A BUSY Christmas and New Year angling round-up begins with Moorlands Farm's Boxing Day Open.

Chris Hill (Fosters MG) staked at island pool peg 14 where he pole fished corn for 91-15-0 of Carp. Andy Newton (Lifestyle) followed with 81-12-0; third, Mal Watson (Shakespeare), with 65-9-0.

Friday's Moorlands Farm Costcutter Open was headed by John Cockayne (Fosters Tipton VDE) by waggler fishing corn at Bank Pool peg nine for 85-14-0 of Carp. Second, Rob Skerritt (Wales), took 67-0-0 and third was Colin Pace's (Bilston) 65-11-0.

Saturday saw round seven of the Moorlands Farm Winter League take place and it was Phil Weaver (Welsh Roonies) taking the top individual honours from Meadow pool peg 54. He waggler fished corn to take a 47-13-0 catch to put Terry Stanton (Beechdale) in the shade with 43-0-0 from opposite peg 12. Third, Dave Jordan (Gold), took 37-0-0.

Top team on the day was Welsh Roonies with ten points; joint second were VDE Top 4s and Trabucco both with 15. Overall VDE Top 4s lead with 17; Shakespeare 19 and Trabucco 24.

The Lucas College Road Annual Invitation Open was held on the Staffordshire/Worcestershire Canal at Stourport.

With the mild conditions, good catches were expected but Alan Robinson (Brookvale AC) needed just 2-14-0 of Chub and Roach for victory, taken with pole and casters from just above the sluice between bridges eight and nine.

Yours truly Tony Brunn (Ovation Leisure) was second with a similar catch of 2-3-8 and third was Anthony Mansell (West Midlands Angling) with 1-9-0.

The Woodlands View Deans Pool Open was won by Kieran Rich (Mosella UK) by pole fishing corn at peg ten for 60-2-0. Second, Russ Anderton (Woodlands), took 50-5-0 while third went to Alistair Chisholm (Shakespeare) with 24-0-0.

Sunday's Wooldands Views Arles Pool Open gave Sean McCarthy (Pill Angling) a clear victory by waggler fishing corn from peg 36 for an all-Carp catch of 36-5-0. Second Chris Singleton (Causeway AC) had 21-14-0; Steve Pickup (Fishermans Friend) took 17-1-0 for third.

The Mallards Open, held on the Staffordshire/Worcestershire Canal between Swindon and Greensforge proved a hard nut to crack but host member Paul Pearsall (Mallards) made good use of a favourable draw on the reeds below Swindon bridge too take a mixed catch of 4-15-2 with pole fished squats.

Club mate Alec Biles took a similar catch of 4-13-4 for second place and third was Tony Cunningham's (Fletchers) 3-9-0.

Kings Norton AS held the second round of its individual Winter League on the flooded River Alne at Kinwarton and fish were at a premium.

Outright winner was club secretary Alan Crowton, who was staked at peg 21 where he ledgered worms to take two Barbel and a Roach for 11-11-0. Runner-up Wayne Weatherstone had five ounce eight drams and third John Walker had two ounce four drams.

At Moorlands Farm, Colin Bennett (Worcester) was the winner of the Bank, Island and Middle Pools Open by waggler fishing corn at Bank peg nine for 59-14-0. Runner-up Steve Pearce (Lifestyle) had 54-6-0 from island peg 13 and third, Chris Boyd (Fox Match), took 37-12-0.

Tuesday's New Year's Eve Open at Moorlands Farm was headed by John Cooper (Moorlands) who pole fished corn at bank pool peg 17 for 55-4-0 of Carp. Second place went to Dave Elliott (Shakespeare) with 47-6-0 and third to Bob Ginster (Birmingham) with 41-4-0.

Moorlands Farm's Junior Open was held on the Silver Carp pool with 14-year-old John Gallard (Worcester) taking first place with a level 20-0-0 catch taken with pole and maggots from peg 16. Second was David Bublett's (Evesham) 15-11-0 and third was Matt Smith (Evesham) with 11-12-0.

The New Year's Day Moorlands Farm Open again saw bank pool peg 17 throw up three top weights for Mark Lucas (Warrington) who pole fished corn for 46-6-0. Chris Hill (Fosters MG) was a close second with 41-12-0 and Colin Pace (Bilston) took 29-2-0 for third.

Astwood Fisheries' New Year's Day Open was held on the Bluebell pool, which saw Bromsgrove's Andy Tryndei (Kateshill AC) take the top honours by pole fishing corn to the island at peg 12 for 27-9-0. Gary Kirkham (Astwood) was second with 17-1-0, while third went to Paul Savings' (Sheldon Heath) 16-10-0.

The KH Veterans started their 2003 campaign on Thursday at Woodlands Views Deans pool. Topping the list with a moderate 10-5-0 mixed catch was Peter Taylor (Alvechurch) who short pole fished red maggots at peg 22. Close weights followed with Stan James (Bewdley) in second place with 9-12-0; third, John Grazier (Stoke Prior), 8-6-0.

On Saturday, the Moorlands Farm Open saw a runaway victory for Chris Hill (Fosters MG) when he put 104-14-0 of Carp on the scales by waggler fishing double pinkies at meadow pool peg 53. Mark Lucas (Ted Carters) was second with 54-14-0 from opposite peg 16 with Lee Nutland (Mosella) in third place, taking 36-2-0.

The Woodlands View High Pool Open was won by Vince Gandley (Map Starlets) with a waggler and corn catch of 34-9-0 from peg eight. Second was Matt Cox's (Fieryholes) 22-14-0 and third was Gary Prestige (Fieryholes) with 13-5-0.

Sunday saw round five of the Woodlands View Silver Fish Winter League. Topping the individual list was Callum Dicks (Thatchers 2000), who pole fished Bloodworm and Joker at Deans pool peg 47 for a 10-9-0 mixed catch. Runner-up Sam Wildsmith (Halkon-Hunt) came close with 10-4-0; third, Dean Cherrington (Sensas Midland Match), 9-0-0.

Top team on the day were Halkon-Hunt with 11 points; Starlets Bald Eagles 19; Thatchers 2000 20. Overall, Diawa Dorking lead with 123; Halkon-Hunt 124 and Thatchers 2000 with 160.

The first round the Mallards Winter League was held on the Staffordshire/Worcestershire Canal at Hinksford. Fishing at the end of the reedbed above Greensforge, Lee Passey (Sensas Midland Match) took a winning 3-0-1 of Perch with pole and chopped worms.

Mark Shepherd (Lifestyle) was second with 2-13-9 while third went to Chris Gail's (Mallards) 1-14-14. Mosella Strike were the day's five-man team winners with 55 points; Sensas Midland Match 52; Mallards and R and D match both on 50.

Good catches rounded off Moorlands Farm's weekend with Tony Parker (Lifestyle) just missing the ton with 97-14-0 by waggler fishing corn from Meadow pool peg 52.

Second, Lee Richards (Lifestyle), took 82-8-0; third, Andy Newton (Lifestyle), 68-11-0.