The Association held its Christmas Match on the river at Colber yesterday a good turn-out found the river cold and clear after the recent frosty weather. In spite of the conditions all anglers managed to catch something and a good weight of 8lb 11ozs saw Nigel Bartlett come in in first place and take home the Christmas hamper. Nigel managed to tempt a bream of around 3lbs but also had a lot of small roach on the pole for a nice net in the conditions. Bill Hanson, pegged in the 'perch peg' had around 4lbs of small roach in the first couple of hours before switching to the worm to try for the resident perch. After losing a big perch at the net he did catch a few smaller ones and totalled 6lb 3ozs for the runner-up spot. In third place Neil Sims had a lot of small roach on the whip before going to the 11m pole for more small fish, all caught on pinkie hookbait, for a net of 6lb. Making up the frame Match Sec Ian Paulley, pegged just above the footbridge, had very little until the last hour when the perch moved on to his chopped worm fed close to the near margins. In the hour he had over 5lbs of perch and weighed in 5lb 3ozs for fourth position.

Best wishes for the New Year from all at the club and let's hope that there's not too much rain to spoil the (often most productive) last three months of the river season.

Next match will be on the river on January 10th, book in as usual with Ian 01258 861969.

A good turn-out of nearly 60 anglers fished the Sturminster and Hinton AA Open match yesterday with most of the field using the match to practice for the Angling times Winter League competition to fished on the same stretches of river this coming Sunday.

The river fished a little below par but proved its worth as a team match venue with lots of small fish being caught throughout the length. Stewart Dabbs made the journey from Andover well worth it, topping the field with a total of 12lbs 4ozs. Pegged near the Creamery swim Stewart fed groundbait laced with joker and used caster on the hook to take a good bag of small roach and perch, his weight being boosted by a good tench of 4lbs 12ozs caught on the inside line using chopped worm; using light pole tackle he had a nervous 20 minutes playing the tench before safely netting it.

Pegged on the end downstream peg of the section opposite Wood Lane, Garry Etheridge loose fed maggot and used red maggot on the hook to take a lot of rudd 'on the drop' and several small roach for a good weight of 10lbs 15ozs and second place. He'll be hoping for a similarly good performance for his Garbolino Blackmore Vale match team on the Winter League match. Representing rival team SPRO Dorset Raiders, Tony Creech had a nice net of roach and small skimmers from the area below the footbridge at Colber for a net of 9lbs 5ozs and third on the day. The area between the footbridge and Edwin's Boathouse proved to be the most productive stretch on the day with several weights between 7 and 9 lbs and it was from the peg above the boathouse that Garbolino Blackmore Vale team man John Atkins came in fourth on the day with a grand total of 102 small roach, feeding joker and using bloodworm on the hook.

Note that for the Winter League match the river will be closed to pleasure anglers on the  Wood Lane and Colber stretches and downstream on the Steart length on Sunday 18th October.

The next S&HAA match will be held on Sunday Nov 1st - names as usual to Ian on 01258 861969.

The Association  held its BB Trophy match on the river at Sowley on yesterday. With the lack of rain over the previous few weeks the river had very little flow and the water was gin-clear, conditions which made for a difficult match.

Pegged four swims above Fiddleford millpool Dave Rigby had a few small roach on the a mid-river pole line using caster on the hook and then, for the last couple of hours, switched to the waggler, fishing across at half-depth, to take several rudd and small roach for a winning total of 5lbs 4ozs.

On then last peg upstream, opposite the trees, Gavin Ross fished running-line rigs using the stick float and waggler to take a lot of small roach and chublets on maggot for a weight of 5lbs and runner-up spot. In third place Pete Tillsley used the pole and maggot on the hook for a lot of small fish for a total of 3lbs 15ozs.

The Association water below Steart, at Colber and Sowley will be closed for the annual Open Match this Sunday (11th Oct) which precedes the Angling Timer Winter League competition which will be fished on the same river stretches on Sunday 18th Oct. The draw for the Open will be at the Football Club at 0830hrs and you can book in with Match Sec Ian Paulley on 01258 861969, names to Ian by end Friday (9th Oct) at the latest.

The Association held its Stour Cup match on the river at Sowley on 6th September and, with only small fish showing, weights were a little lower than usual but a tight contest ensued with ounces separating the top few weights.

Jeff Sibley, on the downstream end peg, wasted a bit of time trying for the chub off the far side without much success but still managed top spot with a nice net of pole-caught roach for 7lb 15ozs and first place. Only one ounce behind, Andy Miller had a couple of decent roach and a skimmer to boost his weight to 7lb 14ozs for second place and Pete Tillsley managed 7lb 9ozs of roach, mostly tempted by hemp on the hook, for third place.

The  Association held its Read Trophy match on the river at Steart yesterday and match secretary Ian Paulley continued his good run of form by coming in first, his third victory in four matches so far this season. Drawn opposite Little Ham, Ian used a good old-fashioned method, feeding hemp with tares as hook bait, to take an excellent bag of quality roach totalling 14lb 6ozs for a comfortable victory. With 10lb 7ozs of small roach and perch, Jeff Sibley pole-fished maggot on the hook for runner-up spot from a peg opposite Ham Field. Richard Hanson included a lot of small skimmers and roach in his net of 9lb 5ozs for the third place and Dennis Corry made fourth place with a mixed bag of 7lb 14ozs from a peg just above the Creamery swim.

The next match will be held on the same stretch on Sunday 9th August, all welcome and names as usual to Ian on 01258 861969.

Yesterday a points match was held on the river at Sowley and Little Ham and, in spite of the gusty wind making conditions difficult, most of the anglers put more than 5lbs of fish on the scales.

Pegged in last week's winning peg opposite the trees, Richard Chave had a good match fishing the pole and took a mixed bag of small roach, chub, perch and skimmers to total 8lb 10ozs for first place. Nigel Bartlett was close behind in second with 8lb 6ozs and took most of his bag of perch, and a tench of around the 2lb, on pole-fished worm. Fishing his favoured ledger method, veteran Fred Starks had a few bits and a nice bonus tench of 4lb 8ozs for total weight of 7lb 4ozs and third place and, in fourth place, Pete Tillsley used hemp and caster on the pole to take a nice bag of roach weighing 6lb 6ozs from his peg in Little Ham.

This coming Sunday (26th July) the read trophy match will be held on the Steart stretch, draw in the car park at Fiddleford at 0830hrs. Names as usual to Ian on 01258 861969.

The second match of the river season was held on the Sowley stretch yesterday. A good turn-out saw weights evenly distributed along the match length with most angler catching over 5lbs of fish. Match Secretary Ian Paulley, drawn opposite the top end of Girdler's Coppice (get your OS map out!), made it his second win in a row by catching small roach throughout the match on the pole for a total of 9lb 15ozs. Having loose-fed small amounts of hempseed regularly during the match it was good to see some better quality roach being taken on tares in the last hour of the competition. In second place, pegged one swim below 'Bream Bend', Gavin Ross alternated between a mid-river pole line and a light waggler rig taking small fish off the top near the far bank to catch  7lb 11ozs of small roach and perch. In third place Guy Manton, fishing the pole on the downstream end peg just above Fiddleford mill pool, had a few hand-sized skimmer bream and a lot of small roach for his total of 7lb 4ozs and Adie Damon, pegged half way along the match length, made up the frame with a mixed bag weighing in at  6lb 8ozs.

The next match will be a summer club competition on Sunday 19th July; venue to be decided. Names as usual to Ian on 01258 861969.

The Association  held their opening river match on the stretch opposite Wood Lane last Sunday, 21 June, and found the river in typical early-season fickle mood.

A good turnout of 25 anglers all caught lots of fish with small roach and quite a few chublets being taken on maggot. Match Secretary Ian Paulley used pole and waggler tactics to take over 100 fish for a winning total of 9lb 3ozs with the majority of his fish being caught 'on the drop'. With several anglers getting over the six-pound mark the next few places were closely contested. Rob Randall used the pole to take 6lb 7ozs of small fish and runner-up spot. Rob Trevis added a few worm-caught perch to net of small roach and chub to take third place just half an ounce behind and Simon Dennis made up the frame with 6lb 3ozs and fourth position.

The White Hart Trophy match will be fished on the river at Sowley above Fiddleford Mill on Sunday July 5th. The draw will be at Fiddleford car park at 0830hrs - all welcome - book in as usual with Ian on 01258 861969.

