CONDITIONS last Sunday were not ideal for the Skipton Angling Association’s open match on Whinnygill Reservoir at Skipton.

Frequent showers following a cold night made fishing difficult at times and both the attendance and the sport showed a decline from that experienced a couple of weeks ago on the same water.

David Fenn had a good mixed bag fish to easily win the match with 2,040g (4:8:0) whilst second place went to Danny Bolland with 1450g (3:3:4). Other leading weights were: 3 Jason Aldis 580g (1:4:8), 4 Mark Bradley 370g (0:13:0); 5 Simon Chenier 350g (0:12:4); 6 Malcolm Mawson 340g (0:12:0) and 7 Steve McElroy 210g (0:7:8).

Most catches comprised of roach, rudd and orfe with ruffe and gudgeon also turning up. Surprisingly, no bream or trout were caught.

This Sunday, the reservoir will be the venue for the Skipton AA’s Taster Day when anyone interested in taking up fishing can go along and try their luck for an hour or more.

The event is primarily aimed at juveniles but no one will be turned away. The event starts at 10am and finishes at 4pm and all tackle and bait will be provided.

The weather has not been too kind for anglers over the last few days with a persistent and cold North West wind and the occasional spell of light rain which has not had any effect on water levels.

Embsay Reservoir has been producing some reasonable catches of fish with the fly doing particularly well.

Brown, rainbow, blue and tiger trout have all been caught as well as the odd perch. However, there have been no reports of anything big coming from the water so far this season.

The upper reaches of the River Aire around Inghey Bridge have continued to fish well and both the fly and worm angler have reported some good fish. The best last week fell to a Bradford No 1 angler and were a couple of brownies weighing 1,365g and 1,590g (3:0:0 and 3:8:0) which took the worm on the shallow stretch just below the bridge.

Prospects remain reasonable with not much rain in the foreseeable future but a cold daytime wind and even freezing conditions overnight.