Not much in the way of sunshine during last week but air temperatures continued to rise into the weekend, and peaked in unseasonable double figures. They may well hover around that mark as this week progresses but turning more unsettled as we move into March.

The milder weather arrived a touch too late to improve the River Witham as last Wednesday’s sweep turned out to be very much a scratch affair. A few roach plus the odd perch made up the bulk of catches that finished well short of double figures. Phil Chesterton carried on where he left off the previous Saturday and won the day with over a pound to spare on Andy Scott. After that things were considerably tighter as only seven ounces covered those next three places. Results: 1 Phil Chesterton, Mark One, 5lbs 2½ozs; 2 Andy Scott, Spilsby, 3lbs 15ozs; 3 Sean Wright, Mark One, 3lbs 9½ozs; 4 Maurice Thacker, Lincoln, 3lbs 8ozs.

Those warmer temperatures certainly made the difference come Saturday as weights nudging the double figures were common, and Dave Bontoft left everyone in his wake with a super catch of large perch to his usual pole and worm tactics. Five pounds was the gap to second placed Maurice Thacker who relied on more common methods of pole and maggot to take a mixed bag of fish, and one which included a superb roach of 2lbs 7½ozs! Dave Mountford produced a smaller catch of perch for third, Dave Edwards completing the line up with another mixed net of fish which also included a few skimmers. Results: 1 Dave Bontoft, Pets Cabin, 18lbs 10ozs; 2 Maurice Thacker, Lincoln, 13lbs 8½ozs; 3 Dave Mountford, Grimsby, 12lbs 1oz; 4 Dave Edwards, Holly Farm, 11lbs 5ozs.

After an eventful series, which took place under very difficult conditions at times, the Bourne Winter League went out in some style as most of those taking part brought fish to scales for a change. The match took place on the North Level Drain and Spalding angler Rick Tweddel capped an indifferent series with a comfortable win. Pegged near to Harolds Bridge, Rick landed eight big perch, a tench and topped off with a few skimmers to win with over 3lbs to spare. Boston angler Mark Griggs clinched second and for his weight he put around 220 small roach and skimmers in the net, as did up and coming young Boston star Luke Morley in landing fifth. Not to be outdone of course it was our own Steve Winter who took the individual title, and at that not without a dead heat with Mark Griggs on a total of 10 points each. However, looking back over the series the outcome was decided by greater number of section wins, which then gave the trophy and spoils to Steve. A similar situation in the team event which saw a tie between Mark One White and Wades MG, but also on countback the title went to Mark One with more section wins overall. Results: individuals, 1 Rick Tweddel, Bourne MG, 17lbs 9ozs; 2 Mark Griggs, Lincs County, 14lbs 4ozs; 3 Martin Howard, Mark One, 12lbs 8ozs; 4 Steve Goodram, MAP Peterborough, 11lbs 7ozs; 5 Luke Morley, Mark One, 11lbs 3ozs; teams on the day, 1 MAP Peterborough 20pts; equal 2 Wades MG and Garbolino Lincs County 26pts; 4 Bourne MG 31pts; 5 Mark One White 32pts; 6 Bourne MG 33pts; final positions, 1 Mark One White 14pts; 2 Wades MG 14pts; 3 MAP Peterborough 17pts; 4 Garbolino Lincs County 20pts; 5 Fen Flyers 21pts; 6 Bourne MG 22pts.

Another trip to the West Fen Drain at Frithville brought even better results for Bingham AA than their previous visit to this venue a fortnight before. Large perch were again the quarry but a bonus tench delivered victory to Martin Fielding who took all his fish on maggot over chopped worm from the bridge peg. Brien Matthews ran him close with another catch of perch to nigh 3lbs but had to settle for second some 13ozs adrift. Dave Millington took a similar class and species of fish to finish third and well ahead of the rest, but the good news is that the lowest weight came in at over 5lbs. Results: 1 Martin Fielding 14lbs 2ozs; 2 Brian Matthews 13lbs 15ozs; 3 Dave Millington 13lbs 7ozs; 4 Matt Wallington 9lbs 14ozs; 5 Brian Vivern 8lbs 4ozs.

