fish 10 – 3pm, £30 per pair plus £5 optional. This match is limited to 20 pairs.
Call Alex on 07846 769003 to book in and so avoid any disappointment.

All at Westwood Lakes would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Review for December 11

Double figure haul sees Ben a clean winner

A cold enough week but then hard frosts running up to and including the weekend. The outlook appears to be for more wet and stormy weather and especially as we head towards next weekend. Back to last weekend then and it was not surprising that competitors were faced with a good covering of ice on the Sibsey Trader Drain on Saturday morning.

The golf course section was the choice for the Christmas Benevolent match and here the conditions took their toll as only six of those involved had anything to show for their efforts, four of those in the ounces category. Runaway winner was Boston’s Ben Brighton who stuck to the pole and breadpunch for the sole double figure weight, that being of roach. Pole and pinkie was the choice for Sean Creasey who also scored an easy runner up position with another all roach catch. After that small perch was the order of the day for Janusz Kedzierski who took third using pole and worm. Fred Bispham took section 1 by default with a couple of ounces and Don Green section 2 with 3ozs, second Kryztof Lamek on 2ozs. Results: 1 Ben Brighton Garbolino Lincs County Red 12lbs; 2 Sean Creasey Boston 6lbs 4ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski BAC Poleski 6ozs.

On behalf of the Boston Benevolent Society Mark Cook would like to thank both Boston Angling Centre and Westwood lakes for their support and everyone else who donated prizes to the match. This now brings an end to the match calendar for this year and so he would like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year and thank you for all your support throughout 2011.
The severe overnight frosts certainly put a damper on this latest Priory Lake open match as only six of the eleven involved managed to trouble the scales. Edgar Purnell eased to his second win in a row from the fancied peg 110. Here he took two carp in successive casts using double red maggot and straight lead, but then had a complete blank for the next hour. Switching then to the long pole he took the odd skimmer and a few bits to win by nearly 12lbs from Phil Clark. Both he and Paul Mosley landed a few perch and a single bream but Phil emerged the better by just 2ozs with George Gosling another 4ozs back in fourth with a level 4lbs. Results: 1 Edgar Purnell 16lbs 4ozs; 2 Phil Clark 4lbs 6ozs; 3 Paul Mosley 4lbs 4ozs; 4 George Gosling 4lbs; 5 Malc Green 3lbs 14ozs.

Sunday was another of those cold cloudy and windy days but at least the forecasted heavy rain held off until dark. Even so, a disastrous day for Fishtoft AC on Sunday at Westwood lakes where no one weighed in much more than a few ounces. Terry Gooding won the day with a few ide to pole and maggot with Mark Cook choosing identical tactics to finish 8ozs back in second, Nick Mummery just moving the scales to take third. Results: 1 Terry Gooding 1lb 8ozs; 2 Mark Cook 1lb; 3 Nick Mummery 2ozs. Next Sunday meet McDonalds 8.30am.

Not much action from Westwood Lakes as only the Thursday over 50s match survived, a lack of interest - and the weather possibly being the main culprits. A switch to Kestrel Lake brought a narrow win for organiser Ron Roberts as weights again fell, this time below the 20lbs mark. Ron used double red maggot over Marukyu Obait to land a mixture of barbel, carp and ide and finish with just over 2lbs to spare over Smudge Smith and Bill Mead just ounces further back.Results: 1 Ron Roberts Westwood 18lbs 4ozs; 2 Smudge Smith Bagem 16lbs; 3 Bill Mead Ropsley AC 15lbs 10ozs; 4 Alan Dixon Fishtoft AC 15lbs; 5 Graham Barker Ropsley AC 14lbs 8ozs.

Fixtures:
Every Tuesday Open Match, draw 9am in Fishermans Rest Café - Fish 10am- 3pm. £11 all-in.
Thursday Over 50s, Skylark Lake draw 9am. Fish 10am- 3pm. £7.50 all-in.
Sunday Open Match, draw 9am. Fish 10am-3pm. £16 all-in.
The New Year’s Pairs match takes place on Skylark and Kestrel with a 20 pair limit.
Please remember to book in for all matches contact Alex on 07846 769003.

Finally to the River Steeping where catches held up well despite recent weather and another close set of weights with ounces covering the top four. Both the top two used pole and pinkie for roach but Bob Smith shaded the outcome and beat Janusz Kedzierski by only 1½ozs. Janusz improved over last week and put a few more ounces onto the scales this time, as well as taking second, less than half a pound ahead Denis Houghton who also kept a mere 3ozs advantage over Alec Rawlings. Results: 1 Bob Smith 8lbs 8½ozs; 2 Janusz Kedzierski 8lbs 7ozs; 3 Denis Houghton 7lbs 15½ozs; 4 Alec Rawlings 7lbs 12½ozs.

Review for December 4

Fish stocks boost for Trader anglers

Another welcome injection of fish into the Sibsey Trader Drain last week. This latest stocking took place on the golf course section last Thursday with species including approximately 2,500 roach, around 1,000 small tench and some 500 rudd. This is in addition to over 10,000 fish being stocked into the drain in the previous three years and we are most grateful to the Environment Agency for bringing this about after the disastrous fish loss some four years ago. Possibly more stocking could again happen in the future, but all depending on available fish stocks at this particular time of year.

A much colder scenario than of late and made to feel even worse by the strong winds. Falling temperatures now seem to have a greater effect on catches then previous weeks, the Sibsey Trader Drain being a good case in point. The Fenland pike club opted for the early pegs on the golf course section on Sunday and despite a move further up the drain at the half way stage, only a couple of fish showed any interest. Both of these fell to organiser Spider Pawson who won the match with just 6lbs 12ozs.

Pegs on the roadside section towards Trader Bridge were used by Fishtoft AC and came up with similar results, total fish caught could be counted using just one hand. A single tench of just under 4lbs taken to pole and pinkie gave Mick Morgan an easy victory, and was followed by Rod Asher who tempted two small perch to his pole and worm rig. Two more even smaller perch was enough for third to Gordon Manning, he being the only other to trouble the scales. Results: 1 Mick Morgan 3lbs 15ozs; 2 Rod Asher 7ozs; 3 Gordon Manning 1oz. Next Sunday meet McDonalds 8.30am. Please note the closing date for the Christmas Benevolent match is Thursday 8th December. Ring Mark Cook on 01205 363333 to book in.

Some improvement on recent results from Priory Lakes as the latest winter league round was won with a good net approaching 40lbs on Saturday. Eight carp plus a few skimmers fell to Edgar Purnell who drew peg 70 and used small chunks of meat and also double red maggot over micro pellet at 14m for a comfortable win. Trevor Tute drew the flier (peg 116) again and although increased his final haul over last week he still had to settle for the runner up spot. Six carp and the odd chub was enough to guarantee third for Paul Mosley who more than doubled the next best weight, that of Andy Waite who was the only other to break double figures. Results: 1 Edgar Purnell 36lbs 12ozs; 2 Trevor Tute 28lbs; 3 Paul Mosley 25lbs 7ozs; 4 Andy Waite 12lbs 9ozs; 5 Roger Oxspring 6lbs 8ozs; 6 Phil Clarke 6lbs 2ozs.

The third round of East Coast Junior League was fished on Sunday at Horseway Drove, Chatteris which is a small drain running into the Sixteen Foot Drain. Water levels being low and clear the small roach were tightly shoaled up and the situation was made much worse by two cormorants which had managed to drive the fish into the first 10 pegs, thus leaving halve the match length devoid of all fish. The top four weights came from the one fish filled area and with two anglers drawn on the fish it was the home team West Norfolk Academy who sorted out the match, dropping just the one point with three section winners from Kings Lynn and Lincoln. The top individual was Kayleigh Williams from peg 8 with a good net of roach using a 4m whip to hand with pinkie over ground bait. Team mate Kieron Woolhouse finished second using the same method, Harry Blackmuir from Kings Lynn coming home in third. The final whistle did not come too soon for those anglers fishing the last six pegs as only one fish was caught between them. Results: Individual: 1 Kayleigh Williams WNAA peg 8 9lbs 6ozs; 2 Keiron Woolhouse WNAA peg 5 7lbs 10ozs; 3 Harry Blackmuir Kings Lynn peg 7 6lbs 10ozs; 4 Luke Thomson Lincoln A peg 6 5lbs 10ozs. Teams: 1 West Norfolk Angling Academy 5pts; 2 Kings Lynn 8pts; 3 Lincoln 10pts. League to date: equal 1 Kings Lynn and WNAA 30pts; 3 Lincoln A 33pts; 4 Boston 41pts; 5 Holbeach 42pts. Next match 19th February River Steeping, Wainfleet.

Over to Wainfleet and a different story from the River Steeping where catches were almost entirely made up of good roach as only ounces separated the top four. Pole-axed is the only word to describe the outcome as they (Polish) filled the top three places, Chrisjion Lemek topping the list. Pinkie was the choice of hookbait for most as Gregorz Chalat brought another good net to scales to finish just 2ozs adrift. Countryman Janusz Kedzierski grabbed third to beat Derek Skinner by a single ounce, Derek, of course, sticking to his breadpunch method to hang on to fourth place. Results: 1 Chrisjion Lemek 8lbs 14ozs; 2 Gregorz Chalat 8lbs 12ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski 7lbs 10ozs; 4 Derek Skinner 7lbs 9ozs.

The Westwood series of matches again produced weights at best just into the 30lbs category and this time the Sunday match on Kestrel brought out the best from Boris Kilner who took most fish on the waggler and maggot. Just 6ozs short of the top spot was Gary Shinn who used like tactics to finish in second spot and himself only 8ozs better than Mike Whittaker in third. Results: 1 Boris Kilner Army 34lbs 2ozs; 2 Gary Shinn Liams Elite 31lbs 12ozs; 3 Mike Whittaker Norwich 31lbs 4ozs; 4 Steve Lane Marukyu 27lbs 4ozs.

Tuesday’s match on Skylark saw Steve Lane come up with the goods this time and used 4mm soft pellet across in 18ins of water to take his winning catch. Steve Davis was hot on his heels but despite taking bream and tench he finished just under 3lbs down in second. Results: 1 Steve Lane Marukyu 32lbs 9ozs; 2 Steve Davis Dave's Peg 29lbs 12ozs; 3 Gary Shinn Liam's Elite 26lbs 10ozs.

Lower weights from the over 50s match on Thursday, again on Skylark and here Smudge Smith used 4mm expander pellet to take a winning mixture of F1s and stockies. Alan Dent also took small carp plus a few skimmers to take second just over 2lbs behind. Results: 1 Smudge Smith Begem 22lbs 8ozs; 2 Alan Dent Westwood 20lbs 4ozs; 3 Tony Smith Ropsley 19lbs 12ozs; 4 Ken Clarke Holbeach 17lbs 12ozs.

Fixtures:
Tuesday Open Match, draw 9am in Fishermans Rest Cafe- Fish 10am- 3pm. £11 all-in. Thursday Over 50s, Skylark Lake, draw 9am- Fish 10am- 3pm. £7.50 all-in. Sunday Open Match kestrel lake, draw 9am Fish 10am-3pm. £16 all-in. Please remember to book in for all matches, contact Alex on 07846 769003.

* A Boston-based angler has been fined £170 for fishing illegally and giving false identification details to an Environment Agency water bailiff. Modestas Poskus of Union Street, Boston was found guilty of fishing without a licence and providing false details following in a case heard by Boston magistrates. He was also ordered to pay £316 costs and a £15 surcharge. The court heard that the water bailiff responded after receiving a report of suspected illegal fishing on the West Fen Drain at Bunkers Hill from a member of public on February 10. Meanwhile, a second man, Andrius Ulickas of Wyberton West Road, Boston, was fishing with Poskus when they were approached by the bailiff. He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was fined £100 for fishing without a rod licence and was ordered to pay £80 costs.

Review for November 27

It’s a narrow margin of success for Gooden

It has been another week where daytime temperatures remained in double figures, and more to the point no night frosts to depress catches. The outlook seems to be more of the same but with more wind and rain to contend with, and temperatures dropping a little lower over the next few days.

Some reasonable weights last Tuesday at Royle's where John Gooden held on to beat favourite Ian Kent by a mere 5ozs. Both used pole and hookbait on the deck as John chose maggot to take the winner’s spoils, Ian relying on pellet for second spot, as did Kevin Hunt 11lbs down in third. Results: 1 John Gooden 32lbs; 2 Ian Kent 31lbs 11ozs; 3 Kevin Hunt 20lbs; 4 Terry Gooding 16lbs 4ozs.

Over to Westwood and Tuesday’s open on Skylark produced the week’s best figures as Adam Wakelin just topped the 50lbs mark. He fished out at 11m to the bottom of the ledge to pick up three bream and a few 2lbs carp to win by a couple of pounds. Brian Thompson was the unlucky loser but he in turn managed second by the skin of his teeth beating Steve Davis by mere ounces. Results: 1 Adam Wakelin Preston Innovations 50lbs 12ozs; 2 Brian Thompson Orchard Park AC 48lbs 10ozs; 3 Steve Davis Dave’s Peg 48lbs 6ozs; 4 Steve Lane Castle AC 29lbs 14ozs.

Not such a good set of weights but the over 50s match was another close run thing amongst the good turnout of 24 anglers. Alan Haynes topped this list with a little over 2lbs to spare over Roy Wells by using maggot over pellet at 4m to pick up carp to 4lbs. also just in the 30lbs range was Brian Thompson who had to settle for third on this occasion with Smudge Smith and Terry Gooding taking fourth and fifth respectively, both in the high 20lbs bracket. Results: 1 Alan Haynes Westwood 33lbs 14ozs; 2 Roy Wells Decoy lakes 31lbs 10ozs; 3 Brian Thompson Orchard Park 30lbs 10ozs; 4 Smudge Smith Bagem AC 28lbs; 5 Terry Gooding Fishtoft AC 25lbs 12ozs.

Fixtures:
Every Tuesday Open Match, draw 9am in Fisherman’s Rest Cafe- Fish 10am- 3.00pm. £11 all-in.
Thursday Over 50s, Skylark Lake, draw 9am - Fish 10am- 3.00pm. £ 7.50 all-in.

Sunday Open Match Kestrel, draw 9am Fish 10am-3.00pm. £16 all-in.
Please remember to book in for all Matches contact Alex on 07846 769003.

Another mild but very windy weekend – reaching gale force conditions overnight, and well into Sunday, before gradually easing to bring overnight frosts for much of this area. That cold and bitter wind put paid to any decent catches on Saturday for the eleven involved in the winter league on Priory Lake, as here only four of those had anything to weigh at the end of the day. Trevor Tute drew the fancied peg 70 and scored an easy win using the straight lead and sweetcorn to tempt five carp. Peg 70 threw up the odd bream to 4lbs, plus a few small perch to give Phil Clark the runner up spot, as did Barry Gadsby in a comfortable third place.
1 Trevor Tute 25lbs 4ozs; 2 Phil Clark 8lbs 12ozs; Barry Gadsby 6lbs 7ozs; 4 Brian McKeown 2lbs 12ozs.
A similar story for Fishtoft AC at Royle's on Sunday where most stuck to the feeder and red maggot for a few small carp. Mark Cook led the way with a comfortable win, being the only one to break into double figures. Terry Gooding came in second over 4lbs behind, whilst Rod Asher managed third another 2½ lbs down. Results: 1 Mark Cook 12lbs 4ozs; 2 Terry Gooding 7lbs 8ozs; 3 Rod Asher 5lbs; 4 Ernie Heseltine 3lbs 8ozs.
Next Sunday meet golf course car park, Sibsey Trader Drain 8.30am.

A howling downstream wind for the sweep on the R. Steeping on Sunday but even so a good set of weights for the conditions. Just a few ounces ahead of the chasing pack was Andy Scott who used pole and pinkie for his winning net of small roach. Those were the sole species and invariably fell to identical tactics as Ian Kent beat Bob Smith to the runner up spot by an even narrower margin with Alec Rawlings back in fourth by a slightly larger gap. Results: 1 Andy Scott 8lbs 15ozs; 2 Ian Kent 8lbs 7ozs; 3 Bob Smith 8lbs 2½ozs; 4 Alec Rawlings 7lbs 7ozs.

Well that wraps things up for this week but a reminder that the Christmas Benevolent match will take place on Saturday December 10, most likely on the golf course section of the Sibsey Trader Drain. Prizes and donations would be much appreciated and to book in for the match please ring Mark Cook on 01205 363333 please.

Review for November 20

Brisk start lays platform for Graham’s success

Yet another mild week for the time of year, murky for most of the time but ending the week with glorious sunshine from Friday onwards and through Saturday, but staying cold with thick fog on Sunday.

Eight anglers fished the latest round of the RAF League on the golf course section of the Sibsey Trader Drain last Tuesday. They were greeted with a low and colourless drain covered with large patches of weed. Most anglers opted to start on punch and it was RAF ace Graham Welton who got into his early stride catching almost from the whistle on breadpunch at 7m. However, almost as quickly as they arrived they also disappeared. Other anglers now started to put a steady stream of silvers in the net and so Graham looked to his chopped worm line where he continued to bring fish to the net for the rest of the match. The scales arrived to find Graham’s net comprising of a single half pound of roach and five like sized perch, and so was easily enough to win the match, Taking the runner up position was Steve Reid who, after been biteless for the first hour, managed to winkle out 76 small roach using bread and alternating the pole between 5 and 13m. He edged Dan Hurst into 3rd, he with a hard earned catch of punch caught roach. Results: 1 Graham Welton 7lbs 1oz; 2 Steve Reid 5lbs 14ozs; 3 Dan Hurst 4lbs 1oz; 4 Al Dyer 3lbs 4ozs.

Everyone aimed to draw the hot peg 116 at Priory Lakes but that fell to Trevor Tute who made no mistake and won this match on Saturday at a canter. Fishing the long pole he used pellet and meat to take 20 carp running up to 6lbs for that easy win. A long way back was Pete Allen on peg 110, he also using the pole and with expanders he landed just 7 similar sized fish, with Dave Robinson also in the 20lbs bracket. Results: 1 Trevor Tute 88lbs 14ozs; 2 Pete Allen 27lbs 8ozs; 3 Dave Robinson 21lbs 8ozs; 4 Edgar Purnell 18lbs 12ozs; 5 Brian McKeown 17lbs 6ozs.

Sunday’s match on Kestrel proved to be the best of the week’s fixtures at the Westwood Lake complex as Mick Stamp scored a convincing win with over 20lbs to spare over Adam Playford. He fished the pole method as a steady stream of caught carp, ide and bream came to the net. Results: 1 Mick Stamp Sonubaits 53lbs 8ozs; 2 Adam Playford Anglers Corner 31lbs 12ozs; equal 3 Luke Morley WWL & Boris Kilner Vesper Army 29lbs 12ozs.

Weights were lower for the Tuesday open on Skylark as venue regular George Warren won with a little over 5lbs better than Robin Richardson. A mixed bag of bream, carp and tench was his winning catch while Robin took small stockies and tench on pellet across and down the middle. Results: 1 George Warren 35lbs 5ozs; 2 Robin Richardson 29lbs 8ozs; 3 Brian Thompson 28lbs 14ozs. The over-50s brought a good turnout on Thursday but lower weights for the 28 hopefuls. Fred Bispham made the journey from Mansfield well worthwhile taking top spot with some good bream and stock carp. Brian Thompson came through to second this time using pellet down the track and over on the far side ledge. Results: 1 Fred Bispham A1 Angling 22lbs 14ozs; 2 Brian Thompson Orchard Park 19lbs 2ozs; 3 Bill Gilbert WWL 17lbs 8ozs. Fixtures: Every Tuesday Open Match, draw 9am in Fisherman’s Rest Cafe- Fish 10am- 3.00pm £11 all-in. Thursday: Over 50s, Skylark Lake, draw 9am, fish 10am to 3.00pm £7.50 all in.

