Angling in West SuffolkThe Bury St Edmunds Angling Association Veterans' Winter League match for the Malcolm Pryke Shield at Middle Reservoir was, as expected, a complete farce, with very little caught despite it the mild, late autumn day.

Chris Boughton

Angling in West Suffolk

The Bury St Edmunds Angling Association Veterans' Winter League match for the Malcolm Pryke Shield at Middle Reservoir was, as expected, a complete farce, with very little caught despite it the mild, late autumn day.

For the record Jack Wetherill won with one small bream and a couple of tiny roach and no one else broke the 1lb barrier. The water level is also still a good four feet below normal at the reservoir. Thankfully for all concerned that was the last match at the reservoir for this membership year.

With seven of the 20 matches in the Veterans' series now complete, Keith Smith leads the way with 117 points followed by Mickey Pearce with 102 points and Johnny Barnet with 98. The remaining 13 matches will alternate between Barrow Lake and Water Lane Reservoir, every Thursday, as per the fixture list on the Bury AA website.

There will be a winter break from mid-December to the end of January for six weeks, as usual, and the series will conclude at the end of March.

Any club member interested in fishing these matches should contact Keith Smith, who is standing in for Veterans' match organiser Ron Hubbard, on 07913 822038. I am pleased to report that Ron is recovering well from his recent hip operation and hopes to be back in time for the Christmas match.

Unlike the match at Middle Reservoir plenty of fish were caught last week at Blackdyke Trout Fishery with Montanas accounting for most of the fish. Gavin Cairns caught the best fish of the week, a fully finned rainbow trout of 5lb 12oz which he returned safely to fight another day. The fishery will be offering three fish limit tickets for �15 and two fish for �10 during the months of December and January.

There is also another opportunity to book coaching sessions with Tim Gaunt Taylor for 28th November and enquiries should be directed to Paul Speed on 07525 730447.

The popularity of internet forums is growing at a quite phenomenal rate and angling is not immune to this trend. Earlier this year an internet forum was set up to serve the West Suffolk angling scene and this can be accessed via the Bury St Edmunds Angling Association web site.

Forum membership is open to all and not just Bury AA club members and there is no charge for registering as a member or for posting on the forum.

If you would like your local angling stories, photos or match results included in this article, then please email them to westsuffolkanglin@live.co.uk or call/text 07880 602483