Apart from Rod Asher the rest of Fishtoft AC struggled on a low and still Frith Bank Drain in front of Cropleys on Sunday. Here also chopped worm for perch was the method as Rod ran out an easy winner with over 4lbs to spare on Mick Morgan in second. Results: 1 Rod Asher 6lbs 2ozs; 2 Mick Morgan 1lb 13ozs; 3 Barry Hudson 1lb 6ozs; 4 Janusz Kedzierski 1lb 2ozs. Next Sunday (March 2) meet McDonald’s 7.30am as usual.

The Fenland Pike Club staged their latest fixture on the River Steeping, gathering a total of around 150lbs between the 15 members taking part, only three of those failing to catch. Two of those specimens banked came in at 11lbs 10ozs and 11lbs 6ozs and featured in the leading weights, the first helping Andrew Walker to an hard fought victory with a five fish total, the second included in a four fish haul to bring Barry Moore the runner-up spot. Results: 1 Andrew Walker 25lbs 5ozs; 2 Barry Moore 21lbs 9ozs; 3 George Lacey 16lbs 9ozs.

Finally, a total of 18 anglers attending this latest outing of Liam’s Elite Club at Moon Lake on a bright and warm Sunday morning. All that was needed was a few fish to feed and they did to some degree as Andy Dillamore fished long pole to take carp up in the water to win by a clear 10lbs. Second placed Pete Scrivens opted for feeder and meat across to the island and Jon Sanderson came close with another weight in the same category as Pete, everyone of the party landing a few fish to make it an enjoyable day. Results: 1 Andy Dillamore 28lbs; 2 Pete Scrivens 18lbs 12ozs; 3 Jon Sanderson 18lbs; 4 Chris Chapman 15lbs 10ozs; 5Reece Dillamore 13lbs 10ozs.

Review for February 17

Witham continues in upbeat form

A murky week and one which started off on the mild side but gradually turned colder and brighter, culminating in sharp overnight frosts over the weekend.

The River Witham continues to outshine many other venues and despite last week’s adverse conditions, produced double figure catches for both of the weekly competitions. The same can be said for Dave Edwards who continued where he left off the previous Saturday and won the Wednesday sweep again with some ease. The usual combination of pole and pinkie or big maggot was adopted by most and brought a 2lbs plus cushion to Dave’s winning efforts. Sean Wright again featured in the prize list, as did Andy Scott in third. Results: 1 Dave Edwards, Holly Farm, 11lbs 14ozs; 2 Sean Wright, Mark One, 9lbs 8ozs; 3 Andy Scott, Spilsby, 9lbs 8ozs; 4 Chris Mawer, Browning Boston, 8lbs 11ozs.

Saturday brought those icy conditions but actually saw an improvement in weights overall with the top four places all in double figures. Mark One’s Phil Chesterton won this one in a tight finish from Alan Houlton with Brian Harding a similar distance behind in third. Results: 1 Phil Chesterton, Mark One, 12lbs 5ozs; 2 Alan Houlton, Lincs County, 11lbs 13½ozs; 3 Brian Harding, Bourne MG, 11lbs 5ozs; 4 Rob Johnson 10lbs 11ozs.

Icebreakers at the ready as Fishtoft AC chose the River Steeping in Wainfleet for their latest Sunday sweep. Not many bigger fish to be caught after the commotion had died down but Ben Jackson won the day with nearly 80 small roach and skimmers to ½oz. A slightly lesser number brought Gordon Manning within 4ozs and much the same for Jerry Clifton with just a half ounce less. Results: 1 Ben Jackson 2lbs 4ozs; 2 Gordon Manning 2lbs; Jerry Clifton 1lb 15 ½ ozs; 4 Rod Asher 1lb 10ozs. Next Sunday (February 24) meet McDonald’s 7.30am.

