WAVENEY VALLEY: In the Marsh Trail two-day festival John Catchpole saw off the opposition in a big way with a perfect score of the minimum two points. He won A Lake on day one with 22 lb 10 oz and B Lake on Day Two with a dazzling 40 lb 8 oz.

In the Marsh Trail two-day festival John Catchpole saw off the opposition in a big way with a perfect score of the minimum two points.

He won A Lake on day one with 22 lb 10 oz and B Lake on Day Two with a dazzling 40 lb 8 oz.

Runner-up on the points, as he was last year, was Northerner Graham Binks with a first and a third for three points.

Third in the festival with yet another impressive performance on the pole was septegenarian Colin Davey from Kessingland with a second and a third for six points.

While the temperature plummeted on the second day and a strong cold wind blew, catches remained stable, with A Lake giving up some beautiful 7-8lb common carp and overall good fishing for the 19 entrants.

It was Beano time in Broome Pits A Lake nearest to the gate on Saturday.

The gate end saw 15 tench to 7 lb taken by one angler, but the top spot went to the other shallow far end.

Here a father and son landed 24 tench as they fed with a vengeance but it was all over for Sunday when the going was hard.

It has been pretty good fishing this week wherever an angler has sought to set down on the abundance of commercial fisheries available.

The roach have been full and fat of spawn but still the nodules on the head are rare to find, but the bream are more forward.

The most dazzling of fishes with a much softer body than many have been the magnificent golden orfe.

This fairly delicate species, often found in garden ponds, is very much like a completely orange roach and a less common catch, but can be found in several fisheries.

Two pounds is a good fish but the 4lb specimen landed from one water in the Diss area recently is exceptional.

Bales Nursery has the odd half- pounder and Thorpe Abbotts too but being highly visible to predators is thought to affect their numbers in the wild.

Several boat owners and holiday makers have sought clarification on the closed season and the best advice has been that the Broads and any water connected to or existing as running water is out of season.

However, the ruling in 2010 affecting some 40-50 enclosed stillwaters in the Broads Authority Area by the Environment Agency still holds good as being permissible and covering commercial fisheries.

Open match result

Marsh Trail Festival

Day One: C13 G. Binks 29 lb 15 oz; C15 M. Runacres 24lb 12 oz. A. 16 J. Catchpole 22 lb 10 oz; A14 C. Davey 19 lb 12 ozs.

Day Two A16 P. Turner 15 lb 7 oz G. Bull & G. Binks 14 lb 8 oz. Overall J. Catchpole 63 lb 2 oz 2 pts; G. Binks 3 pts; C. Davey 6 pts.