Angling: Top rods tame near impossible conditions

A last-gasp stunner for Roy Knox the barbel that took double lobworm just seconds before the final whistle and weighed 9-15 to steal victory from under the nose of Craig Turbitt.

Though the conditions forced many cancellations and most to hang up their equipment early, the hardy few were rewarded with some exceptional specimen fish and a bumper match weight on the Ouse below York.

Over three metres of torrent-like mudwater hit the lower Swale last week but reports came through of the banks being busy around Cundall and individuals catching up to 10 fish in a single session with massive chub and barbel being recorded, the best-fish award given easily to Redcar’s Tony Hay with a huge Swale barbel weighing in at 12-09.

Just a thought for everyone who voted in the Environment Agency’s recent closed-season poll: with the Swale hitting top form and fish like the 12-pounder obviously hungry and not close to spawning in these conditions, why are anglers forced to stop fishing? It seems an outdated and unnecessary rule to me.

A little-used method had competitors talking as the pole feeder claimed its first win on the Ouse below York. After spending hours practising on his local River Derwent, Paul Lightfoot decided the flood conditions and his peg in the rocky culvert above Bishopthorpe Palace were perfect to give the method a try. Fishing his pole at 13 metres with a small feeder to a no-nonsense size 14 hook all connected through a 10 elastic, he made no mistake, taking the win with a brilliant 43lb of bream and skimmers.

Remarkably, double figures were needed to scrape on to the bottom end of the leader board.

The sell-out 60-peg, three-day festival held around Linton-on-Ouse saw the first day go to plan with Bradford’s Dave Pilgrim drawing flyer peg 219 and putting together over 14lb of perch and bonus bream steadily for a comfortable win. The festival fished to a points format over three sections of 20 anglers with high points counting so it was always going to provide a tight finish with a class field, all capable of winning.

Day Two saw the river three foot above normal and rising after the overnight storms and, with just five minutes to go, the result looked a formality for Craig Turbitt, who had whipped his way to 150 tiny bleak for over 8lb. Aireborough’s Roy Knox had other ideas though, and just one bite seconds before the whistle claimed the win and 20 valuable section points – a stonking barbel that just couldn’t resist spoiling Turbitt’s day by eating double lobworm and weighing 9-15.

With over six feet of mudwater now running through, Day Three was always going to be a miserable affair; Tackle 2 U star Pete Barron winning with just 5-07 ahead of Leeds’ Steve Raper, who sneaked second with 3-07 of small roach.

Turbitt, Baron and Raper provided a three-way tie at the top, dropping just four points each over the three days with the final result going that way following a weight countback.

Results

Leeds DASA Linton on Ouse: 1, K Hobson 4-12; 2, S Haigh 4-08; 3, D Grace 3-04; 4, R Bonas 2-12; 5, I Bowman 2-11. Final League: 1, D Armitage 39pts ; 2, P Barron 39pts ; 3, D Taylor 37 pts; 4, I Bowman 37pts.

Leeds 3 Day Festival, Hunters- Linton-Widdington Tuesday Day 1 Garbolino Trophy: 1, D Pilgrim 14-02; 2, S Lowther 8-09; 3, D Grace 7-02; 4, S Haigh 6-05; 5, R Stubbs 5-13.

Wednesday Day 2 Cadence Trophy: 1, R Knox 9-15 (1barbel); 2, C Turbitt 8-07; 3, J Smiles 7-13; 4, S Raper 4-05; 5, A Miller 4-01.

Thursday Day 3 Maver Trophy: 1, P Barron 5-07; 2, S Raper 3-07; 3, D White 2-13; 4, R Stubbs & A Benstead 2-02. Overall Result: 1, C Turbitt 56pts; 2, P Barron 56pts; 3, S Raper 56pts; 4, R Stubbs 54pts; 5, K Hobson 53pts.

York Winter Series Ouse at Fulford: 1, D Pollitt 7-10; 2, P Burton 6-06; 3, M Potter 5-12; 4, S Raper 5-10. Team: 1, Barlby VS. Top Individual: J Cyrowski.

York & District Bishopthorpe/ Fulford: 1, Paul Lightfoot 43-04; 2, Wayne Shillito 29-02; 3, Graham Flesher 26-00; 4, Bertie Burton 16-06; 5, Craig Robinson 13-00.

Kippax Park Fishery, Tuesday Open, Lapwing: 1, Jonny Wake 81-11; 2, Paul Silman 57-01; 3, Andy Rymer 51-04; 4, Paul Carter 38-13.

Kippax Park Fishery, Saturday Open, Lapwing: 1, David Cockrill 85-14; 2, Bob Rymer 62-03; 3, Steve Pearson 31-07; 4, Andy Rymer 31-05.

Kippax Park Fishery, Tuesday Open, Lapwing: 1, Bob Rymer 86-01; 2, Paul Carter 60-09; 3, Jimmy Redmond 49-01; 4, Andy Rymer 42-06.

