ALTHOUGH the weather has been on the chilly side for over a week, at least there has not been much in the way of rain and this has kept river levels low for the time of year and enabled anglers to wet a line.

The upper reaches of the river Aire around Inghey Bridge has seen a few anglers in action with grayling being the main quarry.

A few fish have been caught on the fly and also the worm (no ledgering), which is now allowed on the Bradford City’s water until the end of the season.

Most fish have been under the 450g mark but there is mention of a 1,350g fish that fell to the fly on the stretch near to Gargrave.

Lower down the river on the Skipton Angling Association water, both grayling and chub have been caught while brown trout have taken a back seat due to spawning activities.

Simon Chenier enjoyed a particularly good session recently, landing two decent chub in the 1,350g to 1,800g range and three grayling, two of whom broke the 900g barrier.

One of the bigger fish appeared to have managed to escape from clutches of a pike judging from the marks on its body near the tail. All of the fish fell to a combination of red maggots fished on either the feeder or the float.

Canal anglers have not been outdone by the river and the basin length in Skipton town centre has produced some very good perch running up to 1,137g in weight, a new record for the Skipton AA length.

The fish was landed by Michael Ickringill and measured some 37.5cm in length, which, in comparison with weight-for-length scales, suggests that the fish was in excellent condition.

Other members fishing the same length have recorded some decent perch to around the 700g mark with an average size of about 350g.

Worm and maggot have been the successful bait in most cases along with spun small mepps.

The final Skipton Winter League match of the season will be fished this Sunday on the Marina length at Barnoldswick.

Conditions could be harsh with a forecast of cold and windy weather and even snow showers, so there may be some unexpected league position changes when the final results are calculated.