Trout fishermen enjoyed another excellent week on the Bristol Water trout fisheries with nearly 3000 trout taken.

It was excellent fishing for boat and bank anglers at Chew Valley for most of the week. A small stocking seemed to stir up the resident fish and catches improved in many areas of the lake. Some of the areas that fished well last week have become a little harder – Herons and The Island – but others have now turned on and have produced some great catches.

The picnic area corner of the Dam, Villice Bay and Moreton Point have seen good catches on nymphs whilst the middle of the lake saw plenty of rising fish and anglers fishing with emergers enjoyed some fantastic sport.

Although bank anglers found fish at Herons, Nunnery and North Shore, the brighter weather at the end of the week pushed the fish into deeper water making fishing harder during the day. But they come back in close as the light fades and the rise is often well worth the wait.

The biggest fish from the lakes so far was a fine 8 lb 14 oz rainbow taken by Dave Coombes taken from the shore at Herons Green. Ted Smart took a fine 7 lb 0 oz brownie from the bank at Woodford.

It was a similar story to Chew Valley at Blagdon with great results for the start of the week but getting herder for the bank fishermen towards the week-end. The boats however have continued to fish well and from most areas. Nymphs and Buzzers fished subsurface has been the best method although anchoring and fishing very deep with a sinking line has also taken some good bags.

It is still fishing well at the Barrows. The best catches are falling to nymphs and lures fished well down as there are few moving fish around so far.. As the days lengthen and the water continues to warm up there will be more fly activity especially during the evenings.

Chew produced a total catch last week of 1021 fish averaging 2 lb 3 oz topped by a brown of 7 lb 0 oz and rainbow 8 lb 14 oz with 54 limit bags. At Blagdon 1447 fish averaging 2 lb 7 oz were taken topped by a brown of 4 lb 0 oz and rainbow 5 lb 12 oz with 100 limits. The Barrows yielded 396 fish averaging 1 lb 6 oz topped by a brown of 3 lb 11 oz and rainbow 3 lb 0 oz with 27 limits.

The first large contest of the season was fished at Chew Valley when the BRFFA Snowbee event took place. And great results were had from both bank and boat. 18 anglers took part on the bank and they took a total of 83 fish between them including 6 limits bags. Boat anglers also fared well with 42 competitors taking a rod average of 4.5 with an average weight of 2 lb 6 oz. Overall winner was last year’s champion Tony Baldwin whose 8 fish weighed 20 lb 4 oz.

Mark Withyman took runner up spot with 19 lb 13 oz followed by Andrew Hedger with 19 lb 6 oz; Lee Bartlett with 18 lb11 oz; Dev Stickley 18 lb 10 oz; Malcolm Fisher 18 lb 6 oz ; John Glanville 18 lb 5 oz and Dave Drake 18 lb 2 oz. Keith Brown took the biggest fish prize with 6 lb 5 oz rainbow just pipping Royston Jennings who had a 6 lb 4 oz rainbow.

The Wessex Water trout fisheries continue to provide excellent sport. Clatworthy produced a total catch last week of 459 fish with a rod average of 3. Good sport to be had fishing small black buzzers and black pennals on a floating line.

Roger Seal took a nice rainbow weighing 4 lb 4 oz while Ron Porter took a five fish limit of 14 lb 6 oz. Fish are spread well over the lake and as the water drops more bank space becomes available. At Hawkridge 278 fish were taken. Phil Carsley took a fine five fish limit bag weighing 17 lb 8 oz topped by a lovely 6 lb 8 oz brownie.

Mark Antoine took a fine 6 lb 3 oz rainbow. Fish are being caught on Gold Head Damsel or Gold Ribbed Hare’s ear, White Lures and Black and Green Montanas. Sutton Bingham again fished very well with 686 fish taken. Fish have been moving throughout the week on top so floating lines fished with small nymphs have taken most fish. Both boats and bank are fishing well. Top bag of the week weighing 13 lb 10 oz was taken by Ron Eadie from Bradford-on-Avon and the best fish weighing 4 lb 1 oz went to Henry Copper from Westbury.

A bream weighing 9 lb 7 oz taken by Phil Harding in a match on the Bristol Avon at Newbridge has now been ratified as a new Bathampton AA club record. The Bristol match angler weighed in a total of 68 lb 10 oz for sixth individual placing but any disappointment at not finishing higher was more than offset by the massive bream. Phil was fishing three quarters of the way across with a groundbait feeder, size 16 hook and 2 lb breaking strain line. His bait was treble caster and in addition to the record breaker he had another three bream weighing over 8 lb. The match which was fished on the last day of the season also produced a new six hour match record for the river with a bream catch weighing 189 lb 3 oz taken by Kevin Dicks.

The Landsend Fishery Open match produced some fine sport with a very close finish. Nicky Collier of GOT Baits just clinched top prize with a mixed catch of carp and silvers weighing 93 lb 4 oz taken on long pole fished hard pellets. His catch included 43 lb 6 oz of silvers which took the silver fish prize. Rod Wooten of Dynamite Frys MG pushed the winner all the way to finish right on his heels with an all carp catch weighing 91 lb 10 oz taken on pole fished pellets. Dave Ings of Landsend took third spot with a carp catch weighing 70 lb 6 oz taken on pole fished pellets. Other placings: 4. Dave Westcott Landsend 56 lb 1 oz; 5. Eric Fouracre Mosella Sedges 55 lb 15 oz; 6. Vince Shipp Westerleigh 51 lb 14 oz.

