The third round of the Warwickshire Winter League again took place along the Walsall and Tame Valley canals at Ocker Hill near Tipton.

Although the line up, ten teams of ten, didn’t catch quite so many fish as in the first two events it still required well over 6lbs for sixth place. 

Pace-setter with 7-9-6 was  Shakespeare team ace Paul Bick who drew a peg by the bridge on the Tame Valley near Hollywell estate. 

Like everyone else among the 100 competitors, he used bloodworm and joker feed and hookbait for all small roach. 

Long distance traveller Colin Mayer (Drennan North West)  was second with 7-12-6, again all small roach from a peg on the Clinical length. 

Third man Darren Knot, a Welsh international, weighed in 7-9-6 from a spot on the opposite side of the bridge to Jason Cunningham  (Maver Tipton) who was fifth with 6-8-0 and Mat Hodgetts (Browning Cudmore) 6-7-8.

There were lots more hauls between five and six pounds and 72 of the entry caught over 3lbs. 

Top team Shakespeare dropped 36 points over Tipton 37, Drennan North West 39, Browning Central 42, W B Clarke 54 and Sensas North West 57. Current league points are Shakespeare 5, Tipton 7, Drennan North West 8, W B Clarke 12, Sensas North West 14 and Browning Central 15. 

• The Marsh Lane and Bladon Road sections of the Staffs Worcester canal at Pendeford were in poor shape for the second round of the Bilston Angling League. 

Icy-cold water following midweek frosts did the damage, leaving fish more interested in finding warmer water than feeding. 

Even the most attractive baits, bloodworm and joker failed to get them active and a very modest 2-9-12 was the best catch weight. 

Mel Wood (Bilston) made the catch of small roach and perch with the worms at a peg near Marsh Lane. Martin Spruce and Nick Hooton both (Bilston) shared second place each with 2-4-11 mixed bags which included lots of very small roach.  Others in the frame were Bruce Birch 1-12-10, John Hall 1-12-8 and Neil Cole 1-11-14.

• The second round of the Cradley Heath based Woodside A A’s individual  league was held on the Merry Hill sections of the Dudley canal. 

Icy cold and windswept, it proved to be a hard nut to crack and a mere 3-11-8 catch gave Carl Daley the top catch. 

Sponsored by SBS, he drew peg 95 towards the far boundary where he used squatt maggots with groundbait offered under the far bank. 

Following a very slow first hour he eventually got into his stride and caught gudgeon, perch and roach. 

Brownhills based towpath expert Dave Holbrook was second with 3-9-0 from number 86, the first peg out of the bay in the middle of the stretch. He relied on his favourite punched bread for small roach. 

Organising club member Steve Robson with 3-7-8 was third over Halesowen R B L’s John Billingham 3-7-0 and Barry Lane (Black Country Tackle) 3-5-8.

• Veteran canal expert Fred Cheetham has taken the lead in the Stoke city A A’s individual league following his 6-11-12 top score in the third round. 

Fished on the Shropshire Union canal at Nordley, the contest produced some excellent catches and Fred’s came from peg No 1 next to the overhead cables pole.

Putting his faith in his favourite punched bread bait, the pensioner caught all small roach, none larger than two ounces. 

Second man Phil Murray’s (W B Clarke) 6-2-8 was also made up with roach but he didn’t begin to catch until the third hour.

Wolverhampton’s Dave McCall’s (Shakespeare) third best 5-10-14 bag could have been more, but he lost the shoal of fish at the half way stage when a passing boat stirred up his swim.

 Fourth man Steve Faux (Eclipse) weighed in 4-13-9 over Dave Williams (Isaac Walton Staffs) 4-12-0 and Dave Richards (Midleisure) 4-7-0. Current league points are Fred Cheetham 4, Dave McCall 5 and Eric Gardner (Eclipse) 6.  

• The Winson Green sections towards the hospital gates on Birmingham’s Soho Loop canal produced a 5-12-0 top catch in the latest Insurance Factory open event. 

The winner was organiser Colin Gregg who drew a noted peg towards Clissold Street where he caught all roach. Varying between four and 12 ounces the ‘redfins’ responded to caster feed and hookbait offered across the far side. 

Mervyn Rogers (Hockley Point) was second  with 4-9-0 from the next peg 53 where he too found roach but much smaller specimens taken with squatt maggots. 

Third placed Mal Galliers (Cornerstone A C) weighed in 4-2-0 over Brian Jarvis (B’ham) 3-2-0 and Mick Hill (Cornwall) 2-7-0.

• Sport was very slaw on the Birmingham Fazeley canal at Curdworth near Tamworth where a modest 3-2-2 bag clinched first place in the Stirrup Cup A C’s open fixture. 

Organising club members filled the top four places and it was Lee Farmer who set the pace. Drawn at peg 65 by the fallen tree, he caught mostly small gudgeon plus one or two roach with squatt maggots presented in midwater and hard on bottom. 

Runner-up Alan Newman (Stirrup Cup) took his 2-15-0 mixed bag with punched bread at peg 53. Third place went to Alan Randle (Stirrup Cup) with 2-6-2 over Graham Massey (Dams & Lock) 1-13-0.