Winding up for the grand finale of the Bourne MG Winter League next week and four times world champion Bob Nudd put a – so far – disastrous 2008 behind him as he won this practice match with some ease. In reality the Welland remains very patchy and whilst Bob, pegged opposite the Poacher Inn, used pole and breadpunch to bring a haul of good roach to scales, his next door neighbour suffered a dry net. The Mark One contingent had a really good day taking four of the top six places and John Taylor Snr. took second spot from the noted Willow Tree peg with Brian Harding squeezing into third ahead of a gaggle of those other Mark One lads. Results: 1 Bob Nudd, VDE Essex, 26lbs 7ozs; 2 John Taylor, Mark One, 22lbs 15½ozs; 3 Brian Harding, Bourne MG, 19lbs 8½ozs; 4 Mick Asker, Mark One, 14lbs 13ozs; 5 Paul Spriggs, Mark One, 14lbs 4ozs; 6 John Spalton, Mark One, 11lbs 4ozs.

The coldest day of the year so far greeted 28 young anglers to fish the fourth round of the East Coast Junior League at Rushfield Lakes, Potter Handworth, The start time was delayed by an hour to give the sun a chance to warm things up, but unfortunately much more was needed to break through the ice as all but five pegs were frozen over. As expected the going was slow but as the ice continued to melt away the larger carp began to show in some spots. Damien Smith Kings Lynn found three carp for winning weight 8lbs 5oz from peg 22: James Wright Holbeach managed two for 5lbs 5oz from peg 19 and from the next door peg 18 Adam Kirby of Lincoln a single fish of 3lbs 12oz for third. With the carp all shoaled up on one bank the rest were left to snatch a few small roach for their sections points. Results: (A) Mattie Smith, Lincoln, 1lb 8oz; (B) Alan Smith, Holbeach, 15oz; (C) Nicolas Wright, Smurfs Elite, 3lbs 8oz; (D) Trafford Nunns, Lincoln, 1lbs 10oz.

Both Boston teams really ended up with a bad draw and had to contend with badly iced up pegs as well as lack of big fish, leaving Holbeach A to take top position. Results: 1 Holbeach A 9pts; 2 Lincoln B 13pts; 3Kings Lynn Gold 17pts; equal 4 Holbeach B and Lincoln A 21pts; 6 Smurfs Elite 26pts; 7 Boston Green 27pts. League to date: 1 Holbeach A 39pts; 2 Smurfs Elite 56pts; 3 Lincoln B 73pts; 4 Kings Lynn Gold 82pts; 5 Lincoln A 83pts; 6 Boston Green 91pts; 7 Holbeach B 93pts. Next round will take place on March 9, River Glen, Pinchbeck.

The final fixtures in Lincoln’s match calendar will both take place on the Upper Witham in Lincoln. Both will be drawn at the Bracebridge Café 8.15am and fish 10am to 3pm, tickets £15 all in from Frank Butler on 01522 534174. They are Cathedral Trophy on Sunday March 2 and the Thompson Memorial on Sunday March 9. Please note that bloodworm and joker are barred.

Review for February 10

Six-fish haul gives Martin a clear victory

The odd spell of overnight rain but gradually changing to much brighter and milder conditions, the only fly in the ointment being sharp overnight frosts come the weekend. On the whole this did damage to some matches but certainly did not include those that took place earlier in the week. Hung over from last week was the Fenland Pike club’s visit to the Cock Bank Drain at Whittlesea where Martin Picker took six fish to 17lbs for a clear-cut victory. He really won by a mile as second place fell to Andy Walker with less than a third of the winning weight. All in all an enjoyable outing as17 fish in total were brought to the bank. Results: 1 Martin Picker 45lbs 4ozs; 2 Andy Walker 14lbs 7ozs; 3 Mark Bradbury 11lbs 8ozs.

