THERE is a first time for everything and the angler playing a pike outside my front window on Monday morning was surprised to have his catch witnessed by the secretary clad in his dressing gown.

Yes, I was catching up on my emails and was having a leisurely breakfast when my wife spotted Paul Ahmed playing the fish and I just couldn’t resist.

The fish was only a small jack but Paul and his mate Nick Smith were targeting perch using small jigs that had accounted for a number of small fish, the best taken by Nick at 1.5lbs. They ended the day with three more pike.

Gareth Evans and friend Ian Jones fished the Bridgewater Canal at Preston Brook on Saturday near Waters Meet. The colour had dropped out of the canal but according to Gareth the clear conditions didn’t hinder the fishing one bit.

They both had nice nets of bream, skimmers, perch and roach. Everything was caught mainly on maggot or pinkie with the odd fish to 4mm expander pellets over groundbait.

Ian reckoned that he had a better stamp of fish without using groundbait and fished his swim over a bed of hemp and loose feeding maggots. You can see the catch shots at fishinginthenorthwest.co.uk/ A leak was found on the Trent and Mersey Canal on Friday between bridges 211 and 212 at Dutton.

The Canal and River Trust were on the case immediately and had to carry out an immediate draw down of the water to reduce pressure at the site.

Stop planks were put in at the bridges and they carried out a successful fish rescue with fish being released at both ends of the affected length. There were some cracking specimens of bream, chub, etc. and an eel that our members of the Anguilla club would die for.

It just shows how quickly the length has recovered from the previous breach in October 2012.

Our Saturday Sweepstake match was won by Jimmy Byrne with a net made up of three skimmers and roach for 8-4-0. Ade Green was the runner-up with a similar net of fish but was a skimmer light for 7-8-0.

Most fish were caught on the tip with groundbait feeder and maggot but the pole came into play on some pegs.

Neil Davies set his stall out on the pole at our Mersey Sunday Series match, taking a mixed net of perch and roach on maggot to win the event with 7-1-8.

It was a close run thing from then on but Derek Bibby took the second place and put his faith on the tip and groundbait feeder method to catch dace and roach for 5-12-0.

The Disabled & Over 60s match on Monday was dire as weights plummeted due to the colder weather. Jimmy Byrne took the win with 1-15-4 followed by Keith Wernham on 1-11-12.

There were a good number of dry nets and ‘did not weighs’ but spirits amongst the regulars were undaunted and even vice president Geoff Brooks tried to spice up the proceedings with a trip, dive and forward roll just narrowly missing the water which would have given him full points.

Catch reports are scarce at the moment so please drop me an email with anything of interest. Catch details are invaluable to this column and fellow members planning fishing trips. Either ring me on 01928 716238 or email frank@warrington-anglers.org.uk. HQ 52, Parker Street is open as usual between 7 & 9pm on Friday, for subscriptions, new memberships/night permits, or any queries.

Results: Mersey Saturday Sweepstake: 1, Jimmy Byrne 8-4-0; 2, Ade Green 7-8-0; 3, Ray Boden 5-7-0; 4, Neil Buist 4-14-0. Sunday Mersey Series: 1, Neil Davies 7-1-8; 2, Derek Bibby 5-12-0; 3, Arthur Plumb 5-6-0; 4, Jimmy Byrne 5-5-0. Disabled & Over 60s: 1, Jimmy Byrne 1-15-4; 2, Keith Wernham 1-11-12; 3, Trev Bainbridge 1-8-8; 4, Ron Durr 1-2-8. Forthcoming events: Saturday: Mersey Saturday Sweepstake, draw 9am, Victoria Park Allotments . Sunday: Mersey Sunday Series, draw 9am, through gates at Mersey Walk (peg 49). Monday: Disabled & Over 60s: (Fur & Feather) draw 9.30am at Star Inn, Statham. Contact John Dagnall at Cheshire Angling 01925 635486.