An evening session around the shores of Christchurch Harbour produced a fish of a lifetime for Paul Jennings (Christchurch AC) who controls the day-ticket stretch.

Jennings' rod tip had remained motionless until dusk when a superb bass, weighing 12-10, tore away with his freeline mackerel fillet presented on a 2/0 hook tied to just 10lb.

The 40-year-old Unisys' Insurance Services worker had a real tussle on his hands with the big fish testing his spinning rod to the limits. After a 10-minute fight, Jennings slid his landing net under the fish only for it to be smashed to pieces as it sped off downstream before it was eventually tamed.

The first of the two Portland breakwater open competitions produced mixed fortunes for local anglers with Richard Patterson from Southampton taking the event with a 45-fish haul weighing 20-13.

Heaviest fish: 1 Malcolm Stote (Lymington) 8-8 2 Steve Lawrence (Poole) 7-13.

Others: 4 Nigel Shoat (Lymington) 7-12, 5 Reg Clough, (Boscombe & Southbourne SFC) 7-1. Best specimen prize:y Pete Tybinowski (Lymington) with a 1-3 cuckoo wrasse.

The Penn final held on the Portland breakwater attracted 20 of the country's top match anglers and went to England International who Golds with a 35-fish haul comprising pout and wrasse which were all measured and returned alive. The Hampshire-based angler used ragworm to tempt most of his fish to win £1,000 worth of Penn tackle along with pools. One of the more unusual fish to be landed was a red band fish apprehended by Roy Tapper - a species rarely seen by anglers

The eighth round of the Isac League held along the Ferry Bridge section of Chesil attracted 52 competitors who all returned fish to the scales - consisting of poor cod, pout, garfish, scad, silver eels, smoothhound, bass, pollack, black bream and red gurnard.

Result: 1 Andy Parkhill (Gosport) 37 fish weighing 15-0, 2 Trevor Spencer (Havant), 11-4, 3 Jack Seviour (Bournemouth) 10-2.

With four matches remaining, Steve Harder heads the overall leader table followed by Trevor Spencer, Wayne Perrett and Josh Simmonds.

The next match will be held on September 29 at Southbourne with fishing from 7pm to midnight.

FOR MORE ANGLING NEWS SEE TODAY'S DAILY ECHO