The Sturminster and Hinton AA matchmen braved a high and coloured river opposite Ham Field and Sowley yesterday to fish a points match with veteran Freddie Stark using his favoured ledgered worm or red maggot to take a single bream of 4lb 3ozs and first place. Jeff Sibley managed a few small roach on ledgered pinkie to take second place with a grand total of 11ozs and in third place Brian Preston had a similar catch for 9ozs.

Let's hope that the river is in a little better condition for the last match of the river season on March 5th. Names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

The "Perch Peg" came up trumps once again in the Sturminster and Hinton AA latest points match at Colber yesterday. Neil Simms had a good weight of 13lb 6ozs of perch from this favoured area towards the top end of the match length; he used pole around the 13m mark to take the fish from under the far-bank trees with worm on the hook. In second place, one peg above the winner, Peter Edwards had a nice roach net of 8lb 14ozs with most of his fish falling to bread punch, a method well suited to the cold-water conditions. Making up the frame in third spot, Mark Leslie drew the end upstream peg and caught small roach for most of the match to total 6lb 11ozs.

The annual inter-club match between Sturminster and Hinton AA and Tisbury AA was held on the river at Steart on Sunday 22 January, with a good turn out of 33 anglers. A heavy overnight frost kept the weights down with David Wylde needing only 7lb 1oz to win the match. He was pegged on the Creamery swim and one of the resident bream, weighing in at 5lb 8oz (see photo below), three skimmers and a couple of roach, all caught on ledgered worm, eased him into first place. At the downstream end peg Mark Leslie, fishing single red maggot held back hard on the bottom on an 11 metre pole line, managed 4lb 5ozs of small roach. Simon Dennis, pegged one upstream of the winner, fished a similar method to take 3lb 7ozs of roach and third place. Making up the frame and completing a clean sweep for S&HAA was Peter Edwards with 2lb 6ozs of roach. Next time Tisbury visit we'll have to hope that the weather's a bit warmer so that they can enjoy the river on better form.

The Sturminster and Hinton AA veterans had their Christmas hamper match today on the river at Steart with ten members turning up. Peter Tillsley had a decent net of small fish to take the honours with 6lb 3ozs, Eddie Stevens came second with 2lb 7ozs and youngster Rickie Clarkson, newly promoted to the veteran ranks, included a nice perch of 1lb 9ozs in his total of 2lb 5ozs for joint third place with Darryl Hunt.

The next Association match will be at Colber on January the 8th.

The Sturminster and Hinton AA Christmas match was held at Lodden Lakes yesterday and 20 anglers competed for the seasonal and tackle prizes. With the shallower pegs near to the car park failing to produce - six decent anglers didn't get a bite between them - the favoured area along the roadside bank came up trumps. Adjacent permanent peg numbers 28 to 30 provided the top three weights with Dean Walters feeder-fishing red maggots to take 11 bream for a total of 19lb 15ozs and first place. Two pegs along Simon Dennis used the same method to get 17lb 2ozs of bream for runner-up spot and in third place, from the peg between the first and second men, Dave Wylde had 7 bream for 10lb 4ozs. On the other side of the lake in peg 15, Dave Rigby had 9 bream for a total of 9lb 1oz and fourth overall. Dean and Dave took home a nice Christmas hamper each with wins in their respective sections and all competitors went away with seasonal fare and items of tackle provided by the club and the persuasive skills of match secretary Ian Paulley; Ian managed to beg, steal and borrow several bits of tackle from various tackle shops located at diverse points between Sturminster Newton and London. A successful matchfishing year was brought to and end with the enjoyment of hot sausage rolls and mince pies, helped down with some rather splendid hot mulled wine concocted and served up by Sue Rigby - many thanks to her. All that remains is for the section winners to find some freezer space for their newly-acquired turkeys and to wish all S&HAA members 'tight lines' for the coming year.

