Royalty Fishery News - 7th March 2007

Dave Smith with a 9lb 4oz barbel landed at Greenbanks                       Dave again this time with a 9lb 8oz barbel taken on rolling meat

Jeff Edisbury with a 12lb barbel from above the Greengate                Darrell with an 11lb 8oz barbel from Fiddlers East - one of four

Jeff with another great double weighing 12lb 7oz                                  Same angler, same swim, this time a 13lb 2oz barbel

Jeff with the best of his four doubles weighing 13lb 7oz                        A very wet but successful Tom Lambert with an 8lb 8oz barbel

Royalty Fishery News - 28th February 2007

As the season draws close to its end it looks like the Royalty intends to sign off with a real bang. Since the last report there has been a string of double figure barbel captures, the like of which hasn't been seen for a number of years on the Royalty. Whilst some anglers have blanked, many have been rewarded with new personal bests over the past week. The river has remained bank high and pushing through with a touch of colour and the fish have fed as the books tell you they should in such conditions. The largest barbel reported weighed 15lb 8oz and was caught from the Railway on luncheon meat by Kerry Saint of Hastings. Phillip Scott also used luncheon meat to catch a lovely 15lb 3oz Royalty barbel from Edwards. Andy Scott of Bournemouth had two great days fishing, landing a new personal best barbel of 13lb 2oz from above Trammels on Friday and then, on the following day he beat this with a superb 14lb 9oz from the same area to set another PB. Kevin Miller fished static meat above the Railway and tempted a 14lb 4oz barbel at last knockings. Steve King from Taunton ledgered Spam in the Boathouse and landed a lovely barbel weighing 14lbs exactly. Andy Enbury from East Sussex fished the mouth of the Little Weir and landed a spectacular brace weighing 13lb 7oz and 13lb exactly. Both fish fell to ledgered paste. David Lunn from Plymouth decided to rove around the fishery rolling meat and was rewarded with a 12lb barbel from Greenbanks and another of 13lb 4oz from Trammels. Mick Spurden of Peterborough chose to roll meat through the Seat and his bait was taken by a lovely 13lb 6oz barbel. Mick was fishing with his regular partner Joe Harrop who is known to many of you as the former owner of the Royalty View Guest House and it was great to see Joe back on the Fishery. Paul Durrant made the trip down from Bexley and his decision to fish static meat above the Gate Swim resulted in him banking a 12lb 10oz barbel. Jeff Edisbury decided to ignore our advice to use luncheon meat and stuck with the pellet when fishing Fiddlers West and his decision proved the right one, taking fish of 13lb 2oz, 12lb and 6lb 14oz. Ray Walton landed an 11lb 10oz barbel from Fiddlers East on rolling meat whilst another local angler, Richard Trim, rolled meat through where Hayters joins Edwards and landed yet aother double figure barbel weighing 10lb 9oz. In addition to all the doubles landed there were also a smattering of fish in the 8-9lbs class along with a number of 2 pounders which bodes well for the future.

Anglers fishing above the Great Weir have been taking good catches of dace during the day on both bread and maggot with the roach coming on the feed as the light levels fade. These roach are of a good stamp with fish to 1lb 15oz reported.

Few anglers have targeted the pike over the past week but Terry Findlay recorded one of 16lb and another lost.

Brian Westwood fished a feeder in conjunction with a pellet & paste combination on the Piles and was no doubt surprised when he latched into a mirror carp which tipped the scales at 22lbs.

Overall the prospects look bright for the last two weeks of the season with plenty of water in the river and no cold snaps currently forecast.

Kerry Saint with the weeks biggest barbel weighing 15lb 8oz            David Lunn with a 13lb 4oz barbel from Trammels

Andy Scott with his first PB of the week weighing 13lb 2oz                Andy, the next day with his next PB of 14lb 9oz - nice one Andy!

Len Hayden with a nice 7lb barbel from Fiddlers West                        Alan Smith with a torpedo shaped 7lb barbel which fell to meat

Ray Walton with a nice 11lb 10oz Fiddlers West caught barbel

Royalty Fishery News - 20th February 2007

The fishing since the last report has swung between extremely good and rather dour. Conditions have been difficult for static fishing but much better for those who enjoy rolling meat with plenty of water hammering through. Having said that some anglers have found ledgering the creases between the faster main channel and any quieter water  fairly productive. The most successful baits by some margin has been luncheon meat and bacon grill. Few fish have responded to pellet but paste has been worth a go in certain swims. For the pike livebait continues to be the deadliest method with lamprey and smelt being the best deadbaits. One or two anglers have been targetting the roach and specimens to just under two pounds have been landed, particularly from above the Great Weir. Big bags of up to twenty large bream (6-8lbs) in a session being taken from the Piles on float fished bread. Some of the larger chub also put in an appearance with the largest weighing 6lb 2oz taken by Darrell Pike whilst Ray Walton landed one of 5lb 13oz after it had spent an age teasing him by taking and rejecting his meat. The largest reported barbel was one of 15lb 3oz which was taken from the Boat House on ledgered luncheon meat by Ronald Smith of Whitstable, Kent. Another visitor to the fishery, Ian Lowry from Canvey Island, was also amongst the big barbel with a lovely, heavily shouldered 14lb 4oz specimen which fell to ledgered luncheon meat fished just above Watersmeet. Justin Morgan, from Newport, South Wales had a days guiding with Ray Walton and the following day put what he had learned to good use taking a smashing 12lb 10oz barbel on rolling meat from Trammels. This was his first ever barbel! Trevor Jones made the trip down from Howe in Norfolk and his rolling meat was taken by a lovely 13lb barbel, again from Trammels. Paul Durrant from Bexley fished static meat above the Green Gate and was rewarded with a 12lb 10oz barbel whilst Trevor Wilson fished static paste in Harrigans for barbel to 13lb 7oz barbel. Local angler Darrell Pike certainly got amongst the barbel recently with six barbel including three doubles, best weighing 12lb 1oz. Another local, Richard Trim continued his run of good form taking barbel to 12lb 1oz on rolling meat. David Martin of Tonbridge rolled meat through the Railway and took a nice brace weighing 8lb 10oz and 7lb 12oz. A final mention should go to Alan Smith from Chelmsford who landed his first ever barbel from Greenbanks which weighed exactly 7lbs and fell to rolling meat.

