ANGLING: It’s the perfect time of year to test the water

And true to form, recent results from a number of waters have confirmed the theory.

Saturday's result from Ravenfield was one which showed the venue has at last woken up with weights more than doubling those of recent months. And that being the case, it was no surprise that the match winner was Stuart Senior, who alternated between the pole and the waggler to find a winning weight of 13lbs 6ozs from peg 10.

In second place was Graeme Herbert at number 13 with an 11lbs 4ozs pole net which pushed Neil Gabbitas' 9lbs 10ozs into third place and Owen Browne's three-tench, 8lbs 6ozs catch into fourth.

Elsecar Reservoir also showed signs of improvement last Thursday with almost everyone catching at least two bream and Paul Donald taking a winning weight of seven bream for 20lbs 8ozs.

Section winners were Adrian George, 9lbs 12ozs, Stephen Taylor, 8lbs 3ozs and Peter Parkinson, 9lbs 9ozs.

Southfield Reservoir was on the up throughout the week as temperatures increased. Wednesday's competition was won by Peter Kitwood with 16lbs 2ozs from peg 12 on the canal bank while Jordan Scott claimed the second place with 13lbs 14ozs and Roger Edmund the third with 12lbs exactly.

Section winners were Sean Wright, 10lbs, Daz Wright, 6lbs 10ozs, Barry Owen, 9lbs 4ozs, Mark Wright, 3lbs 10ozs, Dave Clarkson, 5lbs 4ozs, and Steve Richardson, 11lbs 3ozs.

Fifty anglers fished Sunday's match where the results were much, much, better.

Lee Coupe, fishing peg 1 in the Woods, had the highest weight with 37lbs 11ozs. Brian Searle was his nearest rival with 23lbs 8ozs from peg 43, just beating Paul Holmes who weighed 21lbs 6ozs from number 37.

Mark Bawden and Eddie Bridon tied for the fourth place with 19lbs 8ozs each.

Section winners were Bradley Smith, 14lbs 6ozs, Andy Renton, 11lbs 4ozs, Neil Owen, 6lbs 10ozs, John Deakin, bingo, Lyndsay Clarke, 17lbs 6ozs, Dave Smiddy, 13lbs 14ozs, Gordon Simm, 15lbs 13ozs, Daz Wright, 13lbs 4ozs, Steve Walker, 8lbs 4ozs and Dean Cardwell, 5lbs.

A similar trend at Barnburgh Lakes too.

Andy Rymer won Tuesday's match on the Top Lake with 73lbs 13ozs from peg 27. Craig Bainbridge was second with 54lbs 4ozs and Steve Manchester third with 48lbs 12ozs.

Friday's match on the Bottom Pond was a different story with Mick Herrington taking the honours from peg 24 with 149lbs 1oz.

Lewis Mufsua was second with 131lbs which left Ryan Laycock in third place with 126lbs 4ozs and Dave Cheetham in fourth with 118lbs 2ozs.

Richie Moore finished fifth with 111lbs 15ozs and Steve Bloomer sixth with 110lbs 8ozs.

After an absence of carp in recent months, Bank End started to get back to normal.

Graham Clarke landed 68lbs 5ozs to win Sunday's open ahead of Colin Browne, who caught 66lbs 13ozs for second and S. Trauler 64lbs 10ozs for third.