RIVER coarse fishing begins this Saturday but unless there is a dramatic change in the weather, the dry conditions will mean that anglers will have to wait for a chance to get among the chub.

The River Aire is very low at the moment following six weeks without any meaningful amounts of rain.

Weed growth has rocketed and most lengths are unfishable for bait anglers. Fly fishermen have fared better and both the wet and dry fly has attracted plenty of small brown trout and the soon to be in season grayling.

One angler landed 22 such fish in the space of four hours fishing.

One bait angler fishing on the top side of the Carleton Stone Bridge had managed to land a specimen brownie weighing an estimated 1,800g plus.

Unfortunately, the fish had died after being returned to the water possibly through poor handling, the higher water temperature or a combination of both.

It was a sad demise for a good Aire trout which could have lived for many more years with perhaps a little more care.

Coarse anglers have been enjoying some decent sport in Whinnygill Reservoir with mainly smallish ide, roach and perch.

A few good skimmers have also turned up in catches along with the odd decent roach and hybrids.

Carp are currently going through the spawning ritual and the return of the summer fish, the tench, cannot be too far off.

Recent matches on the water have met with moderate success with skimmers being the biggest fish to be weighed in.

At the second Tuesday evening match, Simon Chenier’s 540g gave him the top spot to John Leatt’s 500g.

Jason Aldis was third with 480 whilst poor Russell Heaton had a miserable 10g for fourth place. No one else weighed in.

At last Sunday’s first Peter Hart Memorial match on the same water, only four competitors managed to weigh in with Mark Bradley easily coming out top with 1,380g which included a good skimmer, roach and a hybrid.

Leatt was again second with 780g, Aldis third with 480g and Russell Heaton fourth although this time he had a respectable 460g.

The next match will be the Summer League this Sunday on the Coal Bunker length at West Marton with the draw at 7pm.