Ron Smith with a fantastic 15lb 3oz barbel from the Boat House        Justin Morgan with 12lb 10oz of fighting barbel from Trammels

Ray Walton with an 11lb 14oz barbel taken in awful conditions            Darrell Pike with a 6lb 2oz chub from the Parlour

Ian Lowry with a cracking 14lb 4oz barbel from Watersmeet            Andy Wellen caught his new pb weighing 13lb 2oz from Harrigans

Jon Perkins took time off from the shop to land this 8lb+ barbel        Darrell Pike with a very clean 12lb 1oz barbel from the Stumps

A 13lb barbel taken by Trevor Jones from Trammels                 Ray Walton with one of three taken in successive casts - 10lb 11oz

Ray again, this time with a chunky 12lb 9oz barbel                               Darrell Pike with another 12lb 1oz barbel from the Stumps

Richard Trim with yet another 12lb 1oz barbel                            Ray with a streamlined 6lb 13oz barbel which fell to rolling meat

Royalty Fishery News - 24th January 2007

The good sport of last week continued up until it turned cold on Sunday when the sport shuddered to a chilly halt. Until then the high, warm water had encouraged to barbel to continue to feed heartily. The largest barbel reported was taken by Ron Smith of Seasalter, Whitstable who landed a 15lb 3oz barbel from the Boat House Pool on luncheon meat. He described the event as an 'absolutely incredible fight & a magnificent fish'. Hopefully I will obtain a copy of the pictures that were taken for next weeks report. Another angler who enjoyed great sport in the high water was local Richard Trim who had barbel weighing 7lb 6oz, 11lb 15oz and 12lb 6oz - the two doubles in successive casts into the slack above the Railway on rolling meat. Meat was also the successful bait for Bexley angler Paul Durrant who tempted a 12lb 10oz barbel from above the Green Gate on Fiddlers. Darrell Pike has recently been getting amongst the barbel on the Royalty and tempted three in a single session using his own home made boilies fished above the Pipes. They weighed 4lb 7oz, 6lb 8oz and a session best of 10lb 12oz. Ray Walton had two smaller barbel of 8lb 5oz and 6lbs from the Pipes and Fiddlers East on rolling meat whilst Gary Porter took one weighing 10lb 10oz from the Pipes and another of 7lb 7oz from the Railway. Trevor Wilson of Walton on Thames  fished below Harrigans and tempted a 9lb 8oz barbel with paste fished static. A quick tally up has shown that the Royalty has produced over 250 doubles since the season started (Total reported through returns being submitted. More have unquestionably been caught and not reported).

The pike fishing has continued well with fish to 18lbs being verbally reported. Unfortunately no returns were made so further details are not available at this moment.

Prospects for the coming week look quite tough as the weather is projected to remain cold with possible snow showers. As the river is now back within its banks we could do with settled temperatures so that the Royalty residents can become acclimatised and begin feeding again. Best species to target will be the chub, roach, pike and perch with the former being best sought in the quieter sections of the fishery such as below the bypass and above the Great Weir.

Richard Trim with a beautiful conditioned 12lb 6oz barbel                    Richard with his second double in successive casts at 11lb 15oz

Darrell Pike with a 10lb 12oz barbel from above the Pipes                Darrell again with a young clean barbel weighing 6lb 2oz

Darrell with yet another upcoming Royalty resident                                Paul Durrant with his 12lb 10oz barbel from Fiddlers West

Royalty Fishery News - 17th January 2007

The rain has continued to fall and the Royalty has continued to flow high and fast whilst, in the main, remaining within its banks. There have been few anglers venturing out and even fewer returns left with the Fishery Manager. The best catch that was reported was taken by Ray Walton on Saturday when he managed to land five barbel, four of which were doubles. All these barbel were taken using Rays preferred rolling method with Spam as the bait. Their weights were 9lb 5oz, 11lb 7oz, 11lb 14oz, 12lb 7oz and 12lb 15oz and, by our calculations Ray has now had 10 doubles from the Royalty since Christmas. Another angler who managed to winkle a couple of barbel out was Darren Pike with the best going 8lb 14oz. These fish both fell to boilies. Another angler who landed a nice barbel was Brian who took a 10lb 3oz fish from Fiddlers East on luncheon meat. The best chub reported went 5lb 6oz and was taken by Andy Loble from the Piles on meat. Conditions still look good and we expect the fishing to continue to reward those that get to grips with the conditions.

The roach, bream and dace continue to be taken from the slacks around the fishery and the smaller pike continue to be taken from these areas. With all species it does seem that adopting a roving approach in order to actually find where the fish are holding up is the best tactic to adopt whilst these conditions continue. Those that do find the fish have been doing particularly well whilst sitting tight on a swim and waiting for some action have faired less well.

Andy Loble with a cracking 5lb 6oz chub from the Piles                       Brian with his 10lb 3oz barbel from Fiddlers East

Darrell Pike with an 8lb 14oz barbel from Greenbanks                        Ray Walton with the smallest of his five weighing 9lb 5oz

12lb 7oz of Barbel posing with Ray Walton                                            A cracking Ray Walton caught by a 12lb 15oz barbel

Ray with his 11lb 14oz barbel taken at last knockings

Royalty Fishery News - 12th January 2007

Over the last week the fishing on the Royalty has varied from superb to impossibly tough. The Hampshire Avon barbel record was equalled last week with a fantastic 16lb 7oz specimen taken by Trevor Wilson of Walton on Thames from below Harrigans on ledgered paste. Five days earlier Trevor had landed a 13lb 5oz barbel on flavoured meat from the Pipes and also lost a larger fish at the net. Ray Walton had a couple of great afternoons on the fishery taking two barbel of between 8lbs and 9lbs along with a 4lb 14oz chub on his first visit and three barbel weighing 11lb 11oz, 12lb 6oz and 13lb 7oz on his second afternoons visit. All fish were taken on rolling meat from around the fishery. Darryl Hughes from Widley took the first barbel to be reported from Trammels for a couple of weeks on rolling meat weighing 11lb 2oz and was also 'rewarded' with a 4lb 12oz bream which fell to the same tactics! Darryl also took a 9lb barbel from the Boat House on a boilie. There were also a number of barbel taken from around the fishery in the 7lb - 9lb range, most falling to luncheon meat although one or two did succumb to pellet.

With the river only just in its banks at the moment it is best to adopt a roving approach in an attempt to find where the fish are shoaled up. Despite the high and fast water the Royalty is still perfectly fishable as long as anglers adopt tactics to match the conditions. Meat and paste have been the most successful baits during the recent high water levels and this is likely to continue during this period of high water. It is however worth remembering that water temperatures are unseasonably high and pellet could well prove successful for the angler who fishes static.

