That miserable spell of thoroughly wet and windy weather during January is now behind us and once again by far, the worst conditions were reserved for the more northerly regions, namely Yorkshire, and those around the major rivers such as the Severn and Trent valleys. As we now move away from those shortest and darkest days of the year we can hopefully look forward to drier and brighter conditions, this really being the case for these last few days, including the weekend.

Unlike most of the local drains, which if anything are now on the low side, the River Witham still carries plenty of extra water as could be seen earlier in the week at the Sluice Bridge in Boston. These conditions of course preclude most pleasure anglers but still attract a few die-hard matchmen to the Tattershall Bridge fixtures. The Saturday match took place under slightly better conditions but the state of the water was not enough to encourage more than half a dozen to take part. Despite the enforced break, it was Brian Harding who carried on where he left off and won this latest round with some ease. Fishing pole and maggot he took mainly small roach and almost doubled the weight of Dave Edwards in second. No other angler bothered to weigh in but all managed to throw a few fish back at the end. Results: 1 Brian Harding, Bourne MG, 9lbs 8ozs; 2 Dave Edwards, Holly Farm, 4lbs 6ozs.

A pleasant day and good conditions for the fourth round Rilmac Winter League match on the Foss Dyke Canal on Sunday. End peg 10 provided the winner for the second time in this series and this time it was occupied by Steve Nurse who won the day with nearly a pound to spare. His catch of perch to 8ozs fell to mainly lobworm and alternated short pole at 3m and 6m. Second placed Paul Nicholls stuck to the pure bloodworm method for an all roach catch as did those occupying the minor places. Results: individuals, 1 Steve Nurse, Grimsby, 8lbs 3ozs; 2 Paul Nicholls, Mosborough, 7lbs 5½ozs; 3 Simon Fields, Grimsby, 6lbs 5ozs; equal 4 Sam Wildsmith, Grimsby, and Kevin Baxter, Mosborough, 6lbs 3½ozs.

A close thing at the top of the league and for the second time in the series the leading teams Garbolino Lincs County and Mosborough recorded a tie on points for first place with 36 each. With three individuals in the top five Grimsby returned a much improved performance to finish in third place on 35 points, the Lincoln outfits Lincoln Whisby and Whisby AS coming home fourth and fifth respectively with 28 and 20 points. Overall after four rounds: 1Garbolino Lincs County 5 pts; 2 Mosborough 6 pts; 3 Lincoln Whisby AS 12 pts.

The Bourne MG winter league took full advantage of much improved conditions on the R. Glen and instead of a practice match it was decided to ahead with last week’s postponed second round. Most of the midweek colour had fallen out but considering the clearer conditions the river fished hard but fair. No double figure weights but roach to 4ozs gave Dave Thornton a clear-cut win from peg 21. Most anglers opted for groundbait, pole and pinkie tactics and Barry Wigginton proved to be another expert exponent of that method by taking second, just a few ounces ahead of Boston’s Chris Mawer. Weights then fell away into the 4lbs range and John Kadzionis completed quite a good day for Browning Boston by tying for fifth place and putting the team into fourth place on the day. After these first two rounds it’s still very tight at the top and with only four points separating the top six it is anybody’s guess at this juncture as to who will go on and win the title race.

Individuals: 1 Dave Thornton, Wades MG, 7lbs 13ozs; 2 Barry Wigginton, Mark One Green, 5lbs 4½ozs; 3 Chris Mawer, Browning Boston, 5lbs 1oz; 4 Phil Chesterton, Mark One Green, 4lbs 11ozs; equal 5 John Kadzionis, Browning Boston, and Ian Chesney, Wades MG, 4lbs 5ozs. Teams on the day: 1 Mark One Green 24pts; 2 Wades MG 28pts; 3 MAP Peterborough 30pts; 4 Browning Boston 34 pts; 5 Garbolino Lincs County 37pts. After two rounds; 1 Fen Flyers 7pts; 2 Mark One White 8pts; equal 3 MAP Peterborough and Garbolino Lincs County 9pts; equal 5 Mark One White and Wades MG 10pts.