Overnight temperatures down to near freezing and a foggy day meant no big weights for members of the Liam's Elite on Hawk Lake at Westwood on Sunday. None managed the 20lbs mark but only 4 ½lbs separated the top four anglers. Here also the long pole and pellet turned up trumps for Brian Thompson from peg 20 whilst round the lake at peg 1 Nigel Raynor held on to second by roughly the same margin. Pinkie was the successful hookbait to beat Lee Sallabanks into third, Lee using maggot to hold off Paul Oglesbee by a mere 8ozs.
1 Brian Thompson 16lbs 8ozs; 2 Nigel Raynor 14lbs 10ozs; 3 Lee Sallabanks 12lbs 8ozs; 4 Paul Oglesbee 12lbs; 5 Ron Roberts 8lbs 8ozs.
Fishtoft AC paid a visit to the Moon Lake complex and tried Moat Lake on Sunday. A similar story emerged under what was to be similar weather conditions all around the county. Hence pole and pellet at 13m brought 7 carp to the net and gave Ben Brighton a comfortable victory. Terry Gooding opted for feeder and maggot, a method that produced just 2 carp and a few small silvers, to give him second spot nearly 10lbs down with Gordon Manning another 8lbs back in third, the rest struggling for a bite. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 19lbs; 2 Terry Gooding 9lbs 8ozs; 3 Gordon Manning 1lb 8ozs. Next week meet at McDonalds, Boston no later than 8am.

Much improvement for the Sunday sweeps on the R. Steeping at Wainfleet. Squatt and pinkie combined with the pole was the main attack for most as Andy Scott won the day with a little over a pound better than Bob Smith. Catches were made up almost exclusively of roach as he kept his nose just in front and beat Ian Kent into third by a single ounce. Results: 1 Andy Scott 12lbs 4½ozs; 2 Bob Smith 11lbs 2½ozs; 3 Ian Kent 11lbs 1½ozs; 4 Graham Cripsey 10lbs 11ozs.

On to Monday afternoon on the Sibsey Trader Drain where tench made a surprise appearance to boost the winning weights. Spike Milligan took a couple of 4lbs models and added to a few skimmers and perch he pushed Don Green into second spot by almost a couple of pounds. Most opted for the pole and chopped worm and Ann Balderson came up with an all perch catch to take third ahead of organiser Mark Cook who also featured a tench in his fourth place. Results: 1 Spike Milligan 13lbs 6ozs; 2 Don Green 11lbs 7ozs; 3 Ann Balderson 8lbs 2ozs; 4 Mark Cook 7lbs 3ozs.

Mark would like to thank everyone that participated in the Monday matches throughout the summer months and start of the winter Monday matches. Weather permitting they will start again after the Christmas period. Names are now being taken for the Christmas Benevolent match which, hopefully, will be fished on the Sibsey Trader Drain on Saturday 10th December. Anyone wishing to fish this match should contact Mark as soon as possible on 01205 363333.

Review for November 13

To be added

Review for November 6

Ian lands follow-up success

Another very warm week for early November and spoilt only by a good downpour over the Thursday night and persisting well into Friday.

Ten anglers fished the latest sweep at Royle’s in warm sunshine and light winds as Ian Kent made it two in a row. This time a much more convincing victory as he went most of the way to doubling the next best weight. His usual style of pole fished pellet at 11- 13m saw him beat Mark Cook by just over 30lbs. For his part Mark chose the feeder and combined with pellet or maggot he kept Paul Cater back in third to the tune of 6lbs – Paul using both pole and feeder to keep the stockies interested. Results: 1 Ian Kent 67lbs 8ozs; 2 Mark Cook 36lbs 4ozs; 3 Paul Cater 30lbs 4ozs; 4 Mick Morgan 29lbs 1oz.

Saturday sweeps have started on the R. Witham with 7 anglers taking advantage of this match over pegs 12 – 18 of the Pound length. Floating weed continues to be the main problem but everyone had something to show for their efforts. Perch going up to 2lbs were the main takers as Dave Bontoft won with a net of them to beat Dave Edwards by over 2lbs. Catches then fell away as the remainder found a few small roach and John Baxter managed third with just those few ounces. Results: 1 Dave Bontoft 10lbs 8ozs; 2 Dave Edwards 8lbs; 3 John Baxter 1lb 8ozs. Meet next Saturday Kings Arms, Kirkstead for a 9am draw, fish 10am to 3pm.

The Saturday winter league also got underway on Priory Lakes where carp up to 5lbs pushed weights up to reasonable levels. Bill Whitworth ran out an easy winner taking 19 such fish from peg 116 whilst 8 similar models brought second place to Dave Robinson from the next door peg117. After that weights fell away but Trevor Tute just stayed in the 20lbs range with a mixed bag of fish. Results: 1 Bill Whitworth 65lbs 8ozs; 2 Dave Robinson 28lbs 10ozs; 3 Trevor Tute 20lbs 2ozs; 4 Phil Clark 17lbs 6ozs; 5 Pete Allen 15lbs 2ozs; 6 Brian McKeown 10lbs 10ozs.

Priory Lake Winter League 5/11/2011.
Another good turnout of anglers (18 in total) but a drop in overnight temperatures was a good reason for lower weights on a cramped Royle’s fishery on Sunday. So, no big weights were expected as Chris Chapman came out on top with only 6ozs to spare over second place. This was Brian Thompson at the next door peg who was the only other to rise above the 20lbs mark. All the better weights opted for long pole and pellet approach and used by Kevin Hunt to take third ahead of Pete Wise and John Towell. Results: 1 Chris Chapman 22lbs 4ozs peg20; 2 Brian Thompson 21lbs 14ozs peg19; 3 Kevin Hunt 15lbs 14ozs peg16; 4 Pete Wise 12lbs 4ozs peg22; 5 John Towell 12lbs peg15.

Even more of a struggle for Fishtoft AC on Hurricane Lake at Bain valley where Gordon Manning took the honours in a close match, with less than 10lbs. The pole and meat combination saw him clinch victory with a little over 1lb to spare over Ben Brighton. Ben used the pole and maggot for an all skimmer catch to beat Adie Penson into third by a similar amount, he landing roach and skimmers to hold onto third by just 4ozs from Mick Morgan. Results: 1 Gordon Manning 9lbs 8ozs; 2 Ben Brighton 8lbs 6ozs; 3 Adie Penson 7lbs 4ozs; 4 Mick Morgan 7lbs. Next week meet at Little Chef, Algarkirk at 8.00am for a trip to the old River Nene at March.

Meanwhile on the Sibsey Trader Drain and despite substantial weed and very clear water the Fenland Pike club enjoyed a reasonable match. Just 9 anglers took part but 12 fish weighing a total of 67lbs were taken, best fish going over 11lbs with three others on the 9lbs mark. That 11lbs 6ozs fish gave Spider Pawson the top spot but he left it late as this fell to his deadbait in the last 4 minutes. So, less than 10lbs behind in second was Dave Ibbotson who took advantage of one of those nine pounders to beat Steve Leverton, who also landed another similar model, into third. Results: 1 Spider Pawson 23lbs; 2 Dave Ibbotson 13lbs 6ozs; 3 Steve Leverton 9lbs.

The winter series on the R. Steeping struck up with decent nets of mainly roach for most of the 17 participants. Top of this contest was Brian Clark who, like most of the others, used pinkie over groundbait to win by less than a pound from young Matthew Hassell with Bob Smith third, still in the 8lbs bracket. Results: 1 Brian Clark 7lbs 12½ozs; 2 Matthew Hassell 6lbs 15ozs; 3 Bob Smith 6lbs 1 ½ozs; 4 Pete Harker 5lbs 5ozs; 5 Graham Cripsey 4lbs 9 ½ozs.

On to the weekly series of matches at Westwood and continued lower catches from Skylark which on Tuesday was won by Spike Milligan with a mixed bag of fish and all taken on worm and caster from peg 22. Just over 4lbs down was Alec Rawlings who also landed a mixed bag using bronze maggot tight to the far bank. Results: 1 Spike Milligan 34lbs 8ozs; 2 Alec Rawlings 30lbs 6ozs; 3 Ken Clark 26lbs 12ozs.

A little better for the over 50s on Thursday as the winner, Chris Mawer, made over 40lbs this time and also denied two wins in a row to Spike Milligan. For the record he used paste at 4m to take small carp, bream and tench to clinch the top spot by a level 14lbs over Spike. Results: 1 Chris Mawer 46lbs 10ozs; 2 Spike Milligan 32lbs 10ozs; 3 Ken Clark 26lbs 12ozs.

The Sunday match was switched to Kestral, which showed its good form by throwing up a ton plus weight for Gary Walton. He fished the waggler at long range and took mainly barbel which ranged from 1 to 11lbs, eleven of those going over 5lbs. Adam Playford was also pushing the ton mark, finishing just over 3lbs short with a net of carp and ide to maggot and pellet at 16m down the left hand side. Results: 1 Gary Walton 108lbs 6ozs; 2 Adam Playford 96lbs 12ozs; 3 Boris Kilner 42lbs 3ozs; 4 Dave Daniels 39lbs 7ozs.

Fixtures; Tuesday Open Match, draw 9am in Fishermans Rest Cafe- Fish 10am- 3,30pm £11 All In
Thursday Over 50s, Skylark Lake, draw 9am- Fish 10am- 3.30pm £6 Pools £10 Membership
Sunday Open Match Kestrel lake, draw 9am Fish 10am-3.30pm £16 all-in. Please remember to book in for all matches, contact Alex on 07846 769003.

Finally the Monday afternoon sweep on the golf course section of the Sibsey Trader Drain brought good nets of small roach, perch and skimmers for most. Pinkie and squatt gave Alistair Ogilvie a 1 ½lbs winning margin over Don Green who used caster and worm to tempt both perch and skimmers and clinch second spot, nearly 2lbs ahead of Spike Milligan. Both Spike and Brian Clark used the short pole, squatt and pinkie over groundbait, Brian losing out on third place by a single ounce. Results: 1 Alistair Ogilvie 8lbs 9ozs; 2 Don Green 7lbs 2ozs; 3 Spike Milligan 5lbs 3ozs; 4 Brian Clark 5lbs 2ozs. Next week draw again 10.30am at the golf course.

Review for October 30

Pole and pellet regime pays for Ian

A warm week for this time of year and continuing with very little rain, the worst as Thursday arrived.
Conditions were almost too good for last Tuesday’s match at Royle’s – just for a change some will say. Even so best catches came in the 50lbs range and taken by Ian Kent who used pole and pellet at 11 & 13m to beat Lee Feary into second place, 4lbs the margin. Young Davis Gurton was always in the hunt and using similar tactics finished a creditable 7lbs plus down in third. Results: 1 Ian Kent 58lbs 15ozs; 2 Lee Feary 54lbs 14ozs; 3 Davis Gurton 51lbs 5ozs. Draw at 9am next week and fish 10 – 3.30pm.

The weekly series of matches at Westwood saw the downturn continue as only the Tuesday open on Skylark managed above the 50lbs mark. Only five pounds separated the top two as Alec Rawlings took the honours with a mixed bag of carp, tench, ide, bream plus the odd chub. This weighed in at around five pounds and helped him to hold onto that top spot from Mick Brompton and also prevented him winning the golden peg. He used 4mm pellet and red maggot as hookbait as opposed to feeder and sweetcorn to the far side for Mick. Results: 1 Alec Rawlings 52lbs 6ozs; 2 Mick Brompton 47lbs; 3 Brian Thompson 34lbs 4ozs. Nets in the over 50s match on Thursday came in a little lower as Ted Rowe won with just under 40lbs, just a couple of pounds ahead of Ray Tusker. Results: 1 Ted Rowe 39lbs; 2 Ray Tusker 37lbs; 3 Russ Turton 32lbs 8ozs.

Some decent catches for the youngsters on Hawk Lake and won by Samuel Claydon in the 7 – 12 yr category and a super winning net from Adam Swain in the 13 – 16yrs. Under 13 yr: 1 Samuel Claydon 19lbs 12ozs; 2 Andrew Wilkins 12lbs 12ozs; under 17yrs 1 Adam Swain 36lbs 6ozs; 2 Chris Weedon 16lbs.

The Sunday sweep on Hawk brought in a good set of average weights as Wayne Smith beat Mick Stamp to the winning post with 6lbs to spare. Wayne made the most of his fancied peg and used maggot over micro pellets to take a mixed net of carp, ide and barbell tight to the corner of the bridge. The ever-consistent Mick Stamp also landed a mixed bag of fish but had to give best this time around. Results: 1 Wayne Smith 43lbs 10ozs; 2 Mick Stamp 37lbs; 3 Mick Brompton 35lbs 8ozs; 4 Rick Tweddel 34lbs 12ozs. Fixtures: Tuesday Open Match, draw 9am in Fishermans Rest Cafe- Fish 10am- 4pm £11 All In. Thursday Over 50s, Skylark Lake, draw 9am- Fish 10am- 4pm £7.50 All in. Sunday Open Match Kestrel draw 9am Fish 10am-4pm. £16 All in. Please remember to book in for all matches contact Alex on 07846 769003.

The Boston Winter League ended as it began with this 5th round taking place in almost summerlike conditions again – temperatures well up in the high teens even as we go now into November. Overall weights improved from round three onwards, culminating in this, which was the best reserved until the last. Nev Soulby drew the upstream end peg114 on the roadside stretch and did much better than team mate Steve Hill who finished in 7th place from there last time out. He opted for the pole, caster and chopped worm to take five good tench before the halfway mark, and then a few skimmers to score an easy victory. Div 2 angler Chris Elsom also made a vast improvement over last week and from just downstream of Steve he also landed the odd tench, plus roach and perch using the same method to clinch the runner up spot. Way downstream on the golf course section and from peg 2 Ben Brighton took third place by a few ounces over a joint fourth place involving Don Green and Michael Bond, Don taking a mixture of roach and perch on that chopped worm and caster method whilst Michael stuck with squatt and pinkie over groundbait for a roach catch, both just a half ounce to spare over Paul Wade. Both the unlucky Paul Wade and Ian Kent used similar tactics to end the day in that 6lbs range and 5th and 6th respectively.

The team event saw Garbolino Lincs County Black score a convincing victory on the day and with their Red counterparts falling behind the Horncastle outfit the title went to that Black team by some 7pts. The Lincs County White outfit was also victorious in Div 2 but this alone was not enough to change the outcome as the Boston Angling Centre Green team held on to take the honours by 2pts from their BAC Red counterparts.

Individually the Div 1 title fell to Ben Brighton who has led the field over previous rounds and this third place ensured his success over Paul Wade by a single point. Similarly in Div 2 Chris Elsom, by virtue of this match result, beat Ian Kent and John Kadzionis to the top spot with 3pts to spare.
Individuals on the day: Results: 1 Nev Soulby Horncastle 20lbs 9ozs peg114; 2 Chris Elsom Garbolino Lincs County White 12lbs 5ozs peg 108; 3 Ben Brighton Garbolino Lincs County Black 8lbs 0½oz peg2; 4= Don Green Team Milldon & Michael Bond Garbolino Lincs County Black 6lbs 10½ozs peg112; 6 Paul Wade Horncastle 6lbs 10ozs peg20; 7 Ian Kent BAC Red 6lbs 7ozs peg17.

Sections: S1 Div 1 Dave Burns Garbolino Lincs County Red 4lbs 4ozs peg6; Div 2 Steve Reid Garbolino Lincs County White 3lbs 15ozs peg4. S2 Div 1 Paul Wade Horncastle 6lbs 10ozs peg20; Div 2 Ian Kent BAC Red 6lbs 7ozs peg 17. S3 Div 1 Danny West Garbolino Lincs County Black 5lbs 12 ½ozs peg96; Div 2 Ian Brodie Wainfleet 5lbs 6ozs peg 99. S4 Div 1 Spike Milligan Garbolino Lincs County Red 4lbs 10ozs peg 110; Div 2 Len Shucksmith BAC Green 3lbs 11ozs peg 113.

After 5 matches: Div 1 – Ben Brighton 23pts; 2 Paul Wade 22pts; 3= Andy Dixon, Danny West, Dave Burns & Michael Bond 20pts. Div 2 – Chris Elsom 22pts; equal 2 Ian Kent & John Kadzionis 19pts; equal 4 Kevin Hunt & Gregorz Chalat 18pts. Teams on the day: Div 1 – 1 Garbolino Lincs County Black 18pts; 2 Horncastle 15pts; 3 Garbolino Lincs County Red 13pts. Div 2 – 1 Garbolino Lincs County White 15pts; 2 Wainfleet 13pts; 3= BAC Red & BAC Poleski 11pts. Final places: Div 1 Garbolino Lincs County Black 79pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County Red 72pts; 3 Horncastle 57pts; 4 Team Milldon 44pts; 5 DVA 36pts. Div 2: 1 BAC Green 65pts; 2 BAC Red 63pts; 3 Garbolino Lincs County White 62pts; 4 BAC Poleski 59pts; 5 Wainfleet 46pts. Mark Cook would like to thank everyone who participated in the Boston Winter League and thanks also go especially to Ian Kent for helping with the results and also the Ropers Arms public house for its use before and after the matches.

Skimmers dominated catches in the latest Fishtoft AC match on Hurricane Lake, Bain Valley where carp were expected to be the main feeders on Sunday. Chopped worm brought fish to 2lbs for Rod Asher as he won this latest fixture. He finished more than 4lbs better that than Mick Morgan with another 4lbs back to Terry Gooding in third. Results: 1 Rod Asher 19lbs 12ozs; 2 Mick Morgan 15lbs 8ozs; 3 Terry Gooding 11lbs; 4 Jerry Clifton 10lbs 12ozs. Next Sunday meet again at Hurricane Lake 8.30am.

The Monday afternoon sweep again took place on golf course section and here small skimmers and a bonus tench made up the top weight, that of Don Green who took all his fish on the pole, caster and chopped worm method. Brian Clark opted for pinkie over groundbait at 4m to take an all roach catch for second as did Kevin Hunt just ounces behind in third. Results: 1 Don Green 5lbs 12ozs; 2 Brian Clark 5lbs 3ozs; 3 Kevin Hunt 4lbs 13ozs; 4 Mark Cook 3lbs 6ozs. Next Monday the draw will again take place at golf course 10.30am and will continue, conditions permitting, over the winter months.

Review for October 23

First blood to Pete in winter series

Quite a cold and blustery week with the odd night frost and daytime temperatures barely into double figures. Warming up towards the weekend, which could encourage fish (other than roach) to get back into feeding mode again.

Sixteen anglers entered the winter league at Priory Lakes, the first round of this 11-match series taking place on Saturday and will run throughout the winter months, weather permitting of course. These will run on a low points scoring system and anglers can throw away the worst two results. Nets came in a bit on the low side due mainly to the colder weather, and Saturday’s winner Phil Clark took just three carp plus the odd bream on ground-bait feeder to win with just over a pound to spare over Pete Allen. Pete drew the next-door peg to Phil and took five smaller carp using expander pellet for his catch. Andy Waite was always in the hunt and using a mixture of long pole and feeder he too landed five similar models to sweetcorn and finished just under a pound down in third. After that weights fell away somewhat and Paul Mosley was the only other to make double figures – just. Results: 1 Phil Clark 22lbs 8ozs; 2 Pete Allan 21lbs 7ozs; 3 Andy Waite 20lbs 8ozs; 4 Paul Mosley10lbs; 5 Dave Daniels 7lbs 15ozs; 6 Edgar Purnell 7lbs 1oz.