Tom Lambert with a nice 9lb 2oz barbel from a flooded Royalty          Gary Thompson landed this 17lb 10oz pike from the Parlour

Ray Walton with the first of his three doubles weighing 11lb 11oz    Ray with a 12lb 6oz barbel from Harrigans, taken on the same day

Ray with his third double that day weighing 13lb 7oz.

Royalty Fishery News

Please note that Davis Tackle will be shut on New Years Day. Anyone wishing to fish on New Years Day will need to obtain a ticket for the Royalty in advance. May we take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy New Year from everyone at Davis Tackle.

Royalty Fishery News - 28th. December 2006

Following a quiet run into Christmas there have been plenty of anglers fishing since and there have been some cracking fish caught. The weather has been kind and the river looks in cracking shape, well within its banks and a nice tinge of colour. The best story has to be that of Rod Finlayson who lives in Christchurch but had never caught a barbel before. Yesterday he managed to catch his first one ever rolling meat through Fiddlers East which weighed 10lb 8oz. After coming back into the shop to let us know he went back down to the river and managed to take his second ever barbel using similar tactics. The only difference was that this one weighed 15lb 12oz and is the largest landed from the Royalty this season. Interestingly this was a different fish to the 15lb 10oz taken by Tom Lambert before Christmas. Hopefully we will get a copy of the picture to put up on here  once they have been developed. It seems that a number of the doubles have really packed the weight on over the past few weeks.

Daryl Booth from Wimbourne had a lovely barbel weighing 13lb 3oz from the House Pool on static luncheon meat. Ray Walton has gone on one of his catch fests with barbel weighing 8lb 9oz, 10lb 10oz, 11lb 14oz & 12lbs, all fish taken on rolling meat from around the fishery. Toby Holt from Southampton used similar tactics in the House Pool and landed a barbel weighing 10lb 10oz.

Conditions continue to look good with rolling meat and a roving approach probably the best tactics to adopt for the barbel.

The pike fishing has been variable with some days when they have been feeding voraciously all over the river and others where they have been rathour dour. Matt Carter and Tim Tim Dapling shared a nice catch of nine pike which included 5 doubles to 15lb 4oz using live baits and roving around the fishery. I have also been informed that one angler managed three 20's in a single day but have not been able to uncover any further information.

For pike try with either live baits or spinners and go searching about for them in the coming week.

Royalty Fishery News - 13th. December 2006

For the last week or so the river below the Falls has spent as much time out of its banks as it has within them but the river has remained fishable throughout this time. The colour looks just right and there is virtually no rubbish coming down but there have been very few anglers on the banks to take advantage of the conditions. Surely you haven't all been out Christmas shopping? These conditions threw up the best Royalty barbel of the season with Tom Lambert taking a superbly conditioned specimen weighing 15lb 10oz. This fish improved Toms PB by over 5lbs and was taken from the Boathouse on touch ledgered Spam in the margins at last knockings. Another angler who took advantage of the conditions to improve his personal best was Jeff Eddisbury who ledgered a halibut pellet on Fiddlers West and tempted a 12lb 9oz barbel. Sam Gobald came down from Brighton and fished a herring deadbait in the Piles and was rewarded with a lovely 22lb pike.

Other barbel reported were a brace of fish between 8-9lbs caught by Gary Porter, a 6lb 10oz barbel caught using meat by Andy Scott of Bournemouth, an 8lb 2oz barbel from the Railway again on meat taken by John Stack, a 7lb 3oz barbel captured by Nick Legg from opposite the Telegraphs and another of 8lb 2oz taken on rolling meat by Danny Hannabuss. If conditions remain as they are we can expect a good weeks fishing ahead of us.

Tom Lambert with his new PB Barbel Weighing 15lb 10oz

(Note the floodwater all over the meadow!)

Jeff Edisbury with a new PB barbel weighing 12lb 9oz.                           Danny Hannabuss with an 8lb 2oz barbel which fell to rolling meat

Tony Frost with a 12lb barbel from above the Pipes    

Royalty Fishery News - 28th. November 2006

Well at last our wish for some water in the river has come true. The Hampshire Avon is running through fast, coloured and high and those who love these conditions are descending on the fishery in the hope that the barbel perform their usual trick of feeding heartily in these conditions. Today the river was in the fields down by the Clockhouse Stream but elsewhere around the fishery it is within its banks although low lying swims do have a touch of shallow water in them. Over the previous few days fishing has been hampered somewhat by debris coming downriver but this has lessened today and, assuming we don't have much more rain things should be looking very good in the next couple of days.

There have been few anglers on the fishery over the last week or so but many of those who did fish experienced excellent sport with good catches of roach, dace, barbel and pike. The pike in particular fed well and on one Sunday there were three anglers who were rewarded with specimens over twenty pounds, whilst Jon in the shop had seven pike to double figures during a short but hectic session last Wednesday. Jon was joined by new Davis Tackle employee Jason Whitfield who managed a brace of pike with the biggest weighing 12lb 6oz. Jason also managed to catch a new PB river carp with a 10lb 4oz beauty from the Piles on a day when the weather was truly foul. The biggest reported pike was caught by Terry Findlay from Crawley who tempted a 23lb 8oz beauty along with another of 15lbs from the Backwater off the Clockhouse Stream on deadbaits. Danny Morgan from Weymouth used a lure to catch his new PB river pike with a cracking specimen weighing 21lbs. The biggest barbel reported weighed 13lbs exactly and was part of a cracking four fish haul including others weighing 12lb 10oz, 10lbs and 8lbs taken by Daren Berry from the Stumps. This catch came three days after Daren had a lovely 11lb 11oz barbel from the same area. He also tempted a smaller barbel of 8lbs 8oz on pellet a few days later. Another beautiful barbel weighing exactly twelve pounds was caught on luncheon meat by local angler Gary Porter. Darrell Pike landed barbel of 10lbs 3oz and 10lb 5oz on successive trips along with a smaller fish weighing 7lbs with all fish coming from the Compound on boilies. Other anglers who landed double figure barbel included Mr W Dodson from Enfield who used maggot feeder to tempt a 10lb 8oz barbel from Fiddlers West on a really  wet and windy day. Paul Fuller from Fareham also caught a barbel weighing 10lb 8oz from the Gate Swim on ledgered luncheon meat. James Russell came down from Waltham Abbey and fished the Pipes using boilies and he was rewarded for his long journey with an 11lb 6oz barbel. Other barbel reported included a 7lb 12oz fish taken by Mick Spurden from the White Stile, Andy Scott had one of 7lb 10oz from the Railway and Richard Trim had an 8lb 12oz barbel from Greenbanks on meat.