It was standing-room only at  the Bull Inn function room yesterday for the Annual General Meeting. After a successful season on both the match fishing and pleasure fishing fronts the good turn-out enjoyed a splendid buffet and the presentation of the trophies. The highlight of the season was the record pike of over 32lbs caught by Martin Colohan for which he received the Bell Trophy (among others) for the best feat of the season.

The new permits are available now and, with membership open to all, it is hoped that even more anglers, whether beginners or experts, will take advantage of our excellent fishing at very reasonable prices. Tickets available at the usual outlets or direct from the Membership Secretary, Richard Brown, on 01258 473178.

Match secretary Ian Paulley maintained his habit of winning the Highbench Trophy yet again last Sunday. For the fourth year in a row Ian won the annual match at Highbench lake, this time with 10lb 9ozs of small skimmers and roach caught on the pole using squatts on the hook. Paul Newton was pegged on the dam end and fished worm on the hook to take a few small bits and four pound-plus of perch for a 9lb 1oz total and runner-up spot. Mark Leslie was pegged on the point swim and used long pole method to weigh in 8lb 14ozs of worm-caught skimmers and roach for third place with veteran Fred Starks making up the frame with a good bag of skimmers and crucian carp for a total of 8lb 5ozs.

Members please note the the AGM is planned for Thursday April 30th so items for the agenda to the secretary and trophies to be returned the match secretary by the middle of April at the latest.

The the last pike match of the season was held yesterday but only Ashley Burt caught with 3 fish for 16lbs 2oz.Overall scores for the season Martin Colohan finished first with 123lbs 9oz, 2nd Ashley Burt 63lbs 5oz and 3rd Martin Heys with 46lbs 7oz. Total weight of all matches was a considerable 271lbs 11oz.

The influx of cold water put the fish off the feed for the final river match of the season fished on the Steart length yesterday. Even so, the pegs around the Creamery area still produced reasonable weights with Brian Preston catching four bream on ledgered worm for a winning total of 12lb 7ozs. A little further downstream, opposite Ham field, Pete Tillsley had three skimmers going into the last hour of the match and then a surprise 8lb common carp caught on the worm and light ledger rig, this boosted his weight to 12lb and secured second place. In third place Stan Kemp had two bream on ledgered double red maggot for a 6lb 11ozs bag.

The annual Highbench Trophy will be fished this coming Sunday 15thMarch, draw at the lake at 0900hrs, names to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

Club Pike anglers held a roving match yesterday with the river in true pike form as it seemed. First was Martin Colohan again extending his lead with 6 fish for 63lb 8oz including another monster 31lb 15oz (a different fish to the last one a few of weeks ago, how does he do it? we don't know!). Second was Ashley Burt with 11 fish for 35lb 11oz made up of all small jacks. Third was Martin Heys with  four fish for 34lb 5 oz including a double of 13lb 11oz in his bag. In total 26 fish were caught for 160lb 12oz which is a lot of pike for only five chaps! 

The penultimate Sturminster and Hinton AA match of the season was held on the Colber stretch yesterday. A good turnout found the river in fickle form with last week's deep water pegs not producing as before. Pegged at the top end of the length Nigel Bartlett and Rob Manns competed for first place from adjacent pegs with Nigel taking the honours with a good weight of 16lb 13ozs boosted by two chub of 4lb 4ozs and 2lb, one taken on the pole and the other on running line rig. Rob fished the 'topper' float with caster on the hook to take a lot of small fish for 11lb 2ozs and runner-up spot.

Pegged just above the railway bridge Dean Walters had a lot of small stuff and a nice tench (caught on  worm hookbait) for a total of 9lb 5ozs and third place with Brian Preston catching a mixed bag of small roach, perch and skimmers for a 6lb 8ozs weight and fourth overall.

The last match will take place this Sunday, 8th March, on the Steart stretch with the draw being held at Fiddleford Mill car park at 0830hrs. Names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969. On the same day members should note that a small match is being held by a visiting club on the Durrant length so a few pegs will be taken up there on the last Sunday of the river season.

The river at Colber was in fine condition for the annual Sturminster and Hinton vs Tisbury match yesterday. A good turnout of 30 anglers all caught fish with three double-figure weights heading the field.

Nigel Bartlett was pegged on the deep water immediately downstream of the railway bridge and fished the pole with caster on the hook to catch throughout the match for a good net of 13lb 12ozs, made up of nearly all roach with half a dozen small skimmers to help him into first place.

Next peg downstream Dean Walters included a nice perch of 2lb 9ozs in his second-placed net of 12lb 12ozs, all caught on the pole with maggot on the hook. Adie Damon was pegged just below the footbridge and had a good total of 12lb 6ozs which included a nice bream of around the 4lb mark and a welcome brace of chub, each about a pound in weight. It seems that the chub are making a gradual comeback in the streamier water around Colber which augurs well for next season and beyond.

Fishing the swim just above the railway bridge Jeff Sibley fished the pole with maggot hookbait for a nice net of 9lb 10ozs and fourth place with Pete Tillsley, pegged at the upstream end of the length, using a similar method, making up the frame with a total of 9lb 4ozs.

With the season's end approaching and trying to make up for matches previously cancelled because of the weather, S&HAA will be having another match at Colber this coming Sunday, 1st March. Names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

Good luck to all our members for the last week of the river season.

With no match scheduled for last Sunday the S&HAA members fished a hastily-arranged sweepstake on the river at Colber. Having to contend with high winds and ice in the margins the prospects did not look too good but the roach and perch showed at every peg and a string of good weights was recorded, much to everyone's surprise.

Pegged just above the footbridge Jeff Sibley started off at around 11metres catching a lot of roach on the bread punch, then the wind dealt him and an expensive blow with the number six section of his pole being broken. Resuming fishing on the worm at 7metres Jeff then started catching perch, including  a quality specimen of 2lb 6ozs, and recorded a very good total of 14lb 14ozs for first place. Match Sec Ian Paulley was pegged by the railway bridge and had a 'bite-a-chuck' on the punch in the early stages from the roach but also included was 12oz perch caught on bread punch - one hungry stripey. With more perch being caught using worm Ian weighed in a good net of 11lb 7ozs and second place.

Rob Randall was also pegged in the deep water by the bridge and again had a lot of roach on the punch before changing to caster to continue catching roach for a total of 9lb and third place. Making up the frame Adie Damon, pegged opposite Edwin's Boathouse, fished pinkie on the hook and fed groundbait and pinkie for a net of 8lb 14ozs which included several quality roach up to 12ozs apiece.

All in all a very good match under the conditions. Next Sunday a match is scheduled for the same venue and with the weather warming up slightly maybe this will be an even better affair. Book in as usual with Ian on 01258 861969.

A cold and clear river with ice in the margins welcomed a good turn-out of Sturminster and Hinton AA anglers who fished the first match of the new year at Colber yesterday.

The match was the final Winter Points competition and it doubled up as the Pairs Trophy as well. Pegged just above the footbridge match sec Ian Paulley fish a pole at 11 metres and had a lot of decent roach on the bread punch before switching to worm on the hook for a bonus perch of about a pound and four other smaller perch for a winning total of 8lb 2ozs. In the next peg upstream Jeff Sibley fished punch on the hook at around 11 metres and took a lot of small roach for 6lb 1oz and second place. In third spot Pete Tillsley, pegged a couple of hundred yards above the railway bridge, used a similar method for a bag of roach weighing in at 5lb 14ozs.

The Pairs Trophy was won by Jeff Sibley and Dean Walters (who came fifth overall) with a comfortable points margin over their nearest rivals. After a good display in this the final match Pete Tillsley was confirmed as Winter Points champion - confirmation that experience and guile will out over youthful enthusiasm every time!

With all anglers catching on a hard day after a week of very cold weather the venue proved its worth once again; the next S&HAA match will be held on the same stretch on Jan 18th - names to Ian on 01258 861969.

The Association held its second pike match yesterday with only two of the five anglers catching in the bitter cold. 1st was Martin Colohan with two fish for 35lbs 3ozs including a new personnel best and new club record of 32 lbs 3ozs (see photograph opposite) an absolute monster for the river, 2nd was Nigel Pearce with one fish for 4lbs. The next match is on the 25th January.

The Association held their Christmas Hamper match on the river below Fiddleford yesterday. A good turn-out found the river in good condition with good weights coming from various places along the match length.

