Rivers beginning to give up the big catches again

And, following weeks in the doldrums, local rivers were well to the fore in providing decent catches.

Dave McLennan came close to shattering the MKAA winter league record when, in Sunday’s round on the Ouse upstream of the Watling Street bridge at Stony, he bagged 14 bream to 6-6 for 48-6...and lost three more!

Such was his catch that he had to borrow a spare net from a neighbouring angler to avoid falling foul of the 40lb-per-net limit rule.

With the river up a bit up and pushing, a fallen tree provided him, and the shoal, with a nice mid-stream slack.

Using worm and caster under a one gramme pole float, he said: “It was a perfect swim, all I had to do was hold back a bit and wait for bites.”

Kevin Osborne had 11-14, mainly perch, followed by Mark Haynes 6-11 and Alan Lambert 5-12. Paul Abbott leads with one round to go.

With temperatures rocketing following the freeze, Dave Booth, pictured, landed a 6lb chub from the Ouzel though, days earlier, Gary Maton had started a stalking session on the same river in minus three conditions and STILL had four chub to 5lb on bread.

MK Vets’ midweeker on Newport’s Riverside saw Bob Gale landing eight chub to 4-14 plus bits for 13-8 – from a ‘chub hole’ which hadn’t produced in years. Dave Ridgeway had 7-12 and Richard Massey 6-1.

On Olney’s Ouse Paul Caton bagged 12lb of roach and dace while wagglering double maggot.

On Furzton, with snow still thick on the ground, Sam Hussain landed a mint-looking 25-6 common and, on one of the coldest days of the freeze, Stewart Mackay tempted a 22lb catfish from a stillwater in the south of the city.

Heading down to Arrans in Essex – and air temperatures a balmy 16 – Osprey had a ball on Sunday as Ed Blaine won with 169-3 ahead of Mark Wilson 169-3, Mark Carter 154-11 and Tony McGregor 152-10 as 10 rods topped the ‘ton’.

Fixtures: Sunday Feb 7 MKAA individual winter league on river (if not flooded) 07970 047506; Feb 14, Olney Ouse open 01234 240061.