THE first pike match of the season took place on the Twenty Foot drain on Sunday and the 15 anglers taking part hooked 33 pike and 168lb between them. The individual winner was Ron Massey, from Bourne, who landed five fish, including the day s largest spe

THE first pike match of the season took place on the Twenty Foot drain on Sunday and the 15 anglers taking part hooked 33 pike and 168lb between them.

The individual winner was Ron Massey, from Bourne, who landed five fish, including the day's largest specimen at 16-08, for a total of 44-08.

Another pike match takes place on the Twenty Foot, on Sunday, when an ACA Pike qualifier will be organised by Mill View Tackle Shop. For more information on this match call the shop on 01354 660566.

The Sixteen Foot is also producing plenty of pike and the biggest I have heard of is a 23lb fish caught by Bill Johnson, of Upwell. He used half a herring and was fishing at Cottens Corner.

The Manea Angling Club fished the Sixteen Foot on Sunday after their match was moved from the Old Bedford river. Weed on the Old Bedford made it impossible to fish and so the anglers moved to the Stonea Station stretch of the Sixteen Foot.

For the third week running, it was Steve Newell who took top spot, this time with a winning net of 7-04 of small roach.

This weekend, the Manea boys will be back at the same venue. The draw is at 7am on Sunday.

The March Club fished a small drain on the outskirts of the town and most of those taking part found the fish in a feeding mood.

The majority of the anglers hooked 5lb or more but it was Paul Ringham who won the event when he netted 14lb of roach to 4oz.

This weekend, the March Club will be joining the Chatteris Club in the Winter League Series, on the Horseway Sluice section of the Forty Foot. The draw is at 8.30am with fishing from 10am to 3pm.

Elsewhere, the cut-off channel, at Hilgay, was the venue for the King's Lynn open match, on Saturday. Of the 36 anglers taking part, 20 recorded double-figure nets but the lucky angler was Steve Hansed, who hooked 27lb of perch to win.

The practice match for the Angling Times fourth round took place at Spalding, on Sunday, and 20lb was needed for a top-five finish.

Dave Thornton came out on top with 38lb of roach to 10oz and this weekend's fourth round match will take place on the River Welland.

The carp are still feeding on the lakes and on Sunday, Barry Mason returned 100lb to win the Sunday open match, fished on the Willows Lake.

Mill View Angling Club were also at Decoy on Sunday and Gary Burton's 61lb took the honours in the match fished on the Beastie Lake.

March angler Fred Nixon was in winning form on the High Flyer Lake, at Ely, at the weekend, thanks to his net of 115lb of carp to 8lb.

On this venue last month, John Pesci competed in four matches in a week and landed 1,600lb of carp in 20 hours. John used 82 tins of sweetcorn and four gallons of hemp, which helped him land 75 fish for a top weight of 482lb.

At Fields End Water, the Pool played host to The Black Bull, of Whittlesey, who fished both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday's club match was won with 33-02 from Paul Rayner, who also netted the red fish and a winning prize of £83.

The following day, there was an inter-club match against Ace Angling Club and The Black Bull's Martin Harwood won the match with 30-14. The Black Bull team won the match 4-3 and now go through to the final.

An open match will be fished on the Pool on Saturday and Sunday. Anyone interested in taking part should contact Viccy on 01354 740373.

Finally, on Sunday, November 19, the second Old Nene open match takes place and anyone requiring a ticket should contact me on 07970 673439.