The Monday Open match at Viaduct Fishery once again produced top class sport with carp feeding well. Top honours on the day went to fishery co-owner Ian Parson with a carp catch weighing 137 lb 0 oz taken on waggler fished pellets. Runner up spot went to Terry Leney of Team Sillybait with another carp catch weighing 109 lb 10 oz taken on pole fish pellets along the margins. Mark Parsons of Preston Innovation Thatchers clinched third prize with a carp catch weighing 103 lb 11 oz. Nigel Bartlett of M5 Angling took the silver fish prize with a weight of 55 lb 5 oz. Other placings: 4. Ron Hayward Viaduct Select 93 lb 14 oz; 5. Andy Eagle Langport 93 lb 3 oz; 6. Sean Tucker Preston Innovation Thatchers 86 lb 4 oz.

The Saturday Open match at Viaduct Fishery again produced the goods with top class sport. Stoke St Michael veteran Terry Bruton again showed he has lost none of his skill to carry off top prize with a carp catch weighing 114 lb 11 oz taken on legered pellets. Yet again Terry Leney of Team Sillybait had to content himself with runner up spot with a carp catch weighing 113 lb 9 oz taken on pole fished pellets. He was followed by Martin Illingworth from Southampton with a carp catch weighing 108 lb 6 oz taken on pole fished pellets Roland Lucas of Frome Haines Angling took the silver fish award with a weight of 30 lb 2 oz. Other placings: 4. Mark Wright Haines Angling 81 lb 3 oz; 5. Andy Lloyd Dynamite Baits 80 lb 0 oz; 6. Roland Lucas Haines Angling 79 lb 0 oz..

The Sunday Open match at Landsend Fishery produced some excellent catches with carp feeding well again. Tony Whitcombe of Mosella had a fine win with a superb catch of carp weighing 170 lb 9 oz taken on long pole fished paste for a runaway win. Bela Bakos of Avon Angling was a distant runner up with another carp catch weighing 122 lb 6 oz taken on pole fished pellets. Clive Davis of Frampton RBL took third prize with another carp catch weighing 95 lb 0 oz. The silver fish prize went to John Jenner of Landsend with a weight of 23 lb 0 oz. Other placings: 4. Anton Page GOT Baits 94 lb 5 oz; 5. Andy Oram Dynamite baits 76 lb 14 oz; 6. Rod Wooten Dynamite Frys MG 68 lb 1 oz.

The Dynamite Frys event at Stoneyard Fishery produced mixed sport. Top honours on the day went to Steve Preece of Dynamite Frys MG with a carp catch weighing 128 lb 2 oz taken on long pole fished pellets. In form Rod Wooten clinched second prize with a carp catch weighing 111 lb 1 oz taken on pole fished pellets. He was followed by Pete Sivell of Dynamite Baits with a carp catch weighing 58 lb 4 oz taken on pole fished pellets. Other placings: 4. John Macey Dynamite Baits 49 lb 14 oz; 5. Neil Ratcliffe Dynamite Frys MG 46 lb 10 oz; 6. Alan Curry Dynamite Frys MG 43 lb 10 oz.

Competitors in the Wilts Angling Open match enjoyed good sport at Colkin Farm on Wednesday. Ian Willetts grabbed top spot with an all carp catch weighing 128 lb 6 oz taken on feeder fished pellets. He was pushed all the way by in form Pete Neate from Holt who clinched second prize with another carp catch weighing 125 lb 0 oz taken on legered pellets. Matt Skyrme from Trowbridge took third prize with a carp catch weighing 115 lb 0 oz taken on pole fished paste. Other placings: 4. Sean Rhodes Trowbridge 84 lb 4 oz; 5. Mick Gunning Trowbridge 81 lb 0 oz; 6. Dave Baker Trowbridge 61 lb 0 oz.

Competitors enjoyed mixed sport in the Todber manor Open match fished on Saturday. In form Pete Neate from Holt again hit the jackpot with a carp catch weighing 84 lb 0 oz taken on pole fished paste. Martin Fuller from Gillingham took runner up spot with a carp catch weighing 51 lb 3 oz taken on pole fished pellets. Adie West of Gillingham used identical tactics to clinch third prize with a carp catch weighing 48 lb 6 oz. Other placings: 4. Will Bonny Gillingham 33 lb 12 oz; 5. Jason Mills Gillingham 25 lb 8 oz; 6. Ken Murchey Gillingham 17 lb 8 oz.

Weights were fairly even in the Wilts Angling Open match fished at Colkin Farm on Sunday. Top honours on the day went to Dave Bancroft of Trowbridge with a carp catch weighing 58 lb 12 oz taken on pole fished paste. Rob Kepner from Chippenham took second prize with another carp catch weighing 56 lb 14 oz taken on pole fished paste. Jamie Smith from Frome finished in third spot with a carp catch weighing 51 lb 12 oz taken on feeder fished pellets. Other placings: 4. Matt Skyrme Trowbridge 49 lb 14 oz; 5. Nick Johns Trowbridge 36 lb 8 oz; 6. Steve Gardner Chippenham 33 lb 6 oz.

Future events: Sunday May 3: Frys match at Viaduct Fishery Airsprung v Waterside match K & A Canal Ridgeway match at Viaduct Fishery