ELDERBERRIES are proving to be a deadly bait on the London AA fishery at Britford, attracting roach, dace and chub.

Anglers fishing the carrier stretch have been catching bags of dace, some chub, grayling and roach using the traditional baits of elderberry, hemp and tares. Another bait always worth a try is worm and one angler that used it banked a 2lb 2oz perch.

The roach have all been around the one pound mark but the main problem has been finding them and then trying to tempt them in the clear water. Carp have also put in an appearance during the last week from the carrier stretch. One angler banked a mirror carp weighing 12lb 10oz but another much larger fish, a common carp estimated at around 20lb-plus, was lost after it threw the hook.

Fishing remains difficult on local rivers which are still very clear and quite low, but this might change as forecasters predict a fair amount of rain this week.

A golden koi carp, a well-known fish in Barnmoor Lake at Witherington Farm Fishery, has been caught at its highest weight ever. The beautiful fish was caught at the weekend by Lee Barney and weighed its highest to date at 14lb 1oz. Mick Taplin also fished the lake and he landed a 24lb 12oz carp.

The fishery's other lakes are giving good sport, particularly with bream which are feeding well at the moment.

Sport has picked up at Waldens Farm Fishery following the rain and all lakes are providing anglers with catches of roach, rudd, bream, tench and carp.

Salisbury Angling Club's Ratfyn Lake near Amesbury is to remain closed for the remainder of the season. The fishery, like the club 's lakes at Petersfinger, suffered from a lack of oxygen and while the club appear to have stablised the problem at Petersfinger, it is not so good a Ratfyn, so it has been decided to keep Ratfyn closed until the problem can be identified and solved.