THERE was the biggest turn out of Braintree and Bocking Angling Society members this season as 19 turned up to fish the Christmas Match on Ash Grounds and Hobbs Croft at the Fennes.

The venue is proving very popular as it is producing good bags of silver fish and once again it provided over half the competitors with double-figure bags.

It was very tight at the top and Julian Collop weighed 22-11-0 of mainly roach, caught throughout the match on various baits, to record the day's top weight.

Second place went to Mark Banks, who finished just one decent roach behind, as he weighed 22-7-0.

Sections (excluding top two): Ash Grounds: 1 J Downham 20-6-0, 2 W Walker 21-2-0. Hobbs Croft: 3 R Hearn 19-14-0, 4 M Gould 11-8-0.

The Friday match at Notley saw Kevin Howell make it two in a row.

Fishing chopped worm and caster, he landed two carp and eight F1s with silvers to finish with a 27-4-0 total.

Second place went to Jim Loosley, who fished similar baits to weigh 10-2-0.

Braintree Club members should note that the lake at Notley will be closed for fishing on the morning of Tuesday, December 27, as a shoot will be taking place.