A much better set of weights from the fourth round Boston Winter League on Sunday as that warmer weather brought both skimmers and a few tench back on to feed. The top three anglers were all from Div2 and for the winner a mix of roach and skimmers to the pole, squatt and groundbait brought a hard fought victory to Ian Kent. He won with only ounces to spare from peg17 on the golf course section, the result so close that second place resulted in a tie between Pete Harker and Alan Houlton, both of these pegged on the same stretch and using identical tactics for roach. Just missing out was Alec Rawlings who stuck to the feeder at peg113 and added a tench late in the day to a net of roach and skimmers to finish just 3ozs down. Still in that 8lbs range was Paul Wade who took another good net of roach from the end peg 20 to hold onto fifth, a few ounces ahead of Andy Scott in sixth, both of these again using identical tactics. 1 Ian Kent BAC Red 9lbs 2ozs peg17; equal 2 Pete Harker Wainfleet peg13 and Alan Houlton Garbolino Lincs County White 8lbs 11ozs peg1; 4 Alec Rawlings Team Milldon 8lbs 13ozs peg113; 5 Paul Wade Horncastle 8lbs 3ozs peg20; 6 Andy Scott Garbolino Lincs County Black 7lbs 5ozs peg5; 7 Steve Hill Horncastle 6lbs 15ozs peg114. Sections: S1 Div1 Andy Scott 7lbs 5ozs peg5; Div2 Kevin Hunt 6lbs 3ozs peg7; S2 Div1 Paul Wade 8lbs 3ozs peg20; Div2 Steve Reid 6lbs 6ozs peg11; S3 Div1 Fred Bispham 2lbs 11ozs peg98; Div2 Chris Elsom 3lbs 1oz peg95; S4 Div1 Steve Hill 6lbs 15ozs peg114; Div2 Len Shucksmith 3lbs 14ozs peg110.

Teamwise the Lincs County Black team won the day by 4pts from their Red counterparts and in doing so leapfrogged them to take a two point lead going into the last round next Sunday. A disaster for the BAC Green team in Div 2 and with the BAC Red team coming up trumps to triumph over the Lincs County White outfit by a single point, they now close the gap and have a fight on to overcome a three point deficit in that final round. Teams on the day: Div 1: 1 Garbolino Lincs County Black 16pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County Red 12pts; 3 Horncastle 11pts. Div 2: 1 BAC Red 15pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County White 14pts; 3 BAC Poleski 12pts. After four rounds: Div 1: 1 Garbolino Lincs County Black 61pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County Red 59pts; 3 Horncastle 42pts; equal 4 DVA & Team Milldon 35pts. Div2: 1 BAC Green 55pts; 2 BAC Red 52pts; 3 BAC Poleski 48pts; 4 Garbolino Lincs County White 47pts; 5 Wainfleet 30pts. Individuals after four rounds: Div1: 1 Ben Brighton 18pts; equal 2 Chris Elsom & Andy Dixon 17pts; equal 4 Dave Burns & Michael Bond 16pts. Div 2: John Kadzionis 18pts; 2 Chris Elsom 17pts; 3 Kevin Hunt 16pts; 4 Janusz Kedzierski 15pts; equal 5 Ian Kent & Gregorz Chalat 14pts. The last round takes place next Sunday October 30 and using the same pegs as this week.

Liam's Elite travelled to a sunny Fenlakes, Metheringham where Gary Shinn was back to his winning ways with a comfortable victory. He beat second place Brian Thompson by over 16lbs and for those top two, maggot was the favoured bait of the day, Gary using the waggler whilst Brian stuck to the long pole. Third placed Lee Sallabanks fished the feeder and pellet, and also breadpunch in the margins to finish a further 10lbs down. Results: 1 Gary Shinn 71lbs 4ozs peg15; 2 Brian Thompson 54lbs peg13; 3 Lee Sallabanks 43lbs 10ozs peg4; 4 John Towell 40lbs peg2; 5 Andy Dillamore 39lbs 12ozs peg18.

The first round of this year’s East Coast Junior Angling league took place on the Foss Dyke Canal at Woodcocks and with two extra teams joining the league this brings the total number of youngsters fishing up to 28. A cold night and a strong wind made presentation difficult but most of the anglers managed to put a few fish together. It was the bonus perch which helped Boston’s Davis Gurton to the top spot with some quality roach to bread punch. Luke Morley found some roach and skimmers for the second spot as local lad Josh Read found roach to pinkie over ground bait for third place. On the team front the local Lincoln side were the team to watch for but with just three points separating the top four teams this looks like being an interesting series of matches to unfold over the winter months. In the end it was the Kings Lynn team who showed the way ahead of Boston, with Holbeach and Lincoln in third spot. Results: 1 Davis Gurton Boston 6lbs 12ozs; 2 Luke Morley Boston 5lbs; 3 Josh Reid Lincoln 4lbs 2ozs; 4 Keiron Woolhouse East Norfolk AC 3lbs 8ozs. Teams: 1 Kings Lynn 11pts; 2 Boston Angling Centre 12pts; equal 3 Lincoln A and Holbeach 13pts; 4 East Norfolk Angling Academy 16pts.

The newly sponsored Boston club are on the lookout for more youngsters to join the match teams. Any youngsters interested can pop into Boston angling centre or call team manager Dave Rance 01529 461415 for information. Round two is at Wisbech 13th November.

A poor turnout, and poor weights for that matter, for the latest Fishtoft AC fixture, which took place on Hawk Lake, Westwood on Sunday. Here Mick Morgan was the sole member to break double figures and won the match with some ease. He used red maggot combined with the pole to take a very few fish and beat Terry Gooding by just over 10lbs, with Rod Asher a few more ounces back in third. Results: 1 Mick Morgan 20lbs; 2 Terry Gooding 9lbs 8ozs; 3 Rod Asher 9lbs; 4 Ernie Heseltine 4lbs 8ozs. Next Sunday meet Hurricane Lake, Bain Valley 8.30am.

Staying on that same theme of low weights at Westwood and Tony Evans needed less than 30lbs to see off the opposition last Tuesday and beat lake ace Steve Lane by a full 10lbs on Skylark. Results: 1 Tony Evans 29lbs 6ozs; 2 Steve Lane 19lbs 4ozs; 3 Alec Rawlings 17lbs 8ozs.

Also on Skylark a little better for the over 50s on Thursday as John Gooden again took the spoils. He used maggot down the edge to take 8 bream, ide and stockies, beating Ray Tusker by less than 4lbs. Results: 1 John Gooden 42lbs 2ozs; 2 Ray Tusker 38lbs 8ozs; 3 Brian Thompson 32lbs 10ozs.

Steve Lane gained his revenge on Sunday, winning the match on Skylark by over 5lbs from Steve Davis. He used pellet over micro pellets at 11m to take a mixed bag of bream, skimmers, carp and barbel. Results: 1 Steve Lane 37lbs 12ozs; 2 Steve Davis 32lbs 4ozs; 3 Mark Cross 27lbs 13ozs.

Fixtures: Tuesday open, draw 10am in Fisherman’s Rest Cafe- Fish 11am- 5pm. £11 all in. Thursday over 50s draw 10am – fish 11-5pm £7.50 all in. Sunday open draw 9am, fish 10-4pm £16 all in. Please remember to book in for all matches, contact Alex on 07846 769003.

The Monday afternoon sweep again took place over pegs used on the previous day on the golf course stretch and weights held up well taking everything into consideration. Using squatt and pinkie over groundbait Ian Kent took an almost identical weight as the second placed angler Pete Harker from the day before and beat him by almost 2 ½lbs on this occasion. Pete used identical methods to secure the runner up spot, a few ounces better than Kevin Hunt and Dave Creasey, both in the 5lbs range.
1 Ian Kent 8lbs 13ozs; 2 Pete Harker 6lbs 6ozs; 3 Kevin Hunt 5lbs 13ozs; 4 Dave Creasey 5lbs 7ozs.
For the record, over 47lbs of fish were caught between the nine anglers. Next Monday’s new draw time will be 10.30am at the golf course.

Review for October 16

It’s an easy lakes victory for Feary

We seem to have lost those strong winds over last week with some glorious weather over the weekend; the downside is that nights are turning a lot cooler. Fish become a little more reluctant to feed under these conditions, as displayed by results from the latest round of fixtures around the county.

Starting with the sweep at Royle’s last Tuesday (11th) and here Lee Feary scored an easy victory using pole and paste on the deck to beat Brian Clark by nearly 15lbs. For his part Brian stuck to pole and maggot to put over 19lbs between him and Mick Morgan in third place. Results: 1 Lee Feary 65lbs 7ozs; 2 Brian Clark 50lbs 8ozs; 3 Mick Morgan 31lbs 5ozs; 4 Paul Cater 24lbs 10ozs.

Over to Priory Lake 2 on Saturday and here after a sharp frost catches were not up to scratch and were pulled down to the 20lbs range at best. Phil Clark fished the margins for most of the match to land five carp and 8lbs of silver fish for a narrow victory over Edgar Purnell who finished just over 2lbs short. In contrast Edgar used the method feeder with hair-rigged sweetcorn to take six carp and he finishing just a single pound ahead of Malc Green who did likewise for his third placed weight which include 5 carp. Dave Robinson was always in the hunt but had to settle for fourth just a few ounces short of Malc. Results: 1 Phil Clark 24lbs14ozs; 2 Edgar Purnell 22lbs12ozs; 3 Malc Green21lbs12ozs. 4 Dave Robinson 21lbs 1oz; 5 Andy Waite16lbs 6ozs; 6 Steve Davis14lbs 4ozs.

The matches at Westwood Lakes also showed the gradual downturn in weights. The Tuesday open on Skylark brought good average nets as bream and tench fed in some numbers for those in the prize list as Derby angler Terry Green scored a surprise win. He beat lake regular Steve Lane by less than 2lbs to also win the £200 golden peg prize. Results: 1 Terry Green Derby AC 78lbs; 2 Steve Lane Castle AC 76lbs 4ozs; 3 Joan Goodwin Milldon Baits 56lbs 8ozs.

Thursday’s over 50s match brought that downturn for the top weight even though backing weights held up well in the 50lbs range. Mainly carp and ide this time with the odd bream thrown in as Brian Thompson won with just 3lbs to spare over Smudge Smith, and John Gooden another 1lb back. Results: 1 Brian Thompson Orchard Park 53lbs 8ozs; 2 Smudge Smith Bagen Baits 50lbs 8ozs; 3 John Gooden Milldon Baits 49lbs 4ozs; 4 John Holmes Peg1 Angling 44lbs 12ozs.

Over to Hawk Lake for Sunday’s open match and here County Championship winner Mick Stamp continued his winning ways. Fishing out at 13m he used caster and pellet to take ide and barbel to win by nearly 9lbs over Jimmy Brooks. Weights then fell below 40lbs and Steve Lane just squeaked home in third by a few ounces over Rick Tweddel. Results: 1 Mick Stamp Sonnibaits 53lbs 4ozs; 2 Jimmy Brooks Anglers Corner 44lbs 8ozs; 3 Steve Lane 39lbs 10ozs; 4 Rick Tweddel Maver Bait Tech 39lbs 10ozs. Next week’s fixtures all drawn at the Fisherman’s Rest Café. All welcome call Alex on 07846769003. Tuesday open on Skylark draw 10am fish 11-5pm. Thursday over 50s draw 10am fish 11-5pm. Sunday open on Skylark draw 9am fish 10-4pm.

A little better from the Fishtoft AC match at Royle’s on Sunday where Gordon Manning scored an easy victory. Using big maggot and pinkies he scored a comfortable win over Terry Gooding who came home second with not much more than half the winning weight, and Jerry Clifton third, just in the 20lbs category. Results: 1 Gordon Manning 49lbs 8ozs. 2 Terry Gooding 27lbs 6ozs; 3 Jerry Clifton 21lbs 8ozs. Members are notified that they will hold an Extra Ordinary meeting on Wednesday November 9 starting 8pm at the Eagle Inn West Street.

On to the Boston Winter League, the third round of which took place on the golf course section of the Sibsey Trader Drain on Sunday. Here Lincs County members took three of the top four individual places, Div 2 angler Steve Reed making it an easy win from peg 7, with Al Dyer trailing in second with a little over half of the winner’s weight. Most of those involved used squatt and pinkie over groundbait for roach, as did fellow County angler Andy Scott to take third from the next peg to the winner. Best of the Boston contingent was Kevin Hunt who held on to fourth from peg 6, the other side of the winner, by a single ounce over Keith Clifton; Steve Doughty and Gregorz Chalat in the 3lbs range, in fifth and sixth respectively. Better section winning weights than last week, none falling below 1lb 11ozs in those 40pegs. Teamwise the Lincs County Black team gained their revenge over their Red team counterparts in Div 1 and after 3 rounds have closed the gap to 2pts with 2 rounds remaining. Wainfleet were the surprise winners of Div 2 by a single point over BAC Red but another good performance from BAC Green just 2pts behind in third, saw them keep a good overall lead of 7pts over their Red rivals. Results: 1 Steve Reed Garbolino Lincs County White 8lbs 9ozs peg7; 2 Al Dyer Garbolino Lincs County Black 4lbs 14ozs peg18; 3 Andy Scott Garbolino Lincs County Black 4lbs 7ozs peg8; 4 Kevin Hunt BAC Red 4lbs 3ozs peg6; 5 Keith Clifton Garbolino Lincs County Red 4lbs 2ozs peg34; 6 Steve Doughty Wainfleet 3lbs 8ozs peg2; 7 Gregorz Chalat BAC Poleski 3lbs 6ozs peg1. Section 1: Div 1 Kevin Soulby Horncastle 2lbs 13ozs peg3; Div 2 Steve Doughty Wainfleet 3lbs 8ozs peg2. Section 2: Div 1 Dave Burns Lincs County Red 2lbs 14ozs peg14; Div 2 Brian Clark BAC Green 3lbs peg19. Section 3: Div 1 Danny West Lincs County Black 1lb 11ozs peg28; Div 2 John Kadzionis BAC Green 2lbs 15ozs peg29. Section 4: Div 1 Keith Clifton Lincs County Red 4lbs 2ozs peg34; Div 2 Chris Elsom Lincs County White 2lbs 7ozs peg37. Teams on the day: Div 1; Garbolino Lincs County Black 19pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County Red 15pts; equal 3 DVA & Horncastle 9pts. Div 2; 1 Wainfleet 13pts; 2 BAC Red 12pts; equal 3 BAC Poleski, BAC Green & Garbolino Lincs County White 11pts. Overall after 3 rounds: Div 1: 1 Garbolino Lincs County Red 47pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County Black 45pts; 3 Horncastle 31pts; 4 DVA 27pts; 5 Team Milldon 25pts. Div 2; 1 BAC Green 44pts; 2 BAC 37pts; 3 BAC Poleski 36pts; 4 Garbolino Lincs County White 33pts; 5 Wainfleet 26pts.

Finally the Monday afternoon sweep on the same stretch carried on where the winter league left off and this time the ever consistent Brian Clark won with some ease. He all but doubled the next best weight, that of the in-form Dave Burns, both using pinkie over groundbait for roach. Kevin Hunt used squatt and groundbait to finish an agonising 1oz behind, as did Mark Cook another ounce adrift in fourth. Results: 1 Brian Clark BAC 5lbs 6ozs; 2 Dave Burns Lincs County 2lbs 12ozs; 3 Kevin Hunt 2lbs 11ozs; 4 Mark Cook BDAA 2lbs 10ozs. Next Monday, draw at golf course 12.30pm.

Review for October 9

Paul forges away for clear-cut victory

A much colder, wetter and certainly windier period of weather since last week but before that all came about the Tuesday match at Royle’s took place under much warmer conditions and was reflected in the winning weight. Paul Cater, now the match organiser, scored an easy victory and beat second placed Brian Clark by some 26lbs, he also in that comfortable second place nearly 30lbs ahead of Colin Holyoak. The method for most was pellet on the pole at close quarters but Paul forged well ahead by doing that and taking all of his fish well up in the water. Results: 1 Paul Cater 79lbs; 2 Brian Clark 53lbs; 3 Colin Holyoak 23lbs 8ozs; 4 Mick Morgan 19lbs. Draw at the lake Tuesday’s 9am fish 10 to 4pm.

A disastrous day for most of those involved in the second round of the Boston Winter league on Sunday. The match was fished on Horncastle Road where it soon became obvious that because of increasing salt ingress, most fish had deserted that stretch to seek pastures new further upstream. Those with more than a pound to show for their efforts amounted to just 10 anglers, the rest struggling to make 8ozs. The best news is that local veteran Brian Clark came out top dog and finished 2lbs clear of last week’s winner Dave Burns. He used pinkie over groundbait at 4 & 6m to take roach and perch from the cemetery length at peg 110. For his part Dave used much the same tactics on the pole at varying lengths for a mainly roach catch from peg 83. He finished a single ounce in front of another veteran, in the shape of John Holmes who also adopted like tactics for his third place from peg 86 and also held onto that position by just another ounce. That man was Spike Milligan at peg 113 back at the cemetery gates, he also using squatt & pinkie over groundbait at 10m for that fourth place. Still in that 3lbs range were Kevin Hunt and John Kadzionis in fifth and sixth respectively. Results: 1 Brian Clark BAC Green 5lbs 14ozs; 2 Dave Burns Garbolino Lincs County Red 3lbs 13ozs; 3 John Holmes DVA 3lbs 12ozs; 4 Spike Milligan Garbolino Lincs County Red 3lbs 11ozs; 5 Kevin Hunt BAC Green 3lbs 9½ozs; 6 John Kadzionis BAC Red 3lbs 2ozs.

With two anglers in the prize list the Div 1 team event was again won by the Lincs County Red outfit and by finishing 4pts better than their Lincs County Black counterparts they now hold a 6pt lead over them with Horncastle another 4pts down in third. Likewise in Div 2 the BAC Green team held the same advantage on the day and also now hold a 7pt lead over their BAC team mates in the shape of the BAC Polesky and Red teams in a tied second spot. Section 1: Div 1 Michael Bond 7ozs peg 87; Div 2 John Kadzionis 3lbs 2ozs peg 80; Section 2: Div 1 Ben Brighton 14ozs peg 97; Div 2 Kevin Hunt 3lbs 9ozs peg 95; Section 3: Div 1 Alec Rawlings 1lb 12ozs peg 109. Div 2 Janusz Kedzierski 1lb 15ozs peg 108; Section 4: Div 1 Danny West 1lb 13ozs peg 117. Div 2 Ian Kent 2lbs 10ozs peg 115. Teams on the day: Div 1: 1 Garbolino Lincs County Red 16pts; 2= Garbolino Lincs County Black and DVA 12pts; Div 2: 1 BAC Green 17 pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County White 13 pts; equal 3 BAC Poleski & BAC Red 12pts. After two rounds: Div 1: 1 Garbolino Lincs County Red 32pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County Black 26pts; 3 Horncastle 22pts; 4 Team Milldon 19pts; 5 DVA 18pts; Div 2: 1 BAC Green 33pts; equal 2 BAC Poleski and BAC Red 25pts;4 Garbolino Lincs County White 22pts; 5 Wainfleet 13pts.

Anglers also battled against the strong wind on Skylark where Mick Stamp proved his class with another win in the latest Sunday open match. He won by a mere 2 ½lbs over county championship team winner Rob Morris by catching carp, ide, tench and skimmers close in. Results: 1 Mick Stamp Preston Innovations 62lbs 8ozs; 2 Rob Morris Westwood 60lbs; 3 Tony Evans Dynamite baits 56lbs 6ozs. Anglers had to work much harder on Tuesday on this venue as Tony Evans used maggots, worm and caster to keep the fish interested and win by just 2 ½lbs from Spike Milligan, Steve Lane just a few more ounces back in third. Results: 1 Tony Evans Dynamite/Middy 46lbs 12ozs; 2 Spike Milligan Garbolino Lincs County 44lbs 4ozs; 3 Steve Lane Castle AC 43lbs 8ozs. The Thursday over 50s match was also a close call as the winner Nigel Baxter came home with just a pound to spare over Mansfield veteran Fred Bishop. Results: 1 Nigel Baxter Decoy Lakes 35lbs; 2 Fred Bishop Peg1 AC 34lbs 2ozs. Fixtures: Tuesday, Skylark open, draw 10am fish 11- 5 £11 all in. Thursday, over 50s open, draw 10am fish 11-5 £7.50 all in. Sunday open, Hawk Lake, draw 9am fish 10-4 £16 all in. To book call Alex on 0784 6769003 or go to the www.westwoodlakes.co.uk address.