Similar weights for Bingham AA from the Frith Bank Drain, albeit from a very few anglers in very shallow water near to the Tattershall Road Bridge. After loosing their previous match to flood they returned to tackle this stretch and came up with decent nets of roach, lowest coming in at over 3lbs. Martin Fielding took second spot on the previous occasion but gained full revenge this time with over 8lbs of nice roach to pole, and both caster and bronze maggot. Previous match winner Dave Millington had to settle for fourth this time and finished a full pound down on Paul Gilbert and 4ozs more than that to match organiser Richard Landon in second. Results: 1 Martin Fielding 8lbs 8ozs; 2 Richard Landon 5lbs 14ozs; 3 Paul Gilbert 5lbs 11ozs; 4 Dave Millington 4lbs 11ozs; 5 Matt Wallington 4lbs 8ozs.

The Northlands stretch of the Sibsey Trader Drain also produced decent nets of roach for Fishtoft AC and here Gordon Manning chalked up another win to go with last week’s victory. Mark Naylor held on for second place as Mark Cook grabbed third ahead of Janusz Kedzierski, who also proves his own consistency in this his first full season with the club. Results: 1 Gordon Manning 6lbs 13ozs; 2 Mark Naylor 5lbs 4ozs; 3 Mark Cook 4lbs 9ozs; 4 Janusz Kedzierski 4lbs 3ozs. Next Sunday meet McDonalds 7.30am.

A reminder to Boston and DAA members that the annual meeting will be held on Tuesday February 5 at the Sportsman Club (Mayflower) Rosebery Avenue 7.30pm. Note: A current 2008 member’s book must be produced in order to gain access to the meeting.

Review for January 20

RAF match benefits as fish show hunger

Certainly there has been plenty more rain to contend with over the past few days. But in some ways it has not been all bad news as the weekend remained drier than expected. Local drains have obviously been carrying extra water and colour but if the Frith Bank Drain is anything to go by the fish have turned hungry after many hours of swimming strongly against the flow to maintain their station, if nothing else.

Tuesday’s RAF League match on this very venue went a long way to prove this point as four double figure nets were in evidence and many other good backing weights in support. Catch rates actually improved for most as the flow increased as the day wore on and only had a detrimental effect for the odd competitor. Individuals: 1 Steve Reid, Cottesmore, 16lbs 6ozs; 2 John Summerson, Digby, 14lbs 15ozs; 3 Kev Wilson, Coningsby, 11lbs 11ozs; 4 Phil Foster, Old Lags, 10lbs 6ozs; 5 Gary Vongyer 9lbs 5½ ozs.

Team positions are decided on points but with the tightest of results the top three tied and so had to be separated by aggregate weight which on countback brought Digby A into the winning position with over 30lbs between the four man team. The Old Lags took up second place coming home some 5lbs down and the local Coningsby boys could only manage third. Results: 1 Digby A 7pts (30lbs 6½ozs); 2 Old Lags 7pts (24lbs 15ozs); 3 Coningsby 7pts (22lbs 4½ozs).

Worst affected has been the River Witham which carried so much high and coloured water that both the normal midweek and Saturday matches had to be abandoned.

The Bourne MG Winter League was faced with even more difficult conditions – the town Welland being virtually empty and the River Glen bank high. A previous day’s foray onto the Counterdrain revealed very few pegs producing and so the decision was taken to cancel this second round and tack it onto the end of the series, weather permitting of course.

