AFTER a couple of weeks of decent fishing, sport has returned to the dour state which has given anglers difficulties for much of this winter.

Low and clear rivers and an abundance of hungry minnows because of the mild weather, has all helped to keep fish out of anglers’ nets.

Twenty-four Salisbury Angling Club members turned out on a gloomy Sunday to fish a club match on their Stratford and city stretch of the Avon and while the river had a hint of colour, it was a hard match. There were pockets of fish and if you were lucky to be pegged by one, you caught – if not, you didn’t. Malc Pepperill took the honours with a 9lb 10oz bag of mainly roach and some grayling from a peg on the Horse’s Field at Stratford. Dave Docherty was runner-up with 7lb 10oz, which included two chub and Frank Gumbleton was third with 5lb 4oz.

Mixed bags of dace, some roach, grayling and the odd chub is the report from the London AA’s Britford fishery. Bailiff, Stuart Wilson, said although the river conditions were similar to those of the last fortnight, for some reason, sport was a lot slower with anglers struggling to catch. Minnows are being troublesome again due to the mild conditions.

On the lakes, fishing is reasonably good but most fisheries report few anglers about, possibly due to the windy and sometimes wet weather. Fish are being caught with mixed bags of silver fish, bream and the odd carp, which are feeding because of the mild weather but overall it is a fairly dismal picture.