Pegged in the 'Paradise' swim Richard Chave had a slow start with three roach in the first hour and a half. After consistent feeding eventually the chub turned up and, using a stick float rig with maggot, caster and occasionally bread on the hook Richard took around nine chub and weighed in a total of 16lbs for first place. In second spot Richard Hanson was pegged above the outfall on the Stur bank and he had a few roach trotting the deeper water before changing to a waggler rig, fishing up in the water with bronze maggot on the hook. This turned out to be good tactical change with several chub coming to the net from under the trees on the far bank and eventually making up a total weight of 14lbs 6ozs. The two Richards each took home a nice hamper full of seasonal goodies and a problem as to where to find the room in the freezer for the additional turkey...

Pegged by the Trailway bridge on the Stur bank match secretary Ian Paulley had a lot of small roach on the crow-quill rig for a total of 13lbs 14ozs. Loose feeding caster and hemp Ian got all his fish on maggot or caster hook bait. Dave Rigby was pegged opposite and just downstream from Ian and had a lot of roach and some decent perch on the crow-quill rig for a fourth-placed 13lbs 12ozs. Had Dave been able to weigh in (let alone actually land) any one of the several big pike which took a liking to some of the fish he hooked, he would probably have been enjoying a hamper over the festive season....

Next peg down Simon Dennis fished a similar method for a lot of roach and a few perch for another 13lb-plus weight and fifth place overall. Making up the frame, Brian Preston, on the downstream end peg, had a good net of small chub, roach and one 3-lb plus chub for an ounce under 10lbs.

With traditional seasonal cheer at the end of the match a good time was had by all.

The next S&HAA match will be held on the same stretch of river on January 4th; names please to Ian on 01258 861969.

After the disappointment of a flooded river for the past few days the forecast is looking better for the Association's Christmas Match next Sunday (21st Dec.) The match will be held on the Fiddleford stretch with the draw at the Mill car park at 0830hrs. Book in with Ian on 01258 861969 for a chance to win a hamper and other seasonal prizes.

The club wish all their members a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year and 'tight lines' to all.

In spite of the northerly wind and cold temperatures the Fiddleford length of the river showed its worth for the latest match held yesterday, with double-figure weights from several pegs along the whole stretch. In peg 1 by the Trailway bridge Dean Walters had little success until he switched from running line to feeder rig and had a nice bream and several skimmers and good roach on single red maggot for a winning total of 16lb 13ozs. Downstream, pegged just above Wesper Brook, Pete Tillsley fished stick float with bronze maggot on the hook to catch a good second-placed weight of 15lb 12ozs. Pete had a nice chub of 3lbs 8oz and the rest of his net was made up of several roach. In third place Nigel Bartlett, pegged just below the Trailway bridge, fished his favourite caster bait to a running-line rig and had a lot of roach for a total of 15lb 2ozs.

The Fiddleford length will be used as part of the Open Match venue on Saturday 6th December, names to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969 by Friday morning at the latest. The draw will be at Stur Football Club at 0830, fish 10 'til 3.

Members are reminded that the annual canoe race will take place along all of the S&HAA waters below Sturminster Mill on Sunday the 7th Dec and that the S&HAA waters will provide the venue for the Angling Times winter league match to be fished on Sunday December 14th.

Local anglers figured well in the Lower Stour Championship match held yesterday. S&HAA Match Sec Ian Paulley came in joint first with a very good net of dace and roach totalling over 21lb and Richard Chave was third with over 14lb. Next winter the S&HAA club will be having a couple of inter-club matches with Christchurch on a home and away basis.

Next Sunday the S&HAA match will be held on the productive length below Fiddleford. The draw is at 0830hrs in the Fiddleford Mill car park, names to Ian on 091258 861969.

 

The latest club winter match was switched from a high river Stour to the Revels fisheries Main Lake and all were rewarded with lots of fish on a mild day. With the match being a 'silver fish' only affair Pete Tillesley used 4mm pellet to target the bream and managed a good total of 18lb 15ozs of skimmers for first place. Neil Sims fished maggot on the pole to catch a mixture of roach and skimmers totalling 15lb 14ozs and runner-up spot. Making up the frame in third place, Jeff Sibley had a lot of small fish for 14lb 12ozs.

The next S&HAA match will be on the river on 30th Nov., book in as usual with Ian on 01258 861969. The Saturday after that, 6th Dec., the club will be holding  the Upper Stour Open. This will be a chance for the Angling Times winter League matchmen to practice on the river prior to the AT Winter League competition to be held on Dec 14th. A good turnout is expected for this open match - book in with Ian on the above number.

 

The Edwin Short Trophy match was held on the river at Durrant yesterday and it proved necessary to draw the shallower areas with some flow to have a chance of winning.

Dave Rigby was pegged two below the island and picked up a couple of pounds of small roach on the bread punch before trying caster on the long pole. The expected roach failed to show but a brace of nice tench made up for that - the best tench was a fair specimen of 5lb 7ozs, quite a job to land on an 18 hook to 1lb 12ozs line. Dave's total weight was 11lb 2ozs and that was good enough for first place with a bit to spare. Club Secretary Dave reckoned that the tench were the first 'lucky bonus' fish he'd caught in a match for about 25 years - the assembled gathering treated this statement with some scepticism......One peg below, Neil Sims had about 6ft of water and a nice flow and fished the pole at 13&1/2 metres with maggot and caster to take a lot of roach for a 7lb net and second place. In joint third place Paul Newton, pegged at the top of the island, and Pete Tillsley, half way down the island, both had a lot of small fish for 4lb 15ozs apiece.

The next match will be the Pairs Cup to be fished on Nov 2nd. Names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

Club match anglers were rewarded with some reasonable weights yesterday when they braved the heavy rain and a rising river to fish the BB Trophy match. Once again on the Sowley length of the river it was the end pegs which provided the top two weights.

Pegged just above the weir pool at Fiddleford Nigel, Bartlett fished the waggler under the trees on the far bank and had several chub up to a pound in weight and some roach for a winning total of 11lb 15ozs. At the other end of the match stretch Pete Tillsley was pegged opposite Girdler's Coppice and fished the pole with maggot hookbait to take 9lb 4ozs of decent roach for the runner-up spot. Jeff Sibley made up the frame with a nice net of roach and perch weighing in 7lb 14ozs.

The next S&HAA match will be the Pairs Open to be fished on the 19th October, details and booking as usual with Ian Paulley on 01258 861969

The Club had a good turn out for their annual Upper Stour Open yesterday and, although the river did not perform to its full potential, all of the anglers there managed to put a few fish in the net.

Brian Preston drew the downstream end peg opposite the trees above Fiddleford Mill and, knowing that chub had shown in this area in the past, elected to fish the far bank with a waggler float to running line using bronze maggot on the hook to tempt around 8 decent chub for a very good total of 16lb 4ozs and first place in the match.

Also pegged opposite trees, but this time at the other end of the Sowley stretch, John Moody used similar tactics to catch a few small fish and a bonus 1&1/2lb chub before going on the pole for few more small fish and a good tench of around the 4lb mark to record a total of 8lb 2ozs and runner-up spot.

Third, fourth and fifth positions were closely fought and all weights were made up of lots of small fish with Gavin Ross fishing running line rigs and weighing in 7lb 3ozs from opposite Ham field for third position, Tony Creech fished the pole opposite Little Ham and put 7lb 1oz in the net and Dave Rigby fished the waggler on the Sowley length to finish with 7lb.

There will be another Open match at the beginning of December prior to the Angling Times Winter League event - a high turn out is expected, watch this space for details.

The next S&HAA match will be this Sunday (5th Oct) on the Sowley stretch. Book in with Ian on 01258 861969.

The Club will be entertaining Wimborne Piscatorials on the river this Sunday (21st Sept). Draw at Fiddleford Mill car park at 0830hrs, book in with Ian Paulley as usual on 01258 861969.

Local anglers figured well in the recent Division 1 National Championship held on the Somerset drains the previous weekend. S&HAA Match Secretary Ian Paulley finished an excellent 7th position out of a field of 630 anglers with a bag of bream and roach totalling 24lb 9ozs taken from his peg on the King's Sedgemoor Drain. Ian was also third in his section which helped his team SPRO Dorset Raiders to a creditable 28th position, having gained promotion to the top division only last year.

Another local angler to put in an excellent performance was Richard Chave, fishing for the Mark One Sensas team, who had the top pole-caught weight of the day totalling 15lb 4ozs of skimmers and roach to finish just outside the top ten but with next-to maximum section points for his team.

Congratulations to both anglers for their success in this field of the Country's best matchmen.

 

Lots of small fish were caught and once more it was the end pegs which came out on top in the latest club match held last yesterday.