A week of heavy frosts didn't help the 16 Sturminster and Hinton AA anglers who fished the match above and below Sturminster Mill today. With bites at a premium Simon Dennis (see photo below), pegged by the top of the island at Durrant, had a mixed bag of pole-caught roach and perch on maggot, pinkie and worm to take first place with 6lb 3ozs. At the top end peg by the 'rec' Jeff Sibley managed 4lb 4ozs of roach, half taken on the bread punch at around 8 metres and the rest taken on pinkie fished tight against the far bank at about 13 metres. Fishing the next peg above the winner, Adie Damon had 3lb 6ozs of roach on the pole, again half on bread punch and half on maggot, to take third place. Peter Tillsley had a few quality roach from the deep peg at the bottom of the island to come in fourth with 3lb 4ozs. Match Report by Dave Rigby

Heavy rain for the first couple of hours and a rising, coloured river didn't augur well for the Sturminster and Hinton AA match at Steart today but all anglers managed to catch, with double figures needed to win. Mark Leslie at last avoided the runner-up spot (just!) by netting 11lb 4ozs for first place. He was pegged at the downstream end peg and had a nice bream of around the five pound mark, two decent skimmers and a few bits to pip second-placed Adie Damon by one and a half ounces. Adie was pegged in the favoured 'creamery' swim which, true to form, did not produce the resident bream but did yield trio of unexpected tench, backed up with a couple of pounds of roach; the tench were caught on ledgered worm with the best one around the four pound mark. Jeff Sibley took his customary place in the frame, coming in third with nine and a half pounds including the best fish of the day, a bream just one ounce under the 6lb mark.

The S&HAA Veterans had their latest points series match at Lodden lakes today. Most anglers fished the ledger for the bream but winner Peter Tillsley went on the pole to catch a good mixed net of 25lb 8ozs. Eddie Stephens and Darryl Hunt were neck-and neck for second place and ended up with 16lbs 10ozs apiece with organizer Freddie Starks in fourth place with 13lb 13ozs. The next veterans' match will be on the river (conditions permitting) on the last Wednesday in November.

The latest Sturminster and Hinton match was held last Sunday on the river at Colber. Simon Denis, pegged at the top end of the match length about 15 pegs above the railway bridge, had a nice net of pole-caught roach and a chub of around 12ozs to total 10lb 4ozs to take first place and the Edwin Short trophy. Adie Damon, fishing the favoured area near the boathouse below Colber bridge, was runner-up with 7lb 7ozs of roach, catching on both caster and red maggot on the hook. Mark Leslie, pegged one below the footbridge, had a good start with a fish a chuck before the bites tailed off, as often happens on the river, and finished with 6lbs 8ozs for third spot. Jeff Sibley, making his customary appearance in the frame (he has a reputation to uphold!) managed 5lb 15ozs for fourth position. Report by Dave Rigby.

The next club match will be on Oct 30th at Steart, names as usual to Ian Paulley.

The Dorchester club hosted the penultimate round of the North Dorset Shield series on the river at Hanford last Sunday. Top team on the day were Blandford who got 18 points out of a possible 24. Dorchester came in second with 15pts, Sturminster and Hinton were third with 14pts and, with two section wins but a man short, Durweston were fourth with 12 points. In the individual stakes, anglers around here are starting to look for a best of second place in the matches - it was that man Jeff Sibley who topped the field again. This time he had 11lb 8ozs made up of small roach and a bonus chub of around the four pound mark - see photo below. Jeff caught the chub on a single pinkie on a 22 hook to 1 and a half pound line - not bad for a beginner.....Mark Leslie had the downstream end peg and used a pole at 11metres to catch 10lb 11ozs of roach and a few quality perch, all on red maggot. He enjoyed catching throughout the match and then spent the rest of the weekend sticking pins into an effigy of Jeff Sibley. Ian Paulley switched from maggot to caster bait to avoid the minnows and ended up with an all-roach catch of 8lb 10ozs for third place with Peter Edwards having a nice net of small roach for just under 8lbs and fourth overall.  Report by Dave Rigby.

