LAST Sunday’s penultimate Skipton Winter League match fished on the canal behind the hospital at Skipton, turned out to be a shocker with only 12 competitors out of 18 catching fish and seven of those returned weights of 50g (0:1:12) or less.

After an unsettled week which included the first air frost of autumn and some wet and windy weather, conditions on the day of the match were quite reasonable with hazy sun and hardly any wind. Catches were certainly poor for the venue and this was attributed to the water being quite peaty.

The only specimen fish to be caught was a perch of 830g (1:14:0) landed by the match winner and most of the remaining anglers had to be content with small roach and perch, some of which were landed in the dying stages of the three hour match.

The results were as follows:- Individuals. 1, Geoff Hartley 830g (1:14:0); 2, Darren Wright 510g (1:2:0); 3, Kenny Wright 480g (1:1:0); 4, Dave Fenn 160g (0:5:12) and 5, Rob Thornton 150g (0:5:0). Pairs. 1, Hartley and Brown 840g (1:14:6); 2, Wright and Barrett 550g (1:3:8); 3, Wright and Eason 480g (1:1:0); 4, D. and R. Fenn 180g (0:6:8)and 5, Thornton and Parker 150g (0:5:0).

With just one match to be fished it seems that Darren Wright is well placed to end up winning more than one competition although the leading positions are not as clear cut as the points tables suggest. With the best six results counting some of the more successful anglers in the following tables will need to jettison quite a few points.

Individuals. 1, Darren Wright 126 points; 2, Dave Fenn 116; 3, Ian Parker 105; 4, Mark Bradley 95 and 5, Mick Cockshott 88. Pairs. 1, Wright and Barrett 58; 2, Dave and Bob Fenn and Thornton and Parker 54; 4, Bradley and Davenport 46 and Ramsbotham and Heaton 45. In the pairs Knock-out final the Fenns took the trophy against Ramsbotham and Heaton whilst in the next match, Rob Thornton will fish against Darren Wright in the Individual Knock-out final.

The final league match will be fished on the Marina length at Barnoldswick on November 23. This venue has produced some outstanding weights in recent years but the match length does not fish evenly. Some of the competitions could very well be decided on the luck of the draw.