A poor day for Fishtoft AC who tackled Kestrel Lake at Westwood on Sunday. Here a very few carp fell to the winner Mick Morgan who used feeder and pellet to beat Rod Asher by a mere 1 ½lbs. Rod used mainly red maggot to land carp and tench from his swim, whilst barbel and carp fell to luncheon meat to give Gordon Manning his third place. Results: 1 Mick Morgan 21lbs; 2 Rod Asher 19lbs 8ozs; 3 Gordon Manning 16lbs 6ozs.

The Monday sweep took place on the golf course section of the Sibsey Trader Drain where Spike Milligan was again amongst the action. Mixed bags of roach, perch and skimmers were taken and this time he headed the list taking his catch using chopped worm and pinkie over groundbait. He beat Don Green by less than 8ozs, Don using worm and caster for his second place and followed by Brian Clark and Ann Balderson both of whom made their third and fiurth places with pole, squatt and pinkie. Results: 1 Spike Milligan Garbolino Lincs County 5lbs 5ozs; 2 Don Green Milldon 4lbs 14ozs; 3 Brian Clark BAC 4lbs 3ozs; 4 Ann Balderson BDAA 3lbs 14ozs. Next Monday golf course, draw 1pm.

Review for October 2

End peg slot pays off for Kiddell

The Indian summer continued right through the weekend and Sunday’s opening round of the Boston Winter League was more like a summer league with temperatures touching the 80° mark.

A quiet start on Tuesday for the latest round of the RAF East Midlands Angling League, held on the Maud Foster Drain in Boston. Not surprisingly most anglers struggled for bites on a hot calm day but were also not helped by the Monday evening sweep which took place over the same pegs. Even so Dusty Kiddell made the most of his end peg, showed the rest the way with an impressive net of quality roach. Dusty started with a groundbait and pinkie approach and so picking up a few fish whilst carefully priming a hemp line. A switch to this line in the last 2 hours saw Dusty bring a string of quality redfins into his net to amass a total just shy of double figures. Runner up on the day was Dave Burns, again making the most of the other end peg, Dave again started on groundbait and pinkie, but after struggling for bites pinned his faith on his hemp line and put a steady run of fish in the net to tip the scales at over 7lbs. Making the last framing place was Dan Hurst who managed to sneak out a bonus tench to add to his net and boosting his weight above 4lbs. Results: 1 Dusty Kiddell 9lbs 14ozs; 2 Dave Burns 7lbs 7ozs; 3 Dan Hurst 4lbs 4ozs; 4 Steve Reid 3lbs 8ozs.

Going on to last Wednesday and the Haverholme Open produced a number of good weights. Edgar Purnell led the way with a net of carp caught mainly on pole, pellet and sweetcorn to win by over 20lbs. Second was Steve Davis whose came though using the pellet waggler and also the pole, corn and meat combo. Not too far behind were Ernie Heseltine and Nick Mummery who completed the top four, both taking the majority of their fish on pellet waggler or straight lead and pellet. Results: 1 Edgar Purnell 94lbs; Steve Davis 73lbs; 3 Ernie Heseltine 69lbs; 4 Nick Mummery 63lbs. Draw at the lake next Wednesday at 8.30.

After that the hot, dry sunny weather kept catches on the low side almost everywhere and at Priory Lakes on Saturday the carp could be seen cruising on the surface, the majority doing little else. Even so Malc Green won the day by fishing the margins using sweetcorn and finished with seven small carp and five good bream. He had a comfortable 8lbs advantage over Brian McKeown who used the pole for a couple of carp, the rest be accounted for using the method feeder. A similar distance behind was Edgar Purnell who used identical tactics to take 6 carp and a single bream for his third place. Results: 1 Malc Green 48lbs 10ozs; 2 Brian McKeown 40lbs 6ozs; 3 Edgar Purnell 33lbs 9ozs; 4 Pete Allen 29lbs 6ozs; 5 Roger Oxspring 22lbs 4ozs.

Much the same the following day as nine Fishtoft AC members tried their hand on the No.2 Lake. A better winning net from Ernie Heseltine who used the method feeder across to the island whilst Alan Dixon chose pellet and pole at 5m to finish 22lbs down in second, followed by Gordon Manning in the low 20 lbs in third.
1 Ernie Heseltine 62lbs; 2 Alan Dixon 40lbs; 3 Gordon Manning 23lbs 2ozs. Next Sunday meet Westwood Lakes 8.30am.

A similar story from Westwood Lakes on Sunday where leading weights were even lower for the latest Liam's Elite match on Skylark. Here again carp kept their heads down as bream and tench made up the top weights, led home by Sean Creasey who took all his fish using the long pole and red maggot. Andy Dillamore took second by a narrow four ounce margin using sweetcorn in conjunction with the long pole – Gary Shinn also using similar tactics but in his case with white maggot as bait. Results: 1 Sean Creasey peg41 28lbs; 2 Andy Dillamore peg20 22lbs 4ozs; 3 Gary Shinn 22lbs; 4 Ron Roberts peg21 17lbs 14ozs; 5 Brian Thompson 17lbs.

Sunday’s open on Kestrel produced some improvement and any one of the top four could have taken the honours as only a couple of pounds separated first from fourth. Pete Andrews topped the list with just 8ozs to spare over Steve Lane who had to settle for the runner up spot for the second time this week. He finished just 4ozs better off than Boris Kilner who in turn finished 1½lbs up on Mike Whittaker. Results: 1 Pete Andrews Westwood 47lbs 8ozs; 2 Steve Lane Westwood 47lbs; 3 Boris Kilner The Army 46lbs 12ozs; 4 Mike Whittaker Angling Direct 45lbs 4ozs.

Back to Tuesday and this was won with a similar weight, this time going to regular Luke Morley who used pellet close to both banks to hook small tench and carp. Steve Lane kept to his paste and maggot at close quarters to hold on to that second spot by a few ounces from John Gooden. Results: 1 Luke Morley Westwood 45lbs 4ozs; 2 Steve Lane Westwood 46lbs 5ozs; 2 John Gooden Milldon Baits 44lbs 12ozs. Fixtures: Tuesday Open Match, draw 10am in Fisherman’s Rest Cafe- Fish 11am- 5pm £11 all-in. Thursday Over 50s, Skylark Lake, draw 10am- Fish 11am- 5pm. £6 Pools £10 membership. Sunday Open Match, draw 9am Fish 10am-4pm £16 all-in.

And so it continued with the opening round of the Boston Winter League which took place on Horncastle Road on Sunday. Here small roach and skimmers made up most nets in the prize list, both individuals and sections, some of those not even achieving the pound mark. A one-two for Lincs County as Dave Burns came home an easy winner and team mate Andy Dixon second with a little more than half of the winning weight. Dave took a bonus tench along with a net of small roach and all taken at 10-11 m with pinkie and chopped worm over groundbait. For his part Andy also used the long pole at up to 13m and also used pinkie and squatt over groundbait for small roach and skimmers. Gregorz Chalat also benefitted from a tench to go with another net of small roach, he using worm and pinkie over groundbait at 8m, Steve Hill a few ounces down in fourth with a similar net of roach to like tactics. Results: 1 Dave Burns Garbolino Lincs County Red peg99 9lbs 10ozs; 2 Andy Dixon Garbolino Lincs County Red peg119 5lbs 14ozs; 3 Gregorz Chalat BAC Polesky peg100 4lbs 10ozs; 4 Steve Hill Horncastle peg94 4lbs 1oz.
Sections: 1 Div1 Paul Wade Horncastle peg84 3lbs 15ozs; Div2 John Briggs BAC Green peg88 3lbs 13ozs.
2 Div1 John Holmes DVA peg91 1lb; Div2 John Kadzionis BAC Green peg98 2lbs 5ozs.
3 Div1 Ben Brighton Lincs County Black peg103 10ozs; Div2 Chris Chapman BAC Red peg105 3lbs 13ozs.
4 Div1 Michael Bond Lincs County Black peg 113 1lb 5ozs; Div2 Len Shucksmith BAC Green peg118 7ozs.
Teams: Div1: 1 Garbolino Lincs County Red 16pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County Black 13pts; 3 Horncastle 13pts.
Div 2: 1 BAC Green 16pts; 2 BAC Polesky 13pts; 3 BAC Red 13pts. Next round next Sunday October 9, draw 8.30am

The Monday afternoon sweep made a late switch to the golf course stretch of the Sibsey Trader Drain and here most catches were made up of roach, the best going to Kevin Hunt. He used the tried and tested pinkie over groundbait tactics to win with just over a pound to spare over Don Green. Don used chopped worm and included a good eel of some 2lbs in his net. Brian Clark failed by just 2ozs to overhaul Don using the pinkie over groundbait approach, and he finishing only 6ozs better than organiser Mark Cook – all anglers putting at least 2lbs on the scales despite the very windy conditions. Results: 1 Kevin Hunt 6lbs 6ozs; 2 Don Green 5lbs 3ozs; 3 Brian Clark 5lbs 1oz; 4 Mark Cook 4lbs 11ozs.

Review for September 25

Kevin leads way in full-house entry

There’s an unexpected last blast of summer in prospect as temperatures in some parts of the country are heading towards the 80° mark during this week. The weekend in our area was a mainly cloudy affair but stayed reasonably warm and pleasant, apart from the ever-present strong winds, that is, for those out and about on the bank-side.

The series of matches run by the Boston Angling Centre and fished on the Maud Foster Drain came to an end on Sunday on a low note. A full assembly of 21 anglers turned up for this final sweep on Horncastle Road and turned out to be rock hard as the vast majority failed to make the 2lbs mark. You could say an easy win for Kevin Hunt who used pinkie and maggot on the pole to conjure up a winning weight of roach and skimmers. The same tactics brought second place to organiser Ian Kent, he finishing with less than half the winning net, as did Steve Lamyman a further 4ozs back in third. Results: 1 Kevin Hunt 6lbs 11ozs; 2 Ian Kent 3lbs 4ozs; 3 Steve Lamyman 3lbs; 4 John Briggs 2lbs 8ozs. Ian Kent would like to thank all those who have attended this Sunday series and if the venue stays fishable it will continue after the end of the winter league, which starts next Sunday 1st October.

Carp in the 5lbs range were the target for most of the Fishtoft AC members on their visit to Priory Lakes, Ruskington on Sunday. Ten such models were just enough to bring victory to Alan Dixon who used pole and pellet in the margins. Very similar for Nick Mummery who opted for the feeder and pellet for his second place, and just one fish down on Alan. Coming home third was Ernie Heseltine who used pellet, again in the margins, less than 3lbs down on Nick. Results: 1 Alan Dixon 48lbs 6ozs; 2 Nick Mummery 44lbs 6ozs; 3 Ernie Heseltine 41lbs 12ozs. Next Sunday club members are asked to meet at Royle's 8.30am.

Over to Westwood Lakes which last weekend found 48 of Lincolnshire’s top anglers battle it out over 2 days for the £500 top prize. Day 1 on Skylark lake saw the in form Steve Lane win the lake and section to make it 6 wins in the last 6 matches, with Derby youngster Tom Parkin edging Mick Stamp into third. On Kestrel Rick Tweddle beat Gus Garrett and Steve Winter by a closer margin to take the top spot. Results: Skylark: 1 Steve Lane Westwood Lakes/Castle AC 57lbs 4ozs; 2 Tom Parkin, Derby 47lbs 8ozs; 3 Mick Stamp, Sonubaits/Preston, 46lbs 8ozs; Kestrel: 1 Rick Tweddle Maver Bait-Tech 55lbs 10ozs; 2 Gus Garrett Anglers Corner 47lb 2ozs; 3 Steve Winter Maver Bait-Tech 44lbs 3ozs.

Anglers swapped lakes for day 2 and from peg 6 on Kestrel, Craig Butterfield fished worm and caster to win with a net of carp and ide. Spike Milligan topped Skylark with a net of bream and carp to edge out Mark Griggs who finished a mere 4ozs adrift. Results: Skylark: 1 Spike Milligan Garbolino Lincs County 52lbs 8ozs; 2 Mark Griggs Maver Bait Tech 52lbs 4ozs; 3 Steve Winter Maver Bait-Tech 49lbs 8ozs; Kestrel: 1 Craig Butterfield Middy International 110lbs; 2 Adam Playford Anglers Corner 55lbs 12ozs; 3 Sean Higginbottom Maver Bait-Tech 55lbs 6ozs.

At the end of the second day it was a very close call but Steve Winter came out on top with a perfect two point score with Steve Lane beating Ian Shaw on weight for second place. Overall: 1 Steve Winters Maver Bait-Tech 2pts; 2 Steve Lane Westwood Lakes 3pts 100lbs 4ozs; 3 Ian Shaw Eastwood Angling Centre 3pts, 87lbs 4ozs; 4 Mark Griggs Maver Bait-Tech 3pts 72lbs; 5 Mick Stamp Preston Innovations/Sonubaits 4pts 78lbs.

Fixtures: Every Tuesday Open Match. Draw 10am in Fisherman’s Rest Café - Fish 11am-5pm £11 All in
Thursday over-50s, Skylark Lake. Draw 10am - Fish 11am - 5pm. £6 Pools £10 Membership; Sunday Open Match Draw 9am Fish 10am-4pm. £16 all in. Please remember to book in for all Matches contact Alex on 07846 769003

A much better result as the Monday evening sweep on Horncastle Road produced double figure nets for the top three and good backing weights led by Mark Cook’s 8lbs plus. Roach and skimmers fell to Don Green’s pole, worm and caster approach and gave him a 3lbs cushion over Brian Clark. Brian opted for pinkie over groundbait to land a good net of roach and just edged Kevin Hunt into third, he taking more roach on the pole and hemp at 8m. Results: 1 Don Green 16lbs 2ozs; 2 Brian Clark 13lbs 3ozs; 3 Kevin Hunt 12lbs 10zs; 4 Mark Cook 8lbs 3ozs. Meet next Monday at Horncastle road for 1pm draw.

The Boston Winter League is suddenly upon us and for all those who are fishing the draw is at the Ropers Arms Horncastle Road, Sunday October 1, drawing 8.30am fish from 10 till 3 - breakfast will be available from 7.15am onwards.

Review for September 18

Paul nets best return by 10lbs margin

A bright and dry week in our area but the weather took a turn for the worse as we moved into the weekend and although we all enjoyed a better than expected Sunday, it looks as though summer is definitely over.

A first for local waters around Boston as the British Pike Association team qualifier took place on both Saturday and Sunday of last weekend. After a previous day’s practice on minor drains, Saturday’s roving match took place on the Maud Foster and all sections of the Sibsey Trader Drain from the golf course to Northlands. A good result as almost all of the 30 competitors caught 116 fish between them and some 350lbs were taken in total, and returned safely to the water immediately after weighing. Dead baits were the main choice for most and best used by Paul Danby who landed seven good specimens for a winning total of nearly 40lbs. He was followed by Mark Groom, who managed six similar models for his runner-up weight that approached 10lbs down. Glenn Neave was in the same 20lbs range. Results: 1 Paul Danby 38lbs 9ozs; 2 Mark Groom 29lbs 13ozs; 3 Glenn Neave 21lbs 4ozs; 4 Steve Roberts 19lbs 12oz; 5 Stuart Parker 19lbs 2ozs; 6 Mike Fretwell 15lbs.

A whole different ball game on day 2 as competitors faced strong winds on the S. Forty Foot Drain on Sunday. Here only 35 fish were taken, those coming from the upper reaches towards Swineshead Bridge and side drains in that area. Downstream of the Wheatsheaf Inn turned out to be a disaster zone as it was discovered that a salt influx had recently killed a few pike, no fish coming out of this stretch at all for those hapless anglers. Paul Danby made sure of a trip to Ireland with the best weight again, this time only a 15lbs plus weight and beating the unlucky Gary Edwards by a single ounce with Louise Hunns taking close order for third. Results: 1 Paul Danby 15lbs 10ozs; 2 Gary Edwards 15lbs 9ozs; 3 Louise Hunns 13lbs 13ozs; 4 Peter Timmis 5lbs 11ozs; 5th Paul Higginson 4lbs 14ozs; 6 Mark Groom 4lbs 6ozs. Thanks were expressed at the presentation to their hosts at the Wheatsheaf Inn, Hubberts Bridge, Boston and DAA for use of the waters and Boston Golf Club for use of their parking space.

The latest match on Saturday at Priory Lake no.2 proved to be a comfortable win for Phil Clark who drew peg 70 and fished the long pole at10m and down the margins. Feeding sweetcorn and maggots he switched between the two swims for a comfortable victory. Well over 20lbs separated him from the runner up in the shape of Andy Waite who drew one of the favoured feeder pegs and after a slow start he managed to land eight carp on the method feeder for that second place, again an easy second and some 15lbs in front of Roger Oxspring. Results: 1 Phil Clark 64lbs 14ozs; 2 Andy Waite 41lbs 6ozs; 3 Roger Oxspring 26lbs 15ozs; 4 Edgar Purnell 22lbs; 5 Dave Robinson 19lbs 6ozs; 6 Jeff Duggan 16lbs 4ozs.

Also on Saturday Westwood Lakes was full to capacity for the Liam Wilson Memorial Match with 99 anglers taking part in this ever-popular event. Anglers as young as 8yrs and the more advanced at 87yrs and coming from as far afield as Norfolk came together to have a fun day’s fishing. Adam Wakelin who is a consultant with SonuBaits and has represented England in the recent World feeder championships, presented the trophies and carried out the draw for the raffle which raised £760 for Liam's Memorial Fund which now stands at a total of over £19,000. Results: Hawk Lake School year 8 & under: 1 Callum Houlden 20lbs 4ozs; 2 Samuel Claydon 11lbs 6ozs; 3 Nathan Lee 9lbs 6ozs; School year 9 – 11: 1 Ben Elding 55lbs 9ozs; 2 Davis Gurton 39lbs 8ozs; 3 Adam Swain 35lbs 14ozs; Kestrel Lake: 1 Adam Wakelin 83lbs 6ozs; 2 Gavin Butler 57lbs 4ozs;3 Luke Morley 27lbs 10ozs; Skylark Lake: 1 Paul Oglesbee 46lbs 8ozs; 2 Ken Clarke 33lbs 10ozs; 3 Steve Gregory 32lbs 10ozs; Kingfisher Lake NCRC Challenge: 1 Dave Wilson 50lbs 2ozs; 2 Mark Sutherland 21lbs; 3 Stuart Rumball 14lbs 12ozs; Total weight – 1 Boston 99lbs 8ozs – 2 Norwich 37lbs; Blind Mixed Pairs winners- Adam Wakelin/James Taylor. Dave, Julie and Lauren Wilson would like to say a big thank you to all that took part and made the day a great success. Raffle prizes where kindly given by Westwood Lakes, Boston Angling Centre, Preston Innovations, BaitTech, Sensas, Middy and many numerous individuals. Thank You.

Other matches took place on this venue and starting with Sunday’s open match on Kestrel where Kings Lynn youngster Jimmy Brooks took the spoils. Drawn at peg 10 the Anglers Corner backed rod fished maggot at 5m to take ide and small carp steadily before a late switch to pellet at 16m to the island. Results: 1 Jimmy Brooks Anglers Corner 77lbs 12ozs; 2 Gus Garrett Angler’s Corner 71lbs 2ozs; 3 Craig Butterfield Middy International 61lbs 2ozs; 4 Steve Pretty Miracle Baits 50lbs 4ozs.

Tuesday’s £1k qualifier on Skylark saw Steve Lane score another victory, this time at the expense of John Gooden who finished over 11lbs down in second. Results: 1 Steve Lane Castle A/C 58lbs 9ozs; 2 John Gooden Mildon Baits 47lbs 2ozs; 3 Mick Stamp Preston / Sonubaits 44lbs 9ozs.

On to Thursday and again on Skylark John Gooden gained some compensation in winning the over 50’s with just over 2lbs to spare over Paul Oglesbee in the runner up spot. Results: 1 John Gooden, Mildon Baits, 56lbs 14ozs; 2 Paul Oglesbee, Westwood Lakes, 54lbs 2ozs; 3 Ian Shaw Westwood Lakes 47lbs 8ozs.

