CONDITIONS could have been better for the Skipton Angling Association’s taster day on Whinnygill Reservoir last Sunday.

A gusty south west wind blew throughout the event and made angling difficult for all who took part but at least it remained dry and reasonably warm on the sheltered southern bank.

The sport seemed to have been affected by all the rain in the days previous and catches were generally poor with not too many fish showing up.

Simon Chenier led the way in showing how it was done and managed to catch several good bream on the ledger and swim feeder.

Graeme Waterfall, fishing a similar method, caught a hybrid and a decent tench whilst other anglers caught some smaller fish.

All of the prospective new anglers experienced the pleasure of landing a big fish, thanks to Simon handing over his rod to them after hooking the big bream.

Conditions were not much better for the final Sunset Series match on Whinnygill earlier in the week and only two anglers managed to weigh-in.

Russell Heaton had 870g with John Leatt close behind with 655g. These results confirmed that Heaton had won the series with nine points whilst Leatt was runner-up with 15 points.

Other leading competitors were Simon Chenier on 24 points, Malcolm Mawson on 25 points and Ernest Ramsbotham on 36 points.

Sport on Embsay Reservoir has been reasonable in spite of the inclement weather and anglers have been catching brown, rainbow and tiger trout on both the fly and worm.

Perch are very numerous at times and can easily be caught fishing close in with the worm but there are no specimens about.

After the earlier low summer level in the River Aire making fishing almost impossible, the rain of the last month has now had a similar effect and very few are fishing at the moment.

Most of the fish that are being caught are brown trout up to around the 450g mark. A few grayling have also been caught and like the trout, they too are on the small side.

Prospects for the next few days are looking better with the chance of much dryer weather and an increase in the temperature which should improve sport on all waters.