THE River Aire brown trout season ended last Saturday on a quiet note with only the odd angler taking advantage of the mild and breezy conditions that the last day had to offer.

In fact, the last couple of months had been something of an anti-climax because in spite of decent water levels, the fishing had not been at its best and many anglers seemed to have lost heart just when the time should have been ripe for a good conditioned specimens.

Apart from a rumour of an eight pounder (3.6 kg) early on in the season, the best recorded fish from the Skipton length appeared to be two fish of just over half that weight.

There were plenty in the two to three pound range, which, 20 years or more ago would have been outstanding, but certainly not these days with the catch and return policy enforced by most clubs.

Skipton Winter League competitors found the Broughton Road length of the canal in quite decent fettle last Sunday when the second match of the series was fished on the Sawley Street to Green Pipe length.

Dry, cloudy, breezy but mild weather put the fish in a feeding mood and some decent weights were recorded.

Graeme Waterfall had a runaway success with 1,910g which included a bream of 1,560g.

League organiser, Bill Davenport, was runner-up with 1250g of decent roach and a good perch whilst Dave Fenn was third with 680g of mixed small fish.

Other leading weights were 4 Andy Brook 650g, 5 Brett Young 620g and 6 Keith Brown 550g.

In the Pairs event the leaders were: 1 Chenier & Waterfall 1,990g, 2 Brown & Davenport 1,800g, 3 Dave & Bob Fenn 1,010g, 4 Whitaker & Brook 920g, 5 Aldis & Heaton 860g and 6 Wharton & Thomas 810g.

After just two of the eight matches, the leading competitors are as follows – Individuals: 1 Dave Fenn 41pts, 2 Graeme Waterfall 38, 3 Jason Aldis 36, 4 Brett Young 29.

Pairs: 1 D & R Fenn 19, 2 Aldis & Heaton 18, 3 Davenport & Brown 16, 4 Chenier & Waterfall 15.

The next match will be fished on October 15 on the Long Ing stretch of the canal at Barnoldswick.