Fixtures: Saturday and Sunday £1000 Payout Final. 48 of Lincolnshire’s top match anglers battle it out on Skylark and Kestrel Lakes, draw 9.30am in Fisherman’s Rest Café fish 11am till 5pm both days.
Every Tuesday Open Match, draw 10am in Fishermans Rest Cafe- Fish 11am- 5pm. £11 All In
Thursday over 50s, Skylark Lake, draw 10am, Fish 11am- 5pm. £6 Pools £10 Membership
Please remember to book in for all Matches contact Alex on 07846 769003.

Thirteen anglers turned up on Sunday for the Boston Angling Centre sweep using pegs 82-94 Horncastle Road. Not many bream on this occasion and so feeder expert Len Shucksmith failed to make it three in a row. Instead pole and skimmers provided the better weights and no one better than Ben Brighton to take the honours using pole and caster. Well down in second was Brian Clark who used the short pole and pinkie for similar fish but a good 5lbs behind. Len Shucksmith made his mark nevertheless and took one bream and one tench using the feeder to the far bank to take third place, only 4ozs adrift of Brian. Frank Scrupps was also in the mix and using like tactics he also landed one bream and a lone tench to finish just an ounce short in fourth, Danny Hurst a mere 2ozs back in fifth with a superb bream going just over 5lbs. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 11lbs 2ozs; 2 Brian Clark 6lbs 13ozs; 3 Len Shucksmith 6lbs 9ozs; 4 Frank Scrupps 6lbs 8ozs; 5 Danny Hurst 6lbs 6ozs.

Clough Bridge on the Tydd Gote Drain was the venue for Fishtoft AC on Sunday and here Mark Cook used combinations of chopped worm, caster and pinkie over groundbait, both at 4 and 8m to keep the small roach and perch interested. He won with more than a pound to spare over Gordon Manning who fished pinkie and squatt on the whip for second spot. Jerry Clifton employed the same baits and using both whip and pole at 6 and 10m, he finished third, just 7ozs behind Gordon. Results: 1 Mark Cook 4lbs 11ozs; 2 Gordon Manning 3lbs 6ozs; 3 Jerry Clifton 2lbs 15ozs. Next week Priory lakes, Ruskington meet at McDonalds for 8am. All winter league teams to be entered to Mark Cook no later than September 28 please.

The Monday evening sweep on Horncastle Road produced more nets of roach and skimmers and this time Ian Kent just managed to keep in front of the field. Squatt and pinkie over groundbait was the winning method and helped beat Mark Cook by a few ounces. The whip at 4m with caster over hemp gave Mark second by just 4ozs over Don Green who fished pinkie at 10m for third. Results: 1 Ian Kent 5lbs 2ozs; 2 Mark Cook 4lbs 6ozs; 3 Don Green 4lbs 2ozs. Next week drawing at Norprint gates at 1pm.

Review for September 11

Carp haul cheer for victorious Pete

Much better than predictions for the week’s weather, the only fly in the ointment was the occasional shower and ever increasing winds, eventually reaching gale force by Monday.

Over to Priory Lake no.2 on Saturday and here a cracking day, eventually, for Pete Allan who sat the first three hours without a single bite, all the time feeding the margins with pellet. But, when they came there was no stopping him and using just his top two sections he finished with eleven carp for a comfortable victory. Runner up George Gosling fished the same method as Pete for 10 carp and a single tench for second, and third, with all his fish on the method feeder, was Edgar Purnell with a little over 50lbs. Results: 1 Pete Allan 67lbs11ozs; 2 George Gosling 60lbs; 3 Edgar Purnell 51lbs 8ozs; 4 Brian McKeown 37lbs 10ozs; 5 Pete Jubb 36lbs 11ozs; 6 Andy Waite 28lbs 11ozs.

A hastily arranged sweep produced a string of double figure nets of roach and skimmers from the Maud Foster Drain, Horncastle Road on Sunday. A tench of some 3lbs helped Ian Kent to victory over Kevin Hunt who like Ian, took roach and skimmers to pole and caster and unluckily finished only a few ounces short. Don Green was always in the hunt and the same could be said of him as he ended the day in third, just another 5ozs down. Results: 1 Ian Kent 14lbs 4ozs; 2 Kevin Hunt 13lbs 9ozs; 3 Don Green 13lbs 4ozs; 4 Janusz Kedzierski 11lbs 13ozs; 5 Gregos 10lbs 2ozs. Another match next Sunday draw in shop at 8am fish 9-2pm, please note five hours fishing time.

The Boston & DAA pairs match was held on Horncastle road peg 82 – 103 on Saturday and here again the individual winner by a mile was Len Shucksmith who took bream on the feeder using worm and caster at peg 92. His partner Frank Scrupps did just enough with a weight of 5lbs 11ozs from the other section to take 9pts and so guarantee them winning the Ray Smith Trophy with a 20pt total. Ben Brighton took an individual second place with his usual pole tactics and added a couple of bream to a net of skimmers to beat Alec Rawlings by a couple of pounds or so. Alec used the waggler and caster combo for skimmers from the far side to win section B, and in partnership with Don Green finished pairs runners up, their aggregate coming to 15pts. Unlucky third pair, just a point down, was Mark Cook who took roach and skimmers close in on squatt, whilst partner Brian Blackamore landed a few good skimmers for 8pts from his section, giving them a total of 14pts. Individuals: 1 Len Shucksmith peg 92 35lbs 8ozs; 2 Ben Brighton peg 82 16lbs 10ozs; 3 Alec Rawlings peg 103 14lbs 4ozs. Pairs: 1 Len Shucksmith/Frank Scrupps 20pts; 2 Alec Rawlings/Don Green 15pts; 3 Mark Cook/Brian Blackamore 14pts.

Mark Cook would like to pass on his thanks to those anglers who participated in any of the Boston and DAA matches throughout the summer and hopefully most of those will be seen in the forthcoming Winter League starting on 2nd October – teams of four @ £50 to Mark please, as soon as possible.

Fishtoft AC travelled to the R. Trent at East Stoke on Sunday and disastrous results all round as a couple of roach and around 20 gudgeon were enough to give Jerry Clifton an hard earned win. Stick float and maggot was the winning method for Jerry as Nick Mummery used the feeder to take a few dace for second spot ahead of Adie Penson who used like tactics for third. Results: 1 Jerry Clifton 14ozs; 2 Nick Mummery 6ozs; 3 Adie Penson 3ozs. Next week meet at Little Chef, Algarkirk at 8am for a trip to Tyde Gote.

On to Westwood Lakes and Tuesday’s £1k qualifier on Skylark was affected by extreme wind, making tackle and bait presentation very difficult. Venue specialist Steve Lane made the most of an end peg and caught steady at 4m and in the left hand margins to win the day with 10lbs to spare over Sean Moss who resorted to the feeder for the runner up place less than 5lbs in front of Dave Smith. Results: 1 Steve Lane 53lbs Castle AC/Westwood; 2 Sean Moss 42lbs 8ozs Miracle Baits; 3 Dave Smith 37lbs 11ozs Westwood Lakes.

On to Thursday and weights were a touch lower overall for the over 50’s as Brian Thomas won with less than 4lbs over Ken Clark. Results: 1 Brian Thompson 41lbs Westwood/Orchard Park; 2 Ken Clark 37lbs12ozs Westwood Lakes; 3 John Gooden 32lbs 9ozs MillDon Baits.

The Sunday £1k qualifier took place on Kestrel Lake and here Pete Andrews made the most of his fancied draw. Using worm and caster at 11m he landed ide, carp and barbel, beating Rob Morris, who used sweetcorn and pellet, by almost 10lbs. Results: 1 Pete Andrews 71lbs Westwood Lakes; 2 Rob Morris 61lbs 4ozs Worksop AC; 3 Craig Crow 53lbs 4ozs Lincs County; 4 Shane Spafford 49lbs 4ozs Miracle Baits.

Fixtures:

Saturday September 17, Liam Wilson memorial match on all lakes all pegs; Sunday Kestrel open match draw 9am fish 10am till 4pm, £16 all in; Every Tuesday Skylark Lake draw 10am fish 11am till 5pm; Every Thursday over 50s draw 10am fish 11am till 5pm, £7.50 all in.

Despite the howling winds Horncastle Road provided some shelter for the Monday evening sweep and Kevin Hunt won the day using caster and hemp to take a succession of roach and skimmers. Less than a pound separated him from Don Green who added a bonus tench to a net of roach and all taken on mainly casters with a bit of chopped worm thrown in. nor really in the equation but Mark Cook used the whip with hemp and caster to finish a distant third. Results: 1 Kevin Hunt 17lbs 2ozs; 2 Don Green 16lbs 3ozs; 3 Mark Cook 8lbs 6ozs. Next week draw at 3pm Norprint gates, Horncastle Road.

Review for September 4

It’s a breeze for Sam with decisive win

A quiet week weather-wise but not particularly warm for late summer. Much better on Saturday but this did not last as cooler, wet and windy weather moved in over Sunday to signal the likely end of summer – such as it has been up to present.

No match on Tuesday at Royle’s but 19 anglers faced windy conditions on Saturday at Bain Valley and not too much response from fish for many of those involved. Those with wind in their faces produced the better weights on method or feeder. Even so Sam Smith produced well over 80lbs using the method and made it a comfortable win with a 29lbs plus advantage over Dave Woodbridge. Dave, in turn, used the feeder for his catch and finished 14lbs ahead of Mick Morgan who also stuck to the method for his third place. Results: 1 Sam Smith peg 26 88lbs 1oz; 2 Dave Woodbridge peg 18 feeder 59lbs 13ozs; 3 Mick Morgan peg 24 45lbs 10ozs; 4 Steve Lamyman peg 20 40lbs 12ozs; 5 Bill Hill peg 19 25lbs 3ozs; 6 Dave Daniels peg 16 18lbs 4ozs.

Next week back to Royle’s for the Tuesday sweep.

Saturday at Priory Lakes and here there was a good turnout for this latest sweep and the man who benefitted the most was Edgar Purnell. Not a particularly good set of weights but Edgar did enough using the method feeder with sweetcorn tight to the island from peg 98. This resulted in four carp in the first one and half hours, then, as the swim died, he made a switch to the long pole and feeding micro pellets with 6m expanders on the hook he took four bream and a sprinkling of skimmers for his winning weight. Runner up Pete Allan drew end peg 115, he sticking to the long pole at 12m for 6 carp on expander pellets, whilst Jeff Duggan on peg 93 fished the margins on pellet for a very close third place. Results: 1 Edgar Purnell 41lbs12ozs; 2 Pete Allan 33lbs; 3 Jeff Duggan 32lbs12ozs; 4 Dave Robinson 22lbs 5ozs; 5 Andy Waite 17lbs2ozs; 6 Phil Clark 16lbs 4ozs.

To the Hobhole Drain on Sunday where Fishtoft AC paid a visit to Giggs Bridge and here Mark Cook showed a clean pair of heels to the rest. White maggot and caster over groundbait was the winning method which brought small skimmers for him to almost double the next best weight. This being that of Rod Asher who chose pinkie and squatt over groundbait for much the same stamp of fish – Kieran Cook being the only other to make the pound mark. Results: 1 Mark Cook 5lbs 7ozs; 2 Rod Asher 2lbs 13ozs; 3 Kieran Cook 1lb.

Next week a trip to the River Trent at Hardys farm, East Stoke, meet at McDonalds on the Sleaford bypass for 8am.

The Boston Angling Centre sweep took place on the Horncastle Road section of the Maud Foster Drain on Sunday and attracted 15 anglers. Here bream were the quarry and all anglers included at least one such fish in their nets. The swimfeeder accounted for most and Len Shucksmith scored an easy victory, taking 5 decent bream and a couple of skimmers from peg 94. He won with over 8lbs more than another feeder ace in the shape of Frank Scrupps, both being pegged at opposite ends of the match. Frank landed one good bream and a tench, plus a few bits to squeak home with a few ounces to spare over Steve Reid with Steve Miles & Danny Hurst another pound or so down in an equal fourth. Results: 1 Len Shucksmith 17lbs 14ozs; 2 Frank Scrupps 9lbs 8ozs; 3 Steve Reid 8lbs 10ozs; equal 4 Steve Miles and Danny Hurst 7lbs 8ozs; 6 Ian Kent 5lbs 8ozs.

Sunday found Liam’s Elite at Royle’s, Toynton where weights were generally much lower and consisted mainly of small carp with the odd larger specimen turning up. Pole, paste and pellet won the day for Ron Roberts from peg 7, nip and tuck for second, the verdict going to Ken Clark. Ken used the long pole and pellet to beat Des Hunt by little over a pound, Des taking all his fish using the swimfeeder and maggot. Results: 1 Ron Roberts peg 7 27lbs; 2 Ken Clark peg 11 23lbs 10ozs; 3 Des Hunt peg 2 22lbs 4ozs.

A runaway win for Brian Thompson in the previous Sunday club match at Northview Lakes, Gedney Hill.

Pole and paste gave him a 46lbs advantage over Gary Shinn who used pellet in conjunction with the pole from the next door peg. The winner’s tactics also brought third place to Ron Roberts who took more than 45lbs from the other side of the lake and holding on to beat Paul Oglesbee by just 4lbs. Results: 1 Brian Thompson peg 2 109lbs 2ozs; 2 Gary Shinn peg 1 63lbs; 3 Ron Roberts peg 17 45lbs 14ozs;4 Paul Oglesbee peg 19 41lbs 8ozs; 5 Kevin Hunt peg 16 39lbs 8ozs.

The Boston and DAA pairs match will take place this coming Saturday on the Bargate Drain. To book in please ring Mark Cook on 01205 363333 or 07947859747 by Thursday evening. The Boston Winter League is due to start on October 2. Teams of four @ £50 for the five match series, please ring Mark to enter.

Review for August 28

Paul shines through in gloomy conditions

Wet, as is usually the case for those who fish the Tuesday matches at Royle’s. Rain was never far away from the off, but when it arrived it did so for most of the match. Those that were out and about on Friday had to seek shelter for most of the day but thankfully the constant downpour eventually eased off and changed to bring only the occasional heavy shower over the bank holiday weekend.

To that match at Royle’s and despite a miserable day it was good turn-out for the conditions as Paul Cater emerged the winner. No three figure nets this week but Paul caught stockies steadily all day in the shallows from peg 21 using pole and pellet for a comfortable win from Steve Lamyman. Steve in turn at peg 4 fished the margins with much the same tactics and held on to beat young Ben Elding by just over 6lbs, with Brian Clark in the also-rans as usual, in fourth. Results: 1 Paul Cater peg21 90lbs; 2 Steve Lamyman peg 4 70lbs; 3 Ben Elding peg 6 63lbs 8ozs; 4 Brian Clark peg 10 57lbs 12ozs; 5 Tony Cook peg 12 42lbs.

Over to Bain Valley on Saturday and another tough day with heavy showers and strong winds to contend with. Lower weights here as Ben Brighton used the pole and pellet at 7m to take commons and stockies for another convincing win. Dave Daniels finished second over 20lbs behind and all thanks to a superb common of around 20lbs to boost him past Dave Woodbridge who then finished third, only 1lb down. Results: 1 Ben Brighton peg 1875lbs 10ozs; 2 Dave Daniels peg 9 52lbs 14ozs; 3 Dave Woodbridge peg 25 51lbs 12ozs; 4 Steve Pretty peg 16 42lbs 15ozs; 5 Trevor Ogilvie 38lbs 1oz 6 Steve Lamyman peg 15 30lbs 12ozs.

The Boston and DAA Memorial match took place on Horncastle Road on Saturday with 16 eager competitors. Rightly so as it turns out as 13 of those 16 taking part weighed in a total of 145lbs 8ozs – mainly in the 89 – 93 peg range. These were all good-sized bream and the best net fell to Ian Benton who stuck to the pole and chopped worm for a runaway victory. Nearly 30lbs behind was Barry Pogson, no slouch himself, he taking all his fish on the feeder, worm and caster tactics, as was the case for Frank Scrupps and Don Green in third and fourth places respectively. Most anglers caught bream and also lost some throughout the match, no small silver fish showing in any numbers on the day as the drain was carrying 2 to 3 inches of extra water and also running very clear. Results: 1 Ian Benton (Stanjay Peterborough) 55lbs 8ozs; 2 Barry Pogson (Spilsby) 26lb 15ozs; 3 Frank Scrupps (Boston) 11lbs 6ozs; 4 Don Green (Milldon) 9lbs 15ozs.

Fishtoft AC paid a visit to Lockies pit at North Kyme big lake on Sunday and here Ben Brighton made it two in two matches but weights here were relatively low as he won again at a canter. His catch of carp fell to pole, meat and sweetcorn whilst Nick Mummery finished a full 23lbs back using pole pellet and also sweetcorn. A mere 11ozs adrift was Mark Cook in third and using pole and meat for his weight. Most anglers found the fishing very difficult with very few bites coming their way. Those that were lucky to attract a few bites found these fish to be averaging around the 7lbs mark, hence 6 or 7 fish for the winner, 4 for second and 3 for third place. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 45lbs 12ozs; 2 Nick Mummery 22lbs 10ozs; 3 Mark Cook 21lbs 15ozs. Next week meet at Giggs Bridge, Hobhole drain for 8am.

Over to Westwood Lakes and Mick Stamp made it two wins out of two in the Sunday £1k qualifier on Kestrel with 23 taking part he took a mixed catch of Ide, Carp and Barbel from fancied peg 23 by alternating worm, caster and maggots at 13m and put together a winning weight to beat Dave Burns by a little over 7lbs. Second place Dave adopted similar tactics to Mick to catch mainly Barbel, his biggest coming in at just under 9lbs.
1st Mick Stamp Sonibaits 75lbs 6ozs; 2 Dave Burns Lincs County 67lbs 14ozs; 3 Pete Andrews Westwood Lakes 66lbs 4ozs; 4 Sean Higginbottom, Maver Bait-Tech 64lbs 08ozs; 5 Jimmy Brooks Anglers Corner 53lbs 4ozs.

The Tuesday £1k qualifier brought out a higher attendance of 26 hopefuls but a lower winning weight, possibly a higher average weight despite the poor weather. Jimmy Brooks won this one but with very little to spare as he came home just over 3lbs ahead of Colin Smith, Dave Burns having to settle for third this time.
1 Jimmy Brooks Anglers Corner, 71lbs 8ozs; 2 Collin Smith Westwood Lakes 68lbs 7ozs; 3 Dave Burns Lincs County 57lbs 14ozs.

The junior open on Wednesday saw 18 pegs in use and in the 7 – 12 yr category Worksop junior Dan Slack won with some ease from T J Simpson, Dan with 20lbs 14ozs to TJ’s 14lbs 12ozs. A closer call in the under 16’s as Danny Brooks won with 38lbs 8ozs to 35lbs 4ozs for Adam Swain.

The Thursday over-50s on Skylark produced another good set of weights and here Brian Thompson won with over 8lbs to spare over Ken Clark and John Gooden another 2lbs plus further back. Results: 1 Brian Thompson Westwood Lakes 66lbs 1oz; 2 Ken Clark Westwood Lakes 57lbs 10ozs; 3 John Gooden, Milldon Baits 55lbs.
Fixtures for this next week: Tuesday £1000 Qualifier Open Match Skylark Lake. Draw 10am fish 11am till 5pm £11 all in. Every Thursday Over 50’s open match open draw 10am fish 11am till 5pm, £6 all in; Sunday £1000 Qualifier open match Skylark Lake. Draw 9am fish 10am till 3pm £16 all in. On site Bait and Tackle shop as well as the on-site café open seven days a week to the public. For any other information please contact Alex on: 07846 769003.

Despite the somewhat adverse conditions of cold, clear and extra water some decent nets of roach were taken. Ben Brighton again came up with the winning method of pole, hemp and pinkie and beat the eternal bridesmaid Brian Clark by less than a pound. Brian also used the pole and pinkie and took the odd bream to boost him to that second spot, just 5ozs better than Ian Kent in third, he using identical tactics. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 7lbs 12ozs; 2 Brian Clark 6lbs 15ozs; 3 Ian Kent 6lbs 10ozs; 4 Derek Skinner 3lbs 11ozs. Next week Horncastle Road, Norprint gates for 4pm draw.