Pegged on the downstream end peg opposite Little Ham field Gavin Ross fished running line on a stick float to take a lot of small roach and perch for a total of 9lb 11ozs and first place. At the upstream end peg , two above the Creamery swim, Neil Simms included the only decent fish of the day, a bream of 4lb 8ozs, in his net of 9lb 6ozs and runner-up spot. Nigel Bartlett fished a long pole to fish his maggot and caster hook bait under the trees in his peg opposite Ham Field and managed a total of 9lb 2ozs for third place. In spite of the better specimens not showing on the day the weights overall were pretty good with almost all anglers weighing in more than 5lb apiece.

The next match will be the Edwin Short trophy to fished on Sep 7th. All welcome and names to Ian on 01258 861969 to book in and get the details.

 

The Association held its Singles Trophy match on the river at Sowley yesterday Sunday and found the river in good condition but with a strong wind to contend with.

It turned out to be a battle between the two end pegs with Dave Rigby on peg one at the upstream end winning the match with 11lb and Pete Tillsley coming in runner up from the downstream end peg above Fiddleford Mill with 7lb 6ozs. Dave had a lot of roach and perch fishing close in using a 6 metre whip rig and feeding caster and hemp with caster on the hook. Pete fished the pole and had roach and perch using a variety of hook baits. Making up the frame in third position was Jeff Sibley who fished maggot on the hook and caught a lot of small roach and rudd fishing well up off the bottom in the flow.

The next match will be the Stour Cup to be fished on Sunday 24th Aug; book in with Ian on 01258 861969.

The Association's Singles Trophy will be held on Sunday 10th Aug on the Sowley stretch of the river, draw at the Fiddleford car park  0830hrs. Names a usual to Ian on 01258 861969.

The Club held its Read trophy match on the river at Durweston today with the hot weather and clear water making conditions difficult and the fish reluctant to feed.

Neil Simms needed only 4lb 7oz of perch and small roach taken on pinkie and worm to win the match. In second place Peter Tillsley had 3lb 8ozs of roach on pinkie and red maggot and third was Adie Damon just one ounce behind with a bag of small perch on pinkie and some roach taken on hempseed.

Let's hope that conditions are better for the next match which is the Singles Trophy to be held on the river on August 10th. Names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

The next match is on Sunday, 27th July, on the Durweston stretch of the river below Pressham Wood, draw at 0830hrs. The venue has been fishing well so names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

The club held its White Hart Trophy match on the river at Sowley last yesterday and found  the fish feeding but the conditions difficult with high winds and rain. The top three anglers all picked up a share of the pool money but not even the winner's payout compensated for the fact that his pole (and those of the second and third placed anglers) was broken by the gale-force wind.

Pegged on the downstream end peg, just above the weir at Fiddleford, Jeff Sibley had two nice tench of about 4lb 8oz apiece and a lot of small skimmers, roach and perch for a good weight of 16lb 4ozs and first place on the day. Match Secretary Ian Paulley also had a tench and that, with a lot of small roach and perch, took his total to 8lbz for runner-up spot. Pegged further upstream opposite Girdler's Coppice, Peter Tillsley also had a nice tench (and lost another one) and several 'bits' for 7lb 3ozs and third place and Rick Clarkson made fourth position with a mixed bag total of 7lb 1oz. Pretty good weights considering the conditions and it is nice to see the good tench turning up again as well as lots of small skimmers which augurs well for the furture.

The next match will be the Read Trophy to be held on the river on July 27th, all members welcome, names please to Ian Paulley on 01258 961969.

The Wood Lane and Cutt Mill stretches of the river are fishing well and this is where the next Sturminster and Hinton AA match will be held. Draw at 0830hrs on Sunday 6th July, further details and booking in with Ian Paulley on 01258 861969. Also phone Ian for details of the work party to clear swims on the day before the match.

A good turn out of nearly 30 anglers attended the Association's first match of the river season today. Pegged below the Town Bridge it was the streamier swims opposite the church which provided the best nets on a mild but windy day. Brian Preston had spent some time swim clearing during the week before the match and he was rewarded on the day by drawing the upstream end peg and, pole fishing caster in only 2' 6 of fast-running water, he managed to tempt three good bream for a total of 12lb 7ozs and runner-up spot; although bream are not noted for staying in the streamy water they obviously prefer it during the warmer months. At the next peg downstream Rob Randall put in a very good performance with the pole and, with caster on the hook,  won the match with around 100 small fish and a nice tench of around 4lb 8oz. In third place Ian Williams drew the 'Creamery' swim a short distance downstream from Rob and Brian, and caught 4 bream and several small perch, using both caster and worm hook baits, for a total of 9lb 11ozs.

The next match, for the White Hart Trophy, will be held on the Wood Lane stretch, which is already producing well this season, on Sunday 6th July so names as usual to Ian on 01258 861969.

Today the Association received another batch of fish from the Environment Agency to help with the restocking programme initiated after the pollution last summer. Approximately 6000 small roach were put in the river above and below Cutt Mill. After the previous stocking of roach, bream and chub hopes are high for the river to return to its former glory when the new season starts in June. It is planned to hold a couple of matches on the stretch when the season opens - watch this space.

Many thanks must go to the EA for their continued help in this area and special appreciation goes to the Rockbourne Trout Fishery near Fordingbridge for the provision of all the roach - they looked to be in excellent condition and many will surely grow to the fabled two-pound mark in the future; anglers are by nature an optimistic breed.....

The Association held their last match of the season on the river below Steart yesterday. A good turnout found the river in fine condition but with only the small fish responding. The one exception was a couple of nice tench caught by Rob Manns on the pole using worm on the hook. These fish, one over three pounds and one over four, along with a few bits helped Rob to a 9lb 12ozs total and first place. In second place Dave Rigby, pegged just below the 'Creamery' swim, had a lot of small roach, gudgeon and dace pole fishing single pinkie on a 22 hook for a 4lb 10ozs net and, in the next peg below him, Dean Walters fished a similar method for a 4lb 8ozs bag of small fish for third place. Making up the frame in fourth position Nigel Bartlett had around 70 fish for a total of 4lb 4ozs. Not a day for the specimen fish but a well-contested end to the river match season.

A notice to all members: please note that the Annual General Meeting  and trophy presentations will take place at  the Bull Inn on the evening of Wednesday 30th April 2008. All members are invited to attend and proposals or other items for the agenda should be forwarded to the Secretary, Dave Rigby, on 01258 472068 by the first week in April.

 

In spite of the good river conditions once again the Colber stretch failed live up to expectations for the Association's points match held yesterday. Pegged on the favoured downstream end peg where the water shallows up and offers a bit more flow, Dean Walters fed sparingly with liquidized bread and fished single pinkie on the hook to take 5lb 15ozs of small roach for first place. In second place Nigel Bartlett, one peg upstream from the winner opposite the boathouse, fished pinkie on the hook to catch 5lb 4ozs of small roach and third place was taken by Neil Simms, fishing pole to red maggot several pegs up from the railway bridge, with 4lb 6ozs of small roach. With the whole length yet to return to its former glory it is to be hoped that the imminent further restocking of the area by the Environment Agency will improve matters.

The last match of the river season will be held on March 9th fishing Steart and downstream; names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

Last Wednesday Sturminster and Hinton AA veteran Fred Starks had a productive session at Fiddleford weir pool. Not expecting too much after a cold night Fred fished worm tipped with maggot to a feeder rig and was soon into the bream. One bream at 2lb was followed by 4 around the four pound mark, 2 of 6 lb apiece and the catch was topped off with a real specimen of 8lb. Nearly 40lb of bream in a short session on the river in February - not bad for a beginner.....and the real surprise was yet to come. Before packing up Fred managed to add another nice fish to his bag - a mirror carp of 12lb; all in all a pretty good day out in February.

 The next S&HAA match will be at Colber next Sunday 24th February, draw at the bridge at 0830hrs. Book in as usual with Ian on 01258 861969.

The river at Fiddleford was in good condition for the Association's return match against the Tisbury club yesterday. With the two favoured pegs either side of the Trailway bridge failing to produce, Dave Rigby, one peg below the bridge, put together a good winning weight of 14lb 15ozs of roach fishing bronze maggot to a running line float rig using a small 'Topper' float. Two pegs further downstream Nigel Bartlett fished bronze maggot on a pole rig to take some good quality roach up to a pound for a total of 13lb 3ozs and runner-up position. In the peg between Dave and Nigel, Ian Williams also fished the pole with maggot on the hook to take a bream of around 3lbs and some other smaller fish to come in third with 7lb 1oz.

With the top Tisbury angler, Greg Bell, weighing in 6lb 6ozs from the peg above the bridge, the Sturminster club registered a convincing win over Tisbury.

