FISH were hard to tempt on Sunday in the Lavington Christmas match fished at Ellis Lake.

Bob Gould, of Melksham, won with an all-carp catch weighing 13lb 9oz, taken on pole-fished red maggots on an 18 hook.

Russell Ellis, of Melksham, was second with another carp catch weighing 7lb 15oz, also taken on pole-fished red maggots on an 18 hook.

Ray King, from Worton, was third with a carp catch weighing 7lb 8oz, taken on feeder-fished red maggots on an 18 hook.

Other placings: 4 Tony Weeks, Lavington, 6lb 2oz; 5 John Cooper, Lavington, 5lb 11oz; 6 Mark Williams, Devizes, 5lb 9oz.

Ivy House fishery near Chippenham was in good form for the Christmas open match with some reasonable catches of carp.

Top spot went to Glenville matchman Kevin Millard with an all-carp catch weighing 68lb 2oz, taken on pole-fished pellets on a 14 hook to win a hamper and £100 in cash.

Runner-up was Ivy House matchman Alan Mitchell with another carp catch weighing 41lb 4oz, taken on pole-fished pellets and red maggots.

He was followed by Swindon Tribe matchman Paul Ogborne with a carp catch of 39lb 7oz and Richard Baston, of Swindon Tribe, with a carp catch of 38lb 6oz.

Competitors in the Calne Christmas match fished on Sunday at Hazeland enjoyed reasonable sport.

Simon Fear, of Calne, won with a mixed catch of chub and roach weighing 11lb 5oz, taken on pole-fished red maggots on an 18 hook.

Dave Clarke, of Calne, carried off second prize with an all-chub catch weighing 5lb 5oz, taken on legered lobworm on a 12 hook.

Gary Dodson, of Calne, was a close third with another all-chub catch weighing 5lb 3oz, taken on pole-fished luncheon meat on a 12 hook.

Other placings: 4 Nigel Reeves, Calne, 4lb 13oz; 5 Keith Notman, Calne, 4lb 10oz; 6 Brian Johnson, Calne, 3lb 4oz.

With heavy rainfall over the previous day, fishing was hard in the Chippenham Christmas match fished on Sunday on the Avon at Chippenham.

With the river running high and coloured, weights fell below their best.

Top spot went to Jason O'Dell, of Wootton Bassett, with an all-bream catch weighing 16lb 8oz, taken on feeder-fished worm on an 18 hook for a clear win.

Mark Billing, of Chippenham, was second with another bream catch weighing 6lb 1oz, taken on feeder-fished worm on an 18 hook.

Third prize went to in-form Stuart White, of Chippenham, with another bream catch weighing 4lb, taken on feeder-fished red maggots on an 18 hook.

Other placings: 4 Bob Ryan, Melksham, 3lb 8oz; 5 Dennis Baker, Chippenham, 3lb 6oz; 6 Derek Baker, Chippenham, 2lb 9oz.

Devizes AC clinched the Upper Thames Winter League Championship in the final event fished on the Kennet & Avon Canal at Marlborough despite dropping their first point in the series. Lobbys MG took top spot on the day with 92 points followed by Devizes with 91 and Swindon Talisman with 87.