Names are now being taken for the Boston and DAA Pairs match, which will take place on September 10, and also the Winter League for teams of four, starting on October 2 ring Mark on 01205 363333.

Review for August 21

‘Ton-up’ Ben halts rival’s winning run

A mainly dry and bright week with one or two blips such as Tuesday and Thursday, both bringing a fair amount of rain to our area.

So, back to normal for the match at Royle’s where anglers endured another miserable day. However, catches held up well and Ben Brighton denied the four in a row to Steve Lamyman by taking well over 100lbs of mainly stockies at 13m when the wind allowed, the rest of the time taking similar fish on the quivertip. Steve had to settle for second with a good weight nevertheless and caught mirrors and ghost carp to 8lbs from the margins for a big 80lbs plus net. Dropping back a little but Brian Clark held on to third with a level 70lbs and Lee Feary just a mere 1lb down in fourth. Results: 1 Ben Brighton peg 4 117lbs 8ozs; 2 Steve Lamyman peg 6 87lbs 12ozs; 3 Brian Clark peg 14 70lbs; 4 Lee Feary peg 2 69lbs; 5 Ron Roberts peg 21 61lbs; 6 Colin Holyoak peg 19 37lbs.

The weekly series of matches on the Westwood complex produced no outstanding weights and best of those at over 80lbs fell to Mick Stamp in the Sunday £1k qualifier on Kestrel Lake. He used worm and caster in the open water to tempt small carp, ide, barbel and chub from peg 22, second place falling to Rob Morris who fished pellet in the open water to finish 9lbs down. Results: 1 Mick Stamp (Sonni Preston) 82lbs 2ozs; 2 Rob Morris (Worksop AC) 73lbs 2ozs; 3rd Jimmy Brooks (Angler’s Corner) 68lbs; 4 Boris Kilmer (Miracle baits) 63lbs 12ozs; 5 Adam Playford (Angler’s Corner) 62lbs 12ozs.

The Tuesday £1k qualifier took place on Skylark with 26pegs in use and lake specialist Steve Lane made no mistake off the golden peg for a bonus £200. He fished maggot down the edge from peg 6 to catch small ide, carp and skimmers and beat John Gooden by just under 9lbs with Clive Wheeler another 4lbs further back. Results: 1 Steve Lane (Castle AC 67lbs 08ozs; 2 John Gooden (Mill Don Baits) 58lbs 12ozs; 3 Clive Wheeler (Miracle Baits) 54lbs 2ozs.

The Wednesday match on Hawk Lake produced a very good set of weights for both the younger category as well as the older section. In the 7-12 yr Ted Wheeler won with 8lbs to spare over Brady Coulson and in the 13-16 section Adam Swain did even better with a 14lbs advantage over Ben Elding. Results: 7-12 yrs; 1 Ted Wheeler 37lbs 9ozs; 2 Brady Coulson 29lbs 4ozs. 13-16 yrs; 1 Adam Swain 54lbs 9ozs; 2 Ben Elding 40lbs.

Finally the over 50s match on Skylark produced another set of decent weights on Thursday and this time John Gooden emerged top dog in beating Brian Thompson by a good 12lbs, Ron Roberts another similar distance back in third. Results: 1 John Gooden (Mill Don Baits) 68lbs 10ozs; 2 Brian Thompson (Orchard Park) 56lbs 8ozs; 3 Ron Roberts (Westwood) 42lbs 10ozs.

Fixtures; Tuesday Draw 10 am fish 11-5 pm, £11 All In; Wednesday junior open match Hawk Draw 9am fish 10-3 pm; Thursday over 50s Draw 10am fish 11-5 pm; Sunday open Draw 9am fish 10-4pm £16 all in;
Monday Open Skylark lake £16 all in fish 10-4 pm.

On to the Div 2 National Championship on the Basingstoke Canal on Saturday. Of the 47 competing teams the Boston & DAA squad could do no better than a midway finish just below the halfway mark in 25th place. The average points for the team, again around the halfway mark, disguises some poor results, but also three good ones, top of this list being Ian Kent who totalled 3.320kgs, amassing 44pts and hence 4th in the F section. For that he took over 7lbs of roach from the far shelf using pole and squatt over groundbait. Not too far back from that was Dave Simpson who managed a decent weight of 1.500kgs and 40pts from B section using identical tactics, and also worth a mention is Shaun Creasey in landing 1.260kgs and 36pts for the team with similar methods on section A. To be fair some of the lower sections produced very poor returns as some could only average out at a little over 500gms – just over a pound and some lucky anglers could count on a bonus fish to bring them big bonus points – something that did not happen to our remaining team members who had to settle invariably for a very few tiny fish. On the face of it the result looks like a poor performance from those but looking at the section results in greater detail a different story emerged. It was clear that most of the team drew poorly and struggled together with those pegged around them, whilst further down the section it was much easier to find better fish and so won the lion’s share of the points.

Team-wise the match produced a clear winner in the shape of Oakwood Angling who beat Maver Bathampton into second place by 33pts and Maldon AS in third by another 16pts on top of that. Teams: 1 Oakwood Angling 360pts13.620kgs; 2 Maver Bathampton 327pts 9.24kgs; 3 Maldon AS 311pts 11.550kgs; 4 Garbolino Blackmore Vale 309pts 13.020kgs; 5 Preston Innovation Thatchers 300pts 10.610kgs.

A different story for the individual title as Darren Hutch from Leeds just managed to hold onto the top spot from Stuart Levers of Guilford by less than 400gms. He can thank the luck of the draw as he found himself at the end of a turning bay with no other pegs to one side and so used the deeper water to produce a good netful of skimmers for his narrow victory. After that weights plunged down to not much more than half of the winning weight, Lee Tomlin of Billericay taking third ahead of Dave Yardy who just managed to stay over the 5kgs mark. Good news here from the Boston point of view is that Ian Kent’s 3.320kgs weight has put him amongst the elite top 20 in finishing 17th – well done Ian. Results: 1 Darren Hutch Urban Moor Leeds D 47 10.580kgs; 2 Stuart Levers Guildford AC Match Team F 11 10.220kgs; 3 Lee Tomlin Billericay & Dist AC F 27 5.790kgs; 4 Dave Yardy Eastern MG G 09 5.020kgs; 5 Fred Cheetham Team Eclipse A 37 4.420kgs; 6 Joel Whiteley Wakefield AC H 21 4.230kgs.

Nothing particularly exciting here but Fishtoft AC’s match on Windsor Bank on Sunday produced nets of mainly small roach, especially to Rod Asher who fished short lines at 3 & 6m with squatt over groundbait for the winning catch. Mostly roach but dace also put in an appearance and he added a few perch for good measure using chopped worm when his original line died. He just doubled the next best weight of Jerry Clifton who in turn doubled that of Terry Gooding. Results: 1 Rod Asher 4lbs 9ozs; 2 Jerry Clifton 2lbs 4ozs; 3 Terry Gooding 1lb. Next Sunday the club will meet at Lockies Pit, North Kyme at 8.30 am.

Alec Rawlings followed up his Benevolent match win and took the Monday evening sweep with nearly 2lbs to spare over the joint second place of Kevin Hunt and Len Shucksmith. Roach and skimmers fell to his waggler and caster approach with Kevin also taking roach on pinkie and hemp – Len Shucksmith landing a bonus tench of some 3lbs to go with a few small roach. Results: 1 Alec Rawlings 5lbs 7ozs; equal 2 Kevin Hunt and Len Shucksmith 3lbs 11ozs; 4 Brian Clark 3lbs 6ozs. Next Monday meet at the swings, Windsor Bank 4.30pm.

Review for August 14

It’s another decisive success for Steve

Another unsettled week for August with some sun, plenty of cloud, much dry weather but also periods of wind and rain for most. A good start to the new week and the forecast is for a settled spell of mainly dry and bright conditions right through to the weekend.

Yet another nice Tuesday at Royle's with a good turnout and a hat trick for Steve Lamyman who fished pellet high up in the water at 11m for another runaway win from peg 10. Yet again the bridesmaid as Brian Clark landed second spot from peg 21 using pellet at 7m, laid hard on the deck. Pellet close in to the bank brought third place to Lionel Elding just 6lbs behind, with Ron Roberts taking fourth with well over 50lbs from peg 3. Results: 1 Steve Lamyman peg 10 115lbs; 2 Brian Clark peg 21 72lbs; 3 Lionel Elding peg 7 66lbs; 4 Ron Roberts peg 3 57lbs 8ozs; 5 Gary Shinn peg 14 49lbs 8ozs; 6 Colin Hollyoak peg 5 29lbs 8ozs.

Over at Westwood and the Tuesday qualifier was won by Mark Rodgers with a little under 8lbs to spare over local angler Steve Lane who also finished with less than 6lbs over Gareth Mills in third. Results: 1 Mark Rodgers Garbolino Ossett 67lbs 2ozs; 2 Steve Lane Castle AC 59lbs 4ozs; 3 Gareth Mills Westwood Lakes 53lbs 12ozs.

Wednesday’s junior match on Hawk Lake produced a set of good weights for the under 16yr category and was won with more than a 15lbs margin by Adam Swain over Davis Gurton and Ben Elding less than 2lbs back in third. Results: 1 Adam Swain 55lbs 10ozs; 2 Davis Gurton 40lbs; 3 Ben Elding 38lbs 14ozs.

The under-13s match was won by Beady Coulson followed by Ben Darrington but I have not any further details on this match.

Thursday’s over-50s match on Skylark Lake produced an easy win for Ken Clark who used 4mm expander pellet from peg 17 to beat Brian Thompson by almost 18lbs. Brian in turn took an easy second, finishing nearly 22lbs in front of Chris Mawer in third. Results: 1 Ken Clark Westwood Lakes 83lbs 12ozs; 2 Brian Thompson Orchard Park 66lbs 2ozs; 3 Chris Mawer Westwood Lakes 44lbs 8ozs.

Finally to Sunday which saw 28 pegs used for this qualifier and in a very tight finish Jimmy Brooks just edged Adam Playford for victory by a little over a pound, taking a mixed catch of ide, and carp on maggot at 5m and pellet tight to the island. Adam also fished tight to the island for an all carp catch – Steve Lane again having to settle for a minor place but was just 3lbs down in third, and followed by Luke Morley, still in the 70lbs plus range. Results: 1 Jimmy Brooks Anglers Corner 79lbs; 2 Adam Playford Anglers Corner 77lbs 12ozs; 3 Steve Lane Castle AC 74lbs 8ozs; 4 Luke Morley Miracle Baits 72lbs 10ozs.

Next week’s fixtures: Every Tuesday £1000 Qualifier match Skylark Lake Draw 10am fish 11am till 5pm £11 all in. Wednesday Junior Match Hawk Lake everyone welcome two age groups 7-12 years and 13-16 years £7 all in. Every Thursday over 50’s open match Skylark Lake, draw 10am fish 11am till 5pm. Every Sunday £1000 qualifier match Kestrel Lake draw 9am fish 10am till 4pm – you must book in, contact Alex on 07846 769003.

The Boston Benevolent match took place on the Horncastle Road section of the Bargate Drain and here at peg 92 Alec Rawlings won the match with less than two pounds to spare. He used the waggler and caster to the far side to take a mixed bag of roach, perch and skimmers to lift the trophy. Bridesmaid once again was Brian Clark who chose the whip at 6m, together with pinkie over groundbait to land small roach and skimmers for his second place from peg 95. Following in third was Steve Lamyman who used much the same tactics at 10m for a similar net of fish from peg 90. Results: 1 Alec Rawlings Wainfleet 9lbs 4ozs; 2 Brian Clark Boston 7lbs 8ozs; 3 Steve Lamyman Boston 7lbs.

The Boston & DAA Memorial match will be fished on the 27th August on the Bargate Drain, entry fee £13.50 all in. Those wishing to enter to please contact Mark Cook on 01205 363333 or 07947859747. Ben Brighton won the latest Fishtoft AC match at Woodlands Lake, Spilsby on Sunday with some ease. He targeted small carp using pellet and meat on both pole and feeder to win by nearly 10lbs from Mick Morgan. Both he and Doug Sawer also employed feeder and pellet tactics for their nets of small carp in the 40lbs category, with Nick Mummery some way adrift in fourth. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 56lbs 8ozs; 2 Mick Morgan 47lbs 14ozs; 3 Doug Sawer 42lbs 2ozs; 4 Nick Mummery 33lbs.

Next week those members who intend to fish the Bargate Drain should contact Jerry Clifton.

A warm sunny Priory Lakes, Ruskington greeted Liam's Elite members on Sunday. Here new member Lee Sallabanks won the day by a small margin of 4lbs over Ron Roberts from the favoured peg 40. Small carp were the main target for most but Lee concentrated on the larger specimens using the pellet waggler as opposed to the pole and paste for Ron Roberts, and Dave Wilson who also used the method feeder, a long way behind in third. Results: 1 Lee Sallabanks peg 33 61lbs 3ozs; 2 Ron Roberts 57lbs; 3 Dave Wilson 26lbs 4ozs.

The Monday evening sweep took place this week on Windsor Bank where organiser Mark Cook showed a clean pair of heels to the others. He landed mainly roach on the pole at 6m using squatt and pinkie to beat Don Green by over 2lbs, Don opting for the pole, pinkie and chopped worm at 10m to catch mainly perch and eels. Small roach and perch fell to similar tactics at 8m to give Janusz Kedzierski third place, only 4ozs behind Don Green. Results: 1 Mark Cook 6lbs 6ozs; 2 Don Green 3lbs 13ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski 3lbs 8ozs. Next week drawing at 4.30pm Horncastle road, outside Norprint gates.

Finally I would like to wish the Boston & DAA team all the best in their quest to win the Div 2 National title this coming Saturday on the Basingstoke Canal.

Review for August 7

Lamyman holds sway once again

Quite a warm week with very little rain to interrupt proceedings, the worse aspect being the high humidity readings right through to the weekend. Much cooler and fresher since the weekend and temperatures rising again as the weekend approaches.

Yet another nice day at Royle’s on Tuesday and after a slow start the fish fed well from mid match onwards and they must like Steve Lamyman on nice days as he came in first again from peg 19. He fished up in the water and used pole and maggot at 11m for another ton plus weight and an easy victory. In effect second placed Brian Clark came in second some 35lbs behind, he fishing the margins using pole and pellet, with third and fourth places in the 60lbs range. Results: 1 Steve Lamyman peg 19 115lbs 8ozs; 2 Brian Clark peg 2 79lbs; 3 Brian Thompson peg 14 63lbs 8ozs; 4 Ron Roberts peg 6 61lbs 8ozs; 5 Davis Gurton peg 12 44lbs; 6 Mick Morgan peg 10 43lbs.

The Saturday sweep took place on the same venue but surprisingly brought a low turnout. Even so everybody caught above 50lb in a very close and steady match. Again pole and pellet well up in the water was the method and one which brought success to Graham Upsall who held on to deny Steve Lamyman the double this week. Steve finished just 2lbs back with Ron Roberts, Brian Clark and Lee Feary all following and topping that 50lbs mark. Results: 1 Graham Upsall peg 6 66lbs 8ozs; 2 Steve Lamyman peg 19 64lbs 8ozs; 3 Ron Roberts peg 10 54lbs 8ozs; 4 Brian Clarke peg 2 52lbs 8ozs; 5 Lee Feary peg 12 50lb 8ozs. Next Saturday continuing at Royle’s.

The Sunday sweep on Horncastle Road brought lower than expected weights but this can, I suppose, be put down to the lack of bream in catches this week. Pinkie and groundbait was therefore the winning method and one used by the winner to take roach and skimmers. He finished well over a pound clear of Janusz Kedzierski who used worm and maggot to hold on to that second position by a mere ounce from Christoph Lamick and John Briggs another ounce further back. Results: 1 Brian Clark 5lbs 15ozs; 2 Janusz Kedzierski 4lbs 8ozs; 3 Christoph Lamick 4lbs 7ozs; 4 John Briggs 4lbs 6ozs.

Over to Westwood Lakes and here catches were also a little lower than of late in the £1000 qualifier on Kestrel Lake on Sunday. Even so Adam Playford made no mistake from the fancied peg 6 and fishing pellet at 14.5m to the island he took small carp, ide, tench and barbel for a comfortable victory. The ever consistent Luke Morley also used pellet at an even greater range with 4mm expander on the hook at 16m to finish runner up, almost the same gap between himself and the winner, and Tony Evans in third. Results: 1 Adam Playford Anglers Corner 80lbs 6ozs; 2 Luke Morley Miracle Baits 66lbs 8ozs; 3 Tony Evans Dynamite Middy 48lbs 9ozs; 4 Pete Andrews Westwood 46lbs 2ozs.

On to the Tuesday qualifier and here on Skylark catches were somewhat higher as Matt Arnold fished 4mm soft expander over 2mm micro pellets in the margins to finish with well over the 100lbs. Some 30lbs back was Mark Rodgers who fished tight over to the far side from peg 25 using meat to take second, whilst Steve Lane used paste close in at 4m to finish third, just 2ozs better than Toby Pepper in fourth. Results: 1 Matt Arnold Holbeach 107lbs 14ozs; 2 Mark Rodgers Garbolino Ossett 77lbs 2ozs; 3 Steve Lane Castle AC 70lbs 8ozs; 4 Toby Pepper Hunstanton 70lbs 6ozs.

The juniors were also in action on Wednesday and this week Adam Swain went one better and took first with 11lbs to spare over Davis Gurton in the under 16 category, even though weights were down on last week’s. So it was for the 7 – 12yr group and here Ben Darrington came through to beat Nathan Lee by just over 2lbs. Results: Under 16, 1 Adam Swain 25lbs 8ozs; 2 Davis Gurton 14lbs 4ozs; 3 Chris 12lbs 12ozs; 7- 12yrs, 1 Ben Darrington 16lbs 2ozs; 2 Nathan Lee 13lbs 14ozs; 3 Travis 6lbs 10ozs.

These are open matches at £7 all in and expert advice is available to all taking part, and take place on a Wednesday on Hawk Lake draw 9am. The Thursday over-50s was won by Brian Thompson with 16lbs plus to spare over Alan Haynes and Gus Garrett another 2lbs down in third. Results: 1 Brian Thompson Orchard Park 76lbs 12ozs; 2 Alan Haynes Westwood 60lbs; 3 Gus Garrett Anglers Corner 58lbs 4ozs. Sunday £1000 qualifier draw 9am Kestrel Lake £16 all in. Tuesday £1000 qualifier draw 10am Skylark Lake £11 all in. Thursday over-50s draw 10am Skylark £6 all in.

No Fishtoft AC fixture at the weekend but members are asked to meet at the Woodlands fishery, Spilsby for 8.30am Sunday.

Finishing off with the Monday evening match which took place on Horncastle Road this week and Derek Skinner scored an easy win with the sole double figure weight. He fished his usual style of punch on the whip at 3.5m to catch some 85 roach. Roach and skimmers to pole and pinkie brought exactly half of Derek’s weight to Brian Clark in second with Janusz Kedzierski just 5ozs back in third, both fishing at 5m over groundbait. Results: 1 Derek Skinner 11lbs 12ozs; 2 Brian Clark 5lbs 14ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski 5lbs 9ozs. Next week meet at the swings Windsor Bank drawing at 4.30pm.

Finally a reminder that the Boston and DAA Benevolent match will take place on Horncastle Road on Saturday August 13. Draw at Norprint gates 8.45am. Please ring Mark Cook on 01205 363333 or 07947859747 to book a ticket.

Review for July 31

Lamyman’s perseverance pays off with top prize

A cool, and for a change a dry start to the week, warming up nicely and bringing temperatures up to the seasonal average as the weekend approached.

