Angling

£2,500 worth of tackle prizes donated by Italian Giants Trabucco and York based distributors Tek Neek added spice to the eagerly awaited contest.

River conditions on the Morton Bridge to Baldersby St James match length were better than expected following a very wet winter. Carrying just about 6" extra on the day, a couple of horrendous frosts resulted in many blanks as fish refused to chase the bait.

Odd chub shoals fed providing 14 double figured nets. Individual winner in 2001 Middlesbrough AC's Trevor McArdle did it again lifting the North East's most coveted trophy bagging a cracking chub haul of 37.12.0.

Trevor from Brotherton drew the hot 'A' section below Morton Bridge and feeder fished wasp grub and cake below Barkers Corner extracting 10 quality chub from under far bank willows.

Derbyshire Angling Federation's Richard Marcer thought he'd clinched it taking a dozen chub off A17. Opting for the waggler and bronze maggot below copse corner he fell agonisingly short as the scales registering 36.15.0.

Third place went to Aireborough & District's Keith Mottram sat above the winner on Barkers Corner. Feeder fishing bread and grub secured ten chub totalling 30.3.0.

Team-wise it was Bradford based West Park who lifted the Premier Points Trophy accruing 133 points off unfancied peg 1 but any of the top ten teams could have won with lone fish crucial.

Others: Nick Smith (Aireborough) 29.12.0; Steve Hoggins (Big Waters) 28.14.0; Roy Underwood (Washington) 22.15.0.

Top three teams: 1 West Park 133 pts; 2 Aireborough 125; 3 Stokesley 124.

The Aggregate Weight Trophy went to Aireborough 78.11.0.

Frosts and low clear conditions meant Ripon's final open of the season the St Wilfrid's Cup finished without the usual carp bonanza.

RSPS Tek Neek Trabucco ace Jim Taylor just about recovered from a hard day at the Masters beat the 80 sell out field recording a respectable 25.12.0.

Fished between Hutton to Hewick, Jim above the North Bridge on the cobbles edged the waggler through over depth swapping between caster and maggot to pluck out 16 chub.

Teammate Pat Adams located quality chub during an early match burst as six fell to waggler and caster off the 'cages' peg. After that the fish vanished but nevertheless Pat hung on to second place with 17.2.0.

Chublets fed all along the match length on the Lower Tees for the Yarm AA Mick Grainge Memorial and Team Shimano Quaker's Jimmy Messor gave a polished performance two above the Levenmouth.

Switching between the groundbait feeder and slider with maggot down the middle 20 similar sized chublets responded for a winning net of 18.3.0.

Several lost fish cost Rob Stubbs dearly. The Darlington angler pegged in the paddock field downstream of the Levenmouth tempted chublets to feeder and bread and despite adding a bonus perch of 2.0.0 on the worm had to settle for 15.8.0 and runner up spot.

Others: K Jones (Yarm Flynns) 13.4.0; N Rymer (Brighouse) 11.12.0; G Douglas (Yarm Flynns) 11.10.0; G Bowes (RSPS Tek Neek Trabucco) 10.14.0.

On the Coniscliffe to Croft reaches of the Tees weights were poor in the Darlington BT Combined Cup and apart from the winner everybody else relied on grayling for sport.

The exception proved Darlington's Roy Cloke. Pegged 2 above the chalk hole feeder and bread approach resulted in a chub an hour into the match but then had to wait until the closing stages to catch a second on floatfished bread to notch up 6.6.0.

Best of the grayling returns went to Martin Chapman also of Darlington. On the top of the Coniscliffe stretch stickfloat and maggot down the nearside accounted for 10 fish for 4.15.0.

The penultimate round of the York Winter League on the Ouse below the City proved as hard as it gets. Low clear a chilling wind and ice in the margins the 96 competitors had little chance to shine.

Bar Six's Carl Pringle pulled out the hot favourite the Kingfisher peg that produced the winner of round 4 but only managed to beat the rest with a very reserved 2.14.8.

Bomb and double pinkie tempted three perch the last one in the net coming five minutes from time and weighing in at a priceless 2.0.0.

Top three teams on the day: 1 Barlby Village Stores 4.11.8; 2 Bar Six 4.5.0; 3 Mitre 2.14.8.

League to date: Cochranes 71 pts; Barlby Village Stores 68; Mitres 66; Acomb WMC 61; Wisbey 60.

Fixtures

Tomorrow: *Woodland Lakes Open. Telephone (01845) 526110.

Sunday: *Yarm AA Vernouillet Fundraiser Open Lower Tees; *Idle & Thackley Open River Swale Swainby. Telephone (01274) 618569; *Thirsk AC Cod Beck; *Knaresborough Pisc Open River Nidd. Telephone (01423) 880262; *Tadcaster APA Open River Wharfe Smaws Ings. Telephone: (01937) 832972; *Leeds DASA Open River Ouse Hunters Lodge; *Black Ox AC Bill Howells Trophy Bedale Beck; *Woodland Lakes Open; *Oak Sessay Open Maple Lake.