Staying briefly on the pike scene and I personally witnessed another magnificent specimen of 17lbs which was caught on Saturday morning by Eddie Ruck, fishing on the Northlands section of the Sibsey Trader Drain

The RAF League returned to the West Fen and Frith Bank Drains and most of those that struggled last time, being newcomers to this type of water, certainly got their act together on this occasion. Only one solitary weight came in under the 3lbs mark, the rest hovering in the 7lbs to 8lbs range which was the average for the match. Top weights were obviously even higher and Graham Walton rounded off the day with a runaway victory from the middle of the section at Frithville. A few bream helped to stretch the margin as he more than doubled the next best catch in this area. Back on Frith Bank and Neil Tedridge found small roach and perch on the feed and with a blank peg beside him, made full use of the situation to grab second ahead of Baggy Allen back at Frithville. Results: 1 Graham Welton Waddington 25lbs 2ozs; 2 Neil Tedridge Cottesmore 12lbs 5ozs; 3 Baggy Allen Digby 11lbs 2ozs; 4 Martyn Holmes Coningsby 9lbs 9ozs.

This second round match saw the local Coningsby team exact revenge for their defeat at the hands of Digby in the opening fixture and completely reversed positions this time around. They now tie on points with same, but taking weight into account they lead the league after two rounds with another two still to go. Results: 1 Coningsby 4pts; 2 Digby 4pts; 3 Cottesmore 6pts; Old Lags 6pts.

The River Witham also threw up a good set of catches and for a change Saturday’s results bettered those from the Wednesday sweep. After a slight hiccup Brian Harding roared back to top form and held Dave Edwards at bay, finishing a touch over a pound to the good with another good net of roach. This was also the case for all those taking part and Andy Scott just held on to third ahead of Alan Houlton. Results: 1 Brian Harding Bourne MG 15lbs 2ozs; 2 Dave Edwards Holly Farm 14lbs 1½ozs; 3 Andy Scott Spilsby 12lbs 3ozs; 4 Alan Houlton Lincs County 11lbs 14ozs.

Revenge was sweet on Saturday as Dave Edwards turned the tables and beat Brian into 4th place. All roach catches again and this time Dave had more daylight between himself and Sean Wright in second spot, Dave Mountford returning to the fold to clinch third. Results: 1 Dave Edwards Holly Farm 15lbs 4ozs; 2 Sean Wright Mark One 12lbs 9ozs; 3 Dave Mountford Grimsby 12lbs 2ozs; 4 Brian Harding Bourne MG 11lbs 10ozs.

Fishtoft AC opted for the Northlands section of the Sibsey Trader Drain and with hindsight wished they had chosen elsewhere as very few fish of any description were caught. A large perch of nearly 2lbs saved the day for Janusz Kedzierski who totalled just over that mark with one other small fish to beat the others. Rod Asher was the unlucky angler in second with Ben Jackson in third. Results: 1 Janusz Kedzierski 2lbs 1½ozs; 2 Rod Asher 1lb 14½ozs; 3 Ben Jackson 1lb 11ozs; Terry Gooding 1lb 4ozs. Next Sunday meet McDonalds 7.30am.

Things were much better on the West Fen Drain at Frithville where Bingham AA members struck into some very large perch. Two such models weighing 7lbs 6ozs between them helped Brian Matthews to a handsome victory with the day’s only double figure weight. Dave Millington also include large fish of the same species for his second place a full 3lbs back and another large specimen, itself well into the three pounds range, handed third to Paul Gilbert. The rest could only hang onto their coat tails but the low end of the weights was still around the four pounds mark. Results: 1 Brian Matthews 10lbs 10ozs; 2 Dave Millington 7lbs 10ozs; 3 Paul Gilbert 6lbs 10ozs; 4 Matt Wallington 6lbs 4ozs; 5 Martin Fielding 6lbs 2ozs; 6 Richard Landon 5lbs 10ozs.

