THE Skipton Winter League’s third match was fished last Sunday on the Swine Lane length of the canal at Riddlesden in still, cloudy and coolish conditions.

Catches were reasonable and most of the weights consisted of small roach tempted by punched bread or the squat. A few better perch and skimmer bream were also caught but overall, the weights could have been better.

David Fenn kept up his good performance since the opening match and enjoyed a narrow victory with his 980g (2:2:8) catch. John Aldis was second with 930g (2:0:8) whilst Darren Wright kept in contention with 750g (1:10:4) for third spot. Other leading weights were: 4 Mick Cockshott 560g (1:4:0), 5 Rob Thornton 550g (1: 3:12) and 6 Bob Heaton 430g (0:15:4).

In the Pairs event, the father and son team of Bob and David Fenn maintained their lead with 1360g (3:0:0) although Heaton & Aldis shared the top spot with the same weight. Ramsbotham & Cockshott also kept in sight of the top spot with third place and 940g (2:1:0). Thornton & Eason were fourth with 900g (2:0:0) and Wright & Thomas fifth with 750g (1:10:4)

With four matches remaining to be fished, the leading competitors are as follows: Individuals. 1 David Fenn 73pts; 2 Darren Wright 71, 3 Ernie Ramsbotham 60, 4 Mick Cockshott 58; 5 Andy Wharton and Bob Heaton 56. Pairs: 1 D & R Fenn 34, 2 Ramsbotham & Cockshott 30, 3 Wright & Thomas 27 and 4, Heaton & Aldis 26.

The next match on October 18 and will feature a venue new to the league and is the length known as the Coal Bunker adjacent to the West Marton to Thornton road.

For several of the competitors it will be an unknown stretch but it has been fishing well recently with some good fish being brought to the net.

With the breaking down of the weather last Monday, anglers will have to face wetter, windier conditions and the start of the leaf fall season although generally milder weather should prevail.

Some extra water in rivers will help to solve the problem of leaves but on still waters they tend to stick around for longer. However, fish should be there to be caught on all waters so long as conditions remain favourable.