THE Skipton Summer League is back in action again and in spite of the rather chilly north easterly wind that has been with us for about a month, the first match produced some really good weights that were better than any recorded over the past 12 months.

The venue was the Long Ing length of the canal at Barnoldswick and apart from the wind, conditions were reasonable with plenty of good-quality bream turning up along with a few decent roach.

Bread proved to be the winning formulae for Simon Chenier when it attracted 3,740g of fish to give him the top weight.

Russell Heaton ran him a close second with 3,580g whilst Steve McIlroy was third with 1,550g.

Other leading weights were: 4 Bill Davenport 1,430g, 5 Kenny Wright 980g, 6 Wayne Eason 840g.

The next match will also be fished at Barnoldswick on the Stickups length which, at this time of the year, may also contain a bumper shoal of bream.

This will be the last match at which new entrants may register and full particulars may be obtained from Bill Davenport on 01756 799671 or 07581082576.

Elsewhere, the fishing has been hampered by the wind which has been very strong at times on the exposed Embsay and Whinnygill Reservoirs.

There have been some sheltered places to fish on the river but on most of the Skipton stretch the wind has been blowing upstream, which combined with a low flow, has made fishing difficult.

Even so, some good sport has been recorded on all the waters with a creditable five kilogram bag of orfe, bream, roach, perch and gudgeon falling to Kenny Wright when he fished Whinnygill recently.

Brown, rainbow, tiger and blue trout have all been caught at Embsay when conditions have been favourable and the wind has died down. Most fish have been caught on the worm but the fly has also been catching fish.

River anglers have been catching more out of season grayling than anything and this has prompted the Bradford City AA to ask members not to deliberately target this fish as it is probably about, or engaged, in spawning activities.

The brown trout fishing is still reasonable with the fly perhaps the best method at the moment.

Prospects should be a little warmer shortly with a change in wind direction but that may bring thundery showers which could put some extra water into the river.