Darrell Pike with a lovely conditioned 10lb 5oz barbel                            Darrell again with a 10lb 3oz barbel taken on a boilie

A happy Gary Porter with 12lbs of Harrigans barbel                            Daren Berry with a 10lb barbel from the Stumps

Daren with his 11lb 11oz barbel  taken on a different session             Daren, again, with a heavily shouldered 12lb 10oz barbel

Daren with a 13lb barbel which took whilst the 8lb fish was recovering in his net!

Royalty Fishery News - 15th. November 2006

Following on from the cold snap which slowed sport right down on the Royalty things have now improved dramatically with both the barbel and the pike feeding well. Whilst levels remain surprisingly low considering that there has actually been some rain, the hint of colour combined with the warmer water has encouraged the fish to feed. The best barbel landed was caught by Pat Colgan from Yeovil and weighed 15lbs 8oz. This fish was caught from opposite the Boat House and was taken on red maggot used in conjunction with a swim feeder on a 6lb bottom. This was a new PB for Pat.

Pat Colgan with his new PB barbel weighing 15lb 8oz                        Richard Wookey with yet another carp from the Royalty at 14lbs

Royalty Fishery News - 3rd November 2006

Following on from the number of reports this season of huge dace being caught in the Bridge Pool by anglers fishing for Sea Trout, the Royalty has decided as an experiment to keep the punt in the Bridge Pool until the end of November for Coarse Fishing only. Having landed dace to just over a pound myself I can confirm that there are some cracking specimens in there. Other species that have been recorded this season include perch to 4lb 1oz and roach to around a pound. The price is £40 for two anglers and fishing is from 6am until 11pm. Bookings can be made by calling Davis Tackle on the usual number.

The punt will also be available next season from 1st February for salmon (fly only) and coarse fishing (until 14th March) with sea trout (fly only) also included from 15th April until 15th June for £40 for two anglers.

On the subject of bookings, we are now taking bookings for the Bridge Pool, Parlour and Compound for next season so if there is a particular date you want then give us a call. Prices for next season (2007-2008) can be found here

Royalty Fishery Update - 25th October 2006

Since our last report the fishing on the Royalty has been a mixture of high's and lows. The barbel have been fairly localised and it has often been the case that unless you were fishing one of the 'hot swims' it has been quite tough going. Without question the most productive areas have been from Watersmeet down to the Pipes on the West Bank and the Compound from both banks. Obviously barbel have been coming from other areas of the fishery but only in one's and two's. Last week we finally saw some rain reach the Avon and flows and colour have improved immesurably. Initially, as you would expect, the flush brought loads of debris downstream but this has now reduced to more acceptable levels and, as I type this, the Royalty looks in great shape carrying just the right amount of colour to encourage the barbel to feed. Indeed the best barbel of the season was landed earlier this week weighing a superb 15lb 8oz. This fish was landed by Christopher Cook from the Piles after it took a ledgered halibut pellet. Another barbel weighing 15lb 6oz was taken earlier today by Nick Legg from the House Pool. At least 190 double figure barbel have now been reported from the Royalty in 16 weeks!

The pike fishing has been excellent, although few of the really large fish that are known to inhabit the Royalty have been caught. Whilst there have been only two twenties landed there have been plenty of anglers reporting up to half a dozen pike in a session. The decision by the new operators of the fishery to permit spinning has been a success with lots of fish falling to both spinners and plugs. Likewise the concern that out of season salmon would be accidentally hooked has thankfully proved unfounded, with the only salmon taken during this period falling to rolling meat of all things!

The roach and dace fishing has slowed down somewhat but the bream and chub continue to show across the fishery. The seasons best chub (weighing between 7lb 15oz and 8lb 2oz - the scales wouldn't settle) was taken from below the Road Bride by Gareth Bevis on trotted maggot.

The carp continue to feed well and there have been both commons and mirrors landed to 25lbs from around the fishery. Indeed local fishing guide Richard Wookey seems to be on a personal mission, catching carp seemingly at will from all over the fishery!

A summary of recent catch returns appears below:-

A big thank you to everyone who has sent in photos over the last couple of weeks, they make these reports worthwhile!

Christopher Cook with the seasons best barbel of 15lb 8oz                Bruce Townsend with a lovely conditioned 11lb 8oz barbel

Alan Goad with a barbel taken with Ray Walton                                    Daren Berry with an 18lb mirror carp from the Top Stile

Dave Cartwright with a 10lb barbel - great to see you back Dave!    Doug (Whempen) Terre with a superb new PB perch of 3lb 2oz

Eddie Chambers with a 12lb barbel from the Compound                    Eddy Widdup with a lovely 19lb 3oz pike from the Piles

Denis Nye with a 9lb 15oz barbel caught from the Stumps                Glen Biddles with an evening caught 10lb 10oz barbel    

  Gareth Bevis with a cracking chub of around 8lb                               John Kavanagh and a lovely 25lb 2oz common carp

John Dillon with an 8lb 12oz Hampshire Avon Barbel - at last!             Lord Jez Brown with a 'Barons Boilies' caught 9lb 12oz barbel

Kevin Blanchard with a 19lb pike from the Piles                                    Kevin again, this time with a 10lb pike, one of 5 he took that day

Nick Legg with a superb 15lb 6oz barbel & the Fishery Manager      Kevin Rockhill with another great Royalty Barbel of 14lb 11oz

Phil Rudd with an evening caught 11lb 1oz barbel                               The one and only Ray Walton with a 10lb 3oz  relation of his

Karl Gale with a 9lb 14oz barbel from the Pipes                                   Local angler Kris Adams with a nice mullet from the Bridge Pool

Richard Wookey with one of his many recent 20lb + carp                    Tina Willson with a beautiful 13lb 5oz Compound barbel

Sean Hoadley with two barbel taken from the Royalty for which I have no weights!

Sue Cartwright with her first Royalty barbel weighing 8lb 14oz            A 13lb 14oz barbel with an unknown angler - Can anyone help?

Ian Wade-Jones with a superbly well conditioned 13lb 5oz barbel                Ray Walton with a 5lb 13oz Chub which looked much bigger!

