We have yet to have any real frosts but the cutting winds and much cooler temperatures have seen fish responding accordingly and bites have been that much harder to obtain.

With all that in mind it is time to think about tactics for the coming months. First off will be to ensure you have red maggots with you on just about all of our stillwaters. It's a must-have bait as, when everything else fails, a maggot will get you bites.

Sweetcorn is also another very good winter bait, feed it on the little but often approach for best results. If you prefer pellets then why not try expander pellets, they are the ones you soak over night or pump up to make them go soft to hook.

Use the 4ml size and I like the cold water ones, very reliable and fish just love them. You may also need to scale down your tackle, by that I mean smaller hooks and lighter lines and instead of the pole approach try a straight lead with hair rigged baits.

There you are then, just a few tips to keep the bites coming, experiment if you are not catching but always remember, smaller baits, lighter lines and small hooks through the winter months for starters!


Spratt's AC / Mill View

On to match results now and once again Mill Tackle boss Pete Rayner is making all the running on both the Spratt's AC matches and Mill View AC events. Last week saw him take the top spot in the Spratt's match on the Six Island Pool at Decoy Lakes with 35lb 8oz.

Pete fished on peg 2 over to the small island and took carp on soft pellet and maggot. Runner-up with a level 24lb was Colin Varney followed by Trevor Cousins on 18lb.

In Sunday's Mill View club match Pete took a comfortable victory with 23lb 8oz taken from the Jay Pool at Rookery Farm Fishery, Pidley. Again it was a pellet and maggot combination that did the trick. Runner-up was Chris Saunders on 15lb 4oz, followed by Alan Owen with 13lb 4oz.


Townsend Tackle

Weights were a little lower than expected in the recent Townsend Tackle open fished on the Kingfisher Pool. The venue is full of fish but match winner Ken Clark needed just 19lb 2oz to top the field; Colin Begbie came second on 17lb 15oz, followed by Steve Pell with 12lb 3oz.


Chatteris WMC

There are plenty of small fish showing at Horseways Sluice right now, as shown in the latest Chatteris WMC match on the venue which saw Neil Newby out in front with 5lb 4oz all taken on pinkie; runner-up was Dave Priestly on 3lb 12oz, followed by Steve Newell with 2lb 9oz.

Current position of the Winter League is: Neil Newby 72 pts; Dave Priestly 70; Paul Hollingsworth 69; Steve Newell 66; John Roper 65.

With all those small fish about it's no wonder the pike are active on the tiny drain and in fact March rod Gary Manning took a fine 20lb 6oz specimen last week from the venue!


Tydd Gote

The North Level Drain at Clough Bridge fished well for the Tydd Gote midweek open which saw Dave Parlett taking first place with two tench along with some skimmers and perch for a level 12lb. Second place went to Paul Constable with 10lb 14oz followed by Mick Asker with 6lb 14oz.

It was much harder in the Sunday club match, Andy Greenwood coming top with 5lb 14 ½ oz, all small fish taken on maggot. Colin Gibbons came second with 4lb 11 1/2oz, followed by Ray Groome with 3lb 10oz.


South Holland 

After a week off the South Holland drain at Cement Bridge saw the Holbeach anglers returning to find the section still in cracking form producing one of the best results of the weekend. Top rod with a fine 13lb 9oz net of roach taken on the pole with pinkie was David Lee. Dave Watkins came in second on a level 13lb, followed by Dave Wright with 11lb 2oz, his catch included a fine perch of close to three pounds.


East Midlands League

A tremendous all round performance from Browning Hotrods in the penultimate round of the East Midlands League Team Championship event fished on Fenland Drains around the area looks to have seen off the belated challenge of our local Sensas Mark One side.

Browning Hotrods stuck to their team plan on the three different venues, outscoring the opposition on small fish but also taking some quality fish in the better sections.
Match winner Martin Caldecote made it two on the trot. After winning last week's practice match he came top of the shop with 16lb 14oz a net of small roach taken at four metres on pinkie. Mark One rod Gavin Butler came a creditable second with 16lb 4oz, followed by Hotrods angler Neil Adcock with 14lb 8oz.

So, barring a complete disaster from the top two teams, the Mark One boys from Wisbech will have to wait another season to make it through to a semi-final. On paper they are a very strong side indeed but this year they just haven't put it together in the league for some reason.

Result: 1 M Caldecote, VDE, 16lb 14oz; 2 G Butler, Sensas Mark One, 16lb 4oz; 3 N Adcock, Browning Hotrods, 14lb 8oz; 4 J Taylor, Sensas Mark One White, 12lb 11oz; 5 K Jerrom, Browning Hotrods, 12lb 9oz; 6 S Welford, Browning Hotrods, 11lb 6oz.

Teams: 1 Browning Hotrods 34pts; 2 FM Stanjay Black 37; jt 3 VDE and Sensas Mark One White both 38; 5 Sensas Mark One Black 47; 6 Wades MG 48.
League: Jt 1 Browning Hotrods and FM Stanjay Black both 12; jt 3 VDE and Sensas Mark One White 17; 5 Peterborough 23; 6 Wades MG 27.


Metal Box

Metal Box fished at Willowcroft on the Horseshoe lake at the weekend and winner with 56lb was Peter Harrod. He fished 4mt to hand with maggot on the hook. In second spot with 54lb was Roger Archer, third with 50lb 14oz was Sean Buddle.


Townsend AC

Don Burns fished the pellet feeder across to the far bank in Townsend AC match at the Horseshoe Lake at Willowcroft and landed carp ranging from ounces up to around 6lb. There were double-figure nets for all, while Martin Woolnough and Brian Green landed some bonus bream as well.

Result: 1 Don Burns 39lb 12oz, 2 Pete Church 32lb, 3 Martin Burgraph 30 lb 14oz, 4 Ken Cooke 26lb 10oz, 5 Martin King 26lb 1oz, 6 Alan Driver 25lb 9oz, 7 Martin Woolnough 24lb 14oz.

Pete Rayner, winner of the Spratt's AC and Mill View matches, is pictured in action and on the right is Tydd Gote winner Dave Parlett.