The sixth and final match of the Rilmac Winter League took place on a glorious day on the Foss Dyke Canal upstream of Saxilby, but despite the almost perfect conditions the venue fished below par yet again. It finished much as it started both individually and teamwise as Neil Smithson won the day for the Lincs County team but saw Mosborough continue where they left off and paralysed the opposition again. Not quite as convincing as last week, this time around only managing to score 6 section wins and 41 points. That was enough to win by a margin of 10 points from both Lincoln Whisby AS and Lincs County who tied for second place. Chopped worm with either caster or worm on the hook was the favourite tactic and one which brought around 5lbs of perch to the net, topped of with a few silver fish. Mosborough’s Paul Nicholls pushed him all the way and finished just 4ozs down, caster and chopped worm accounting for a similar catch, and improving one place on last week. Third placed Alan Henry chose to stick with bloodworm and although bringing a mainly roach catch to scales for another weight in the 6lbs range, he had to settle for third, half a pound ahead of Jamie Osgodby. Results: 1 Neil Smithson Garbolino Lincs County 6lbs 10ozs; 2 Paul Nicholls Mosborough 6lbs 6ozs; 3 Alan Henry Lincoln Whisby AS 6lbs 1oz; 4 Jamie Osgodby Garbolino Lincs County 5lbs 8ozs; 5 Tony Barker Mosborough 4lbs 13½ozs; 6 Roger Wakenshaw Lincoln Whisby AS 4lbs 13ozs. So, it was Mosborough who successfully retained the league title that they won last year with a total of just 8 points. Despite a spirited challenge, the Garbolino/ Harrion’s Lincs County team had to settle again for the runner up spot as did Lincoln Whisby AS in third ,and Grimsby fourth. Positions: 1 Mosborough 8pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County 9pts; 3 Lincoln Whisby AS 19pts; 4 Grimsby 24pts; Whisby AS 29pts. The individual aggregate competition proved Roger Wakenshaw to be most consistent once again, winning with 27 points out of a possible 30 and taking the title for the second year running. Simon Fields of Grimsby ran him close and with four section wins finished just a single point down on 26 points. Tying on the same number was Mosborough ace Paul Nicholls but one less section win relegated him to third behind Simon. Richard Skinner represented the league sponsors Rilmac Fabrications and presented the prizes and trophies to the respective winners.

Review for February 3

Whip and maggot tactic is a winner for Dave

Strong winds brought a flurry of snow to odd areas of the county, after which the night frosts returned to remind us that it is still mid-winter. Things turned much milder as the week progressed, but these conditions were accompanied by strong winds and further spells of rain, which may well, of course, improve catches in our own area and more northerly parts.

The River Witham match results showed that fall in temperature from Wednesday to Saturday with an equivalent decline in catches in that time span. Roach are now the only feeders and tactics are almost exclusively 6m whip and maggot. Dave Edwards put this method to best effect and won the Wednesday event with a full 2lbs to spare over Brian Harding who had to settle for the runner-up spot this week. Sean Wright came home third and Dave Bontoft fourth with the only other double figure weight of the day. Results: 1 Dave Edwards, Holly Farm, 14lbs 5ozs; 2 Brian Harding, Bourne MG, 12lbs 5ozs; 3 Sean Wright, Mark One, 10lbs 14ozs; 4 Dave Bontoft, Lincoln Whisby AS, 10lbs 9ozs.

Weights fell away for the Saturday bash and Dave Edwards came close to back-to-back wins but finally had to accept second best on this occasion. Rob Johnson took the honours on a bitterly cold day, which saw weights struggle to make 5lbs, he being the sole angler to put more than 6lbs of roach on the scales. Results: 1 Rob Johnson, Mark One, 6lbs 7ozs; 2 Dave Edwards, Holly Farm, 5lbs 13ozs; 3 Tim Kaye, Lincoln, 5lbs 9ozs.

Fishtoft AC chose the Frith Bank Drain on Sunday and here low and gin clear water was the main problem as most weights consisted almost entirely of small perch. Not so for Ernie Heseltine who managed to conjure up three much larger models for a runaway victory, beating second placed Nick Mummery by the best part of 3lbs. Results: 1 Ernie Heseltine 5lbs 14ozs; 2 Nick Mummery 3lbs 3ozs; 3 Jerry Clifton 2lbs 6ozs; 4 Alan Dixon 2lbs 3ozs. Next Sunday (February 10), meet McDonald’s 7.30am.

