On the match front the standout weight of the weekend for me was the 71-14-0 bag of chub weighed in by Shakespeare backed Stu Halford in the Hereford Winter League on the River Wye at Belmont.

Stu drew peg 96 between the two road bridges where he fished Bolognese style with maggot feed and hook bait to nearly double the weight of the second-placed angler.
Weights on the commercials have suffered a bit in the cold snap but Tunnel Barn Farm is holding its form with the best weight falling to Maver Midlands rod Mark Wilson, who fished pole and pellet in the midweek open on Canal Pool for a mixed 87-5-0 bag that included F1s, roach, tench, bream and barbel. There have also been several matches on the region’s canals, the best the Stirrup Cup event on the Birmingham-Fazeley Canal at Curdworth where the top four took over 4lb to the scales, Dave McCall winning with 5-6-12 of roach, perch and skimmers to pole with squatt tactics.