As long as the weather remains set fair the river should stay in good condition for the next S&HAA Winter Points match on Sunday 24th Feb so book in as usual with Ian on 01258 861969.

Sturminster and Hinton AA had their annual match against Tisbury on the Nadder yesterday Sunday and had a successful day with 4 of the top 5 anglers coming from the S&HAA.

Pegged on permanent peg 2 Ian Paulley had little success for the first two hours trotting the fast water with a stick float so he resorted to the unusual tactics (for this venue) of fishing the pole so that he could hold back his double caster bait in some slack water towards the far bank. Using this method he managed to tempt several decent roach for a total winning weight of 5lb 3ozs; he also lost a couple of good fish, probably chub, which 'bottomed out' the elastic on his pole (as they do!)

In second place, on peg 19, Bill Hanson had some decent perch on  ledgered worm and a few roach on the stick float to weigh in 4lb 4ozs and the top weight for Tisbury came from John Mitchell on peg 23; he used the tried and tested stick float and centre-pin reel method to catch a few roach up to 14ozs on maggot and bread flake hook baits for a total of 3lb 7ozs.

Although the river did not fish to its full potential most anglers enjoyed their day fishing the small and fast-flowing chalk stream and nearly all had a little bit of fun with those beautiful little spotty things - brown trout being their proper name - which bear testament to the fine condition of the Nadder.

No trout in the Fiddleford section of the Stour (but lots of big chub and roach) and that's where the return match against Tisbury will be held on Feb 10th. Draw at Fiddleford car park at 0800hrs, names as usual to Ian on 01258 861969.

Today's match has been cancelled due to water conditions

The next Sturminster and Hinton AA Match will be on the river at Fiddleford on Sunday 13th Jan. Draw at the upper car park at 0800 - names as usual to Ian on 01258 861969.

The pegs near to Black Bridge on the Trailway below Fiddleford once again proved the best area for the Association's Christmas Hamper match yesterday.

Pegged immediately below the bridge, Nick Chedzoy fished red maggot on the pole and caught a good net of roach with a bonus bream of around three pounds to total an excellent weight on the day of 20lb 2ozs. In second place and in the next peg upstream Dean Walters so nearly took the honours with exactly 20lb, nearly all roach and again a single bream of about 3lbs. Dean alternated between caster and red maggot on the pole to catch his fish.

In third place, pegged one swim above the runner-up, Neil Simms had the mandatory single bream - this time caught on the tip - and a lot of pole-caught roach to total 14lb 15ozs and the frame was completed by Peter Tillsley, fishing running line float rig four swims below the bridge, with a good 14lb 12ozs of maggot-caught roach.

In spite of the freezing conditions the Fiddleford length of the river once again proved its worth, with all anglers catching on the day and several weights of chub and roach in the 5 to 10lbs bracket not making the frame. The next match will be held on the same stretch of river on Sunday Jan 6, names to Ian Paulley as usual on 01258 861969. Before that it's best wishes and a prosperous New Year to all our members..

The first match held yesterday on the Colber stretch of the river for several weeks seemed to show that river has yet to fully recover from the recent pollution.

The individual winner of the Pairs match was won with a low weight of 5lbs 9ozs caught by Neil Simms who had some decent roach and a few perch from the upstream length. Jeff Sibley, fishing the upstream end peg had a lot of small roach on the pinkie to take second place with a 5lb total and Gavin Ross, fishing the downstream end peg, had 4lb 6ozs of small stuff for third place.

Neil Simms and Mike Hunt took the Pairs title with a combined weight of 9lb 12ozs, Adie Damon and Gavin Ross were second with 8lb 1oz and the third pair, with 6lb 10ozs, were Paul Newton and Rob Mann.

The next match is scheduled for Nov 18th details and booking in with Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

After a few nights of frost and the with water much more coloured than expected the river was in dour mood for the Association's Pairs open competition yesterday.

Most anglers could only find very small fish feeding and the top weight on the day day was a low 4lb 13ozs caught on the Creamery swim by Neil Simms. Peter Tillsley was in second place with 4lb 9ozs of roach. Peter and Neil happened to paired together and they had maximum points, winning the two sections, and hence first overall in the pairs. The two section runners up, Scott Cousins and Andy Ankers, were also paired together and came in a close second in the pairs competition. The third pair were Mark Leslie and Nigel Bartlett.

The club pairs competition and winter points match will be held on Sunday 4th Nov so names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

The Sturminster and Hinton Pairs Open is to fished this Sunday (21st) draw at Fiddleford Car Park at 0830. Names please to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

A good turn out of anglers lined the bank below Fiddleford for the BB Trophy match yesterday. Whilst not in perfect condition, with reduced flow and some weed problems, the river fished well with several 8lb plus weights. Well downstream in the second meadow Dean Walters in a narrow, faster flowing section, fished maggot on the hook and fed a small amount of liquidized bread to tempt several roach for a winning weight of 8lb 15ozs. Next peg upstream Jeff Sibley fished the stick float method and fed hemp and caster to get a nice all-roach catch of 8lb 11ozs and third place. These two were split by Nigel Bartlett who was drawn on the top peg upstream, again in a streamier section of the river, who fished caster on a stick float rig to take 8lb 12ozs of roach and runner-up spot.

Everyone had fish on the day and we expect even better weights after the first flush-through of the winter and a few colder days - then the chub should move off the shallows and the bigger roach start to feed; let's just hope that there's not too much rain in the winter months....

The next match will be the Pairs Open to be fished on the river on Oct 21st. Names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

At the Sturminster and Hinton AA Upper Stour Open yesterday the favoured shallower pegs below Fiddleford all produced decent nets of roach but it was the Creamery swim in the second meadow below the Town Bridge which came up trumps. Andy Ankers had a nice tench of around three and a half pounds on caster and another ten pounds of small roach using a 7 metre whip rig to total 13lb 8ozs for a very good win and a nice addition to his bank balance. On the last peg downstream Gillingham angler Steve Lovell started off on the whip and had a few roach on red maggot before switching to the stick float for a lot more small roach to weigh in just under the ten pounds mark. Steve put in some worm and caster mix during the match and had three big fish take a worm bait without actually managing to se any one of them; they could have been the big chub which inhabit the area or even the elusive double-figure carp which are known to be there. Jeff Sibley was pegged on the upstream end of the Fiddleford length and he alternated between caster and worm bait presented on a stick float rig and had a good bag of 8lb 10ozs of roach and perch for third place.

With the three top anglers all having a nice pick-up in the pools the best in section after them each had £50 in generous sponsorship money to take home. The top section above Stur Mill continues to suffer from the effects of the recent pollution and it took only 4lbs of small roach for Peter Tillsley to win this one. The other section winners were Eddie Waring with 6lb 14ozs, Rob Manns with 7lb 15ozs and Rob Randall with 8lb 2ozs.

The next club match will be on the Fiddleford stretch next Sunday (7th Oct) with the draw at Fiddleford car park at 8am. Names to Ian on 01258 861969.

The Association held the Edwin Short Trophy match on the river at Sowley yesterday and with the roach not feeding too well the odd bigger fish was needed to make the frame. Rob Trevis, fishing opposite Piddles Wood, had one of the small chub known to be in that area but the bulk of his 9lb 8ozs winning weight came from two nice tench caught on worm. Along with a few roach this gave Rob a comfortable win and the sweepstake money he picked up will go a small way to paying for the new pole section he managed to break during the match...

Nigel Bartlett had a tench of around three pounds and some nice roach on the caster to take second spot with 7lb 6ozs. In third place Ian Paulley started off with a few small roach on the bread punch then switched to caster on the hook to catch more roach throughout the match for a total of 6lb 11ozs.

Bookings are going well for the Upper Stour Open to be fished on the 30th September; there's no pegging fee for this match and it will be a 100% payout on the day. Book in with Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

S&HAA will be holding the Upper Stour Open match on the river between above the Town stretch to below Fiddleford on Sunday September 30th. This promises to be a productive and well-contested match with maybe a few surprises - especially on the stretches around Fiddleford. Book in early with match Secretary Ian Paulley on 01258 861969 - it's open to all.

Members are advised that the river at Steart (downstream of the Bull Inn) will be fished by the Wimborne Piscatorials for their annual match this Sunday, 2nd Sep.