Royalty Fishery Update - 27th September 2006

The Royalty has once again been coming up with the goods over the past week with the best barbel reported weighing 14lb 8oz and the Hampshire Avon and Royalty carp record being broken with a superb 33lb 9oz common carp taken by Royalty Guide Richard Wookey.  The 14lb 8oz barbel was taken by visiting angler Nick Vaughan of Newport, Wales who fished Fiddlers West with halibut pellet and managed to beat his PB by over six pounds! Two anglers, Loyd Knight (on his 11th Birthday!) and Alex Fox both landed barbel weighing over 13lbs and a number of other doubles were landed from around the fishery. Ken Pearce landed a beautiful 20lb 4oz common carp from the Lower Water and a number of other double figure carp were landed by anglers who didn't leave any details.Once again there have been a number of anglers catching good bags of barbel from different areas as the bit of rain we finally had obviously freshened things enough for the fish to feed with more confidence despite the clarity of the water.

It has been great to see more and more anglers fishing the float recently and probably the highlight was Dick Harvey who trotted red maggot above the Footbridge and landed seven barbel, none of which were huge but it certainly reminded everyone what a great way to fish for barbel this is. Plenty of good roach are still being reported with two anglers down from the Midlands, finding the barbel fishing quite slow in the House Pool, took plenty of roach to around two pounds on swimfeeder and maggots.

The large head of big perch continue to offer great sport with plenty landed up to 3lbs and a few over that weight. There is one particular specimen which has been seen by plenty of anglers attacking any hooked dace which looks as though it will go well over 4lbs!

Can I please remind anglers to fill in a catch return when they have finished their days sport as without them it is very difficult to put together a worthwhile report here on the web. I have heard of plenty of good catches from other anglers but without any details I can't really use this information. Can I also thank all of you who kindly email me with reports of their catches along with photographs, it is really appreciated.

Finally just a reminder that the pike fishing season on the Royalty this year will commence on 1st October, a month earlier than previous seasons. Also for the first time spinning and wobbling dead baits will also be permitted.

 Dave Pryor with a 9lb 4oz barbel                                                                Dave again, this time with a 10lb 10oz barbel from the Great Weir

 Richard Wookey with the new Royalty record carp weighing 33lb 9oz    Alex Holdsworth with his second ever barbel weighing 8lb 6oz.

 Eddy Widdup with a lovely 11lb 1oz barbel                                            Eddy with a cracking 2lb 12oz Perch

 Loyd Knight with a 13lb 14oz barbel caught on his 11th Birthday       Loyd with one of my favourite species, a lovely gudgeon.

 Richard Wookey with a superb conditioned 6lb 8oz tench from the Piles    Alex with his 3rd barbel of a day guided by Ray Walton

 Wes Adams with the largest of a trio taken in an afternoon 12lb 9oz    Wes with his second double of the session weighing 10lb 11oz

 Wes with his third of the day barbel weighing 9lb 3oz                        Hugh Goldsmith with a 2lb 9oz perch

 Dave Basher with a 2lb 12oz perch                                                        Graham Hodges with a barbel of 6lbs taken on proper tackle!

 A classic barbel photo taken on classic barbel gear by Graham                     Another great shot, this time of a plump Royalty roach

 Ken Pearce with superb a 20lb 4oz common carp                            Trevor Knight - Loyd's Father - with a pretty 9lb 5oz barbel

 Alex Fox with on of a catch of 7 barbel - the best going over 13lbs    A fantastic 14lbs 8oz barbel caught by Nick Vaughan from Newport

 Ray Walton Angling Guide Extrodinaire and Pocket Rocket with yet another double figure barbel at 12lbs 8oz

The future of barbel fishing on the Royalty being held by the future of barbel fishing on the Royalty!

Royalty Fishery Update - 20th September 2006

 The river is actually carring a bit more water at the moment and flow levels are up, although it is still as clear as anything. The barbel fishing on the Royalty has continued on from last week with the going being tough on many areas of the fishery. With angler numbers down following the end of the holiday season, few have really got to grips with the barbel this week. The best fish reported weighed 12lb 13oz and was taken by Denis Nye from the Piles on halibut pellet. Dennis had, over a period of three weeks, spent "three days and two minutes in the same swim to bag this beauty". Tony Frost continued his run of big Royalty barbel when he landed a 10lb 10oz specimen from the Railway, the successful bait was once again halibut pellet. The bream continue to be caught in both large numbers and to a good size. John Westover reported the biggest specimen at 8lbs and Denis Nye had twenty seven from the Road Bridge for 110lbs. The carp are once again very active around the fishery with the best reported being a 16lb common taken by local guide Richard Wookie. The perch continue to be caught in good numbers and to a good size with plenty over two pounds from the Car Par, the Piles and the mouth of Little Weir. Likewise the roach fishing is still excellent and plenty continue to fall for trotted baits. Former Royalty Manager Doug Terre had a great catch from the bend next to the House Pool, all fish falling to the traditional hemp and tares approach.

The river is actually carring a bit more water at the moment and flow levels are up, although it is still as clear as anything. In fact it looks in lovely condition for the coming week.

An absolutely perfect river carp weighing 16lbs caught by Ritchie    Dave Basher with a clean 7lb 8oz barbel from the House Pool

Kevin Denny with a 2lb 10oz typically pretty Royalty Perch                 John Westovers 8lb bream from Edwards - one of four good bream

The sea trout have finally started to be caught in reasonable numbers from the Bridge Pool with anglers landing on average between 10 - 20 fish per day. Most anglers are also reporting that they lost good fish during the day through either hook pulls or breakages as these fish either decide to return to sea or head off upstream beyond the Town Bridge! Most successful tactics are bait fishing either maggot or worm but anglers are reporting the odd brace or two taken on the fly. Successful patterns have included, Alexandra, Zulu, Teal, Blue & Silver and, rather suprisingly Gold Head Daddy Long Legs. Johnsons has also picked up with a number of sea trout falling to trotted maggots.

Royalty Fishery Update - 13th September 2006

The lack of reports over the last two weeks was a result of my slipping out of the shop for a fishing holiday at Redmire Pool with three other Royalty Regulars. This has left me with a huge catch up exercise in recording the fish taken in my absence, and limited knowledge of which swims are producing the goods at the moment! Normal service will be resumed next week when I have been able to walk the banks and see which fish are moving where.