The third round Rilmac winter league on the Foss Dyke Canal did manage to get off the ground and actually produced half decent weights under the circumstances. Roger Wakenshaw made it back-to-back wins in this series and having drawn an unfancied peg 13 he fished bloodworm literally inches from the near bank to take small roach and perch. Switching later to long pole and worm he then landed five perch from eight ounces to a pound to clinch victory. Simon Fields and Kevin Baxter also stuck to those long pole tactics for mixed bags of small fish; Simon holding on to second by less than two ounces from Kevin. A similar gap separated fifth from sixth as one good bream made all the difference and gave Julie Abbot the edge over Lincoln captain Alan Henry. Results: 1 Roger Wakenshaw, Lincoln Whisby AS, 7lbs 12ozs; 2 Simon Fields, Grimsby, 6lbs 10ozs; 3 Kevin Baxter, Mossborough, 6lbs 8½ozs; 4 Julie Abbot, Lincoln Whisby AS, 6lbs 8ozs; Rob Perkins, Whisby AS, 6lbs; 6 Alan Henry, Lincoln Whisby AS, 5lbs 14½ozs.

The team event saw Garbolino Lincs County turn in an outstanding performance to win with a total of 41 points and ten points clear of the runners up Lincoln Whisby and Mossborough, who were the previous front runners slipped to third with 29 points. This result meant that the Lincs County outfit have wrested the leadership from Mossborough and the Lincoln based team now head the league by a single point. Results: 1 Garbolino Lincs County 4pts; 2 Mossborough 5pts; 3 Lincoln Whisby AS 8pts; 4 Grimsby 13pts; 5 Whisby AS 14pts.

Fishtoft AC abandoned the swollen waters in favour of a more comfortable environment and took to Fawn House fishery at Cowbridge on Sunday. Even so, catches were none-too-startling as only a few carp and odd silver fish showed any amount of interest. Gordon Manning ran out an easy winner, Rick being the only other in double figures. Results: 1 Gordon Manning 18lbs 4ozs; 2 Rick 11lbs 8ozs; 3 Nick Mummery 7lbs 6ozs; 4 Ben Brighton 4lbs 8ozs. Next Sunday (January 27) meet at McDonald’s at the usual time.

Review for January 13

Clear-cut double delight for Harding

Rain during the latter half of the week brought about a complete change to the look of most waters. Friday’s rain entirely altered water conditions overnight and went from near normal winter levels that evening, to suddenly carrying around an extra three feet of heavily coloured water by midday Saturday. Prospects are not promising for next weekend either as more of the same, and perhaps worse, is on the cards for midweek.

This was particularly true of the River Witham, which made the latest Kings Arms open match at Tattershall Bridge a complete lottery – well almost!

Brian Harding completed the week’s double with a few decent roach to pole and maggot for a clear cut win over newcomer Sean Wright and Trevor Ogilvie, but nothing compared to Wednesday’s sweep which took place in the same area. On that occasion the river was still in reasonable condition, and form, as Brian landed nigh three times that amount of roach, again to pole and maggot to give him a runaway win. He finished with more than 7lbs to spare over nearest rival Andy Scott who help on to second by the narrowest of margins from Lincoln’s Ted Rowe. Results: Wednesday, 1 Brian Harding, Bourne MG, 17lbs 9ozs; 2 Andy Scott, Spilsby, 10lbs 7ozs; 3 Ted Rowe, Lincoln, 10lbs 6ozs; 4 Dave Ashmore, Grimsby, 9lbs 7ozs; Saturday, 1 Brian Harding, Bourne MG, 5lbs 13ozs; 2 Sean Wright 3lbs 15ozs; 3 Trevor Ogilvie, Boston, 3lbs 9½ozs; 4 Dave Edwards, Holly Farm, 2lbs 7ozs.

The Nags Head were also up against it on the out-of-form South Forty Foot Drain at Swineshead Bridge on Saturday morning. Already with two feet of extra water they tackled the still rising levels, but reluctantly gave up the struggle after an hour and abandoned this fixture in the hope of better conditions in the near future.