The Association held their Stour Cup match yesterday on the river at their new venue, the Durweston stretch. The area had been fishing well but the fish there seem to know when there is a match on.....with the water losing its colour and the bright sunshine it was pretty hard going but Jeff Sibley, fishing on the upper reaches of the length, had a reasonable net of 7lb 3ozs of pinkie-caught roach for first place. Next peg downstream from Jeff, Peter Tillsley found a bit more flow in his swim and managed 5lb 1oz of roach caught on red maggot for second place. In third equal place on 3lb 12ozs were Rob Trevis with mainly worm-caught perch and Adie Damon who had a 1lb chub and several small roach in his net.

The next match will be the Edwin Short Trophy, traditionally held opposite Edwin's Boathouse on the Colber stretch. There'll be some test-fishing on this part of the river to see how badly the recent pollution has affected it, and the final venue will be decided later. Names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

The Association held their annual match with Blandford club yesterday. Fishing the Colber stretch of the river the home team managed a convincing victory with the top five positions all from the Stur club.

Simon Dennis drew the downstream end peg opposite Edwin's Boathouse, he fished the pole and caught consistently on both caster and hemp hookbait to total a good 14lb 8ozs of roach and first place. Three pegs above him, just below Colber footbridge, Mark Leslie fished a similar method and had 10lb 4ozs of roach for second place. One peg above the railway bridge Neil Simms used pinkie hookbait on the pole and had 8lb 1oz of decent roach. Using the same tactics, Jeff Sibley came in fourth position with 7lb 15ozs and Ian Paulley was fifth with 7lb 6ozs of roach taken on caster. The top weight from Blandford was the 6lb 10ozs caught by John Moody which included a nice tench of 3lb 3ozs.

The next S&HAA match will be the Stour Cup on the 26th August. This will be fished on  the new club water downstream at Durweston; names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

After a good swim-clearing session on the Friday evening - many thanks to all the members who helped out - the Sturminster and Hinton AA held their White Hart Trophy match at Colber last Sunday.

The hot conditions didn't put the fish off too much and, with a nice flow on the river after the recent rain, all anglers had a decent net of fish.

Forgoing the usual pole tactics Gav Ross, in the downstream end peg, used a long rod and stick float to catch a lot of roach on the red maggot to weigh in 10lb 12ozs and take the trophy. Well done Gavin on his first match with the club and it's nice to see an 'old fashioned' river method being successful.

In second place Paul Newton had around 4 lbs of small roach and a beautifully-conditioned tench of 4lb 15ozs (pictured left) to total 9lb 2ozs for second place. Paul fished the pole and had a few anxious moments before finally netting the tench. In third place Jeff Sibley used his favourite pole and pinkie method to catch around 100 small roach to weigh in a 7lb total, a good performance and a testament to how prolific the river is. Match Sec Ian Paulley came in fourth with a net of small perch and roach for 6lb 13ozs and, one ounce behind, Neil Simms had a net of worm-caught perch for sixth place.

The next match will be this Sunday, using the same stretch of river and a bit more towards Durrant, fishing for the Edwin Short Trophy, there should be a good turnout as it's also a match against the Blandford club so book in as soon as possible with Ian on 01258 861969.

 

2 July 2007

The Sturminster and Hinton AA veterans had a match at Steart last Wednesday and Bill Hanson, pegged on the last downstream peg in the second meadow, had a successful day. Bill fished the relatively unusual method of feeder on the pole, suited to the high and coloured river, and caught an excellent net of 27lb 1oz of bream and roach. The extra water and  colour has brought the bream on to the feed and Bill found them up to 5lb 10ozs in weight, see the photograph left.

The vets have a match on the last Wednesday each month, contact Fred Starks on 01258 451202 for details.

 

12 June 2007

The Association will be holding their first match of the season on the river above Colber Bridge on Sunday 24th June, draw at 0800. Book in with Ian Paulley on 01258 861969. Ian is also organizing a work party for the evening of Friday 22nd Jun, so, if you'd like to to help with some early-season swim clearing, give Ian a call.

'Tight lines' to all S&HAA members for the new season, with the new arrangement with Revels and the river looking good it promises to be a great start - please let the Secretary, Dave Rigby (01258 472068) know of any good catches and we'll get them in the paper and on our web site.

A reminder to all S&HAA members that the AGM will be held in April - watch this space for the date - and this will also include the trophy presentatations so all current trophy holders please return their cups to Dave Rigby (01258 472068) as soon as possible.

The final points match of the season was switched from the flooded river to Lodden Lake and the 15 hardy souls who turned out braved high winds and heavy rain to complete the season's league. Jeff Sibley had only a few ounces until the last hour but perseverance paid off (and probably a desire not to move from under his umbrella) and he had over 15lbs of decent skimmers in the last part of the match to win with a 15lb 14ozs total. Jeff had all his fish from peg 4 on a single red maggot to a 20 hook on the tip. Using a similar method Richard Hanson had a few skimmers for a total of 7lb 5ozs and runner-up spot, not a bad performance on his first visit to the lake. Nigel Bartlett found a little shelter from the wind and fished the pole for most of the match, he managed to persuade two nice tench and a few bits to take his caster hookbait and ended up in third place with 6lb 15ozs.

Neil Simms had a few fish for a 6lb-odd total which scored enough points for him to take the Winter Points championship, Peter Tillesley came second overall and Dave Rigby just crept in in third position.

The club are holding the last match of the season this Sunday (11th) hopefully on the river. Names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969. On the same date the Steart stretch of the river is being used by the Shaftesbury Football Club for their last match of the season - that's fishing, not football....

Once again the river conditions forced a change of venue for the Association's points match fished yesterday. The match was fished on the Middle and Canal Lake at Revels and the 'Middle' proved somewhat superior to the 'Canal' on the day with decent silver fish weights from the wide lake area and anglers scratching for bites on the canal stretch.

Ade Damon fished the long pole with worm or red maggot on the hook and took 19lb 12ozs of skimmers and the odd bigger bream. In the next peg Mark Leslie fished two pole lines and, again with red maggot or worm hook bait, had a mixed bag of roach, perch and carp to total 15lb 0ozs. Neil Simms, pegged on the first peg in the lake area, had some roach, perch and a few skimmers for a bag of 8lb 5ozs and third position. Anglers on the canal stretch were forced to go to very light rigs and, even fishing size 22 hook to single pinkie, the only fish tempted were tiny little perch.

The next S&HAA match will be held on the river, conditions permitting, on Sunday 25th Feb; names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

If the conditions are right the match could well be fished downstream of Fiddleford where it could prove interesting. On this stretch a couple of weeks ago John Barbet managed to break the S&HAA chub record with a nice fish of 6lb 3ozs. John fished centre-pin reel with a 13ft rod and a piece of flake on a size 12 hook, a nice 'traditional' method but still mightily effective.

 

After three months without match-fishable conditions on the river Sturminster and Hinton AA were at last able to get a points match fished on the Town Bridge and Durrant stretches last Sunday. Match Sec Ian Paulley drew first peg above Stur Mill and used bread punch on the hook to secure first place with catch of 9lb 4ozs; two bonus chub of around a pound each and several roach helped Ian to gain maximum points on the day. In second place Richard Hanson, pegged half way along the field below the mill, used stick float with punch, and later caster, on the hook to catch a nice all-roach net of 7lb 8ozs. Making up the frame, Dean Walters, with an unfancied draw in the deep water just below the island, had a mixed bag totalling 7lb 6ozs. Starting on the punch he had several decent roach, he later switched to worm hookbait and caught a couple of small skimmers and an eel of around a pound in weight, most unexpected at this time of year.

With three points matches still to fish and the season drawing to a close there's another match to be fished this Sunday (11th.) For a change from the usual this will be held at Cutt Mill, with one section below the weir and one above. Catches have been good from this area recently so, weather permitting, it  should be an interesting match. Draw at the mill at 0830, names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

The Association held their Christmas Hamper match on the river yesterday and, although the roach failed to show in any number, the bit of colour in the water ensured that a few bream were caught. The two section winners took home a nice hamper apiece (followed by a quick call to the butchers to cancel their turkey order...) and all the competitors had a goodie-bag of fishing bits and pieces to take home as well. In first place Richard Chave had a nice net of 13lb 2ozs. He started off on the running line and, by holding back in the brisk flow, managed to tempt a dozen or so small roach. On switching to the feeder, he brought four bream to the net, the last one as the final whistle went, from his peg opposite Ham Field. In the downstream end peg, two down from 'Bream Bend' opposite Sowley, Dave Rigby spent a fruitless first two hours on the running line but, after going on the feeder, had a few small roach and perch and four nice bream to worm on the hook and a total of 11lb 5ozs. In third place and a section winner, Mark Leslie fished traditional rod 'n' reel running line throughout the match and had a net totalling 9lb 6ozs. Mark's perseverance with the float paid dividends with an excellent bonus chub half an ounce under the four pound mark.

