BRADFORD CITY AA

DESPITE the weather not quite living up to forecasters' predictions, many anglers took advantage of the long weekend to get out onto the banks. Insect hatches are starting to emerge on the rivers and fish are becoming more active in the still-waters, although cool nights, breezes and water temperatures are keeping fish down. We're told that it will be warmer and more settled over the coming weekend.

Many anglers have reported catches from our still-waters. Carp and tench are starting to show at Shipton but the bream are becoming harder to locate. Carp are feeding on the top following the wind, with roach and skimmers providing sport on dull days. Simon Chapman had good nets of small roach on maggot, plus some good bream, a 6lb 8oz tench and an 11lb 2oz common carp. John Dakin reported bream to 5lb, plus roach and skimmers, but also carp picking up bait meant for bream.

At Staveley Lakes, anglers have had mixed bags of roach, chub and skimmers, as well as a 2lb eel, plus tench and pike. Simon Feather, Adrian Bunn and Emilio Milito netted carp in the low doubles, while another member reported an 18lb zip-linear mirror. Perhaps the happiest angler was nine-year-old Madoc Morris, with a fine first spring tench. The large pond at Oakworth is fishing particularly well, with silvers and carp on expander pellets and maggots over groundbait.

Conditions on rivers have been mixed. Upwings, including turkey browns and olive uprights, were hatching on our fisheries at Aysgarth and Worton on the Ure, with Stuart Minnikin returning some beautifully-marked trout. On the Aire, grayling still feature on the fly but are sometimes badly marked by cormorants and herons. In general, however, it is still early season, with little bug life and few sightings of trout.

Members are reminded that we are having a large open day event on Saturday, May 6 on Gargrave Green. There will be a range of stalls from local angling clubs and fishing organisations, plus on-river demonstrations by nationally-renowned anglers. We are also advertising via leaflets in tackle shops and on social media. More details of the event are available from Phil Bailey on 07811-286652. A newsletter is also going to members this weekend, with details of the new still-water for which we have agreed reciprocal access, new bailiffing arrangements and other important matters. We regret to say that our club website is proving difficult to resurrect after its recent outage.

Result of the JD Illingworth Trophy at Staveley Lakes: 1 Steve Fox 9lb 6oz, 1 Colin Cavell 7lb 10oz (mixed fish). The next match is the Gertrude Sykes Cup at Staveley on Sunday, May 14. To book a place, and for further information, call Rodney Brooksbank on 07875-275749.

LEEDS ASA

The spell of warm weather has switched on fish at most venues. Result of midweek match at Moor Monkton Pools: 1 J Roper 153lb 7oz, 2 A Bull 115lb 12oz, 3 D Wright 104lb 9oz. Result of Tuesday match at Kippax Park: 1 J Redman 105lb. There were several other good weights from all of the lakes. Result of Saturday Open at Osprey Lake, Kippax Park: 1 S Raper 113lb 7oz, 2 M Rockingham 46lb 12oz, 3 J Wake 42lb 14oz. Result of Sunday match at Cyprio and match pool at Moor Monkton Pools: 1 M Carr 118lb 2oz, 2 A Jordan 99lb 12oz, 3 A Middleton 76lb 5oz, 4 J Roper 65lb 9oz. The River Wharfe has been fishing well for trout to bait fishers but bait restrictions must be observed. A few fly fishers have also landed fish when conditions have been favourable. Carp have started to respond at Knotford Lagoon, with the largest reported being 25lb. One angler also caught 15 large tench. A pathway round Knotford is the next project there, as well as the construction of another car park. There is a working party tomorrow on the River Nidd at Skip Bridge. All volunteers welcome.

BRADFORD PALS AC

Result of match on Sunday, April 9 on Big Swan at Messingham Sands: 1 John Hooley 74lb 4oz, 2 Pete Fraser 73lb 13oz, 3 Andy Clough 72lb 12oz, 4 John Christopher Foreman 55lb 6oz. Well done to all anglers who got through to the next round of the club knockout. Result of match on Sunday, April 16 on the main lake at Birkwood Farm: 1 Andy Clough 43lb 4oz, 2 Keith Gardner 34lb 14oz, 3 Bernard Hook 29lb 10oz, 4 John Christopher Foreman 28lb 8oz. Points table after four matches: 1 John Christopher Foreman 33, 2 Bernard Hook 31, 3 Steve Barker 30, 4 John Hooley 22, 5 Andy Clough 21. Our next match is on Sunday, May 14 on Bonsai Lake at Lindholme Lakes. Feed pellets must be used but meat is banned. The cafe opens at 7.30am. Anyone who will not be fishing this match must notify the match secretary by Sunday, May 7 or you will be charged a peg fee. Hopefully everyone should have received their new Environment Agency licence, as you will be required to produce it when you book on.

LISTERHILLS AA

Since the brown-trout season started on March 25, several good-sized fish have come from the River Aire. Unhook and return these to provide sport for the future. The weather has played a big part in the fortunes of anglers recently. For the first of the Saturday series of canal opens, competitors had to brave strong, cold, gusting winds, as well as brief showers. Result: 1 P Woods 2lb 15oz (including tench), 2 B Mason 2lb 1oz, 3 E Harrison 1lb 6oz, 4 J Mason. Conditions were a little better for the sweepstake at Wellington Road on Easter Monday. Result: 1 R Thorne 2lb 3oz, 2 B Mason 1lb 9oz, 3 M Paton, 4 E Harrison. The draw for Sunday's match on the Calverley end of the canal at Rodley is at 10am. To book, contact 07518-721051. Pike have been showing in numbers on some lengths of the canal – a nuisance to anglers after other species but sport for lure anglers.

SKIPTON AA

Result of our open match on Whinnygill Reservoir, Skipton (frequent showers followed a cold night): 1 David Fenn 2040g (good mixed bag), 2 Danny Bolland 1450g, 3 Jason Aldis 580g, 4 Mark Bradley 370g, 5 Simon Chenier 350g, 6 Malcolm Mawson 340g, 7 Steve McElroy 210g. Most catches comprised roach, rudd and orfe, with ruffe and gudgeon also turning up. Surprisingly, no bream or trout were caught. This Sunday, the reservoir will be the venue for our Taster Day (10am-4pm), when anyone interested in taking up fishing can come along and try their luck for an hour or more. The event is primarily aimed at juveniles but no-one will be turned away. All tackle and bait will be provided.

BRADFORD No 1 AA

Raskelf Lake will be closed on Sunday for the sold-out W Backhouse Cup members' match, which draws at 9am at the Black Bull in Raskelf. Knotford Lagoon is continuing to produce for carp anglers, with many good catches in the last week or so. The biggest fish of the year so far has been caught by James Smith, who has become the second captor of one of the newly-stocked fish, this time weighing in excess of 30lb. In terms of number of fish, James Tingle landed 17 up to over 20lb in one session over the Easter weekend. Anglers fishing at Shelf Dam have reported good catch rates of roach, perch, ide and bream on maggot or bread punch, with many managing a bite every cast.

GREAT HORTON AC

Result of Sunday's well-attended match on Heron at Tollerton in fine and sunny weather: 1 J Sutcliffe 46lb ½oz, 2 B Smithson 41lb, 3 A Hillary 39lb 13oz, 4 K Scott 35lb 1oz.