DYLAN Coyle may only be eight years old, but thanks to dad Daniel’s passion for angling, his introduction to the sport was a foregone conclusion.

In fact, Dylan took to it like a duck to water and he has enjoyed numerous trips to our fisheries.

His recent trip to Statham Pool saw him catch 17 roach and his first ever eel. The latter is always a memorable experience like no other!

He caught all the fish on a margin pole and maggot. As his dad says, “He is an angler for life.”

On Sunday, Tony Rough visited the River Dane at Holmes Chapel and set his stall out float fishing hoping for a couple of chub.

He walked the whole stretch of the river, fishing several swims and caught 12 grayling up to 1lb 8ozs as well as four chub all between 2lbs and 3lbs.

He lost three better fish that seemed to know exactly where the snags were despite Tony’s best efforts. All the fish where caught on worm or sweetcorn.

Tony Williams, taking note of comments regarding pike activity on the River Mersey that appeared in last week’s column, decided to find out for himself.

This resulted in him catching three of the toothy predators early on Sunday morning well before the match started.

The biggest was 10lb on the nose and they all fell to Salmo Slider Jerk baits. Truly a healthy fishery that caters for all aspects of our sport.

For the record, the match fished later was won with a weight of 17lbs.

Our disabled and over 60s match on Monday was held on the Trent and Mersey Canal at Billinge and, by all accounts, it excelled itself.

Winner Jimmy Byrne included four bream plus a 1lb roach in his catch of 8lbs 12ozs 5drs, whereas second-placed WAA vice-president Geoff Brooks must have really ‘had a sweat on’ as his net consisted of 300 small roach and skimmers. The numbers of small fish are really encouraging for the future.

In-form match organiser Ray Boden won both our Tuesday and Saturday Mersey matches with 8-1-0 and 8-10-0 respectively, and also finished third in the Shield Contest for good measure.

The runner-up place on Saturday went to Barry Chambers, who weighed in at 8-3-0. Both fished the pole and maggot.

On Sunday, our Shield match on the River Mersey was won decisively by Martin Lenihan with a great catch weighing 17lbs exactly.

He included bonus bream of 5lbs and 4lbs in his catch, plus roach and perch taken on groundbait feeder and maggot.

Second-placed Dave Brooks fished the pole and maggot for 12-3-0 of roach and skimmers.

Bailiffs and members have recently reported several instances of stupid and irresponsible disposal of line. This is a danger to birds and other wildlife and will not be tolerated. Members must take all line home for safe disposal.

Many thanks to those members who took the trouble to email me their catch reports, which are always of interest to other members when planning their next visit to our waters.

WAA headquarters at 52 Parker Street are open as usual every Friday between 7pm and 9pm for new members, subscriptions, night permit renewals, and any queries.

Email catch details to frank@warrington-anglers.org.uk or give me a call on 01928 716238.

Results:

Disabled and over 60s (Trent and Mersey Canal): 1, Jimmy Byrne 8-12-5; 2, Geoff Brooks 8-6-0; 3, George Hollis 5-14-0; 4, Derek Bibby 5-7-4.

Tuesday Series (River Mersey): 1, Ray Boden 8-1-0; 2, Derek Bibby 6-5-0; 3, Chris Wray 4-8-0; 4, Ade Green 3-0-0.

Saturday Series (River Mersey): 1, Ray Boden 8-10-0; 2, Barry Chambers 8-3-0; 3, Jimmy Byrne 6-7-0; 4, Alan Birchall 5-6-0.

Sunday, Challenge Shield (River Mersey): 1, Martin Lenihan 17-0-0; 2, Dave Brooks 12-3-0; 3, Ray Boden 10-0-0; 4, Bob Clough 9-8-0.

Fixtures:

Saturday, River Mersey Series: Draw 9am at Victoria Park.

Sunday, Association Rod Only Match, River Mersey: Draw 9am at Kingsway Allotments.

Monday, disabled and over 60s: Draw 10am at Bridgewater Canal, under motorway bridge, Preston Brook.

Tuesday, River Mersey: Draw 9am at Kingsway Allotments.