BRADFORD No 1 AA

AFTER many of the club's still-waters were frozen for the majority of December, they've begun to defrost over the Christmas break and there have been a few good fish caught. Reece Lisle caught a nice common carp from Kirklees Lagoon on Boxing Day, while Allan Allcock caught a double-figure pike from the same lake on a dead bait.

There have also been plenty of fish caught from the rivers, despite the varying water levels and cold temperatures, with Ash Clayson catching an 11lb 4oz pike from the River Wharfe, while quite a few chub have been plucked from the River Nidd at Cowthorpe.

Membership for 2018 is now available from the club website, all of our tackle shop agents or Simon Freer on 07714-662783. Last year's members have until the end of 2018 to renew without paying the joining fee, but yearbooks must be bought before fishing.

The waiting list for night permits is open, and full details are in the yearbook. The new permits, which allow fishing with three rods on Knotford and Kirklees all year round, are selling well.

Widdington Hall will be closed both tomorrow and Sunday for outside bookings.

Tickets are available for the Dudley Hill & Tong Open on the River Swale at Topcliffe and Maunby on Sunday, January 14 from Simon Foster on 01274-571175.

SKIPTON AA

With plenty of inclement weather over the Christmas period, including snow, ice, heavy rain and gale-force winds, anglers had to pick their time carefully in order to enjoy fishing on local waters.

The best fish was a fine perch that came from the canal basin in the centre of Skipton during one of the occasions when it was ice free. It proved to be the only fish of the day for local angler Andrew Thomas and tipped the scales at 1.200kg (2:10:8), which should make it a new record for Skipton AA, narrowly beating the previous best of 1.137kg caught by Michael Ickringill in late November.

Another good day's fishing was enjoyed by Simon Chenier, who fished Embsay Reservoir and the River Aire on the same day. A morning session on Embsay yielded a decent brown trout and an equally good tiger trout, together with a small perch. In the afternoon, Simon landed two good brownies from the Aire and four grayling, two of which measured 48cm. Unfortunately, a weighing scale was not to hand but the length puts the graylings at well over a kilogram each.

Finally, Whinnygill Reservoir has produced some good sport for the rod of David Fenn during a couple of sessions between the showers. After fishing for three-and-a-half hours without a bite, the fish started coming at a bite a cast and resulted in three roach, with a best of 910g, a small skimmer and finally 11 ide in a span of one-and-a-half hours.

On a separate occasion, Dave landed five roach, five perch and a skimmer, plus plenty of missed bites. It looks like the canal and Whinnygill will continue to provide the best fishing with a mildish, windy and rather wet forecast for the foreseeable future, which probably rules out the river due to high-water levels.

The 111th Skipton AA annual meeting will be held at the RAF Club, Shortbank Road, Skipton, next Thursday (7.30 pm). Members should make every effort to attend this important event.

LEEDS ASA

Priority for applications for night permits at Knotford Lagoon will be given to those members who had them in 2017. Deadline for them to apply is Sunday, January 14, after which they will be thrown open to new applicants, who will then have to be ratified by the committee. The membership office will be open on Mondays and Fridays, excluding bank holidays.

Recent matches at Moor Monkton Pools have been affected by the weather, with carp reluctant to feed in earnest. Anglers who have concentrated on roach and skimmers have had the most success.

Result of the Wednesday match: 1 T Hewson 9lb 8oz, 2 S Jeffreys 7lb 6oz, 3 M Hare 4lb 8oz. Result of the Sunday match: 1 1 M Hare 10lb, 2 S Jeffreys 8lb 13oz, 3 G Milner 8lb 5oz. Result of the match at Kippax Park (Lapwing): 1 1 A Rymer 36lb, 2 D Wright 27lb, 3 L Wilshire 22lb. This lake has been re-stocked with a further 300 trout.

The middle reaches of the River Wharfe have been productive for anglers seeking grayling, with a member of forum ac getting a specimen weighing 2lb 6oz. Pike anglers on the River Ouse have reported medium-sized fish, with the larger fish that the river is noted for proving elusive. A few good chub have come from the River Nidd.

SALTAIRE AA

The New Year's Day match was very hard, on account of it being very clear due to a lack of boat traffic over the Christmas period. Result: 1 Richard East (Matrix Halifax) 10lb 13oz (skimmers from peg 22), 2 Billy Mason (Saltaire) 6lb 6oz (peg 23), 3 Nigel Hirst (Tricast Calder) 6lb 1oz (peg 20), 4 Gary Watson (Matrix Halifax) 2lb. The next open canal match is on Sunday, January 14. Call Richard East on 07815-092966 to book on.

The next river match is on Sunday. Call Barrie for further details and to book on (07902- 493139). There will be a pike match tomorrow on the boats section in Shipley, draw 9am, fishing 10am-3pm. The pike were very active during last week's silvers match and could be seen striking at small fish. To book on and for further details call Lee (07496-445303).

Yearbooks are now in the tackle shops and should be purchased before fishing any of the club's waters.

LISTERHILLS AA

Membership must be renewed before fishing our waters, with a reminder that Pilley's Dam is on our books until further notice. Not many anglers have been out recently, but those who have braved the weather have returned decent catches, mostly of small roach, while lure fishermen have had pike from the canal. Members wishing to obtain Leeds Amalgamation membership should fill in the form on page 25 of our book and post it with the correct amount, as specified on page 24. There is a considerable saving to be made doing it this way.

BRADFORD SEA AC

Many things were discussed at what was a good meeting on Tuesday, December 19. The main item was trips for 2018, and two outings to Clare Island have already been booked via our trip secretary. Ring 07711-987833 to book on for this trip, while for the week's trip to Culdaff in August, ring Roger on 07773-139460 to book on. Early bookings are advised. Meanwhile, the committee would like to wish all of our members a happy New Year and tight lines for 2018.

BINGLEY AC

Yearbooks for 2018 are now available at the usual outlets and from the website www.bingleyanglingclub.co.uk. There is a work party on Sunday at Coppice Pond (10am) to continue with fencing and habitat improvements. All volunteers are welcome.