Bites at premium as memory lane casts difficult path

ANGLING:

MY SEASON didn’t get off to the best of starts.

I missed the match I was intending to take part in and instead ended up with a pleasure session on the Bridgewater Canal at Ragland Road in Sale — a water I haven’t fished for 20 years.

But I really enjoyed a three-hour session and caught around 4lb of small roach and perch on squatt, pinkie and bread punch.

It may have been a strange place to pick, but it was preparation for a match there on Tuesday. Unfortunately on peg six I caught nowhere near as much as those on the first three pegs. There was a struggle for bites and I ended up with around a dozen fish — weighing 8oz!

Shaun Paddon (TRI-CAST Highfield) topped the weights at peg one, a decent draw that was capitalised on with his catching small roach and perch on a variety of baits.



SUNDAY’S J and B open match on the Dunkirk Lane length of the Peak Forest canal was a real gripper, with several blanks and only the odd peg producing.

The winner, again, was Shaun Paddon, with five skimmers in his first five put-ins on bread netting him 2lb 6oz. Paul Booth (Trabucco Halifax) took second with four skimmers and a roach weighing in 2lb 3oz.



DAVE Ireland is in a rich vein of form and picked up another win in the Monarch AC opening-day match with his 20lb 12oz of ide and chub. He beat Jim Evans into second with 19lb 2oz of roach, skimmers and ide taken on maggot.



MONARCH AC are running Tuesday matches on the club water — and with weights like these, it’s no

surprise.

Winner Neil Hardy put 45lb 15oz of carp and skimmers on the scales, with maggot doing the damage. Andy Chadwick fished caster for his second-best 33lb 13oz of skimmers and carp.

Dave Jones took first place in the Thursday evening Monarch AC match, fished on club water, with 14lb of chub, ide and skimmers taken on pole and maggot. He was followed by Jim Evans’ 12lb 3oz of carp and skimmers taken on pole and pellet.



TONY Simcock took first place in Saturday’s Medlock Bridge AC open match on the Park Lake.

On peg eight, with waggler, pole and maggot he netted plenty of skimmers, roach and perch adding up to 19lb 11oz. Mick Tighe fished maggot, catching roach, chub and skimmers to weigh in 15lb 4oz.



Tom Brownhill, on peg 28, won a tight battle for first in the latest Medlock Bridge AC match fished on the Park Lake as his maggot fished up in the water approach caught him 15lb 10oz of skimmers and chub. Pete Cuniffe was second with some good skimmers and the odd chub and roach, a total of 15lb 7oz.



TRI-CAST boss Steve Michaels again picked up money in the Sycamore Fishery open match, fished on David’s Lake. His chopped worm and caster, fished shallow at three and 11 metres, accounted for 27lb 12oz made up of 157 ide, tench and crucians.



VENUE GUIDE
Denshaw Vale: Memberships available. Continues to fish really well. For further details contact John on 665 1779.

Dowry Reservoir: Day tickets available from Sheddings Angling. Good fishing with all species feeding.

Ogden Reservoir: Day tickets on the bank and at Tight Lines, Shaw. Good fishing for roach, skimmers and bream. Float and tip methods both working.

Strinesdale Reservoir: Day tickets on the bank. Warm weather has switched this water on with good roach, skimmers, tench and chub all showing.

Cargate Pool: Medlock Bridge AC members-only water.

Rochdale Canal: Most sections free fishing at the moment. Heywood Anglers lengths from motorway at Castleton to Boarshaw Bridge, £2 a day with tickets on the bank.

Bardsley Canal: Day tickets on the bank. Maggot for silvers.

Sammy’s Basin: Day tickets on the bank. Full of fish and they are feeding well.

Alexandra Park Lake: Day tickets on the bank. Weights not as good as previous weeks, but still okay with skimmers making up most weights.

Hollingworth Lake: Bream and skimmers showing to tip tactics.

Tanners Dam: Skimmers and carp making up some cracking weights in Tuesday series.



DIARY DATES
Every Monday: Medlock Bridge AC open matches on the Park Lake. For full details contact Darren on 07753414838.

Every Tuesday: Monarch AC matches on the cub water. Draw 9am, fishing 10am to 3pm.

Every Tuesday: Diggle AC matches on Tanners Dam. Draw 5pm. Fish until dusk, £10 all in. For full details contact Dave on 07879474029.

Every Tuesday: Todmorden AS have started their evening series. Draw up to 5.45pm, matches fished 6.30pm to 9.30pm. To book and for further details contact Steve on 07813038293.

Every Saturday: Medlock Bridge AC open matches on the Park Lake. Draw 10am, fishing 11am to 4pm. Tickets £15 all in. For further details contact Darren on 07753414838.

Every Saturday and Sunday: Open matches on local canals. Draw 9am,

fishing 10am to 3pm. To book and for details contact John on 07801276059.

Sunday, June 23: Saddleworth and District Angling Society members-only match on Ward Lane length of Huddersfield narrow canal. Rearranged from match scheduled for Sunday, June 30. Draw 8.30am, fishing 9.30am to 2.30pm. To book and for further details contact Dave on 07505356870.

Sunday, June 23: Todmorden AS members-only match on Townhouse Fishery. To book and for further details phone Paul on 01706639373 or Rob on 07775625088.

Anyone with any news or views on the local angling scene contact Jan Verbruggen on 07846456408 or email him at janangling@hotmail.co.uk.