At long last a much better day weather-wise last Tuesday at Royle’s where fish responded well, everyone catching above 40lbs. After a series of minor places organiser Steve Lamyman at last took the top prize and made it an emphatic win with a catch of well over a hundred pounds. Drawn at peg 6 he took stockies and chub which fell to maggot at 9m, all taking the bait well up in the water. Similarly Paul Cater did much the same but with pellet as hookbait and finished in second with a little under 80lbs. The ever consistent Brian Clark managed a comfortable third with a gaggle of anglers following in the mid 40lbs range. Results: 1 Steve Lamyman peg 6 121bs 13ozs; 2 Paul Cater peg 21 79lbs 8ozs; 3 Brian Clark peg 4 68lbs 8ozs; 4 Mick Morgan peg 14 45lbs 8ozs; 5 Colin Hollyoak peg 19 44lbs 3ozs; 6 Ron Roberts peg 2 43lbs 8ozs.

Good weather brought a good turnout of 19 anglers for Saturday’s sweep at Bain Valley but unfortunately fish did not respond until very late in match. Pole, paste and the method saw Dave Woodbridge struggle over the 60lbs mark for top spot, followed very closely by Pete Smith who used the method and pellet waggler to finish within 8ozs of the winner. After that ‘the method’ ruled as Pat took a comfortable third, nearly 10lbs ahead of Steve Lamyman who also led Dave Daniels by over 8lbs. Results: 1 Dave Woodbridge peg 3 60lbs 14ozs; 2 Pete Smith peg 19 60lbs 6ozs; 3 Pat James peg 11 53lbs 10ozs; 4 Steve Lamyman peg 18 44lbs 12ozs; 5 Dave Daniels peg 5 36lbs 4ozs; 6 Danny Hurst peg 23 35lbs 8ozs.

The BDAA championship match took place on Horncastle Road on Saturday with a poor attendance and turned out to be a battle between the ledgering experts. At the finish only ounces separated the top two and Spilsby’s Barry Pogson emerged the champion with a catch of bream to the feeder, red worm and caster. Exactly the same tactics brought Len Shucksmith within 12ozs of Barry but he had to settle for second and nearly 4lbs ahead of Kevin Hunt who took an all roach catch using pole, hemp and pinkie. Results: 1 Barry Pogson Spilsby 11lbs 13ozs; 2 Len Shucksmith Lincoln 11lbs 1oz; 3 Kevin Hunt Boston 7lbs 2ozs.

The match at Priory Lake on Saturday was won at a canter as Edgar Purnell took this with over 30lbs to spare over his nearest rival. He used the method feeder tight to the island from the fancied peg 104 and using banded hard pellet and sweetcorn to land 15 carp in the 4lbs range for that easy win. In second spot, Jeff Duggan used several methods and netted just 7 similar fish from the margins and also up in the water. Results: 1 Edgar Purnell 65lbs 12ozs; 2 Jeff Duggan 35lbs 2ozs; 3 Brian McKeown 28lbs 4ozs; 4 Malc Green 24lbs 8ozs; 5 Pete Allen 14lbs 2ozs; 6 Dennis Holman 12lbs 10ozs.

Weed problems brought about a switch from the Sibsey Trader Drain to the South Forty Foot for Fishtoft AC on Sunday. Settling on the Oldrids Downtown section they brought only very small nets of roach and skimmers to the scales at the close. Having featured in the prize list on carp fisheries in recent weeks, Gregos Chalat showed his versatility by winning this event with small fish on the pole at 13m using groundbait and pinkie. Likewise Mark Cook did much the same but caught all his fish at a close range of just 4m and followed by Krzysztof Lamek who too all his catch at 13m on big maggot. Results: 1 Gregos Chalat 4lbs 13ozs; 2 Mark Cook 3lbs 9ozs; 3 Krzysztof Lamek 2lbs 7ozs.

No fixture next Sunday but those members intent on fishing should contact Jerry Clifton to arrange a venue.
Over to Westwood Lakes and both £1000 qualifiers were won with very good weights. The Tuesday qualifier on Skylark saw Steve Lane take the honours and using paste at 3m down the edge he landed a mixture of bream, tench and carp to win by 10lbs from Ken Clark. Results: 1 Steve Lane Castle AC 90lbs 7ozs; 2 Ken Clark Westwood 80lbs 6ozs; 3 Tony Evans Middy Tackle 75lbs 6ozs.

The Thursday over 50s match on Skylark produced another series of good weights and here John Gooden finished top dog beating the ever present Ken Clark by some 8lbs with Brian Thompson another pound or so further back in third. Results: 1 John Gooden Milldon 83lbs 7ozs; 2 Ken Clark Westwood 75lbs 4ozs; 3 Brian Thompson Orchard Park 73lbs 12ozs.

A sunny summer's day down on Hawk Lake, Westwood Lakes on Sunday for Liam's Elite members. Good weights all round and only 9lbs separating the top five places. Gary Shinn, a Westwood regular, took the honours using his favourite method of pellet down the edge and over to the far bank. He finished 4lbs in front of Chris Chapman who also took his net of fish from down the edge, as did Lee Hunt who used maggot on the inside to finish only 1½lbs down in third. Even closer was Kevin Hunt using paste close in and a mere 8ozs adrift in fourth. Results: 1 Gary Shinn peg 8 61lbs; 2 Chris Chapman peg 11 57lbs; 3 Lee Hunt peg 18 55lbs 8ozs; 4 Kevin Hunt peg 16 55lbs; 5 Andy Dillamore peg 13 52lbs.

The Sunday £1,000 qualifier saw an almost identical weight to Tuesday’s match and here lake specialist Luke Morley just nudged the 90lbs mark in a comfortable win over Jimmy Brooks. Luke used the rod and pellet across to the island and close in to his left hand side to net both carp and tench, whereas Jimmy fished maggots down the track to land small ide, skimmers, tench and barbel for his second place. Results: 1 Luke Morley Miracle Baits 90lbs; 2 Jimmy Brooks Anglers Corner 74lbs 6ozs; 3 Tony Evans Middy Dynamite 62lbs; 4 Ken Clark Westwood 59lbs 12ozs; 6 Matty Bunton Anglers Corner 55lbs 10ozs.

The junior match is run in two categories and this week the under 12yr section was won by TJ Simpson with 22lbs 8ozs whilst the under 16s was taken by Ben Elding. Results: 1 Ben Elding 52lbs 14ozs; 2 Adam Swain 44lbs 8ozs; 3 Chris 38lbs 14ozs.

Anyone wishing to fish these £1000 qualifiers should be at Skylark Lake for a 10am draw on both Tuesday (£11 all in) and Thursday (£6 all in), junior series draw Skylark 9am. Prizes and trophies for the winners, for more info call Alex on 07846769003.

Back to roach and skimmers for the Monday evening sweep which this week took place on the Windsor Bank section. An increase in overall weights on previous weeks as Brian Clark put just under 10lbs onto the scales for an easy win. He, along with most others, used pole and pinkie over groundbait, as did Dave Creasey in second but nearly 3lbs down. Janusz Kedzierski managed third, nearly 2lbs further back and Brian Blackamore completing the line up on just under 5lbs. Results: 1 Brian Clark 9lbs 14ozs; 2 Dave Creasey 6lbs 15ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski 5lbs 3ozs; 4 Brian Blackamore 4lbs 14ozs. Next Monday night drawing at 4.30pm at Norprint gates, Horncastle Road.

Review for July 24

Half-hour blitz sets up victory for Nick

A cool week for July as temperatures struggled to make the monthly average and combined with further spells of heavy rain in places it has seemed more like autumn than mid-summer.

Tuesday usually brings the poorest weather of the week and last Tuesday at Royle’s was no different. The latest BAC match saw a low turnout and not surprising as thunderstorms and heavy downpours kept the few contenders under their umbrellas for a good part of the match. Even so a couple of ton plus weights were brought to scales and followed by two in the 60lbs range. John Godden fished in the margins and put the pole and pellet to maximum effect and beat Lee Feary by 7lbs. Lee also chose the pole and pellet well up in the water for his runner up weight, with Brian Clark back in third. Results: 1 John Godden 115lbs 7ozs; 2 Lee Feary 108lbs 3ozs; 3 Brian Clarke 65lbs 13ozs; 4 Paul Carter 60lbs 4ozs.

The Wednesday Open at Haverholme was won within the first half hour this week as Nick Mummery caught from the off on pellet feeder and continued to put fish up to 10lbs in his net throughout the match, switching to pellet waggler in the latter stages. He won by the proverbial mile and almost doubled the second placed weight, that of Edgar Purnell who took most of his fish on the pole and pellet. Even further in the distance was Ernie Heseltine who used the straight lead to hold on to third ahead of Paul Oglesbee. Results: 1 Nick Mummery 139lbs 14ozs; 2 Edgar Purnell 52lbs 12ozs; 3 Ernie Heseltine 37lbs 8ozs; 4 Paul Oglesbee 27lbs. Draw at the venue, 8 30am each Wednesday.

The Saturday sweep at Bain Valley featured strong cool winds which made fishing difficult as 'the method' produced all the better weights. Steve Smith led the field home with a near 15lbs advantage over Trevor Tute who occupied second with a very narrow 2lbs advantage over Steve Lamyman and Terry Gooding who were always in the hunt. Results: 1 Steve Smith peg 26 80lbs 12ozs; 2 Trevor Tute peg 15 65lbs 15ozs; 3 Steve Lamyman peg 18 63lbs 13ozs; 4 Terry Gooding peg 21 63lbs 6ozs; 5 Dave Woodbridge peg 6 59lbs 1oz; 6 Steve Gregory peg 24 48lbs 8ozs.

Another runaway victory, and this time at Priory Lake no.2 on Saturday. Here Pete Allen took 4 bream in the 4lbs bracket together with the odd carp and all to expander pellets at 11m at an early stage. The swim then suddenly died but a change to the margins brought instant success and a string of carp in the 5-7lbs range brought that easy win. Edgar Purnell came home second, he also being an easy runner up by taking all of his catch to the method feeder with 8mm banded pellet and beating third placed Roger Oxspring by over 12lbs. Results: 1 Pete Allen peg 76 83lbs 4ozs; 2 Edgar Purnell peg 72 41lbs 7ozs; 3 Roger Oxspring 29lbs; 4 Malc Green 17lbs 9ozs; 5 George Gosling 12lbs 6ozs.

Not quite double figures in attendance on Sunday for the latest BAC match on Horncastle Road and here a better class of fish showed some response. Three bream fell to the feeder in the first hour or so but then a change to the pole brought a constant stream of roach to give Kevin Hunt a comfortable victory. Len Shucksmith stuck to his favourite quivertip tactics and came up with the odd bream, tench and a couple of perch but these alone only guaranteed second spot on this occasion. Roach was also the target for John Kadzionis and using the pole, pinkie and groundbait combination he pushed Len all the way to take third place, less than half a pound adrift. Results: 1 Kevin Hunt 10lbs 13ozs; 2nd Len Shucksmith 8lbs 3ozs; 3 John Kadzionis 7lbs 14ozs.

Fishtoft AC tackled Royle’s lake at Leverton on Sunday and here nets were somewhat smaller than those from the mid-week sweep which took place in much poorer conditions. Small carp were the target for most and pellet, feeder and maggot tactics brought a narrow victory to Mark Cook. Rod Asher chose the pole at 13m with much the same hookbaits and was rewarded with second place, only a couple of pounds or so behind Mark. They were followed by Ben Brighton and Terry Gooding who used combinations of pole, caster, pellet and maggot to finish in the 20lbs range. Results: 1 Mark Cook 34lbs 14ozs; 2 Rod Asher 32lbs 8ozs; 3 Ben Brighton 26lbs 10ozs; 4 Terry Gooding 22lbs 14ozs. Next week meet Sibsey Trader for 8am draw (maybe a change of venue on morning).

Completing this week’s round up is the Monday evening sweep which also took on Horncastle Road. Unlike Sunday, roach and skimmers were the most sought after, and pinkie over groundbait on the pole was the favourite method. This worked best for Brian Clark who stayed close to the bankside, at just 4m to win with the sole double figure weight – just. Ian Kent elected to use both pinkie and hemp at 10m, a tactic which brought him second, a mere 2ozs better than Dave Creasey. Dave took his third place, again using pinkie over groundbait on the pole at 8m, and finished well in front of Mark Cook in fourth. Results: 1 Brian Clark 10lbs 2 Ian Kent 7lbs 2ozs; 3 Dave Creasey 7lbs; 4 Mark Cook 4lbs 13ozs. Next Monday drawing at 4.45pm Windsor Bank.

Review for July 17

Len profits from feeder and worm tactic

Last Sunday week’s BAC open match on pegs 85 – 99 on the Maud Foster Drain, Horncastle Road was another repeat performance as Lincoln’s Len Shucksmith came out top dog once again. His usual feeder and worm method again paid handsome dividends as it produced three good bream and a number of small perch. Most of the other 14 anglers stuck to small bait and pole tactics and Ben Brighton finished best of the rest with some nice roach which fell mainly to pinkie. After that Greggo came close using much the same method and was helped to third place by a tench of around 2lbs. Results: 1st Len Shucksmith 9lbs 6ozs; 2 Ben Brighton 6lbs; 3 Grego 5lbs 12ozs; 4 Steve Lamyman 3lbs 6ozs.

Overall weights were down a touch under calmer conditions in Tuesday’s BAC match at Royle’s. Even so a good enough net for John Godden to make three wins from the last three sweeps, his fish taken in the margins on both maggot and pellet. In contrast Steve Lamyman used pellet up in the water and took his fish at 14.5m across to the island. Only 1½lbs down was Paul Revell who used pole and pellet to take that third place on his very first visit, and a mere 8ozs further back was the ever consistent Brian Clark. Results: 1 John Godden peg 5 78lbs 4ozs; 2 Steve Lamyman peg 12 61lbs 8ozs; 3 Paul Revell peg 10 59lbs; 4 Brian Clark 58lbs 8ozs; 5 Mick Morgan peg 1 51lbs; 6 Colin Hollyoak peg 14 33lbs 8ozs.

A cool and cloudy day at Haverholme on Wednesday, with little sign of fish movement at the draw time. Straight lead and banded pellet accounted for the most catches in the early and middle part of the match, the pellet waggler doing the damage later in the proceedings. It was Paul Oglesbee who came up with the goods, catching well in the latter stages and pushing Ernie Heseltine and Edgar Purnell into second and third places respectively. A long way behind but Ray Mawer used the short pole with corn as bait to come in fourth. Results: 1 Paul Oglesbee 81lbs 13ozs; 2 Ernie Heseltine 78lbs 9ozs; 3 Edgar Purnell 71lbs 6ozs; 4 Ray Mawer 45lbs 8ozs.

The Saturday Open at Priory Lake, Ruskington was no contest as Edgar Purnell finished the day almost 60lbs in front of his nearest rival. Starting on the method feeder he used sweetcorn and after netting four carp in the first 40 minutes the swim suddenly died, after that it was a case if switching between the pole and feeder to take bream and carp on both lines using expanders on the pole and banded pellet and corn on the method for a total of nine carp and seven bream. Last week’s winner Pete Allen had to settle for runner up this time with 7 carp using sweetcorn on the pole. Results: 1 Edgar Purnell 91lbs 4ozs; 2 Pete Allen 32lbs11ozs; 3 B McKeown 27lbs; 4 M Green 25lbs7ozs; J Duggan 17lbs 6ozs.

Saturday also saw the 116th Boston annual match take place on pegs 86 onwards of the Horncastle Road section of the Maud Foster Drain – under very soggy conditions I may add. A good weight of small skimmers plus a couple of bonus tench brought a clear victory to Steve Winter, all falling to chopped worm on the feeder. Paul Pettener also came up with a decent net of skimmers to the pole and chopped worm, but minus those bonus tench, managed to hold on to second ahead of Don Green by a couple of pounds. Similarly, Don took his net of perch and tench using the method and kept ahead of match organiser Mark Cook by roughly the same margin. Results: 1 Steve Winter Maver Bait Tech peg 92 23lbs 9ozs; 2 Paul Pettener Newark peg 95 14lbs 5ozs; 3 Don Green Mildon peg 93 12lbs 3ozs; 4 Mark Cook Boston peg 94 10lbs 5ozs.

Later this month and the BDAA Championship will take place on July 30, those who wish to fish can contact Mark on 01205 363333 or 07947859747.

Fishtoft AC switched from a very weedy Cook’s Lock to the much clearer Oldrids Downtown section of the S. Forty Foot Drain on Sunday and most of those competing brought some good nets of roach and skimmers to scales. Red maggot on the pole over groundbait was the winning tactic for Greggo who won with five pounds and more to spare over Ben Brighton in second. Ben used maggot and chopped worm for that position, as did Janusz Kedzierski, a mere 2ozs adrift and Mick Morgan coming in a somewhat distant fourth, but still with over 7lbs of silver fish. Results: 1 Greggo 16lbs 14ozs; 2 Ben Brighton 11lbs 10zs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski 11lbs 8ozs; 4 Mick Morgan 7lbs 2ozs.Next Sunday sees the club make the short trip to Royle's Lake, Leverton, meet at the lake at 8am.

Completing this week’s report is the Monday evening sweep which on this occasion took place on Windsor Bank. A mixed bag of roach, perch and skimmers brought victory to Janusz Kedzierski who used the pole at 6m with chopped worm and pinkie over groundbait to keep the fish interested. The 5m whip, plus squatt and pinkies, saw Derek Skinner into second whilst Don Green took mainly eels and small perch at 12m for third place. Results: 1 Janusz Kedzierski 5lbs 7ozs; 2 Derek Skinner 3lbs 3ozs; 3 Don Green 2lbs 9ozs. Next Monday, meet Norprint Gates, Horncastle Road for a 4.45pm draw.

Review for July 10

Godden gets back to winning form

Tuesday’s Boston Angling Centre match at Royle’s lake saw John Godden return to top form after a short absence, and won with over 7lbs to spare on Ian Kent. For the record John chose pole, maggot and pellet in the margins but could not make the magic ton this week. For his part Ian stuck to pole and pellet up in the water, as did Steve Lamyman in a close third, a mere ounce adrift. Results: 1 John Godden peg 5 93lbs 14ozs; 2 Ian Kent peg 14 86lbs 4ozs; 3 Steve Lamyman peg 2 86lbs 3ozs; 4 Phil Jackson peg 9 41lbs 3ozs; 5 Mick Morgan peg 19 37lbs 3ozs; 6 Paul Cater peg 12 32lbs.

A pleasant start to the evening for the senior schools’ match which took place on the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain on Thursday. The match was fished over pegs 10 – 53 and of the 35 that took part 22 of those brought something to the scales. Sadly it all ended in a thunderstorm and so the match was curtailed and brought to a halt at 8.10pm. Obviously catches were going to come in lower but at least one kilogram plus weight was recorded. This was taken by Ben Elding, winning the Billy Hill Cup from peg 34 next to the swimming pool footbridge, his catch consisting of four good eels and a few small silver fish using red worm. Next up was Kieran Cook who took a catch of small perch, also to red worm, from an early peg 15, which was not one of the more fancied ones, and followed by Liam Worthington in third with a little over half a kilo. These were all in the under 17yr category but their counterparts in the under 14yrs still came up with some good catches and not too far behind. Top of this particular list and winning the Hudson Cup was Taylor Hayden who just held on to beat Lewis Donaldson by a mere 20gms, Nathan Lee another 90gms down in third.

Teamwise the day belonged to Giles F who with Ben Elding in their midst won the Centenary Trophy with the help of Joe Claricotes and Lewis McKew. Even so, Middlecott A pushed them all the way and their team of Ben Melson, Keiran Cook and Taylor Hayden won the Beckett Cup and finished some way ahead of Adam Swain, Bradie Coulson and Nathan Lee who represented Haven High. Results: Teams; 1 Giles F 1.470kg; 2 Middlecott A 1.190kg; 3 Haven High A 700gms. Individuals under 14yrs: 1 Taylor Hayden Middlecott A 490gms; 2 Lewis Donaldson Giles D 470gms; 3 Nathan Lee Haven High A 380gms. Individuals under 17yrs; 1 Ben Elding Giles F 1.150kg; 2 Keiran Cook 630gms; 3 Liam Worthington Giles E 510gms. Prizes were kindly donated by: The Environment Agency, Boston and District AA and Boston Angling Centre. A big thank you also to: BDAA for the pegs, parents, guardians and teachers; all volunteers who helped weigh in on a very wet night plus Mark Cook for clearing the pegs.

