Monday March 2nd 2026.

Yesterday the final Club Match of the Winter season took place across the Tennis Courts and Bartonsham sections with a few anglers pegged on the Ferry Field at Belmont. Twenty two anglers turned up to fish and were met with a river that had peaked at 3.15m on Thursday but had slowly dropped over the next couple of days  to register 2.2m at the draw. With the air temperature around 11C barbel were expected to feed as well as chub. But the high water level on the main sections meant that heavy feeders were likely to be needed to combat the flow.

Winner on the day was local angler Dave Roberts who was pegged below the Pumphouse at Belmont. He managed to catch several barbel to end up with a match winning weight of 40lb 12oz. Runner up was Ray Downey who was pegged near the top end of the Bartonsham section and weighed in 23lb 4oz of chub. Third place went to Paul Evans who caught b20lb 14oz of mainly chub from a peg on the Tennis Courts section.  There were a couple of dry nets with a few anglers only managing to catch one fish, not surprising considering the height of the river. Thanks to Pete Pembridge for organising the match. With milder temperatures and little rain forecast, prospects are  looking favourable  for some good weights in the postponed.2-day Spring Festival, which takes place on Wednesday & Thursday this week on the Belmont and Tennis Courts sections.