ROB BULL from Totton romped to victory during the Lymington cod open boat competition after landing a beauty just off the Needles, while fishing from his own boat 'Yerman2'.

Bull used squid to tempt the match-winner, which thumped the scales down to 18lb 13oz, to collect the £250 top prize.

The runner-up in the event, which attracted 68 competitors, was Steve Batchelor with a cod weighing 16lb 8oz followed by Alan Holloway (13lb 14oz).

Craig Hopkins landed the heaviest cod of the day at 22lb while fishing from the Lymington-based boat 'Stella', skippered by Vernon Everitt. The youngster used squid to tempt the heavyweight to collect the £50 top prize in the junior classification.

The day's best specimen was a 2lb 12.5oz pouting bagged by Barry Hobbs. The team event was won by Alan Holloway and Roger Bull with a combined weight of 32lb 11oz.

The Portchester open, which is sponsored by Hansfords of Fareham, saw a bumper entry with 224 competitors lining the banks of Fareham Creek.

Nick Hayter from Bitterne won the £500 top prize with a brace of flounders weighing 4lb 6.5oz, while Andrey Zerov collected £250 for finishing as the runner-up with a brace of flatties for 3lb 11.5oz. Eddy Eaton came third with a 2lb 12.5oz bass to win £100 - he also collected another £224 in pools for the day's heaviest round fish. The pool worth £224 for the heaviest flatfish was won by Les Thomas from Gosport with a 2lb 6.75oz flounder, while the ladies' prize went to Annette Shawyer with a 1lb 12.75oz flattie.

Almost 200 competitors entered the West Wight AC Christmas Open, 61 returning fish to the scales weighing 244lb 1oz in total.

Dave Abrook won the event with 31 pouting (17lb 8oz), which were caught from the Atherfield section. The runner-up was Alan Bravery with six flounders caught from Bembridge Harbour, weighing 10lb 7oz.

The ladies' section was won by Cathy May with 2lb 4oz, while the top junior was Ben Morris with 5lb 10.5oz. The prize for the best specimen was collected by Richard Barnaby with a 3lb 0.25oz flounder, while the heaviest fish, at 4lb 7.75oz, was landed by Shaun Butcher. The pairs section was won by Lee Danson and Kevin Buckler with a combined weight of 17lb 1oz.

The Bells and Old Mill annual cod competition, which was held in very poor conditions, saw just three boats go afloat which were restricted to marks in the western Solent.

While a good number of species were apprehended, only one codling came to net with John Vezey being the successful competitor. The total point section was won by Glen Hook with 1101.

Seven-year-old Brad Smith from Pennington, who is a member of the Lymington club, has once again come out on top during the Wessex Division of the National Federation of Sea Anglers fish of the month contest, which is sponsored by Handfords of Fareham. The youngster beached a 1lb 10.5oz sole at Barton to win the latest round in the monthly competition.

The Hamworthy Royal British Legion pegged open held at Baiter was dominated by flounders, with Dave Johnson from Poole carrying off the £190 top prize after beaching a trio of flatties weighing 3lb 13.5oz.

Big ragworm baits were the order of the day to tempt the flatties with Stu Elford from Swanage coming second with three fish weighing 3lb 5oz.

There were also three cash payouts to the top three in each section, with Tony Perkins taking the top spot in Section A with 2lb 9.25oz and Bob White in the B Section with 1lb 13.25oz.

The Lymington club stage their Christmas Fayre open shore competition in three zones around the Lymington and Pennington sea wall on Sunday, with fishing from 9am to 2pm. Tickets have been set at £6 for seniors and £3 for juniors, who will have their own prize table plus pools and a two-man team event.

Flounders are expected to supply most of the action, although the occasional bass should also figure. Booking in get under way from the Lymington clubhouse, situated at the far end of Bath Road car park, from 7am. Details from Robin Lane 01590 676711. Members of Boscombe & Southbourne SFC stage their Christmas Fayre open on Sunday evening, with fishing from 4pm to 9pm, between Boscombe Pier and the last groyne east of Solent Road.

Tickets for the event, which doubles up as a Penn point fixture, have been set at £5 plus pools. Booking in gets under way from 3pm from the Cloisters just to the east of Boscombe pier.