Fishtoft AC members found themselves faced with the West Fen Drain going at a vast rate of knots for the whole of the match duration and judging by the shallow depth of water, it had been in that state since the start of the weekend. Nevertheless, some decent nets of both skimmers and perch were taken and Ben Brighton claimed top spot with a net of the latter, some going to over the pound mark. Mark Naylor clinched second with a good net of those small skimmers as Mick Morgan also brought a similar net to scales for third. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 8lbs 6ozs; 2 Mark Naylor 7lbs 8ozs; 3 Mick Morgan 6lbs 11ozs; 4 Mark Cook 4lbs 8ozs. Next Sunday (January 20), meet McDonald’s 7.30am.

Despite the extra and highly coloured water following that heavy rain, the second round of the Rilmac Winter League on the Foss Dyke Canal above Saxilby produced better than expected weights, and odd big bream made the difference between the top two and the minor places. Bonus fish of 1½lbs and 3lbs brought victory to Roger Wakenshaw who took the fish on bloodworm at 9m despite this method being employed to catch roach, which accounted for approx. half of his total. Gary Evans produced a similar model of some 3lbs to take the days only other double figure weight for second but performance of the day surely belongs to young John Houlton. He took a mixed bag of roach, perch and skimmers to beat a field of top class anglers and take third place ahead dad Alan Houlton who had to settle for sixth on this occasion. It’s nip and tuck already for the title race as the Mossborough and Garbolino Lincs County teams tied for first place on the day and after these first two rounds the former holds a slender one point lead to take into next week’s match. Results: Individuals, 1 Roger Wakenshaw, Lincoln Whisby AS, 10lbs 15ozs; 2 Gary Evans, Garbolino Lincs County, 10lbs 4ozs; 3 John Houlton, Whisby AS, 7lbs 9ozs; 4 Rob Morris, Whisby AS, 6lbs 11ozs; 5 Tony Bell, Mossborough, 6lbs 4ozs; 6 Alan Houlton, Garbolino Lincs County, 6lbs 1oz; On the day, equal 1 Mossborough and Garbolino Lincs County 35pts; 3 Lincoln Whisby AS 30pts; 4 Grimsby 26pts; 5 Whisby AS 24pts. After two rounds, 1 Mossborough 2pts; Garbolino Lincs County 3pts; 3 Lincoln Whisby AS 6pts; 4 Grimsby 8pts; 5 Whisby AS 10pts.

Review for January 6

Simon conjures up winning combination

It was quite a raw holiday period spanning the New Year and one that saw very few anglers on the riverbanks. Those who did venture out were concentrated mainly on the West Fen Drain at Frithville where large bream, tench and pike continued to hold anglers’ interest. Most likely just a short term phenomenon as these fish are no doubt on their way up to other parts of the system in readiness for spawning activities later this year.

To the River Witham first of all, and with the river producing some excellent catches it has gradually attracted more and more anglers with 26 competing in this latest Saturday match going upstream from Tattershall Bridge. Despite the very cold conditions during the week the venue fished well and Simon Godfrey used the pole and maggot combination to take a mainly roach catch for a narrow victory. Dave Edwards opted for the 6m whip to hand for second place, a mere 2ozs ahead of Sean Higginbottom. Only man not to use pole tactics was Alan Houlton whose groundbait feeder method produced a few skimmers to clinch fifth spot behind Rick Tweddle. Results: 1 Simon Godfrey, Mark One, 14lbs 15ozs; 2 Dave Edwards, Holly Farm, 14lbs 5ozs; 3 Sean Higginbottom, Mark One, 14lbs 3ozs; 4 Rick Tweddle, Bourne MG, 12lbs 15ozs; 5 Alan Houlton, Lincs Co, 12lbs 2ozs.