The penultimate match in Rilmac Winter League proved to be an equal struggle for few fish as the majority of anglers resorted to using tiny jokers on the hook in order to tempt a few bites. This certainly played into the hands of the competent Mosborough team who made a determined effort to retain the league title by returning an outstanding performance to win the team event on the day. Out of the 10 sections in the match they swept to victory by winning no less than eight of them and by coming second in another, totalled no less than 45 points out of a possible 50. They also completely dominated the individual results by taking the first five places in the match and on a day of low weights it was Tony Bell, on peg 36 who won the match with a catch made up of small roach and perch. Team mates Matt Hall and Paul Nicholls brought similar catches to scales and finished just ounces behind in that 4lbs category, Steve Nurse being the only one to make the frame from the other teams, creeping in with just over 3lbs. Results: 1 Tony Bell 4lbs 13ozs; 2 Matt Hall 4lbs 12ozs; 3 Paul Nicholls 4lbs 2½ozs; 4 Rick Wilson 3lbs 10½ozs; 5 Kevin Parkes 3lbs 4ozs; 6 Steve Nurse Grimsby 3lbs 2ozs. Teams on the day: 1 Mosborough 45 pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County 29pts; 3Grimsby 27pts; 4Whisby AS 26pts; 5Lincoln Whisby 25pts. The race for the league title comes right down to the wire as next Sunday’s final round on the same venue is poised for a nail biting finish. Both Mosborough and Garbolino Lincs County are tied on 7 points apiece, Lincoln Whisby AS someway adrift in third on 17 points and Grimsby fourth with 19 points.

Totally different on the town Welland in Spalding where catches of small roach were counted in the hundreds, and weights in double figures were commonplace in this 3^rd round match of the Bourne Winter League on Sunday. Mid-week practice gave a good clue as virtually anything introduced into the swim produced a bite and even artificial bait, representing hemp, tempted fish. Fish around the ounce mark or less provided the main core of match weights and the best part of 500 such models brought a stunning victory to Boston’s Steve Winter. He stuck to the game plan of punch and hemp at 4m to record over 24lbs but was pushed all the way by the angler at the next peg. Here Simon Godfrey provided the perfect complement to the winning weight by taking around 440 such fish himself, and at that only just staying ahead of stable mate Alan Lemmon who also finished in the 400 fish category. Unfortunately these sorts of weights were not repeated throughout the match and were generally confined to the town centre sections near to the Poacher Inn.

As a reality check we saw four times world champion Bob Nudd, pegged out towards East Elloe Bridge, become one of the many casualties in recording a dry net, yet again. Obviously given this sort of scenario every team had to carry bad results alongside the good, which makes interesting reading, as Mark One White won the day and just 7pts separated the top 8 teams. In effect the league table was turned on its head as last week’s leaders Fen Flyers fell away into 8^th place behind many other local teams and are a full 6pts behind leaders Mark One White at this halfway stage. Individuals: 1 Steve Winters, Garbolino Lincs County, 24lbs 4ozs; 2 Simon Godfrey, Mark One White, 23lbs 9ozs; 3 Alan Lemmon, Mark One White, 22lbs 3ozs; 4 Mark Pollard, Fen Flyers, 21lbs 2ozs; 5 Darren Page, MAP Peterborough, 19lbs 9ozs. Teams on the day: 1 Mark One White 32pts; equal 2 Holbeach AC and Wades MG 33pts; 4 Bourne MG 34pts; 5 Mark One Green 35pts; 6 Mark One Black 36pts; 7 MAP Peterborough 37pts; 8 Fen Flyers 38pts. After three rounds: 1 Mark One White 9pts; 2 Wades MG 12pts; equal 3 Fen Flyers and Mark One Green 15pts; 5 MAP Peterborough 16pts.