WITH no sign of any change in the dry and hot weather, angling clubs are now becoming concerned about the long-term effect on fish stocks in several of the Yorkshire rivers.

With water levels very low and weed growth already choking all but the deeper stretches, anglers are being asked to take a break from fishing to avoid overstressing fish that are already suffering from low oxygen levels and above normal water temperatures.

One thing that is certainly not wanted is a sudden and relatively short spell of very heavy rain that causes the storm sewage drain to discharge into the River Aire during its current low flow rate.

One such incident occurred only two years ago causing the deaths of thousands of fish from Snaygill to below Cononley and was attributed by the Environment Agency to natural conditions.

The large brown trout that was suspected to have died after being caught and handled badly above the Carleton Stone Bridge was found to have weighed nearer the 3.200kg mark than the 1.81kg originally quoted.

A tragic end to what could have been a record-breaking fish.

Whinnygill Reservoir is fishing well due to the warm conditions and anglers are reporting good sport with most of species in the water.

Recent catches have included tench, roach,skimmers, perch and ide.

The perch are numerous but on the small side whilst the other species include quality fish.

Michael Ickringill beat his personal best when he recently landed a ghost carp that tipped the scales at 4.06 kg.

In the Skipton AA’s evening Sunset Series of matches fished on Whinnygill, Russell Heaton took top honours at the last match with 1650g, which included a near-record ide of 1,180g.

The other leading weights were rather disappointing with John Leatt second with 270g, Malcolm Mawson third with 240g and Simon Chenier fourth with 230g.

In the accompanying league, John Leatt leads with 52 points, Russell Heaton is second with 48 points and Simon Chenier third with 44 points.