From reading the returns it appears that the barbel have continued to feed in most areas of the fishery and that evenings have become the most prolific time for barbel catches. The best barbel reported weighed 14lb 2oz and was part of a haul that included 12 good bream taken from above the Road Bridge on boilies by Ken Clayton. Perch continue to be caught from around the Piles and the Car Park wall and a season best weighing a tad under 4lb 1oz was taken by Trevor James who was trotting down below the footbridge. Another good bag of perch was recorded by local angler Stuart Andrews who trotted maggots to take three perch to 3lb from the House Pool. The bream have been very willing to feed and plenty of good bags to over 100lbs have been taken from the Railway slack, Trammels and above the Road Bridge. Carp have also been taken from the lower water with the best going 25lb 2oz which fell for a boilie presented by John Kavanagh. Good bags of dace and roach are being taken from all over the fishery with trotted maggot, caster and corn being the most effective method. Another surprise tench was taken from the Railway by Vic Cox of Swindon who had an enjoyable days sport ledgering red maggot and caster in the Railway.

A summary of the fish reported is detailed below:-

Andrew Bridges once again appears on here with a lovely barbel    Kevin Blanchard with a nice clean Compound Barbel

Kevin again with a fish taken well into the evening                                Kevin with a 6lb 12oz Bream taken from the Compound

Mark Peachey with his first ever barbel weighing 6lb 4oz                    Dominic Dear with a lovely 10lb 4oz barbel

Simon Kilshaw with 10lb 12oz of Trammels caught barbel                    Tony Frost continues his run of big barbel with this 12lb beauty

Ken Claton with his new PB weighing 14lb 2oz - a stunning example of an Avon barbel

Finally for this week I have included a picture of a barbel that wasn't taken from the Royalty at all. Ralph Sam is a regular customer who lives out in Holland and is a keen centrepin angler, owning amongst others a Ray Walton Rolling Pin. He recently caught this lovely barbel from the river IJssel on luncheon meat and I felt it worth including on here. Nice one Ralph!

Royalty Fishery Update - 23rd August 2006

The patchy sport with the barbel has continued on from last week with fewer coming out than in previous weeks. It seems to be the shoal fish weighing between 6 and 8lbs that are proving difficult as plenty of 'baby' barbel and a smattering of doubles continued to be caught. The total number of double figure barbel captured this season now stands at 131. The largest barbel reported this week weighed 13lb 7oz and was caught from the House Pool on halibut pellet by Southbourne based Tony Frost. This fish is a new PB by 7oz for Tony.

Plenty of quality roach continue to be landed with float fished corn sorting out the better stamp of fish, with the mouth of Little Weir, Piles and Telegraphs being the best areas to target although it is also worth giving the runs above the Road Bridge a go using these tactics.

Perch are still being taken in good numbers, especially where there are iron pilings to shoal up against. Both worm and maggots are th emost effective baits at presesnt.

Two good catches of bream were taken in the last week with David Treadmill and David Hockett sharing a catch weighing 120lbs from Trammels and another angler taking a reported 160lbs of bream from below the Road Bridge. Meat, pellet and corn are all proving effective baits for these fish which average 6lb each.

The carp fishing has been quiet, although to be fair, few anglers targetted them last week. They continue to show above the Railway Bridge in the slack, in the area of Trammels down to Watersmeet, the Boat Pool and the Backwater. In those areas where the weed has reached the surface try looking for the carp humping and present a floating bait to them.

A summary of those catches reported to either Davis Tackle or the Fishery Manager appears below:-

Tony Frost with his latest PB weighing 13lb 7oz                                     Russell Lewington with a superb 13lb 3oz barbel

The two Daves both with 6lb plus bream taken as part of a 120lb haul from Trammels

Eddy Widdup with a lovely 10lb 2oz barbel                                            Eddy again, this time with a pretty 9lb 5oz barbel

Andy Eadie with a lovely 13lb 4oz barbel                                                Mark Buckley with an 11lb 4oz barbel from the Parlour

Mike Pidgeon with a really beautiful 14lb 4oz Mirror Carp

Royalty Fishery Update - 16th August 2006

Sport on the Royalty has been rather patchy over the last few days where barbel have been the target species but the roach, bream and perch fishing has continued its season long improvement. Whilst the overall number of barbel landed was down on the average for this exceptional season there were still a number of doubles landed with the best weighing 12lb 11oz. The total for the first two months of the season now stands at an amazing 121 double figure barbel with the best weighing 14lb 8oz. Large roach continue to show up in catches with the best red fin landed this week weighing 2lb 3oz which was caught by Mr J Ingram from Gravesend in Kent on float fished sweetcorn. On his catch return he made the comment "lots of good quality roach, most over 1lb", the type of roach fishing we used to see years ago on the Royalty. For those of you with long memories, it may be time this winter to dust off  the trotting rods and give the Cinder Path a go with float fished bread once the cold weather arrives.

Talking about the weather we have not enjoyed much rain at all this week unlike other parts of the country and consequently the river is looking low and is running absolutely gin clear. It is actually possible to see right across the bottom of the Parlour at the head of the pool, something I don't remember seeing since 1976. You can imagine the frustration this causes when you can see the fish milling around but you just cant buy a bite for love nor money! Tonights weather forecast is for rain so we are all keeping our fingers crossed that the Met Office finally get it right for once.

Having reported that the bream fishing has been slow over the last two weeks you might well have guessed that the Royalty decided to prove me wrong and loads of bream have been caught over the last week - mostly to anglers targeting barbel. There is now a large shoal resident in the Railway slack, one at the top of Greenbanks and one on Fiddlers. Lets hope that my reporting of a slowing down in the number of barbel landed will have the same result next week.

Best baits for the barbel have been pellet and luncheon meat although an honourable mention should be made of sweetcorn which was responsible for the capture of a couple of fish this week. With the barbel now well spread out around the fishery it is difficult to pin point any particular hot spot although the best of the sport on the Main River last week came from the Gate Swim, Boat House and House Pool. The Compound continues to fish well but the Parlour remains somewhat hit or miss, probably due to the lack of flow passing through the Pump House.

A summary of those catches reported to either Davis Tackle or the Fishery Manager appears below:-

Ray Walton with a wonderful 12lb 11oz barbel from the Parlour          Alistair Spencer with an 11lb pike caught on halibut pellet!

Dana Goddard with a cracking 12lb 1oz barbel from the Parlour        Danny Hannabus with guide Ray Walton and an 8lb 11oz barbel

Jamie Welland with a lovely proportioned 7lb bream                            Jamie again, this time with an 8lb 4oz barbel

Steve Welland with a cracking 10lb 4oz barbel from Trammels        Steve with an even better barbel, this one weighing 11lb 4oz

Lord Jez Brown with an 8lb 4oz barbel taken on a night permit            Pete Crane with a 7lb barbel, one of a brace he took that day

Ray Walton with a 9lb 1oz barbel, one of three he took in about an hour on luncheon meat.