This result means that the league is not a foregone conclusion and it will be decided at the last match which will be on November 13th.

About 20 anglers turned up for the Sturminster and Hinton AA outing to Turner's Paddock last Sunday. Jeff Sibley continued his season's good form and won the match with 44lb 10ozs of bream from peg 1. He caught the first bream on the feeder, then changed to the pole at 13.5 metres and continued to catch bream in the 2 to 3 lb bracket throughout the match, all on double caster hookbait. Wincanton-based Steve Lovell put his local knowledge to good effect and bagged 36lb 10ozs from peg 23, mostly feeder-fed bream caught on three maggots to a 16 hook. After a couple of hours being plagued by small rudd and roach (in common with most of the competitors) match sec Ian Paulley switched to bigger baits on the hook to finish with 21lb 12ozs with four bream on worm and caster cocktail and four on sweetcorn for third place.

S&HAA Veterans had a match on Loddon lakes last Wednesday and organizer Fred Starks maintained his position at the top of the league with a winning catch of 18lb 4ozs, mostly skimmer bream taken on the feeder from peg 29. Three pegs away Doug Ryall had nice net of skimmers for 16lb 7ozs and second place and Peter Tillsley made up the frame with 9lb 6ozs of pole-caught 'bits' from the other lake. Special mention here to Cyril Thornes who, two days after his 86th birthday, managed 4lb 14ozs of small skimmers from the peg nearest to the car park; the only reason Cyril fished that peg was to give the youngsters a chance. Ex-RAF aircrew man Cyril has been fishing longer than he cares to remember, in fact he reckons from personal experience that he started fishing even before Pontius became a pilot...

The next veterans match will be held on the last Wednesday in October - details from Fred nearer the time - and the next Sunday match will be a round of the North Dorset Shield series to be hosted by Dorchester, Sunday October 9th. Details from the club match secretaries.

Reports courtesy of Dave Rigby.

The second round of the North Dorset Shield series was held on the Stour at Durweston last Sunday. With three section wins from four Sturminster and Hinton AA triumphed again with 21 pts from a possible of 24. Home team Durweston came in second and Blandford third. Individually, Simon Dennis continued his good form to win with 10lb 7ozs, and all-roach catch taken on red maggot and, in the latter stages of the match, pinkie, on the pole at 13 metres. Sturminster's Mark Leslie came in second with 5lb 2ozs of roach taken at 11 metres on red maggot and third Sturminster Match Sec Ian Paulley with 4lb 15ozs of roach using pole-fished bronze maggot.

On the Wednesday before, the Sturminster and Hinton Veterans had a ten-pegger on the river at Sowley. Pete Tillsley fished the pole and red maggot to take a good all-roach catch of 8lb 12 ozs, Malcolm Linder had 6lb 8ozs for second place and Darryl Hunt was third with 5lb 8ozs. The next vets match will be at Lodden on the last Wednesday in September, names to Freddie Starks on 01258 451202.

The next match for Sturminster and Hinton AA will be the return fixture against Blandford, on the Blandford water at Knutford this Sunday (18th.) Names please to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

On the match fishing front the new century for the club got off to a flying start on the Stour at Colber last Sunday. For the first time for a few years the 'proper' bream showed up above the old railway bridge and Jeff Sibley made the most of it with an excellent bag of 31lb 7ozs. Jeff had three bream over the 5lb mark, with a best of 6lb 8ozs, three smaller bream and several roach and perch. All his fish were caught on the pole at 10 metres on red maggot or worm; the biggest bream was caught on a single maggot on a 22 hook to .08 (1lb 6ozs breaking strain) line! Second, in the next peg, was Mark Leslie who had three bream (and lost a big 'un) and lots of small roach in his net of 13lb 9ozs. Third on the day was Neil Sims who had 10lb 11ozs, all small roach apart from one skimmer around the pound mark. In fourth position, one ounce behind, out of the money and claiming a recount on the scales, was Paul Newton who included a nice one and a half pound roach in his catch of 10lb 10ozs. Overall, an excellent match with 15 competitors catching well over 100lbs of fish between them. This augurs well for the association Centenary Match, a 100 peg open to be held on the river on September 25th; tickets are going fast so book in with Ian Paulley on 01258 861969 or at the Todber Manor shop on 01258 820384. Match Report by Dave Rigby.