Kippax Park Fishery, Saturday Open, Osprey/Lapwing: 1, Bob Rymer, Lapwing 96-10 ; 2, Andy Middleton, Osprey, 91-03; 3, Jimmy Redmond, Lapwing 60-02; 4, Dave Wright, Osprey 51-03.

Moor Monkton Pools, Sunday Winter League, All Pools: 1, Tom Bainbridge 73-10; 2, Ben Fisk 66-00; 3, Lee Smith 54-05; 4, Eric Boldison 42-03.

Moor Monkton Pools, Wednesday Rover, All Pools: 1, Adrian Bolton 59-15; 2, Tom Bainbridge 54-00; 3, Dave Wright 46-05; 4, Roy Worsnop 39-01.

Moor Monkton Pools, Sunday Winter League Cyprio and Match Pool (Last Match): 1, Graham Boardley 48-06; 2, Andy Middleton 45-00; 3, Ollie Hewitt 43-09; 4, Chris Baldwin 42-03. Overall Winter Series results: 1, Tom Bainbridge 11pts; 2, Andy Hornsby 15pts; 3, Andy Middleton 18pts; 4, Dave Wright 19pts; 5, Graham Boardley 19pts; 6, Lees Smith 19pts

Moor Monkton Pools, Wednesday Rover, All Pools: 1, Steve Bolton 70-10; 2, Chris Watson 56-08; 3, Mick Addinhall 42-00; 4, Mick Green 39-01.

Viking Saturday Open (Deer): 1, J Brown 59-15; 2, S Gibbins 22-13; 3, R Fillingham 21-14.

Fryston Winter League (Viking Fox): 1, W Netherwood 21-12; 2, S Varley 19-09; 3, P Heath 15-04.

Spring Close Old Boys (Viking Deer): 1, V Rooks 69-09; 2, R Scott 49-07; 3, F Buick 35-02; 4, T McGurk 31-06.

Rodley Winter League (Viking Hawk): 1, M Bell 48-08; 2, S Miller 42-08; 3, M Baldeston 32-14.

Angel Lakes, Sunday Lookout: 1, Ethan Bradley 78-02; 2, John Dryden 72-00; 3, Callum Parker 71-04.

Match Diary

Saturday

Kippax Park: Saturday Open, Lapwing or Osprey, contact 07967000746.

Poppleton: Saturday Open, pools £15, draw cafe 10am, contact Roger 01904737279.

Birkwood Farm Fisheries: Emily’s or Oscar’s, draw 8.30am, contact 01924 892251.

Woodlands: 72 pegs, tickets £18, contact 01845 520110.

Oaks: at Sessay, 50 pegs, tickets £17, contact 01845 501321.

Langwith Lakes: 60 pegs, tickets £16, contact 01904 431874.

Moorfields Farm: 54 pegs, tickets £16, contact 07710817150.

Fleets Dam: 50 pegs, tickets £15, contact 01226 292579.

Birkwood Farm: 60 pegs, tickets £16, contact 01132 80609.

Tollerton Ponds: open match all ages, (Kingfisher 20 pegs, Coot 18 pegs, Heron 32 pegs), contact 01347 838115.

Kippax Park: winter series, Osprey Lake only contact Stan 0796700046.

Viking: Saturday Open, Deer Pond , 24 pegs, £18 , contact 01405 785206.

Sunday

Leeds & Liverpool: Kirkstall, contact Roger Movley 01132 772215.

Listerhills: Leeds & Liverpool Canal, contact Eddie Harrison 07518721051.

Woodlands: 72 pegs, tickets £18, contact 01845 520110.

Oaks at Sessay: 50 pegs, tickets £17, contact 01845 501321.

Langwith Lakes: 60 pegs, tickets £16, contact 01904 431874.

Oak Tree Leisure: 50 pegs, tickets £15, contact 01347 810686.

Poppleton: Sunday Open, 50 pegs, draw 11am Cafe, contact 07425 146677.

Monday

Woodlands: over-50s, 30 pegs, tickets £15, contact 01845 520110.

Langwith Lakes: over-60s, 30 pegs, tickets £10, contact 01904 431874.

Tollerton Ponds: over-50s, tickets £16, contact 01347 838115.

Tuesday

Kippax Park: over-50s, draw 10am, tickets £10, contact 07967000746.

Wednesday

Leeds & District: Moor Monkton Pools, draw 10am, contact 07967000746.

Birkwood Farm Fisheries: Emily’s or Oscar’s, draw 8.30am, contact 01924 892251.

Woodlands: 72 pegs, tickets £18, contact 01845 520110.

Fleets Dam: 50 pegs, tickets £15, contact 01226 292579.

Tollerton Ponds: open match, all ages, contact 01347 838115.

Thursday

Poppleton Lakes: Thursday evening, draw car park 5pm, pools £11, contact Roger 01904 737279.