Just a few ounces separated the top five individual catches in the Staffordshire Championship match.

It was held along the Shropshire Union canal in the Woodseaves area near Stafford where Bilston’s Dennis Sumner spearheaded the weight list with 6-3-13.

Taking advantage of the first peg near the Highbridge access he used squatt and pinkie maggots to tempt lots of small perch, roach and gudgeon worth £170 in prize money.

Drennan North West team man Neil Martin was second with 5-15-14 from a peg near the access track at Saddle Bridge.

He caught mostly perch with chopped worms offered under the far bank. Third-placed Dave Jones (Fenton) took his 5-14-11 haul from the Grubb Street section and again he found roach and perch.

The far end peg yielded the fourth placed 5-12-10 effort for Paul Murrin (W B Clarke) who caught a mixed bag with maggots and casters.

Dave Hall (Fenton) was fifth with 5-9-4 while sixth-placed Steve Faux steered the Eclipse team to victory with 5-6-12.

Also in the Eclipse squad were Fred Cheetham, Eric Gardner, and Tony Keeling and their total weight was 16-10-7.

Second placed W B Clarke totalled 16-9-12 while last years winners Fenton scored 16-3-12.

• Peg number 13 proved lucky for Bill Davies who heaved in an impressive 15-9-13 catch for a runaway victory in the Wolverhampton A A’s latest open fixture.

This took place along the Droveway sections of the Shropshire Union canal at Pendeford.

The Bilston Angling sponsored rod only caught five fish, but they were all quality chub the best of which weighed 5lbs.

Dave Pinches, also wearing the Bilston Angling colours, was second with 9-2-0 from peg number four where he took roach and small bream to six ounces.

Four similar sized bream made up Neil Cole’s (Ashmore AC) 7-4-0 third place. Also in the main frame were Keith Harris (Penkridge) 5-9-0, Martin Spruce (Bilston) 4-10-0 and Dave Richards (Midleisure) 4-9-0.

• Roadside section peg number five by Teddesley lock on the Staffs Worcester canal at Penkridge came up trumps for Bert Simmill in the Wolverhampton Over Fifty Five contest.

Wearing the Britton’s Tackle colours, he used squatt maggots to tempt 7-1-0 of small roach, gudgeon and bream plus odd chub from under the far bank.

Much further away on number 17 was Barry Lewis who netted a second best 5-10-12.

Sponsored by Black Country Tackle, he caught mixed small fish on maggots plus a 2 lb chub on a ‘caster’.

George Davies (Mid-leisure) was next with 4-6-8 over Wilf Kneller (Midleisure) 3-14-5, Phil Eldershaw (Penkridge) 3-6-0 and Cliff Davies (Penkridge) 3-5-4.

• A practice match for the forthcoming Warwickshire winter league attracted over 100 entries and produced some cracking weights.

Held along the Coventry canal at Atherstone the event was won by Tipton VDE stalwart Phil Cox with 19-6-0.

Pegged near the roadside pub he hooked eight good chub, the largest 4lbs.

Danny Carter (Nuneaton) was second with 18-15-0, again chub, six in all tempted with the same tactics.

Not too far away was third man Martin Wilcockson (Browning Central) who also hooked half a dozen chub for 13-1-8.

Fourth placed Andy Billington ((Drennan North West) tipped 10-12-10 of chub and bream while fifth man Darren Massey (Shakespeare) weighed in 9-13-0.

• Dudley’s Ian Hingley came to the fore in the latest Soho Loop canal open match with a clear 8-13-0 top score.

The popular fixture was held on both the Clissold Street and Winson Green sections and it was end peg 32 in the latter area which produced the goods.

Offering squatt and pinkie maggots as well as hempseed he caught all roach and ‘skimmer’ bream.

Second man Mervyn Rogers’ (R & D) 6-15-0 effort.Chris Rice (Harris M G) was next with 6-14-0 over Tony Bowen (Steven’s Tackle) 6-13-0 and John Fowler (Insurance Factory) 6-7-8.

• A 35 minutes tussle with a huge carp proved worthwhile for Stirrup Cup AC secretary and open match organiser Clarke Taylor in the club’s latest fixture on the Birmingham Fazeley canal.

It was held along the Curdworth sections where he drew peg number 54 in the middle of the length.

He hooked a brace of perch before latching into the carp which boosted his total weight to 21-0-0.

Brierley Hill’s Alan Homer (Black Country Tackle) was second with 6-7-0. Geof fMorris (Walsall) was third with 5-2-0 over Sam Lewis (Three M’s) 4-15-0 and Steve Broome (Black Country Tackle) 4-2-10.

• Ounces separated the leading catch weights in a very close Midleisure Tackle open match on the Shropshire Union canal at Pendeford.

The event was held along the Post Office club controlled sections where George Davies (Smithy’s) topped the frame with a level 6-0-0.

Charlie Brookes (Midleisure) was second with a similar 5-8-8 effort.

Others in the frame were Gordon Stockin (W’hampton) 5-0-0 and Wilf Kneller (Brittons) 4-2-0.