The bright and sunny conditions last Sunday for the Sturminster and Hinton AA pairs match on the river downstream from Steart were in contrast to the previous match there and, with no bream at all showing, weights were well down. The last downstream peg produced well and Michael Hunt won the match there with 7lb 7ozs of small roach and a few perch, all caught on the pole at 13 metres using red maggot fished over groundbait and chopped worm. Brian Preston, two pegs further upstream, fished a close-in 5 metre line to hand and managed 4lb 15ozs of small stuff, again all caught on the red maggot. Mark Leslie, drawn on the 'Creamery' swim which generally produces excellent bream weights (unless there's a match on!) came in a close third with 4lb 14ozs of bits caught on red maggot and caster at 12 metres. Jeff Sibley, making his customary appearance in the frame, came in fourth with 3lb 10ozs of pinkie-caught roach.

The pairs trophy this year goes to Michael Hunt and Neil Sims with a total of 10lb 14ozs, a couple of pounds to spare over their nearest rivals.

The details for the North Dorset Shield match, scheduled for Sunday 14th August, have yet to be finalized. Match Sec Ian Paulley on 01258 861969 should have them by this Friday 12th August.

Twenty four anglers braved the monsoon conditions to fish the Sturminster and Hinton vs Blandford match on the Stour at Steart on Sunday and all were rewarded with some fish in the net. Jeff Sibley made the most of a decent draw opposite Ham field and finished up with 24lb 9ozs of skimmers, perch and 'proper' bream including one of 5lb 2 ozs and another weighing 4lb 15ozs. Jeff caught all his fish on worm hookbait over fine groundbait laced with a few pinkies. A few pegs downstream Mark Leslie had a good net of red maggot-caught roach and one skimmer totalling 12lb 11ozs. His skimmer weighed around 2 lb but the most notable aspect was that his catch included three roach over the pound mark, including an excellent specimen of 1lb 10 ozs. Simon Dennis followed up his win last week with a third placed 11lb 2 ozs of small roach and perch taken on caster and red maggot, a good net, with all his fish under the four ounce mark, taken from the end downstream peg. Peter Tillsley included a bream of 5lb 8ozs in his fourth placed 10lb 4ozs and in fifth place, and top of the Blandford weights, was Pete Brundage with 7lb 13ozs.

Overall a good match on a fair venue with signs that the bream seem to be spreading out along the river, giving most pegs the chance of a good weight. Report by Dave Rigby.

26 June 2005    Match held at Wood Lane with 20 fishing. Top weight with 6-14-0 was Peter Tillsley, 2nd Jeff Sibley 3-10-0 and 3rd Ricky Clarkson 3-1-0.

13 June 2005

As a prelude to the opening of the the real (ie River!) fishing season, Sturminster and Hinton AA had the annual Trophy Match at Highbench yesterday. All the pegs were taken and all anglers caught some fish. Match Secretary Ian Paulley topped the field (and retained the trophy) with 9lb 15ozs of skimmers, crucians, roach and perch all caught on worm fished over chopped worm using the pole at 13 metres. Ian Williams fished exactly the same method two swims away to take runner-up position with a similar variety of fish weighing 7lb 4ozs. On the end peg, in the shallow water opposite the island, third spot was taken by Richard Shave who had another mixed bag totalling 7lb 1oz, this time caught using pinkie on the pole at 12 metres. Jeff Sibley made up the frame in fourth position with 5lb 14ozs of small roach and skimmers all taken on short pole and pinkies at the deeper end of the lake. Match report and photograph kindly provided by Dave Rigby.