A much closer contest at Haverholme last Wednesday with just one good sized carp separating the top two. This week it was Ernie Heseltine who took the honours with a mainly pellet and waggler combination in first spot, and Nick Mummery, using the same method, finishing in second. A long, long way behind but Dave Gash finished third with 12lbs of skimmers on the pole. Results: 1 Ernie Heseltine 71lbs 10ozs; 2 Nick Mummery 65lbs 12ozs; 3 Dave Gash 12lbs. Draw 8 30am at the venue next week.

Saturday’s Boston Angling Centre match, again at Royle’s, featured blustery winds which made fishing doubly difficult and weights consequently down by almost a third. Even so John Godden completed the double, this time taking most fish on both pellet and maggot at 7m. The ever consistent Brian Clark came home in second this time and beating last week’s winner Lee Feary by 5lbs, both using the pole and pellet combination. Results: 1 John Godden 70lbs peg 19; 2 Brian Clarke 56lbs 8ozs peg 4; 3 Lee Feary 51lb 8ozs peg 14; 4 Bob Bierton 44lbs peg 12; 5 Steve Lamyman 36lbs 8ozs peg 2; 6 Graham Upsall 22lbs peg 21.

Halifax Lake at Bain Valley was the latest venue for Fishtoft AC on a Saturday for a change. Here stock fish to 2lbs were the main target and Mick Morgan used both feeder and waggler with pellet to win the day. Terry Gooding also used the feeder, and combined with pellet and maggot finished just over 6lbs behind the winner. Brian Blackamore was always in the hunt but similar tactics left him another 7lbs short of the runner up – Nick Mummery still in the 50lbs plus bracket for fourth. Results: 1 Mick Morgan 68lbs 11ozs; 2 Terry Gooding 62lbs 2ozs; 3 Brian Blackamore 55lbs; 4 Nick Mummery 52lbs 1oz. Next week, meet Cook’s Lock, S. Forty Foot Drain for an 8am draw on the bank.

Another change of venue for Liam’s Elite, moving to the popular and sunny Royle’s at Leverton on Sunday morning. Again a close match and no runaway winner with just the odd small carp separating top spot. Both those top two used the long pole with pellet and maggot but Ron Roberts edged home by less than 2lbs over Andy Dillamore. Gary Shinn was always in the hunt but had to settle for third, just over 5lbs down and Ian Hunt fourth still in the 40lbs range. Results: 1 Ron Roberts 52lbs 8ozs; 2 Andy Dillamore 50lbs 10ozs; 3 Gary Shinn 45lbs; 4 Ian Hunt 41lbs 8ozs; 5 Brian Burton 33lbs 12ozs.

All local species of fish were represented in the latest Monday evening match on Horncastle Road pegs 96 to 112 – but sadly not too many of any one type. Small skimmers to the pole, groundbait, squatt and pinkie was the winning formula for Dave Creasey who won with over 2lbs to spare over Derek Skinner. Derek fished his usual style of punch and squatt at 5m to take small roach, Don Green in third targeting eels and perch to finish a little over a pound back. Results: 1 Dave Creasey 5lbs 2ozs; 2 Derek Skinner 3lbs; 3 Don Green 1lb 14ozs. Next Monday night draw at Windsor Bank for 5pm.

Review for July 3

Conditions take a dive for Royle’s match

A thunderstorm, a downpour and a drastic drop in temperature greeted regulars to Tuesday’s Boston Angling Centre match at Royle's. Further storms throughout the day did nothing to improve things and most complained of missed bites as fish became shy of all offerings as the day wore on. Even so some good catches were still taken from the fancied pegs as the winner, Lee Feary, just cracked the ton. Fishing well up in the water he took a constant stream of stockies to pole and pellet and left second placed Ian Kent way behind for a change. Ian still managed a big 60lbs plus using like tactics and held on to that position by just over a pound over Steve Lamyman. Results: 1 Lee Feary peg 14 100lbs 15ozs; 2 Ian Kent peg 10 67lbs 7ozs; 3 Steve Lamyman peg 5 66lbs 2ozs; 4 Phil Jackson peg 7 41lbs 12ozs; 5 Brian Clark peg 3 36lbs 2ozs; 6 Mick Morgan peg 21 35lbs 1oz.

Following on from that and the vast majority of the youngsters turned out for the evening Junior Schools match which was held on the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain. Of the 33 that entered 23 had something to show for their efforts and for the allocated two hours some good weights – of mainly eels I may add – were brought to scales at the end of the day. Teamwise the honours went to Hawthorne Tree A as members Taylor Gray, Thomas Holden and Joseph Bryant lifted the Brocklesby Cup with a combined weight of 1.960Kg. The two man team of Reece Cook and Thomas Morrell also made their presence felt and won the Trent Cup for second place for St. Nicholas B. Not far adrift in third and only 20g short was another twosome in the shape of Becky Moore and Courtney Smith who won the Rob & Emma Cup.

Individually and the youngest angler to weigh in was Leah Rivett who at the tender age of seven put 650g on the scales. And so to the top lady angler who was Courtney Smith and with her weight of 1.220kg she also featured in the under 12yr individual list by taking second place. Top spot here went to Taylor Gray who as you can see contributed most of the winning Hawthorne Tree team weight and still in the 1kg category was Reece Cook in third. As you would expect, catches were a little lower for the under 10yr category but here Leah Rivett headed that list of course with that 650g but was closely followed home by Shae Coulson and Alex Emerson.

Teams: 1 Hawthorne Tree A 1.960kg Brocklesby Cup; 2 St. Nicholas B 1.260kg Trent Cup; 3 Hawthorne Tree B 1.240kg Rob & Emma Cup.
Individuals under 10yrs: 1 Leah Rivett Carlton Road 650g Challenge Cup & replica; 2 Shae Coulson Frithville 500g; 3 Alex Emerson Sibsey B 350g.
Individuals under 12yrs: 1 Taylor Gray Hawthorne A 1.730kg BDAA Cup & replica; 2 Courtney Smith Hawthorne B 1.220kg; 3 Reece Cook St. Nicholas B 1.050kg.

Prizes were donated by the Environment Agency, Boston Angling Centre and the Boston & DAA. Thanks were expressed to Boston & DAA for the pegging and replicas and also to those who helped in any way. Also thanked were the schools for entering the teams and to parents and guardians for looking after the young anglers, and the youngsters themselves for turning out on a fairly awful night.

Over to Haverholme where Nick Mummery led the field from start to finish on Wednesday. He took his fish on the feeder at an early stage before switching to the pellet waggler, most of his weight then coming in the latter stages of the match. In second place, with only half that weight of the winner, was Ernie Heseltine who also used the pellet waggler as well as straight lead, and closely followed by Edgar Purnell using identical tactics in third. Results: 1 N Mummery 73lbs; 2 E Heseltine 37lbs 9ozs; 3 E Purnell 36lbs 4ozs. Draw 8.30am at the venue each Wednesday.

Fourteen hopefuls braved the masses of floating weed in the Boston Angling Centre open match on the Horncastle Road section of the Bargate Drain on Sunday. Winner again was Lincoln’s Len Shucksmith, using his trusty feeder and worm method to tempt three small bream and a tench. Mark Griggs landed second spot with an all pole caught net of smaller fish, with Kevin Hunt taking third in a close fought battle with the very consistent Brian Clark. Results: 1 Len Shucksmith 8lbs 11ozs; 2 Mark Griggs 5lbs 1oz; 3 Kevin Hunt 4lbs 1oz; 4 Brian Clark 4lbs. Same again this Sunday coming. Draw at the BAC shop at 8am, fish 9-1pm.

The latest Fishtoft AC outing took them to Ings Bridge on the Hobhole Drain on Sunday and here small perch and skimmers were the main target. This was the case for Ernie Heseltine who chose swimfeeder tactics and added a small bream to win the day. He beat Ben Brighton by a little over a pound, Ben like most of the others opting for pole and chopped worm on an inside line. Mark Cook took third just 4ozs back but weights then dropped away to the ounces range as Rod Asher and Kieran Cook could only manage 4ozs each for fourth. Results: 1 Ernie Heseltine 4lbs 11ozs; 2 Ben Brighton 3lbs 7ozs; 3 Mark Cook 3lbs 3ozs; 4 Rod Asher and Kieran Cook 4ozs. Members should note that the club will make the short trip to the Bain Valley fishery next Saturday 9th July, meet at the lake for 8am.

Bang up to date and the Monday match reverted back to the Windsor Bank section where Don Green again won the match but this time had to share the honours with Ian Kent, both taking eels and the odd perch on chopped worm at 5m. The same method brought third place to Davis Gurton who just held on to deny Steve Lamyman that position, Steve also taking perch and eels to pinkie and chopped worm. Results: equal 1 Don Green and Ian Kent 3lbs 8ozs; 3 Davis Gurton 2lbs 9ozs; 4th Steve Lamyman. Next Monday meet Norprint Gates, Horncastle road draw at 5pm.

Names are now being taken for the 116th BDAA Annual match, which takes place on Saturday the July 16 on the Bargate Drain. To book tickets please contact Mark Cook on 01205 363333 or 07947859747, closing date for this match will be Thursday July 14.

Review for June 26

Kent emerges from shade to land victory

Back to normal last week as windy conditions again made the going tough in Tuesday’s Boston Angling Centre match at Royle’s. Shadier pegs produced the goods and Ian Kent again emerged the victor taking all his fish close in at 5m using the pole, pellet and paste combinations. Similar tactics brought the runner up position to John Godden, followed very closely by Brian Clark and Paul Cater recording just under 50lbs for fourth. Results: 1 Ian Kent peg 14 69lbs 6ozs; 2 John Godden peg 2 63lbs 12ozs; 3 Brian Clarke peg 12 63lbs 2ozs; 4 Paul Cater peg 14 49lbs 5ozs; 5 Steve Lamyman peg 6 39lbs.

A dour day for all in the latest Haverholme Open on Wednesday as most carp were seen to be cruising around just under the surface and showing little interest in feeding. Straight lead and banded pellet enticed three decent carp for Edgar Purnell to emerge as this week’s winner, followed by site owner Dave Gash who landed three smaller models for second place. Ray Pauley and Derek Ferguson were the only other anglers to make double figures, Ray also taking three fish – two carp and a tench from his swim tight to an overhanging tree for third, just a single ounce better than Derek. Results: 1 Edgar Purnell 20lbs 12ozs; 2 Dave Gash 12lbs 5ozs; 3 R Pauley 11lbs 2ozs. Derek Ferguson 11lbs 1oz.

Windy again for the Saturday match at Bain Valley but undeterred Dave Manton, with the wind in his face, caught commons and stockies close in on pole, pellet and paste for an easy victory. Steve Miles used the method and pole to take a comfortable second spot some 15lbs ahead of Paul Coulter with Stan Smith in fourth with another 50lbs plus net. Results: 1 Dave Manton peg 21 80lbs 12ozs; 2 Steve Miles peg 20 73lbs 12ozs; 3 Paul Coulter peg 3 69lbs 10ozs; 4 Stan Smith peg 1 54lbs 12ozs; 5 Dave Seniel peg 18 49lbs 10ozs; 6 Ben Brighton peg 23 48lbs.

Fishtoft AC paid a visit to the Black Dyke section of Tyde Gote Drain on Sunday and here most of the club members present had a few pounds of roach, perch and skimmers to show for their efforts. This week Nick Mummery led the field using both pole and feeder at 10m. Ben Brighton also used similar tactics with hemp, combined with squatt and pinkie to finish only 8ozs back in second, chopped worm and pinkie bringing third place for Mark Cook. Results: 1 Nick Mummery 7lbs 8ozs; 2 Ben Brighton 7lbs; 3 Mark Cook 6lbs 4ozs.

What a scorcher as Sunday turned out to be the hottest of the year for the East Coast juniors, the thermometer touching 30°c. They met on the Bargate drain along Horncastle road to do battle with their elders in a ‘Dads versus Lads’ match organised to raise funds for the league. The fishing was hard and became even more difficult as the temperature rose. Needless to say the dads won with a winning total of 3lbs 13ozs with the lads and lasses on 2lbs 8ozs, which was also the weight of individual winner Lee Swain from peg 105. Top junior individual was son Adam Swain on peg 93 and using same method as dad with squatt on the long pole for 1lb of small roach. These weights were only represented by half of those fishing as a number of the dads took pity on their off spring and threw their catch back, but the youngsters are now demanding a return match later in the year. Boston and District AA waived pegging fees and the money raised will ensure the league remains active for a further season. Any youngsters wanting join in with the fishing can contact Dave Rance 01529 461415 for information.

Ten anglers fished the latest BAC match on Sunday and really struggled with floating weed in all that heat on pegs 121 – 130 of the Horncastle Road section of the Bargate Drain. Most opted for the feeder and ‘Trent’ style with rod tips well up in the air to avoid the worst of the debris. Two tench plus three smaller perch fell to worm for Len Shucksmith who won the day and beat Brian Clark into second by just a few ounces. Brian chose the pole and pinkie as his swim was somewhat sheltered to his right from that bank of weed and landed mainly small roach and skimmers for his catch. Back on the tip and Frank Scrupps tempted three small bream and a couple of perch for his third place, well ahead of Janusz Kedzierski who took 40 plus small roach and skimmers for fourth. Results: 1 Len Shucksmith 5lbs 8ozs; 2 Brian Clark 4lbs 12ozs; 3 Frank Scrupps 3lbs 7ozs; 4 Janusz Kedzierski 1lb 4ozs.

Liam's Elite paid a return visit to a very hot and flat calm Donington Brick Pits where fish chose as much shade as was available and generally refused to come out to play. No big weights, but a good stamp of fish was caught by all. Chris Chapman took all his catch by using pellet well up in the water to record a little over the ‘half ton’ whilst Gary Shinn chose maggot and pellet to take second, well ahead of Ron Roberts. Ron for his part fished the margins using worm, and amongst other things included a dozen eels in his third placed net. Results: 1 Chris Chapman 52lbs 8ozs; 2 Gary Shinn 43lbs; 3 Ron Roberts 24lbs 10ozs.

Even hotter and more humid on Monday with the temperature reaching a scorching 33°c by early afternoon. Thankfully this gradually subsided to give a much more pleasant evening for those involved in the sweep which took place on Horncastle Road. Small roach and skimmers were the target for most but Don Green chose chopped worm and caster at 13m to catch odd little perch and big eels. This paid handsome dividends as he won with a few ounces to spare over Brian Clark. Brian also used similar tactics but failed to catch any of those big eels and had to settle for second with a net of small roach and perch, enough for a clear pound over Ian Kent in third and Len Shucksmith still in the 4lbs range in fourth. Results: 1 Don Green 6lbs 6ozs; 2 Brian Clark 5lbs 9ozs; 3 Ian Kent 4lbs 6ozs; 4 Len Shucksmith 4lbs 2ozs. Next week meet at Norprint gates, Horncastle road for 5pm draw.

Review for June 19

It’s a hat-trick feat for Ian

The weather slowly becoming more unsettled as the week wore on and of course any rainfall was reserved for the start of the new season. A good downpour on Friday but again this did not set in until after dark and faded away by Saturday morning.

Back to last Tuesday’s match at Royle’s with a nice day for a change, and after a slow start catch rates gathered pace and good weights were had by all, the lowest being 31lbs. A hat-trick for Ian Kent who caught stockies at 5m on pellet to gain a hard fought win over John Godden. For his part John also caught using pellet at a longer range and finished with just 2lbs to spare over Steve Lamyman, he using caster well up in the water. Completing the line-up was Brian Clark, Paul Cater and Mick Morgan with catches in the 40 – 50lbs plus range. Results: 1 Ian Kent peg 2 69lbs 15ozs; 2 John Godden peg 19 63lbs 11ozs; 3 Steve Lamyman peg 21 61lbs 10ozs; 4 Brian Clark peg 12 54lbs 12ozs; 5 Paul Cater peg 4 49lbs 2ozs; 6 Mick Morgan peg 10 42lbs 4ozs.

Hard going on Saturday at Bain Valley after that rain overnight and spawning fish the day before but Dave Daniels made it back to back wins with another close fought victory, this time over Terry Gooding. Pole and pellet was the key to success and Terry took second with his usual quivertip and maggot approach.
1 Dave Daniels peg 18 58lbs 2ozs; 2 Terry Gooding peg 29 54lbs 7ozs; 3 Tony Tute peg 21 48lbs 3ozs; 4 Steve Miles peg 16 42lbs 1oz; 5 Pat James peg 6 41lbs 8ozs; 6 Sam Smith peg 14 35lbs 3ozs. Next week again at Bain Valley.

On to Wednesday and Paul Oglesbee looked as if he was going to maintain his 100% Haverholme record with 3 good carp in his net well before all the other competitors had a single fish between them. However it was Edgar Purnell who eventually caught fish very close in on the pole with pellet and took first spot. Ernie Heseltine chose the straight lead and pellet, eventually pushing Paul Oglesbee into third place. Results: 1 Edgar Purnell 53lbs12ozs; 2 Ernie Heseltine 45lbs12ozs; 3 Paul Oglesbee 41lbs12ozs. Draw 0830 at the venue next Wednesday.

Carrying a fine colour the River Witham showed every sign of a good start to the season, but after Thursday that had all been run out and the river returned to almost gin clear conditions. Not many anglers to be seen but nevertheless some catches of bream, plus eels and perch were taken from various areas of the river. Best nets amongst these was six bream around the 5lbs mark from peg 4 on the Pound Length and around 60lbs for Mick Stephens in Reedy Bay, this catch consisting of 12 similar sized fish.

Fishtoft AC kicked off their campaign on the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain on Thursday evening with very little to show for their efforts over more than three hours. Small roach and perch were the mainstay of catches and invariably taken using pinkie and worm on the pole at 3m. In what was obviously going to be a close contest young Davis Gurton won the day by a two ounce margin over Mark Cook. He in turn held on to the runner up spot by a single ounce from Ben Elding with Janusz Kedzierski the only other in the pound plus category. Results: 1 Davis Gurton 2lbs 2ozs; 2 Mark Cook 2lbs; 3 Ben Elding 1lb 15ozs; 4 Janusz Kedzierski 1lb 6ozs.

No real improvement for Saturday’s committee & delegates match on the same venue and here Kevin Hunt came out the winner with a few more small roach and perch to chopped worm at 6m, beating second placed Brian Blackamore by 5ozs, he on a more distant line of 12m using similar tactics. Results: 1 Kevin Hunt 2lbs 8ozs; 2 Brian Blackamore 2lbs 3ozs; 3 Brian Clark 1lb 5ozs.

On to Sunday and Fishtoft AC abandoned their short trip to Northlands and settled on pegs around the Norprint gates on the Horncastle Road area of the Bargate Drain. A tench of around 2lbs made the winner look better, otherwise it was more of the same with squatt and pinkie tempting those small roach and perch at varying distances. Rod Asher was the beneficiary of that tench which gave him a narrow victory over Ernie Heseltine who finished second ahead of Mark Cook and Jerry Clifton. Results: 1 Rod Asher 4lbs 3ozs; 2 Ernie Heseltine 2lbs 14ozs; 3 Mark Cook 2lbs 5ozs; 4 Jerry Clifton 2lbs 2ozs. Next week meet at the Little Chef, Algarkirk for 8am.

Further upstream above the cemetery footbridge the first of the Boston Angling Centre matches threw up much better weights for the 13 contenders, as many more roach and skimmers fell to pinkie over groundbait. Brian Blackamore won the day with nearly 7lbs with organiser Ian Kent taking second spot some way ahead of Len Shucksmith. Results: 1 Brian Blackamore 6lbs 13ozs; 2 Ian Kent 5lbs 11ozs; 3 Len Shucksmith 3lbs 13ozs.

Match anglers are reminded that names are being taken for the club championship event on July 3rd, this being for teams of six, so please contact Mark Cook on 01205 363333 or 0794 7859747. Not a very auspicious start to the new season by any means but it can and will get better, I can promise you that.