A back at normal level River Severn threw up some excellent catch weights and an outstanding 76-7-0 haul won a cracking match at Bridgnorth.

The first event for many weeks attracted a 35-strong entry to a contest organised by the local club and 26 of them weighed in a massive 862-0-0. 

Winner with 76-2-0 was Birmingham visitor Mark Beard who  hooked 13 barbel to 9lbs.

Wolverhampton’s Steve Slade was second with a 60-9-0 similar effort of ten barbel. Another Wolverhampton visitor, Joe Brennan (Rod & Gun) was next with 56-8-0 and included a massive 5lb 15oz in his catch.

Chris Cadwallader (Wolverhampton) was next with 51-8-0 over Kelvin Hughes (Deeside) 50-4-0, Phil Williams (Telford) 40-13-0 and Barry Cooper (Whitchurch) 38-0-0.

Altogether the 22 rods who used the scales weighed in 862-0-0 and this included a 40-0-0 effort by local lady angler Rose Bailey who won her section.

• Birmingham AA’s ‘Float Only’ match was held on the left bank of the River Severn at Arley where all competitors caught lots of fish.

Winner with 39-10-0 was Bewdley based Steve Mayer whose catch consisted of chub and barbel. Old Hill’s Chris Taylor was second with 36-9-0 of barbel.

Third man mark Lindsay (Stourport) took 29-7-0 of chub and mixed small fish and then came Barry Cheese (Birmingham) 22-5-0, Nigel Martin (Stourport) 21-7-0 and martin Taylor (Old Hill) 20-2-0.

• Shakespeare Superteam won the hard fought HanKat League by a wide margin in an all-action final round. This took place on the Birmingham Main Line canal at Wolverhampton where Kevin Adderley (W B Clarke Blue) topped the catch sheet with 11-3-5 of small bream to 1lb plus a 2lb, rare for the area, chub. 

His team-mate John Fowler’s 10-7-0 consisted of all small roach. Lewis Breeze (Drennan North West Black) was next with 8-10-5 over Paul Bick (Shakespeare Superteam) 8-3-4, Steve Fleming (Drennan North West Red) 7-13-8 and Neal Martin (Drennan North West Gold) 3-10-0. 

Top team W B Clarke Blue dropped four penalty points over Drennan North West Gold 7, Fox Match Tipton VDE 9 and Shakespeare Superteam 11. Final league points  are Shakespeare Superteam 86, Drennan North West Gold 97, Daiwa Trentmen 106.Shakespeare Superteam consisted of Mick Hatchard, Paul Bick and Rob Quinn. 

• The third round of the Woodside AC winter league was held along the Dudley canal at Merry Hill where small fish were absent. This was blamed on an almost freezing temperature and salt running in off the nearby roadside. 

But Brownhills based expert Dave Holbrook put together a 15-2-8 runaway top catch.  Second man Kevin Perry (Black Country Tackle) finished well adrift with 6-10-0.

Brian Smith (Cradley Heath Labour) was next with 6-2-8 and he was chased by Carl Daley(SBS) with 5-1-0 over Chris Greenwood (Woodside) 4-12-8.

Current league leaders are Dave Sheaf 13 points, and Trevor Clarke and Steve Robson both 15.

• The Aldersley Stadium area of the Shropshire Union canal at Tettenhall was in good shape and more than 7lbs was needed to make the prize list in the latest Bilston Angling open match.

Local anglers grabbed all but one of the leading catches and the winner Mel Wood weighed in 10-10-0. 

Colin Cole was second with 7-11-0  and then came Martin Spruce 7-1-0 Section winners were Mat Parks 3-12-0, Mark Westwood 7-7-0 and Steve Cope 7-6-0.

• Walsall Arboretum’s Hatherton Lake proved to be a hard nut to crack and quite a few entries failed to catch a fish in the annual winter league fourth round.

But local lad Gary Beesley wasn’t complaining after bagging 28-2-0. He caught seven bream for 15lbs plus a huge 13-2-0 carp.

Clive James (Brownhills) was second with  4-12-0. Stuart Bagnall (S Jones) 1-0-0 and Ron Jackson (Leamore) 1-0-0 were next.

• A practice match for the HanKat winter league was held on the Walsall canal at Ocker Hill where former England international Tom Pickering won with a 9-14-0 catch of bream and roach.

Darren Bickerton (Daiwa Trentmen)  was second with a 6-13-8 similar effort.

Simon Preece (W B Clarke) was third with 6-9-0 over Walsall’s Martin Harrell (Maver Midlands) 6-8-0 and another Walsall rod, Rob Quinn (Shakespeare) 6-5-8. John Fowler (HanKat) completed the frame with 6-1-0.