FISHING: Lakes are setting for final drama: SALISBURY Angling Club's lakes at Steeple Langford and Petersfinger provided superb end-of-season sport for bream and tench anglers.

George Horton fished the dying days of the season at Petersfinger and hauled in 58lb of tench in one sitting.

His total would have been higher if he had not lost several tench between hooking and netting.

Meanwhile at Steeple Langford, which a week ago gave the club a possible new carp record with a fish of 31lb 12oz, anglers caught big bags of bream with fish up to 6lb.

Similar bags of big bream were also taken from Petersfinger.

All the club's lakes have now closed for the coarse close season.

The carnivorous carp at Waldens Farm Fishery are back in the news again.

Fordingbridge angler Glen Hayward was fishing Bishops Lake using a sprat intended for pike when it was snapped up by a 15lb ghost carp - one of the biggest ghosties reported for some time.

Despite the summer-like weather the pike fishing season at Waldens ended with plenty of pike being caught with individual fish to 13lb from both Bishops and Abbots Lake.

The new pike season starts a month later this year on October 1.

Bags of roach, bream and chub have been taken from Bishops while Abbots Lake has produced carp from the surface and on the bottom with ghost carp around 10lb. Peg 50 once again yielded good bags of roach up to 28lb a sitting.

Pleasure bags to 25lb from Monks Lake made up of skimmers, rudd, tench, crucians and carp while Popes Lake is fishing well for similar species as well as barbel to 4lb.

Floaters are doing well on Deacons Lake fished against the wall.

Matches held at Withering-ton Farm Fishery over the weekend saw winning bags of around 80lb, but a locally-organised sweepstake match did not have such big bags. Sean Gumbleton won with 19lb while Dave Moody was second with 18lb 12oz.

Apologies to anglers for making a mistake in last week's column concerning the opening of the trout season on the Avon. At one time the season did start on different dates above and below Fording-bridge, but they were abandoned some time ago. Now the trout season for the whole length of the Avon starts on April 1. Thanks to all the trout anglers who put me right!