Royalty Fishery Update - 9th August 2006

Whilst  barbel continue to be caught from most swims on the Royalty it is fair to say that sport has slowed with the continuing warm weather. Where there were multiple catches in previous weeks during the last seven days catches have been, in the main, single fish. The shoals of barbel have, in the main, now broken up and this has probably contributed to the reduction in multiple catches. The fish are now more thinly spread out throughout the fishery although there has been a significant increase in the number of fish showing in the ParlourDoubles continue to show up in catches and the total for the first six weeks of the season now stands at 109. The best two fish this week both weighed 13lbs with one caught from the Parlour and the other from Telegraphs, a swim that to me is surprisingly neglected by anglers.

The chub and carp fishing has also quietened down but the roach, dace and perch continue to feed well and are showing up all over the fishery. Having said that, Royalty regular Steve Clark decided last Sunday to spend an hour fishing the float on Greenbanks and he described the sport as 'Chub-a-chuck' - a phrase he may come to regret in the future!. Hot spots for the perch are the Car Park wall and the Piles although the Bridge Pool threw up three weighing over three pounds last week! Having said last week that the bream fishing had been poor, I have had to eat my words with a number being reported to just under 7lbs.

The Royalty now has grilse throughout all the regular lies and seven fish were seen off the Point alone. The sea trout have also appeared in even greater numbers and catches are now starting to pick up on the Main River. .

A summary of those catches reported to either Davis Tackle or the Fishery Manager appears below:-

Hugh Goldsmith returning a 9lb 5oz barbel                                            Stuart Holden's 11lb 13oz barbel from the Roadbridge

Rob Searle with a 9lb barbel from the Parlour                                             Matthew Franks with a 10lb 4oz barbel after only 8 weeks going fishing!

Royalty Fishery Update - 2nd August 2006

Sport on the Royalty contiunues to defy both the weather and logic with plenty of barbel  being taken by both regulars and visitors. Indeed in reviewing the weeks catches it seems that this season the Royalty is the place to come if you want to catch your first barbel. This was confirmed when local angler Karl Gale, who has been helped by a few of the regulars this season, finally managed to land his first barbel from the House Pool weighing 12lb 3oz. The doubles continue to show up in the returns and a total of 96 have been reported to date. Regular readers may remember that I was called away from writing the report to weigh and witness a 13lb barbel. This was one of a catch of seven barbel including two doubles that local angler Gary Porter took from the Compound that day. This season Gary has caught something like 31 barbel in four visits to the Royalty an amazing return for anyone I am sure you would agree.

The barbel have now spread out much further around the fishery and there are far more fish now coming from the Piles down through the Car Park to the House Pool. The top of Greenbanks has seen a good number of fish cruising across the gravel between the beds of streamer weed and a number of wily barbel remian highly visible in both the Railway and above the Road Bridge. A few people have also spotted a very large barbel in the Parlour at the moment but have so far failed to connect with it.

The sport with roach, dace and shoal chub continues to be excellent from most swims on the fishery at the moment with the best roach reported this week weighing 1lb 14oz from Fiddlers. Floatfished maggot is proving a method that is both productive and enjoyable. It is also picking up plenty of small barbel to around two - three pounds especially in the vicinity of the Boathouse.

The only species for which returns are poor are the bream with very few large catches reported from anywhere on the fishery this season.

The carp continue to be spotted in all their usual haunts but, as far as we know, none have been captured this week.

For those who are interested in the game fishing, the number of sea trout entering the river has finally increased along with the grilse which are now showing in most of the known lies. Sport on the Bridge Pool is hectic with coarse fish and the odd sea trout is now being landed amongst them. Salmon fishing is back on now as the water temperatures have returned to a more seasonal norm (i.e. water temperature below 68 degrees) If, however, the temperature rises above this figure then we have been told that all salmon fishing will once again be suspended.

A summary of those catches reported to either Davis Tackle or the Fishery Manager appears below:-

Karl Gale with his first ever barbel weighing 12lb 3oz                           A cracking photo of Nathan Leney with a 9lb 12oz. barbel

Nathan with another 9lb 12oz barbel from the Compound.                    Neil ignores the escapee cows to land an 8lb 12oz barbel

Paul Sanderson with a lovely conditioned 6lb 13oz barbel                    Neil again! this time with 7lb 2oz of Edwards caught barbel

Nathan and a 6lb 14oz barbel, again from Edwards                            Guess who with a smashing condition 5lb 12oz barbel

Not only barbel but also a 4lb chub for Nathan                                        Paul Sanderson with a 6lb 6oz bream from the Parlour

Mark Randell with a 7lb 8oz barbel from Trammels                                James Hutton of Davis Tackle 'fame' with a 10lb 2oz barbel

A regular face on this web site, Paul Martin with a 7lb 4oz barbel        James Hutton with a pretty barbel weighing 8lb 6oz

Matt Frost, over from Melbourne with a beautiful 11lb 6oz barbel        Gary Porter with a superb 13lb barbel, one of seven that day

(Better than a Barra Matt?)

Royalty Fishery Update - 31st July 2006

We have been asked to report that salmon fishing on the Royalty has now been resumed as the water temperature has fallen back below 68 degrees.

Royalty Fishery Report - 26th July 2006

Christchurch has continued to swelter over the past week with just one torrential downpour lasting around an hour which only succeeded in soaking everyone on the fishery but having little effect on the fishing conditions. Whilst the number of multiple catches of barbel has dropped in the heat, the fishery has continued to fish extremely well. The number of doubles this season has risen to an amazing 88 and show no sign of slowing down. In fact whilst writing this report I was called out to witness and photograph a lovely 13lb barbel, full details of which will be included in next weeks report.

As predicted last week, some of the barbel have dropped down the fishery and consequently the House Pool and the surrounding swims have started to produce fish. The Compound has continued to produce good bags of barbel and chub and I can see this continuing so long as the hot weather continues. The fish can be found sitting right under the fastest water in the most highly oxyginated water and those anglers who have fished there have been well rewarded. Sport on Trammels has slowed down and this could simply be due the the amount of fishing pressure they have seen since the start of the season. The Roadbridge is still producing good barbel, bream and roach as is the Railway. The Parlour has been very lightly fished this year and has a lot of weed in it, especially below the main pool. Whilst there are obviously resident barbel in the Pool, the nomadic fish seem to be spending less time there at present. What the Parlour does have in it at the minute is some absoluely huge carp, with a couple of them looking well over 30lbs. Local Guide Richard Wookey landed a lovely 25lb 4oz common carp and he said that it was the smallest of the particular group he was targeting.

