Frank Lythgoe's Warrington Anglers' Association column

JUNIOR member Zack Royle achieved a personal best when he fished Grey Mist with his dad Trevor.

It was chilly but when the youngster’s rod ripped into action the excitement and subsequent adrenalin flow soon warmed them both up.

His dad was busy getting the scales ready while Zack played the fish for a good ten minutes before it lay in the net.

The carp weighed in at 23lbs 7ozs 0drs, a new PB for this keen young angler.

Next, a tale of two committee members.

Mike Dench decided Sunday was the right time to try out his new toy, a Cadence pole on the Bridgewater Canal.

After a look at a couple of likely areas he decided on Grappenhall trees, choosing a swim with the rhododendron bush on the far bank.

In true matchman style he had brought maggots, pinkies, casters, bread punch, and hemp.

That was unlike another committee member (I won’t mention his name) who arrived at another fishery only to find at his swim that his casters had fallen out of his bag onto his drive and although he had liquidised bread for feeding in his bag, he had left the vital slices of bread for punch hook-bait on his kitchen table.

Needless to say, his day didn’t go too well catch-wise, unlike Mike’s who started off on caster which brought a few roach but soon decided to change to bread punch.

This brought a fish every put-in and although nothing of any size kept him busy.

The roach carried on feeding when he made another change to double pinkie then he hit something which eventually took everything including his elastic.

He reckons it was a perch, certainly a quality fish which would easily shed his barbless hook. He ended up pleased with both his new toy and his day’s fishing having caught lots of roach, perch, and some rudd.

Mike even witnessed and took a photo of Lukasz Witkowski’s new PB Bridgewater Canal perch caught on the same stretch on a soft lure. It was just over 1.85lbs.

Generally, quite a number of smaller perch and pike have been coming out all along both the Bridgewater and Trent & Mersey Canals, mainly taken on the innumerable lures that are on the market nowadays.

So far not too many large pike have been reported but enough smaller ones to keep anglers interested. The clue is watch for where the silver fish are starting to shoal as the colour starts dropping out of the canal in some areas and the fish look for better cover from cormorants which are now everywhere.

Mike Kay made the most of his session on Ackers Pit. He fished pole and bronze maggot at nine metres for eight roach and two carp of around 7/8lbs which stretched his elastic to absolute limits.

WAA Headquarters at 52, Parker Street, Warrington WA1 1LT will remain closed on Friday evenings until further notice. Members can post to this address or put their book or request in an envelope with their payment, a stamped addressed envelope, through our HQ door where mail is collected and dealt with most days. Alternatively, you can post to Warrington Anglers Association PO. Box 71, Warrington WA1 1LR where mail is collected weekly. If you need any further information please give me a call or email as below.

I really need your catch reports coming in at this time of the year as sport slows. They are much appreciated by fellow members. Email frank@warrington-anglers.org.uk or call 01928 716238.