IT’S been a long time in coming but at last the weather is beginning to be on the side of the angler with decent temperatures and not too much in the way of rain.

Last weekend saw plenty of anglers fishing the various waters around Skipton with the river Aire upstream of Inghey bridge being particularly well fished judging from the number of cars parked near the bridge.

This stretch owned by the Bradford City AA is fly only during the brown trout season and then until the 31 October when worm may also be used for winter grayling fishing.

Recent catches on the Aire have been quite good all the way downstream to Snaygill with the fly and the worm accounting for some decent brownies up to around the 1kg mark.

There have been some good rises and anglers have reported catching plenty of fish, all of which have now to be returned alive to the water.

The better weather has certainly helped improve matters at Embsay Reservoir where anglers have been enjoying some excellent fishing with the various trout species in the water. Simon Chenier has had two good outings recently in which he landed 20 fish in the first one comprising four brownies, six tigers, 2 rainbows and eight perch. In his second session he did not catch quite as many but his catch included a splendid brownie some 46 cm long and probably weighing around 1150g.

Philip Mawson has also been getting amongst the rainbows landing six up to 800g last Sunday.

Coarse fishing is continuing to improve at Whinnygill Reservoir where ide have been landed in increasing numbers.

The fish tend to be on the small side but catches of 13 fish have been recorded together with roach and a few perch and have fallen to the rods of Dave Fenn and Mark Bradley.

Whinnygill will be the venue for this Sunday’s Taster Day organised by the Skipton Angling Association. Any juniors or adults wishing to try their hand at fishing for the first time or to refresh their memories of past pleasures, should come to the reservoir any time between 10am and 4pm. Rods, bait and licences will be provided together with help and advice.