This season’s Pairs match was a close run affair all the way to the whistle. The winners were top individual Peter Hole and partner Roger Trask with a combined weight of 11lb 13oz. In second spot were Mick Smith and Larry Howard with 5lb 10oz and in third spot were Stuart Cottingham and Martyn Hill with 5lb 7oz.

Due to the terrible river conditions caused by the recent downfalls of heavy constant rain, only 4 members braved a visit to Swanmead. Lee Wakeman followed up his win last week with another well earned one this week. Lee managed 8lb 10oz to comfortably beat Martyn Hill’s 2lb which took 2nd spot and Roger Trask took 3rd spot with 14oz.

This was the penultimate leg of this years Houghton Cup which has been hotly contested between Colin Fowler and Tony Crossley. The catches in this match were mainly made up of Chub with the biggest being around 3lb which was caught by match winner Lee Wakeman. Lee finished up with a respectable total of 10lb exactly. Second spot went to Peter Hole with 3lb 2oz and third spot went to Stuart Cottingham.

Unfortunately, the contest for overall top spot was a bit of an anti climax as the 2oz Tony Crossley managed to put on the scales was enough to clinch it as it gave him 4 points against overall second placed Colin Fowler’s blank.

The annual club Pike match seems to get more popular each year, as we had 13 competitors this year. There have been several big fish capture reports recently, so everyone was hoping for something a bit special.  Austin Battell got lucky and drew number 1 out of the hat and headed down wind into one of the bays. This proved a worthwhile choice as within an hour, Austin had got two fish for 10lb 9oz. Elsewhere, nothing was happening and the wind seemed to be getting stronger and colder. By eleven O’clock, Austin had managed another two fish of 6lb 2oz and 5lb 2oz to take his total weight to 21lb 13oz. Only one other fish was caught and that was the biggest fish of the day at 8lb 4oz, which was caught by Roger Trask on the river.
1st Place   – Austin Battell –  21lb 13oz
2nd Place – Roger Trask    –     8lb   4oz

Club match regular, Tony Crossley braved the freezing conditions on the upper Cannon Bridge section and was rewarded with this fine 5lb 2oz Chub. There have not been many decent Chub captures of late but we are sure this fish will take some beating for the annual Specimen Chub Cup. Well done Tony.

Neal Rodgers managed to catch this nice Perch from the boat at Weirwood recently. It was a tough day with Easterly winds and a water temperature of 4.7 degrees. Not many bites but this was the best fish of the day at 2lb 11oz..

This season’s Houghton Cup will be decided in the last round of matches. Round 5 was a very close affair with the current top 2 both framing on the day. Colin Fowler and Tony Crossley could not have made it any closer as Colin took the honours with 7lb 15oz and Tony took second place with 7lb 14oz. Colin’s bag included Roach to 8oz. In third spot was Roger Trask with 4lb 7oz.

One round to go and standings are:
1st   – Tony Crossley   44pts
2nd – Colin Fowler      36pts
3rd – Mick Smith          27pts
4th – Ray Allen              25pts

15 anglers ventured out for this popular yearly gathering. Although the river had been up and coloured leading up to this one, 14 of the competitors managed to register on the scales. Taking the honours in top spot was Match Secretary Martyn Hill with 13lb 12oz which consisted of two Bream, the best one weighing a very impressive 8lb 15oz. In second spot with 7lb 13oz was Bob Doyle and in 3rd spot with 1lb 5oz was Ray Allen.
Match winner Martyn Hill with a fine slab of 8lb 15oz.

The Pike fishing has begun to pick up of late on Barden Lake, with some good upper double figure fish being reported. Lure anglers have done well recently as the water has stayed clear and the weed has now died back which makes it easier to fish with sinking or floating lures. Lots of Jacks have been caught on the Lures, whereas deadbaits have produced the bigger fish. Steve Twort recently caught a nice 18lb 4oz fish, backed up by a low double figure fish. Society Chairman, Austin Battell has recorded the biggest fish so far, with a lovely plump, well conditioned 18lb 15oz specimen. This was caught on a large deadbait and backed up by 2 other fish to 8lb 9oz. The following day, Austin returned and had several dropped runs, follows and pull outs but did manage another 3 fish to 9lb on small deadbaits.