Baitwise the total domination of halibut pellets seems to be on the wane as luncheon meat has started to take a number of fish. Even bread flake accounted for a nice 10lb barbel this week and the Pallatrax Whisker Sticks have accounted for a number of fish this week.

Roach, perch, dace and small chub can be caught from virtually every swim on the fishery using either swimfeeder or trotted maggots.

A summary of those catches reported is detailed below:-

PLEASE NOTE THAT AT THE TIME OF WRITING ALL SALMON FISHING IS SUSPENDED DUE TO THE HOT WEATHER

Andrew Bridge with a nice 6lb 10 oz barbel Trammels                        Andrew again with a lovely near double 9lb 15oz barbel

Andy Sloane with 10lbs of Parlour caught barbel                                   Richard Wookey with a 25lb 4oz common carp

Paul Martin with a typical Greenbanks barbel                                        Bob Bridge, father of Andrew above, with a 9lb 7oz Barbel

Royalty Fishery Report - 18th July 2006

 Like most of the UK Dorset has sweltered in the blazing sunshine over the past week but for those anglers prepared to roast in the sun sport with the barbel, chub and carp on the Royalty has remained excellent. Even one of the resident tench came out from the Lagoon to play in the main river where a surprised Brian James from Bournemouth landed a 6lb 11oz beauty from the White Stile. The best barbel landed weighed 12lb 4oz and was caught by Kevin McGrath from Devon who was fishing the Pipes with halibut pellet being the successful bait. This fish was a new personal best for Kevin and brings the total number of double figure barbel landed from the Royalty up to 73 for the season. Local fishing guide Ritchie Wookey landed the best carp of the week with a really beautiful, fin perfect common carp weighing 22lb 4oz on bread. He followed this up with a 12lb 8oz mirror which also fell to bread.

Whilst the top end of the fishery continues to hold large numbers of barbel they are now beginning to drop down the fishery and sport has improved through the Pipes and Greenbanks as a result. Two good shoals of barbel remain highly visible above the Roadbridge although these particular fish seem less than willing to take anglers baits. Static or slowly edged baits remain the most effective method with rolling meat proving slow at present with the crystal clear water conditions. Halibut pellets have continued to be the most successful bait but only when used sensibly. Piling in pellet simply doesn't work on the Royalty, it is more likely to result in killing your swim. Anglers who are having the most success are those who are either using no loose feed whatsoever, or are feeding sparingly with either hemp or 3mm pellets. (From the shops point of view we would love to sell you bags and bags of pellet but take it from us it will spoil your days fishing!)

Dace and roach continue to fall to either trotted or ledgered maggot and one angler fishing above the Roadbridge took 30 roach to 1lb 8oz on the float. The large perch seem happiest hitting dace as they are being retrieved although a red worm will also produce the goods at the moment.

A summary of those catches reported is detailed below:-

PLEASE NOTE THAT SALMON FISHING IS CURRENTLY SUSPENDED DUE TO THE HIGH WATER TEMPERATURES (as at 18th July)

Richard Wookey with a lovely 22lb 4oz Common Carp                        Barry Grant with a nice 6lb 8oz Barbel

Paul Martin with a 9lb 14oz Barbel from the Railway                            Paul again with a beautifully coloured 6lb 8oz Barbel

Paul Martin with his third fish of the day weighing 5lb 14oz                James Archer with his first ever Barbel weighing 5lb 4oz

Can I make a plea for any photo's from last weeks anglers as I have few to publish on here. Please send them to mail@davistackle.co.uk

Royalty Fishery Report - 12th July 2006

Amazingly the fantastic start to the season continues on the Royalty with fish coming out from all over the fishery but in particular the top half from the Railway upstream. By far the most effective method is fishing 21mm Dynamite halibut pellet either over a bed of hemp or 3mm pellets on the edge of the gravel runs just under the beds of streamer weed. Another important tip if anyone wants to catch the barbel is to take advantage of the bankside cover so that the fish dont see you on the bank. The new bankside management regime in operation on the Royalty has worked brilliantly and consequently the fish can be seen moving freely around all through Trammels right up to Edwards. A plea to anyone visiting the Royalty is to not smash down this bankside vegetation, it is there for your benefit and is unquestionably helping to maintain the high quality of fishing this season. Interestingly the barbel are feeding as well during the day as the traditionally more productive evenings.

Stuart Burnell from London who caught seven barbel from the Railway on Halibut pellet including four doubles, the best weighing 12lbs exactly. 

• Gary Porter who captured five barbel to 12lb 4oz in an afternoon from Trammels on halibut pellet.

 Stuart Holden from Gillingham who fished the Gate Swim using pellet and captured six barbel to 8lb 14oz.

Neil Sanger from Christchurch who fished Nelsons for four hours and captured four barbel to 8lb 1oz on pellet.

• Paul Douglas fished Trammels on one of the limited availability Night Tickets and caught sevel barbel to 10lb 4oz on pellet.

• Paul Kirkpatrick from Reading fished the Top Weir Compound and landed 5 barbel including two doubles weighing 10lb 15oz and 10lb 2oz.

A summary of reported captures is detailed below:-

10lb 10oz, 8lb 8oz  6lb 8oz Barbel

David Gillmore with the seasons best carp weighing 31lbs                A lovely 11lb 2oz barbel caught by Mike Page

Gary Porter with a nice 9lb 14oz barbel from Trammels                        Jim Maclannan with an 8lb barbel taken whilst out with Ray Walton

John Anderson with a cracking 10lb 2oz barbel                                     John Ramsden with a nice 9lb 12oz barbel

John Turner with 9lb 8oz of plump Royalty Barbel                                John Worthington displays a near double 9lb 14oz barbel

Keith Powell with a really pretty 6lb 14oz barbel                                    Tom Lambert with a cracking double weighing 10lb 8oz

Liz Beck with a 10lb pike from the Great Weir                                       Malcolm Matthews with a 10lb barbel from the Boat House

Marcus Graham and a lovely 10lb 4oz barbel                                        A superb 12lb 2oz barbel which fell to another angler in Marcus' Party