MORE heavy rain at the beginning of last week managed to bring the River Aire to the top of its banking with some minor flooding of the adjacent fields.

However, by weekend the river had fallen to a level suitable for angling although they were few wishing to try their luck anywhere between Keighley and the top side of Skipton.

One angler who did wet a line on the Bradford No 1 stretch adjacent to Heslaker Lane at Carleton-in-Craven did manage to catch a few small brown trout on the worm in a couple of hours fishing.

No grayling turned up and they are a fish that can feed well in the coldest of conditions.

Few anglers have been fishing in the Skipton Angling Association’s Whinnygill Reservoir of late mainly due to unsatisfactory conditions.

The reservoir is full to the brim and the colder weather appears to have taken its toll on the coarse fish population with none being landed recently.

Skipton AA. Events Secretary, Malcolm Mawson, has spent ten hours fishing on the reservoir without catching a fish in February but that changed last Sunday when he landed three good brown trout on a maggot and worm bait.

The best fish was a splendid 55cm (21.5 inches) long fish weighing 2050g (4:8:0) with a girth of 31cm (12 inches). The trout put up a terrific fight lasting a good ten minutes and finally came to the net in a heavy snow shower.

The other two trout weighed in at 940g and 910g (2:1:0 and 2:0:0) and also took the same bait combination which was fished on the bottom but not too far out. With the fish being out of season, Malcolm will have to wait until the end of March to try to get the big one again for entering in the best trout competition.

Canal anglers have also had blank days and the recent cold snap is probably responsible as the weather has been on the mild side all through December and January. Sport may improve this weekend for still water fishing with the forecast of more wet and windy weather. River anglers may find too much water could be a problem once again.