BRADFORD CITY AA

THE weather has been very changeable this week – a fair bit of sunshine but also some cold winds, which have kept fish down. Anglers have been out on the banks, however, with most of our still-waters being well-fished. Forecasts for the weekend are not brilliant, with the wind often in the north-west, though reasonable temperatures and bright weather on Easter Monday will hopefully be conducive to both anglers and active fish.

Members fishing Shipton and Oakworth have all reported good catches, especially at Oakworth, where fishing is now much better after the predation last year and re-stocking over the winter. At Shipton, John Dakin netted a number of bream to 6lb, fishing 60 metres out from the roadside pegs. Phil Bailey was out on the Gargrave beat of the Aire with new member Phil Bastow, reporting poor hatches and no fish moving on the top. However – and with only a handful of fish between them – Phil had an excellent brown trout of 2½lb from the weir pool. Dave Martin, fishing the Aire, likewise reported a fish of 3½lb.

We are holding a large Open Day on Saturday, May 6 on Gargrave Green, with a range of stalls from local angling clubs and fishing organisations, plus on-river demonstrations by nationally-renowned anglers. More details can be obtained from Phil Bailey on 07811-286652.

Other important news is that the club are set to announce access to a new trout still-water – by agreement with a nearby club. We are also working to strengthen our bailiffing and anti-poaching arrangements, with several members attending an Angling Trust bailiff development day this weekend.

Members are asked to note that grayling are now actively spawning, so anglers must remember that they are currently out of season and must not be targeted.

Riverfly samplers have this week surveyed the River Aire for invertebrates. They report huge numbers of olive and heptagenid nymphs, which provides some clues for the flies which anglers might find successful. More information is provided on our Facebook page. The club website is down, with apparently long-term server problems, but we hope that these can be resolved quickly.

The next BCAA match is the JD Illingworth Trophy tomorrow at Staveley Lakes. To book a place, and for further information, contact Rodney Brooksbank on 07875-275749.

BRADFORD No 1 AA

Membership of the club is still available to purchase from all the usual outlets, including our website (www.bradfordno1.com), with no joining fee if you were a member in 2016. There have been good catches of bream from a few waters recently as fish prepare to start spawning once the water warms up. Shelf Dam continues to produce good nets of bream, roach and perch on float and maggot, while at Knotford there have been a number of 100lb-plus catches of bream, with most fish around 8lb and many into double figures. The members' match at Raskelf on Sunday, April 23 is sold out, with a waiting list in place, as is the carp match at Knotford on May 13-14.

SKIPTON AA

Although the brown-trout season is less than a month old, coarse fishing is still taking place on waters where a close season is not enforced, such as the local stretches of the canal and the many ponds and still-waters in the area.

Another local coarse fishery is Whinnygill Reservoir on the hillside to the east of Skipton, and where the recent steady rise in temperature has seen the sport gradually improve. This was the case in the last open match held on the reservoir which saw all of the competitors catch fish during the four-hour match. Result: 1 William Raymond-Barker 1720g (3:12:8), 2 Jason Aldis 1080g (2:6:0), 3 Russell Heaton 1030g (2:4:4), 4 Dave Fenn 800g (1:12:0), 5 Andrew Thomas 680g (1:8:0), 6 Simon Chenier 440g (0:15:8), 7 Kenny Wright 430g (0:15:4), 8 Bob Fenn 400g (0:14:0), 9 Malcolm Mawson 310g (0:10:12), 10 Andy Wharton 300g (0:10:4). Three anglers chose not to weigh-in and catches consisted mostly of roach, with rudd, perch and bream also coming to the net.

Whinnygill will be the venue for another open match this Sunday (draw 8am, fishing 9am-1pm, entry fee £7 all in) when competitors will be hoping that the good sport continues.

The River Aire has also responded well to the better weather, with some very good brown trout being landed from the upper reaches. The best fish last week tipped the scales at 1820g (4:0:0) and was caught on ledgered worm from just below the old Inghey Bridge in the Bradford No 1 length, along with two other good fish.

The Skipton AA fishery has also produced a 1590g (3:8:0) specimen to the fly, and other members have enjoyed some good fishing above the stone bridge, while fly fishermen have used the black and peacock spider to good effect at Embsay Reservoir in multi-fish catches. The best at Whinnygill so far has been a 1250g (2:12:0) brownie, landed by Philip Mawson using the worm.

GREAT HORTON AC

Result of match on March 5 at Raker Lakes, Horseshoe (conditions cold and wet): 1 O Hudspith 23lb 7oz, 2 T Whaling 16lb 8oz, 3 J Walker 15lb 14oz, 4 P Corfield 13lb 9oz. Result of match on March 26 at Sykehouse Stock Pond (weather dry and sunny): 1 J Walker 31lb 7oz, 2 P Weston 18lb 11oz, 3 O Hudspith 16lb 2oz, 4 T Whaling 14lb 2oz. Result of match on April 2 at Viking Fishery, Hawk (weather dry and sunny): 1 A Hillary 53lb 15oz, 2 J Walker 44lb 8oz, 3 O Hudspith 41lb 2oz, 4 J Falcus 32lb 14oz. All matches were well attended.

BRADFORD SEA AC

Our next general meeting is on Tuesday at the New Inn, East Bierley (8pm). Mackerel have now moved into the west coast, along with herring, so it won't belong before the big boys arrive – tope bull huss and spurdog, and they have already been reported at Holyhead. Good-sized specimens have been caught on boats, so it won't be long before they start to show at Rhyl. On the east coast, cod and ling are being caught inshore and on the wrecks.

BINGLEY AC

Members fishing Coppice Pond are asked to take care not to damage the new planting that has been carried out, and not to leave litter. The match scheduled for Sunday, April 23 has been cancelled, so the next match is on Sunday, May 21 at Settler Dam.

CENTRAL AC

Result of our match at Birkin on Sunday, April 9: 1 P Main 35lb 4oz, 2 J Mountain 27lb 4oz, 3 J Wharfe 23lb 12oz, 4 R Wharfe 11lb 20z. Our next match is at Tollerton on Sunday, April 23, meet at venue 8am, fishing 9am-3pm.