WITH only one Sunday left of the river season, Alan Owen picked up his first win of the season in the March Club's sweepstake at the weekend. All 15 anglers caught two pounds of fish or more and Alan fished a four metre whip to hand using pinkie on the ho

WITH only one Sunday left of the river season, Alan Owen picked up his first win of the season in the March Club's sweepstake at the weekend.All 15 anglers caught two pounds of fish or more and Alan fished a four metre whip to hand using pinkie on the hook, fished over groundbait, for a winning weight of 7-03.Mick Pool was next to Alan and sat on the end peg for a second place 6-14. Dave Lee was third with 5-13 followed by Alex Bates (5-04), Dave Priestly (5-0), Greg Brown and Stu Wilson (4-08). I weighed in 4-07 and Gary Harris 3-14.Stu Wilson was pleased with his performance after fishing for 12 hours and catching only one, but on Sunday he had five fish in the first three minutes.On Sunday, the last of the six March Town Opens take place on the Old Nene through March.With the weather turning milder, fishing should improve and with a bit of colour in the water, catches should be good, and I think the bypass section is where the winner will come from.Anyone wishing to fish this match should contact me on 0797 0673439. The draw is at 8am at the Windmill Rooms with fishing from 10am to 3.30pm.Also on Sunday, the last round of the Chatteris Club's winter league takes place on the Horseway Sluice section of the Forty Foot drain. The draw for this match is 9am with fishing from 10am to 3pm.Tomorrow, Fields End Water starts the new season's Saturday opens on the pool with an 8.30am draw at the hut. For more information, contact Charlie on 01354 740373.Fields End Water will also be running an evening series of matches starting on Thursday, April 18 until July 20 and their monthly senior citizens' matches will start on the first Tuesday of each month from April onwards.On a more serious note, the Environment Agency is investigating the increase in fish thefts and are looking at new laws to stamp it out.Its main aim will be to teach people from other cultures that we don't take fish home for the table. They also want to bring in a new bylaw which will stop any fish over eight inches or 20cm being taken away from the water.If it was left to me I would like to see a total ban on the removal of any fish caught on rod and line in natural waterways and that is the opinion of a lot of anglers.If you want to help move this along, then write to your Member of Parliament or sign the petition running at the moment in the Angling Times. Please make yourself heard before it is to late.The Manea Pikers travelled to the Twenty Foot river last Sunday for their weekly match and Steve Newell came out on top with two fish for 16-04. Billy Pope came in a close second with 16-02 and Barry Linney was third with 10-08. On Sunday, the Manea pikers are back on the Twenty Foot at Chainbridge.Don't forget the river season ends at midnight on Tuesday and your rod licence runs out at the end of the month. To many anglers, this will signal the start of the new season as most of the lakes and reservoirs in the area are now open for business.However, it needs to warm up a lot to see any really good sport from most of them. Hopefully it won't be long before we are all moaning it is too hot, but after the winter I have just fished, I don't think I will be.I reckon I have broken the ice at least five times before a match this winter. Before that, it must have been three years since I had to break ice.Finally, if anyone has a good catch or any clubs would like me to publish their results or fixtures, call me on 07970 673439.