The club Match Secretary, Ian Paulley, would like to thank all the competitors for a good match fishing year so far and sends season's greetings to all members. All are welcome to the matches, the next one being on the river on 7th January. Names to Ian on 01258 816969.

The S&HAA Open Match will be held this Saturday, 2nd December, draw at the Football Club at 0800hrs. Nigel Bartlett will be running the match so names to him as soon as possible on 01935 429868.

A reminder to all anglers that on Sunday, 3rd December, the annual canoe race will be held starting at Sturminster Mill so would recommend fishing above Stur Mill - conditions permitting.

The Club got a good response to hastily-arranged sweepstake on the river yesterday. Around 30 anglers turned up for a match which produced reasonable weights considering the three nights of frost preceding it. Winner Andy Bernstein, a member of the Blackmore Vale Match Group (BVMG), made his journey from Andover worthwhile by picking up top spot with a mixed bag of 10lb 2ozs. Andy was pegged opposite Ham Field and had about 20 perch on the worm, a lot of small maggot-caught roach and a bonus bream of around 2lb. Match secretary Ian Paulley was pegged upstream of the Creamery peg and started off by netting about 4lb of roach on the bread punch, then switching to hemp and caster for more roach and a bonus bream of around a pound and a half for a total of 8lb 13ozs and second place. In third place another BVMG member, Jason Mills, had an all roach catch of 7lb 6ozs and a similar all-roach net of 7lb 2ozs made 4th place for Bob Gullick.

This coming Sunday, 12th Nov, the Blandford club host a match against S&HAA on the river at Knutford. Names to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

With the river back to normal level hopes were high for the Pairs Match yesterday. These expectations proved accurate with double-figure nets being caught by the first six anglers and many other good weights. With a section win and a section third Nigel Bartlett and Dave Rigby won the Pairs Trophy with a couple of points to spare. Nigel opted to leave his pole unused and gave an excellent display of running line angling (some would say 'proper' fishing) to catch an all-roach net of one ounce under 17lbs, all on caster hookbait with hempseed being loose-fed. With a bit of extra colour in the water a few bream turned up and Adie Damon, pole fishing red maggot, had four of them and a few roach for a second placed 12lb 6ozs. In third place Neil Simms fished chopped worm and had a bag of perch and a bonus 3lb 8ozs tench for a total of 11lb 5ozs. Close behind in fourth place, Peter Tillsley had a lot of small roach and a nice bream of 5lb 13ozs for his net of 10lb 15ozs. There were good weights all along the match length and it was nice to see a few chub being caught in the shallower areas in the second field below the Bull car park.

In view of how well the river is fishing, there will be a sweepstake held on the same length this Sunday Nov 5th, all are welcome. Draw at Fiddleford car park at 8am, names to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

The Edwin Short Trophy match was fished on the Wood Lane stretch of the river yesterday. Thanks to the farmer, Paul Hannam, the club were able to access the good pegs on the opposite bank and all caught fish with around 3lbs being the lowest weight. Peter Edwards was catching small roach regularly with the occasional interruption from pike grabbing the hooked fish on the way in. While attempting to land another of these predators (which don't count in the matches) Pete was somewhat surprised to see that this one had stripes....it turned out to be an excellent perch of over 2lbs in weight which he landed successfully - the two-ounce roach the perch had attacked escaped. This, along with a nice worm-caught tench of 3lb 8ozs and several small roach, helped Peter to a total of 9lb 5ozs and first place. The last three pegs downstream provided the next three places with Dave Rigby in the downstream end peg having a couple of nice perch, a few roach on caster and hemp and several more roach on red maggot for a total of 6lbs 2ozs and second place. The next two pegs upstream saw Peter Tillsley and Adie Damon using identical tactics of red maggot or pinkie on the pole at 11 or 12 metres and ending up with identical weights of 5lbs 2ozs apiece for an equal third place.

The club are holding a Pairs Open match on the river on Saturday Oct 28th, all are welcome so names to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969. The next club match is the next day, Sunday 29th, to be held on the river - call Ian to book in and get  further details.

Eighteen of the Sturminster and Hinton AA matchmen travelled to Old Wardour Castle lake yesterday to take on the Tisbury club. In a match dominated by carp the top three Sturminster anglers were Tony Creech with 38lb 12ozs, David Wylde with 29lb and Peter Tillsley with 19lb 12ozs. There were many hard luck stories on the day with several lost fish; with about a foot of water, several feet of silt and big lilly beds the odds were stacked in favour of the hard-fighting carp.

The next S&HAA match will be next Sunday, 15th Oct, taking up all the new pegs opposite Wood Lane. Names to Ian on 01258 861969 to book in for the 8am draw.

 

In spite of the high winds and heavy rain the Association held a successful match on the river yesterday with all but a couple of the anglers catching over 5 lbs of fish. The match was fished from the Recreation Ground down to the road bridge and it was the last two pegs, just above the bridge, which provided first and third places. First place on the day went to Neil Simms who had a bonus tench of 4lbs 8ozs in his net of 12lbs 3ozs; apart from the tench Neil had a bag of roach and perch caught on chopped worm or caster. Neil managed to break his pole (again!) during the match so his winnings will go a little way to getting that fixed. Match Sec Ian Paulley was in the peg above the winner and had an all-roach catch of 11lbs 8ozs caught on the pole using caster as bait for third spot. Runner-up on the day was Dave Rigby who fished hemp and caster on a five-metre whip to take a net of nice roach totalling 11lbs 15ozs from the swim just above the island. Making up the frame, Nigel Bartlett had 8lbs 11ozs of caster-caught roach from three pegs below the island.

The next match will be the Edwin Short Trophy, which doubles up as a Winter Points match, to be fished at Colber on Oct 15th, draw 0800. Names as usual to Ian on 01258 861969.

Over 40 anglers turned out for the Sturminster Upper Stour Open yesterday and, though the bigger fish in the form of bream and chub failed to show, all caught and several weights between 8 and 10lbs ensured a close contest. Sturminster and Hinton AA regular Nigel Bartlett took top honours with a 10lb 5ozs net of caster-caught roach from a peg above Colber bridge. Nigel caught all his fish using the pole at around 12 metres as did the runner up Scott Cousins. Yeovil-based Scott was pegged on the island in the first swim upstream of Sturminster Mill and fed caster and hemp with caster on the hook to catch 9lb 8ozs of good roach. Mike Trevis from the Gillingham club was pegged above the top end of the island and had a good all-roach net totalling 9lb 6ozs. Mike used a different approach and fished bread punch on the hook and fed heavily with hempseed; the punch is normally used as a Winter bait but Mike guessed that with the river showing very little colour in the water the punch could be successful - the result proved him right. Making up the frame Neil Simms, fishing one swim above the 'Creamery' peg, alternated between caster, chopped worm and red maggot on the hook to catch 9lb 2ozs of roach and perch for fourth overall.

The top four anglers all went home with a tidy sum in their back pockets and there were further winnings to each of the section winners thanks to generous sponsorship from Sturminster Newton Abbattoirs.

The next Sturminster and Hinton AA match will include most of the top swims from the match above with the addition of a few prolific swims between the Sturminster Mill and the road bridge. This is scheduled for this coming Sunday 1st October and the draw will be at 8am in the Rec car park. Names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

The annual match at Turner's Paddock lake was held yesterday and all the framing anglers fished caster on the pole to catch the target bream. Jeff Sibley repeated his success of last year by catching a winning 26lb 12ozs of bream. Match Sec Ian Paulley had 17lb 12ozs of bream for runner up spot with Adie Damon one fish behind on 16lb 12ozs for third; John Moody had 16lb for fourth and Richard Chave was fifth with 15lb 7ozs.

On Saturday 23rd September, Junior Secretary, Dan Escott is running a match for the juniors at Lodden Lakes. Juniors are encouraged to turn up for this excellent venue, all are expected to get a good bag of fish on the day. Names to Dan on 07768 092796 as soon as possible.

The S&HAA waters from Steart, behind the garage, all the way upstream to Wood Lane at Hinton will be closed this Sunday 24th for the Sturminster Upper Stour Open competition. There are still a few places available so book in with Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

3 September

 

20 August

11 August

A photograph  of the work party at Ham today, note the caption!!

10 August

Map of the water at Durweston is now on the website. Go to Where To Fish and click on Durweston.

Would members please note the closure of the railway path between the small arch near to Friar's Moor and the old railway bridge (Black Bridge) from 14th Aug. According to the liason officer the council intend to re-open the footpath after 8 weeks but they do in fact have 6 months if necessary. Please watch this space for further news. Below is some more substantive detail.