The first round of the six match Rilmac Winter League got off the ground on the Foss Dyke Canal with four sections upstream of the River Till and the rest on the roadside above Saxilby. Bloodworm and joker are allowed in this competition and so the majority of the catches were made up of small roach. About 80 such fish fell to Neil Smithson who topped up his catch by switching to lobworm and taking half a dozen large perch to 1½lbs. Mick Gorry brought a similar net of roach to scales but with only a lone perch for a bonus he had to be content with the runner up position. Matt Hall came within an ace of that second place and similar catches in the 5lbs category brought the likes of Tony Bell and Roger Wakenshaw into the prize list. Results:

1 Neil Smithson, Garbolino Lincs County, 8lbs 5ozs; 2 Mick Gorry, Grimsby, 6lbs 7ozs; 3 Matt Hall, Mossborough, 6lbs 3ozs; 4 Tony Bell, Mossborough, 5lbs 13ozs; 5 Gary Dodsworth, Mossborough, 5lbs 10ozs; 6 Roger Wakenshaw, Lincoln Whisby, 5lbs 4½ozs.

Having seen three of the top five places fall to members of the Mossborough outfit, the team picked up where it left off last year and won this match with a comfortable total, beating Lincs County into second by a margin of 7pts. Results: 1 Mossborough 43pts; 2 Garbolino Lincs County 36pts; 3 Lincoln Whisby 31pts; 4 Grimsby 22pts.

Fishtoft AC confirmed my earlier suspicions as most anglers had to be content with a few skimmers and odd perch from the Frithville area, which was the case for second placed Gary Shinn and Mark Naylor in third. Pride of place though goes to Mark Cook who won by the proverbial street as he added a couple of small tench to turn in the only double figure weight of the day. Results: 1 Mark Cook 11lbs 5ozs; 2 Gary Shinn 5lbs 1oz; 3 Mark Naylor 4lbs 6ozs; 4 Jerry Clifton 3lbs 3ozs. Next Sunday (January 13) meet McDonald’s 7.30am.

No startling weights but the Frith Bank Drain produced a highly competitive match for Bingham AC at Tattershall Road Bridge on Sunday. Just 8ozs separated the top three which was led home by Dave Millington. He opted for the chopped worm for perch approach that ultimately gained him victory by a single ounce. Martin Fielding chose the pole and pinkie for roach method and came agonisingly close but managed to hold off Matt Wallington who used similar tactics. Results: 1 Dave Millington 5lbs 7ozs; 2 Martin Fielding 5lbs 6ozs; 3 Matt Wallington 4lbs 15ozs; 4 Paul Gilbert 3lbs 1oz.

After all the gloom and doom surrounding the start of the Bourne Winter league, the match lengths, and particularly those on an out-of-form River Welland in Spalding, fared much better. Weights were a bit sparse on the River Glen and Counterdrain stretches but the town Welland came up trumps as all the leading individual weights were taken from the town centre reaches. Fishing breadpunch down the middle of the river Chris Jenkinson took the match by storm and recorded a total of over 30lbs of quality roach to win the day. Despite a different approach, Boston angler Steve Winters stayed in the hunt and also took a superb catch of roach to hemp at 4m to take second spot. He finished a similar distance ahead of John Taylor who also chose a close line but relied on breadpunch to take his good net of roach for third. Like most other competitions nowadays, numbers are down on previous years and in this initial round the Fen Flyers easily won this by a mile, ahead of 10 other outfits. Having doubled that points total, the White and Black Mark One teams appear to have taken points off each other, and finished a long way down in second and third place respectively, Garbolino Lincs County even further back in fourth. Results: Individuals: 1 Chris Jenkinson, Fen Flyers, 30lbs 13ozs; 2 Steve Winters, Garbolino Lincs County, 27lbs 2ozs; 3 John Taylor, Mark One White, 24lbs 11ozs; 4 Wayne, Swinscoe VDE, 24lbs 7ozs; 5 Darren Stones, Wades MG, 23lbs 8ozs. Teams: 1 Fen Flyers 13pts; 2 Mark One White 25pts; 3 Mark One Black 26pts; 4 Garbolino Lincs County 32pts; 5 Holbeach AC 36pts.