Malcolm Mawson, of Skipton, leads by example as rain wreaks havoc on the rivers

BINGLEY ANGLING CLUB

With the colder weather, fish on the canal have started to move to winter habitats, especially around the boats at Crossflatts where good nets of silver fish can now be caught.

The heavy rain has caused problems with the car park at Boston Spa, members may park on the grass across from the car park entrance.

The farmer will be carrying out repair work on the drains in the next few weeks but will try to keep disruption to anglers to a minimum. Please be patient while these works are carried out as it will benefit us all.

The Aire Rivers Trust are having a volunteer day in Bingley next Friday to carry out footpath improvements on the river bank, meeting in Queens Street car park at 10am. For more information, call Nick Milsom on 07378 878857.

BRADFORD & DISTRICT SEA ANGLING CLUB

Tuesday, November 19, is our annual general meeting. We would like as many members as possible to attend this meeting as we are going to project the club forward for the future.

If any member has any rule changes could you please let our secretary Rob Wadsworth know as soon as possible.

We have no more trips planned for this year, so Brian will gather all the results together and see who has won trophies for this year ahead of our presentation evening in March.

We always welcome potential new members, so if anyone wishes to join our happy band of anglers.

BRADFORD NO1 ANGLING ASSOCIATION

With river levels remaining high across the county for the past month, there have been few reports from anglers on the club's running water stretches.

A match held on the River Aire at Beal produced good catches of roach and skimmers from both of our waters.

Once levels return somewhere near normal, the River Swale at Topcliffe will be well worth a visit for roach on waggler and maggot.

At Raskelf there have been good nets of F1s, skimmers and roach from all parts of the lake, despite the water temperature dropping and lake colour clearing.

The Raskelf Winter Series gets under way on November 10, drawing at the Black Bull at 9am.

There are a couple of places remaining for the series from Simon on 01274 571175.

KEIGHLEY ANGLING CLUB

Relentless rain over the past month prompted Keighley Angling Club to issue a warning about the dangers of high water levels on local rivers.

In a safety message to all river bank users, chairman Fred Farrington said: "We are all disappointed that recent poor weather disrupted river fishing but our prime concern is to make sure everyone using the river bank, including ramblers and dog walkers, is aware of the dangers caused by the threat of flooding.

"People should note that some parts of the river bank are very slippery.

"Luckily for all our members, fishing remains possible on the canal as well as on our still-water sites."

There have been reports of roach and skimmers being netted on the canal at Riddlesden and while pike have been seen but not caught, predatory perch have been tempted by stick float anglers using mainly red maggot.

When the river was accessible, feeder fished worm methods proved most successful especially in heavier flows.

Details of club activity are available on Facebook including a reminder that this year’s annual general meeting will be held at The Rishworth Club, Crossflatts on Tuesday, November 19 at 7.30pm. All members are welcome to attend.

SALTAIRE AA

Last week's river match had to be cancelled due to the river being in flood. The next match is planned for November 10. Draw is at 8.45am at the Sir Norman Rae pub in Shipley market square BD18 3QB. Entry fee £15. Please call Carl Chadwick on 07955727079 - avoid calling between 7:30am-5pm week days as the use of mobile phones are not permitted at work.

The dates for the other river matches are: November 24, December 1, December 15, December 29, January 5, January 19, February 2, February 16, March 1. The bottom length and middle length will be closed to pleasure anglers on these dates.

Dates for the winter canal matches are yet to be finalised.

The 2019 AGM will take place at the Ring O Bells, Saltaire, BD18 3PR on Monday (8pm).

This is your chance to find out what the committee have been up to throughout the year and to have your input into the club.

Last Sunday saw the last round of the Pennine Winter League series fished on our stretch of the canal. Pegged straight through from the canopy above the boats to halfway down Dockfield Road, the canal has suffered from an overnight drop in temperature.

Leading the way from behind the bike shop was Matrix Halifax Black's Richard Thorne with 7lb 9oz; 2 Ian Dawson, Tricast Calder B, 5lb 10oz; 3 John Leeds, Tricast Rochdale, 5lb 1oz; 4 Daz Kershaw, Matrix Halifax Blue, 4lb 12oz; 5 Martin Heliwell, Matrix Halifax Red, 4lb 9oz.

Good numbers of pike are also showing along this length and sport should improve as the weather turns cooler.

SKIPTON ANGLING ASSOCIATION

Once again angling faced a bleak outlook last weekend with just over 24 hours of continuous rain which totalled 50.5mm in the Aire Valley and probably a good deal more on the hill tops.

As a result the River Aire overflowed into the fields for the fourth time in as many weeks making fishing impossible.

Just prior to the rain, Whinnygill Reservoir produced yet another specimen carp for Skipton Angling Association club chairman, Malcolm Mawson.

Fishing close in to the side as dusk was approaching, Mawson’s float slid under and at the other end was a splendid 2,655g common carp which came to the net after a lively struggle lasting at least 10 minutes.

After trying several baits to no effect, Mawson resorted to a small cockle fished on a size 16 hook to 1.5kg line which brought instant success. The big carp was just 15g under the club’s record fish which was also caught by Mawson.

Besides the carp, Mawson’s cockle bait also accounted for four ide weighing a total of 1,250g giving an evening’s catch of some 3,905g before darkness brought an end to the fishing.

Canal anglers have continued to enjoy some good sport around Skipton before the rains came with quality roach, perch and bream.

Most baits have been successful fished close into the side when boat traffic has been light.

Reports from Embsay Reservoir have been few and indicate that the fishing may have been affected by the colder nights and no doubt by the wet conditions. Only small perch and a few rainbows appear to have been moving.

Future prospects do not seem to be any better for the foreseeable future after a brief respite in the rain, but with frost at night, there will be a change to mild and windy weather by this weekend but bringing more heavy rain.