FOURWAY FISHERY, GUNTHORPE: Pleasure anglers have had a relatively hard week for the carp, but plenty of silver fish including roach and ide have been taking float-fished maggots. Next match is on Sunday, draw 9am, fish 10am to 3pm.

HAVEN FISHERY: The  mild and more settled conditions in midweek produced some reasonable catches of roach, tench, rudd and perch to float fished pink or white maggot and worm to light tackle and smaller hook size. Smaller carp being landed mainly to feeder and PVA bags, but it is a waiting game for good bites. Water levels at all three Haven ponds is still high, with few pegs showing at Scotter Road pond. To book night fishing please call (01724) 762331.

HUNTERS LODGE, ELSHAM
CARP WATER: Sport picked up this week and most anglers caught by chopping and changing baits and adding a few freebies.

MIDDLE POND: This is now closed for two months to facilitate maintenance work.

SILVER FISH WATER: Saw anglers enjoying good sport to all methods to obtain good nets of roach and perch to maggots and pellets as the best baits.

KEADBY CANAL: The number of mitten crabs in the canal Basin has surprised those maintenance men working with machinery who have found 70 of them so far in their buckets. Anglers using dead-baits are also catching them.
Plenty of pike about, although some roach and bream have shown in the Basin. Some speculation as to how the banks along the canal can be stabilised as the canal is either leaking or the railway underpinning it is in need of repair and there is talk of the canal section in need of draining.  

KEADBY DRAINS: The Pilfrey Bridge end is especially busy with pike anglers as the drains are full of pike of all sizes, which indicates that there must be plenty of food fish in there and also that the pike have thrived mightily. The car park at Pilfrey has been crowded at times.

KINGFISHER LODGE, HIBALDSTOW: Fishing well for good catches of bream and roach to make weights of over 40lb at a sitting using pole, maggots and worms. Double-figure roach nets from the shallows to float fish maggots and casters. Chub starting to show to maggot feeder over by the Island. Good perch to 2lb taking worm.

MESSINGHAM SANDS: The Oak Tree Pond is in good form for carp, especially from mid-afternoon onwards and skimmers seem prepared to feed whatever the conditions. The North and South Day Ticket Ponds are in excellent form for silver fish. Maggot or casters fished on a light rig around two feet deep will provide plenty of bites from quality roach and big hybrids, while pellet fished on the bottom is accounting for some good skimmer bream catches. Odd carp on light tackle are also adding to the sport. The Wednesday Open on the Swan pond saw the winning weight over the 100lb mark for the third week running. The Silver Fish Open on Saturday also saw plenty of carp, especially in the new bit of the Swan Pond. As carp don’t count in this series there was plenty of stick given every time someone had to return a lump
unweighed. John Palmer scored his third consecutive win in the Sunday Winter series held on the Tripp Lake. This week, John weighed over 40lbs. This consisted of two 4lb carp, crucians to 1lb and skimmer bream to 1.5lbs, all caught on maggot at six metres.

POLICE CLUB WATERS: Plenty of silver fish from most enclosed waters according to the few who do report back.
The Torne and Warping Drain are the targets for the pike, again nothing of outstanding note reported. The Trent at Torksey could be providing some decent roach catches but for the muddy banks which make for difficult access. However, the dedicated running water men have been to South Clifton and found the roach by using feeder and leger tactics.
The fine weather last Sunday probably tempted a few anglers to try out the Flixborough, Blyton and Medge Hall waters, despite the fact that the levels would be high.  

WILLOW SPRINGS: Now closed for one of the rest periods that Will Foster-Thornton awards to his fishery, another example of the good husbandry which he applies so that not only the environment gets a well earned rest after a hard summer season, it gives him time and space to make any changes deemed necessary.
There is no doubt that some excellent match weights have been made from the Big Pond, the only time that keep-nets are allowed. But the pleasure anglers have also enjoyed the sport, with the bigger fish to a variety of baits. 

YADDLETHORPE PONDS: North and South ponds have produced little of note, the Match Pond has been moderate but
improved with the Sunday weather. Haystack water was as good as ever and it never disappoints. The Bathing Hole saw a pair of anglers having contrasting results, with one getting 15 carp and his mate only two, red maggot the successful bait. Next Pike Match will be on the Match Pit on Saturday. Draw 9am, fish 10am to 3pm, £15 all in. Call 07876 766928.

CLEATHAM TROUT: Fish were caught in midweek, but the weekend saw the hatching of tiny flies and fish rising all over the place but hard to catch.
Not many fly fishers are capable of tying and using tiny flies. The late John Tarn could and of course Mick Pollack is noted for his delight in using and being successful with flies most of us can hardly tie on the leader, much less tie in the vice. With such tiny flies, the problem is hooking the fish and keeping it on long enough to land, one of the requisites being a relatively soft rod which will absorb the shock runs.

THORPE VALE TROUT: Decent catches for most anglers using lures in the deeper water at both lakes. The winds have been a problem on some of the banks and at times even a back-cast was hard to manage. Dry flies in red or black have tempted some fish on the milder days when a hatch occurred, but these had to be small, with size 18 the best.

TOFT NEWTON TROUT: Fifty-eight anglers caught 238 fish with a rod average 4.1.
Remained mild but very windy at times. It seems as though the fry have had enough of being bombarded by the trout and decided to move into deeper water to seek refuge. Consequently, the trout have followed them and the drop in rod average reflects this – still a respectable four-plus though, with several anglers once again taking decent bags. Ricky Varley and Danny Peet fished from the wheelyboat on Friday and caught around 40 fish.
Best patterns have been minkies, boobies, diawl bachs and a few on dark coloured dries.
Best fish this week, a brown of 5Ib 6oz to Hull angler Robin Goldthorpe as part of his 14 fish catch, taken on Minkies and Claret Dabblers.
Next year’s season tickets are on sale, £295 for two visits a week and a 40 fish limit per season, unlimited catch and release, inclusive of boat and tackle discount offers to holders. Total season cost on a day ticket basis for the above offer would be somewhere in the region of £900.
Toft Newton fur and feather match on Sunday, November 30, which is on the last day of the 2008 season. Bring a bottle of ‘cheap' wine as your entry, all bottles will become prizes and hopefully every participant will take a little something home.