TOP anglers from across the region battled it out in the five-man team event at Messingham.
It was a well-attended competition, especially considering the weather.
Three lakes were in use. Fishing Republic, from Barnsley, took the honours with a creditable performance in the team contest. They had a mixture of silverfish and carp.
Although none of them scored a section win, they were all highly-placed, an essential ingredient in team fishing.
One member of the winning team, Andy Pounder, made a grab for a loose pole section and proceeded to fall in the lake.
A complete immersion in water just two degrees above freezing would have found many people heading for home, but Pounder managed to sit it out to the end and finished fourth in his section, contributing to his team's overall win on the day.
It has to be said, judging by the hysterical laughter from other members of his team as the news filtered around the lakes, he did not appear to receive a lot of sympathy from his friends.
The individual winner on the day was the consistent, Grimsby-based Keith Easton who put together a 55lbs mixed bag of carp and quality skimmers on waggler-fished pellet from peg 36 on the Islands Lake.
Another Grimsby angler, Tony Woods, won his section on Tripp Lake. He has been in great form and has framed four times in his last four matches.
The final match in the Silverfish League produced some good sport, considering that most of the Islands Lake was frozen over on the morning of the match.
The top four individuals all had over 30lbs, with quality skimmers making up the bulk of the winning bags.
Grimsby's Steve Eyres followed up his section win in the 'teams of five' the previous day with an individual win in this match. Eyres fished a small groundbait feeder on peg 34, with maggot on the hook, for a 36lbs winning net – just 2lbs in front of fellow Grimsby angler Dave Berry.
With the top two individual positions in the league already decided prior to this last match, it was a scramble for third spot – and Neil Vessey found a section win on the day was enough to claim that place.
Easter Mondays' Pairs Match saw some frozen anglers on the banks as cold air temperatures were accompanied by a fairly strong wind.
Winners on the day were the Doncaster pairing of Craig Williams and Nobby Winters. They had a weight advantage over Mark Deans and Neil Vessey after tying on points in a closely-fought match.
Carr Lane AC kicked off its new season with a very cold but enjoyable match at Lindholme Fisheries on the Bonsai Lake.
There was a good turnout of 19, most anglers having to break a thin layer of ice on arrival.
Paul Barnstable, better known as 'Barney', got the season off to a good start – and this year it is undoubtedly going to be very competitive.
Weights were poor for the lake with Barney working hard for his win. He managed to find the bigger carp.
The second-placed angler was a guest, Phil Parker, while new member Andy Spall was third.
At Wold View Fisheries, Claxby, they had a busy weekend with some much-improved match weights.
Overall pairs results: 1st, Mark Critcher and Karl Cropper, 179lb 8oz; 2nd, Chris Legdon and Terry Jackson 94lb; 3rd, Chris Mack and Alex Ward 89lb.
At Saltfleetby Fisheries, it was also a busy weekend with an increase in attendances – and also some double-figured carp being caught by pleasure anglers using the main lake.
Chris Griffiths made it three match wins in a row, fishing from peg 19 on Island – He had 13.1lb.
Next in was Bryn Davies, who was on the next peg. He weighed in with 10.7lb. Third was Dave Dalton with 9.9lb from peg 16.
In another match on Island, Ian Sadler fished off peg 1 and caught 21.7lb for the win.
Nats AC have got a good habit of developing rising stars. New member Darren Lawton seems to have benefited from the club's coaching.
He has fished 17 matches and framed in all of them, mostly at Grange Farm, Messingham and Messingham Sands.