31 July

Gin clear water and no flow did not augur well for the White Hart trophy match fished on the river above Fiddleford yesterday. In spite of the conditions more than half of the 20 anglers fishing had over 5lbs apiece with a few skimmer bream turning up in the lower half of the match length. These naturally-bred fish, as opposed to the stocked fish on the Colber stretch, indicating a productive future for the river.

On the day, however, roach dominated with Simon Dennis fishing hemp on the pole in the deep area just below 'Bream Bend', winning the match with a 9lb 4ozs all-roach bag. It was good to see a traditional seed bait being used with such success. Using another 'old fashioned' method pegged opposite the trees, David Rigby waggler-fished bronze maggot under the far bank to catch a 7lb 5ozs net of roach, dace and small chub for second place. Special thanks here to match sec Ian Paulley in the next peg - he loaned Dave a waggler rod after he discovered that he'd left his at home - must be something to do with the early start (or age.)

In third place Mark Leslie had a nice 7lb 2ozs net of roach caught on the pole, with Richard Chave completing the frame with a similar net of 6lb 6ozs.

The next S&HAA match is scheduled for Aug 20th on the Steart length of the river, more details and booking in for the match with Ian on 01258 861969.

The Veterans had a match at Highbench the previous Wednesday - thanks to Mrs Love for use of the venue - and Darryl Hunt had 8lbs 10 ozs of roach and skimmers for first place. Peter Tillesley came in second with 7lb 1oz and Ray Collis was third with 5lb 13ozs. Details of all the vets' matches as usual from Freddie Starks on 01258 451202.

Weed problems on the Wood Lane stretch of the river mean that the Sturminster and Hinton AA match on Sunday 30th has been switched to the Sowley length above Fiddleford Mill. Draw at 0700, names as usual to Ian on 01258 861969.

Hi Martin,

I was fishing on the river between Sturminster and Cut mill at the weekend.  Whilst I was on the bank I found an Octoplus leg with the red mudfoot attachment on it. 

Could you ask about or put the word about as I would like it to find its rightful owner.

The owner or yourself can contact me on 07773 382 955. 

I have just moved into Sturminster near the leisure centre and people can collect it from me or I can meet them if necessary.

Kind Regards,

Jonathan Green.

The next Sturminster and Hinton AA match is the Christmas Hamper competition to be held this Sunday, 11th Dec; with seasonal and fishing tackle prizes on offer this is a popular match so please book in with Ian Paulley on 012158 861969. The venue will be decided nearer the day depending on river conditions. Also on the 11th another pike match is being held, book in with Ashley Burt on 01258 471154.

The S&HAA Veterans had the final match of their series at Sowley last Wednesday. The river was not very reponsive because of the heavy frost and clear water but Peter Tillsley managed 2lb 7ozs of bits to take first place, Fred Starks was second with 11ozs and Ray Collis was third with 7ozs (mainly small stuff..) In the final league table Peter Tillsley and Fred Starks tied for first place with 109 points each with Fred taking the title with a superior season's weight aggregate of 56lb 13ozs, just 4lb 1oz ahead of Peter. Third spot in the league was taken by Eddie Stevens with 98 points overall.

The Veterans will be holding their Christmas Match on Wednesday 14th December. Names to Fred on 01258 451202, the venue to be decided nearer the time depending on river conditions.

The next S&HAA match will be the first Pike Match of the Winter to be held this Sunday, 27th November. Meet at the Buy-Lo car park at 0830.

The next Veterans' match will be on Wednesday the 30th Nov; organizer Freddie Starks is leaving the choice of venue until later - river conditions deciding.

The final S&HAA match of the year will be the popular Christmas Hamper competition to be held on December 11th. Venue to be advised nearer the time.

20 November 2005

The next S&HAA-organized match will be the Open next Sunday, the 6th November. With all 80 pegs expected to be in demand, prior to the Angling Times Winter League match the following Sunday, names as soon as possible to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969.

This Sunday, Sep 4th, Sturminster and Hinton AA are having a club match on the River Huntspill in Somerset. This promises to be a good day out, especially as competitors in this week's Huntspill Champs needed over 20lbs of fish to frame, with over 40 lbs of bream going to the winner. Meet in the square at Stur at 7am, lifts available if required, names to Ian Paulley as usual. On the same day Shaftesbury Football Club anglers have booked the club water at Wood Lane and Gillingham will be fishing a match on the club water at Steart.

A reminder to all members of the Sturminster and Hinton AA that the club centenary celebration party will be held at the Tithe Barn at Hinton St Mary on the evening of Sat 13th August. This fine setting is being used by kind permission of the Association President, Mr GFL-F Pitt-Rivers, who will be in attendance. There will be presentations by members, a display of club memorabilia, buffet and drinks and one hundred years' worth of stories about 'the ones that got away'; these particular fish will grow larger as the evening progresses. Contact Teresa Goddard on 01258 472069 to book your ticket - all members are welcome and the tickets are free.

A good turn-out of ten members fished the last Veterans' Match at Wardour Castle lake on 27th July and Freddie Starks had a bag of crucians, common carp and skimmer bream to top the list with 18lb 2ozs. Jim Keighley came in second with 12lb of skimmers, Malcolm Linder was third with 10lb of carp and Derry Hunt, in his first vets match, came in fourth with 9lb 12ozs. Many thanks to Tisbury AC and Eddie Stevens for organizing the pegs etc. The next match in the vets series will be on the Sowley length of the Stour on Wed 31st August, names to Freddie on 01258 451202.

The next club match will be the Pairs Trophy - pairs drawn on the day - on the Steart stretch next Sunday, 7th August. Name please to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969 or to the Todber shop on 01258 829384.

 

24 July 2005 In view of the  continuing weed problem at Wood Lane the next S&HAA match on August 7th will be held at Steart, with the draw at 8am in the car park at Fiddleford. Names as usual to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969 or to the shop at Todber Manor on 01258 820384.

17 July 2005    The next match is the annual S&HAA vs Blandford competition to be fished on Sunday 24th July on the river at Steart and downstream towards Fiddleford. The draw will be at 8am in the car park at Fiddleford, names please to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969 or to the Todber Manor tackle shop on 820384. Freddie Starks will be running the next veterans match on Wed 27th July; this will be fished on the lake at Wardour Castle so prepare for skimmers and carp. Names to Freddie on 01258 451202.

Sturminster and Hinton AA decided on a change of scene for their club match last Sunday. After a magical mystery tour of Somerset, led by club stalwart Brian Preston, the 'convoy' finally arrived at the Viaduct fishery to fish the Campbell lake.

A complete change of tactics from normal River Stour methods was required here with the successful approach being waggler-fished pellet fished very shallow for the resident carp. Jeff Sibley used this method (he must have run out of pinkies...) to take an excellent 59lb 15ozs of carp for first place. Nigel Bartlett was welcomed back to the fold after a lay-off of several months and showed that he had lost none of his skills by coming in runner-up with 58lb 10ozs. Brian Preston used his local knowledge to good effect to come in third with another fifty-pound plus net of carp. The fourth-placed club angler was Ian Williams with 33lb 12 ozs of carp.

A successful day out for the club, with about twenty members making the trip, and one that will probably be repeated next season. Hopefully by then this particular contributor will have sussed out how to keep a pellet on the hook by the time it's actually reached the water.

The next match will be on the Sowley stretch of the Stour, with the draw at Fiddleford carp park at 8am on Sunday 17th July. Names please to match sec Ian Paulley on 01258 861969 or to the Todber Manor shop on 01258 820384. Report by Dave Rigby.

29 June 2005    Sturminster and Hinton AA veterans had one of their regular Wednesday matches on the river at Steart today. Nine anglers attended and the winner on the day was Eddie Stevens with a mixed bag totalling 4lb 8ozs. Peter Tillsley was second with 4lbs and third was Fred Starks with 3lb. Fred organizes the Wednesday veterans' competitions throughout the season and would welcome all club members of 55 or older to these friendly occasions. Fred can be contacted on 01258 451202.

13 June 2005    For information on the Highbench Trophy Match fished yesterday click here

The first match of the new season proper will be an evening match (draw at 1730, fish 1800-2100) on the river at Wood Lane on Thursday 23rd June. The first Sunday match will be at the same venue on 26th June with the draw at 8am. Looking at the results from the same venue last year these matches promise to be productive affairs. Names please to Ian Paulley on 01258 861969 or to Todber Manor shop on 01258 820384.