IT'S probably enough to make you hang up your rod and line.

Adrian Smith has just been beaten in a Lymington roving event by his son, Brad - aged seven!

Young Brad came second in the senior roving event with a trio of smoothhound weighing 14lb 3oz.

Lymington juniors members have certainly been finding some good fish.

Tom Short included a 1lb 15oz flounder in his winning catch during a junior summer league catch and release fixture in the backwaters running behind the Milford Shingle Bank.

The event was dominated by silver eels and bass, along with the unseasonal flounder, Short winning the event with 126 points for a clear victory over Craig Hopkins 86, Daniel Harvey 58, Kieran Moore 34, Craig Moore 24 and Steven Humm 19.

The pool for the longest round fish was collected by Daniel Harvey, with a 58cm silver eel.

The senior roving event attracted 27 members with John Negus coming out on top with a trio of smoothhound weighing 23lb 1oz. His best fish tipped the scales down to 11lb 12oz.

Young Smith was the runner-up, fishing from the Pennington sea wall. His best fish weighed in at 6lb 11oz.

Adrian Smith, also fishing from the sea wall, at least managed to take third spot with 12lb 12oz, followed by Brendon Archer 12lb 5oz, A Mapes 10lb 14oz and P Chamberlain 10lb 3oz.

With so many smoothhound showing from the Lymington & Pennington sea wall the weight-for-length system will be used during the Lymington Summer Open on August 14 which doubles up as the Wessex heat of the National Guernsey Championships.

The Wessex Champion of Champion shore competition will also be fished in conjunction with the event.

Junior members belonging to the Bembridge club on the Isle of Wight have been setting a pretty high standard with Alan Rackett cracking the junior bass record with a beauty which tipped the scales down to 11lb 8oz.

The youngster was fishing off the Nab for tope when the weighty predator struck. Not to be outdone, three other youngsters recorded personal best black bream during a small boat competition while fishing as guests from various club boats.

Top place went to Charlie Rolle with 10lb 1.25oz which included a fish of 3lb 2.75oz. Callum Gawn came second with 9lb 7oz which included a bream of 3lb 0.75oz while Samantha Fyrth was third with 5lb 1.5oz, including her personal best bream of 2lb 13.5oz. The club's Eddie Salisbury Stake Boat competition attracted 25 members, Danny Fyrth winning with a 3lb 5oz black bream, followed by Mark Isham with a 3lb 13.5oz spotted ray and Dave Gawn with a 3lb 1.5oz black bream.

The third round of the four-a-side inter-club Neptune League was staged along the Doubles Dykes section at Hengistbury Head, where variety was the key. Species recorded included sole, wrasse, pouting, mackerel, smoothhound, dogfish and silver eels.

The Wessex team of Neil Saxby, Pete Christopher, John Moseley and Simon Barber won the tightly contested event with 6lb 9.75oz. Runner-ups were Boscombe & Southbourne A with 6lb 0.5oz, followed by Bournemouth & District A 5lb 14.75oz, Pro Angling 3lb 6oz, Christchurch Shore A 2lb 12oz, Christchurch & District A 1lb 13.75oz, Christchurch & District B 15oz, Lymington & District 10oz, Boscombe & Southbourne B 8oz and Wessex Hawks 4oz.

The rest of the teams failed to return fish to the scales.

Lymington & District SFC club stage their open boat species competition on Sunday, sponsored by the Sea Angler magazine and Lowrance. Prizes worth several thousands of pounds will be on offer, the winner picking up £300 plus a Lowrance 330c.

There will also be some great prizes in the junior section, with the youngster landing the best specimen fish collecting £75.

Tickets for the event, which is open for all anglers whether fishing from their own or charter boats, have been set at £15. Junior tickets will cost £10. Registration gets under way from the Lymington clubhouse at the far end of Bath Road Car Park from 6am. Fishing will be from 8.30am to 4pm.

Ballan wrasse will be one of the principal target species for the specimen awards although, with some very big smoothhound running through the Solent and fish up to 20lb being recorded there just could be a few surprises.

For last minute information, contact Brain Ansell 01590 672628 or Derek Smith 01590 626694.

The Swanage club stage the Hospital Open Boat and Shore Competition on Saturday evening (fishing 6.30pm to 10.30pm), open to all anglers.

On Wednesday, July 7, they are organising an open boat and shore competition for 'Save The Children' with fishing from 6.30pm to 10pm. For details of both events, telephone Ray Jarvis (077 6323 5208).