The annual Bridgnorth Angling Society’s Wines and Spirits contest attracted a 71-strong entry who travelled from far and wide to the River Severn.

Carrying an extra six inches of water and icy cold the stretch on the right bank above the town proved a difficult proposition and a modest 32-1-0 earned local  lad Chris Cadwallader  £300 in prize money. 

Pegged at 101 in the middle of the ‘alley’ he hooked seven barbel with a swimfeeder and pellets.

Joint organiser Brian Preece shook off his recent unlucky spell and finished second with 28-6-0 from a 13-feet deep area in the ‘chestnut coppice’. 

Despite the depth he used a waggler float with bronze maggots to catch nine chub between one and four pounds. 

Third man Gary Summers from Wordsley also caught all chub for 18-6-0 from peg 78 below the bridge. 

He too relied on maggots but with a ‘topper’ float Willenhall’s Peter Crook was next with 16-6-0 over Simon Henshall (North West) 14-14-0 and Matt Brookes (Pedmore) 14-9-0.

Overall 47 entries caught fish and there were seven more doubles making it the best pre-Christmas fixture on record. 

• Wolverhampton based Shakespeare team stalwart Paul Ross hit number one spot following a string of runner up places with a victory in the fourth round f the Warwickshire winter league. 

The 100-strong, ten teams of ten, event took place on the Trent and Mersey canal at Burton where Ross drew a peg in the Heathfield Lane area. 

Fishing opposite the brambles near the New bridge he caught 12-12-0 of roach to ten ounces while using both bloodworms and hempseed.

Tipton VDE’s Danny Carter was second with an unusual 10-4-4 haul of very small chub. 

Pegged in the Horninglow section he hooked 18 to 2 oz on casters. 

Another Shakespeare expert, Alistair Chisholm was next with 9-3-0 of roach and he was chased by Lee Addy (Drennan North West) 8-6-3, Mat Hodgetts (Browning Cudmore) 8-3-4 and Tony Barker (Shakespeare) 6-14-12. 

Top team Shakespeare scored  32 penalty points over Sensas North West 46 and Fox Match Tipton both 52. Current league points are Shakespeare 6, Tipton 10, Drennan North West 11 and Sensas North West 15.

• Considering the temperature had dropped to below freezing point, the Shropshire Union canal at Woodseaves north of Stafford fished reasonably well for the latest round of the Stoke City AA Individual league. 

Expectedly, catch weights were low but Paul Murrin (W B Clarke) was happy with his 3-11-0 winning effort. 

Drawn next to the Saddle bridge he used squatt maggots as well as punched bread to attract roach, perch and gudgeon. 

Paul Ross was again in top form and finished second with a 3-5-0 similar bag from the same area.

Another Wolverhampton expert, Dave Richards (Midleisure) was third with 2-7-0 which was made up with  a brace of big perch taken on caster. 

‘Digger’ Conway (Isaac Walton Stafford) was next with 2-8-10 over Dennis Kneller (WB Clarke) 2-2-2 and Fred Cheetham (Eclipse) 1-13-0. 

Current league leaders on penalty points are Fred Cheetham 6 and Dave McCall and Paul Ross both 8.

•Dudley’s Ian Hingley helped himself to a very clear victory with an 8-0-0 catch in the latest Bilston Angling open match.

It was held on the Brewood sections of the Shropshire Union canal where he took advantage of an end peg. 

In windy conditions he began operations with a leger rig offering small pieces of bread under the far bank. 

This brought a few small roach but in order to attract larger fish he switched to casters. 

It was a good decision that brought larger, mixed sized roach up to the final whistle.  His travelling companion Ben Garbett was second with 5-3-6. 

This was a similar catch taken with the same method from the next peg. 

Stan Kneller (Anglers Peg) was third with 3-13-11 over Dean Kneller (W B Clarke) 2-14-11, Wilf Kneller (Midleisure) 2-10-2 and Phil Taylor (Black Country Tackle) 2-8-6.

• Despite cold conditions the Droveway sections of the Shropshire Union canal at Pendeford fished quite well for the weekly Wolverhampton Over Fifty Fives contest.

 So good were the leading weights that well over 4 lbs was only good enough for sixth place. 

Winner with 11-1-0 was George Davies (Midleisure) who drew a peg near the footbridge. 

Relying on the usual squatt maggot bait and feed he attracted all roach to four ounces. 

Three pegs further along near a large bush was Barry Guy (Gailey)  who hooked better quality roach and bream for 10-0-8 on casters.

 Wilf Kneller (Midleisure) was third with 8-8-0 over Barry Lewis (Black Country Tackle)  5-10-0, Stan Kneller (Angler’s Peg) 4-12-0 and Peter Bryant (Gailey) 4-8-12.

•Mal Galliers improved on his previous week’s fourth place with a 6-12-0 winning bag in the Soho Loop canal match. 

This time it took place at the hospital end near Winson Green where the Cornerstone team member tipped 6-12-0 on the scales.

Taking advantage of an end peg towards the prison he used alternated punched bread and squatt maggots to catch roach, perch and skimmer bream. 

The same area at peg 28 threw up a second best 5-1-0 for Gordon Stockin (Insurance Factory) who hooked all roach on hempseed and maggots. 

Organiser Colin Gregg (Insurance Factory) was next with 4-11-0 over Brian Jarvis (B’ham) 3-15-0 and Dave Angel (West Bromwich) 3-6-0.