WITH the brown trout season closing on Yorkshire Rivers from midnight on Wednesday, September 30 anglers now have just a week left to try their luck for a specimen fish.

The River Aire is currently in good angling order for trout fishing and the fly fisherman seems to have been enjoying the best sport. Fish to around the 900g (2:0:0) mark have been landed throughout most of the Skipton AA water although bigger fish have not been showing for some time, the best this season has been a 2,270g (5:0:0) specimen from the top end.

Once the trout season closes, anglers will be able to turn to coarse fish with more confidence than for some time with recent catches of pike, chub, grayling, gudgeon and the chance of perch, dace or bream.

The latest pike to come from the Snaygill length has been a well proportioned 80cm (31.5 inch) long fish weighing 5,230g (11:8:0) and was caught by Philip Mawson using the head half of a sardine. Weight-for-length scales give a weight of 4,550g (10:0:0) for a pike of that length so the fish was in very good condition.

Skipton Winter League competitors fished the Keighley Road length of the canal at the Bay Horse last Sunday in what were very good angling conditions. All the anglers took fish to the scales and the weights were reasonable, comprising mainly of small roach, perch, skimmers and gudgeon although the winner also landed a good chub of about 450g (1:0:0).

The results were as follows:- Individuals. 1 Graeme Waterfall 1,130g (2:8:0), 2 Darren Wright 910g (2:0:0), 3 Mick Cockshott 810g (1:12:8); 4, David Fenn 760g (1:11:0); 5, Bill Davenport 690g (1:8:4) and 6, Rob Thornton 580g (1:4:8). Pairs: 1 Chenior & Waterfall 1,270g (2:12:8), 2 Cockshott & Ramsbotham 1,200g (2:10:0), 3 Wright & Magnar 1,150g (2:8:8), 4 D & R Fenn 1,010g (2:3:8) and 5, Davenport & Bradley 950g (2:1:8).

After just two matches and with five remaining to be fished, the leading competitors are: Individuals: 1 Darren Wright 48pts, 2 David Fenn 47, 3 Ernest Ramsbotham 41, 4 Andy Wharton 37, 5 Russell Heaton and Mick Cockshott both 36. Pairs. 1, D & R Fenn 21, 2 Wright & Magnar and Cockshott & Ramsbotham both 20, 4 Chenior & Waterfall 15 and 6, Heaton & Aldis 14.

The next match will be at Swine Lane, Riddlesden, on Sunday, October 4.