Frank Lythgoe's Warrington Anglers Association column

TREVOR Royle and three other bailiffs decided on a well-deserved night session at Grey Mist last Wednesday following a work party on the fishery.

Well as the story goes, two caught and two didn’t and swear that Trevor was using some secret bait!

He ended the session with four fish topped by ‘Houdini’ at a weight of 28lbs. Fish were caught using a KD rig with a bright orange wafter over a bed of 2kg of boilies at 40 yards.

Mike O’Dea had two mirrors – the first being 14lbs and the second at 20lbs 3ozs. Both were taken on Dynamite monster tiger nut wafters fished on blowback rigs over crushed and broken boilies soaked in the Monster Tiger Nut bait soak.

Ian Rose fished Woodshaw Reservoir on Friday and found it hard going, with no bites for the first hour.

Then, small roach started feeding and he had eight taken on pole and single pinkie at nine metres before he struck into what he expected was another roach, but his elastic went to full stretch and 10 minutes later, a cracking crucian lay in his landing net.

Only a few more roach followed but Ian was more than happy with his session.

The Sunday Mersey match series was fished this week on the Mersey Walk stretch which saw the river swollen and coloured – definitely not ideal conditions and it was not surprising that members found bites few and far between.

Local rod Derek Bibby stuck it out on the feeder and maggot to win with the lowest Mersey weight for some time with 3lbs 5ozs 0drs of small roach.

Jimmy Byrne took second place with only an ounce separating them when the scales stopped at 3-4-0. He fished the tip but changed later to pole at five metres.

Our popular disabled and over 60s Monday match was fished by 18 members this week on the Bridgewater Canal at Houghs Bridge.

The canal ‘fished its head off’ according to winner and match organiser Jimmy Byrne. He drew a peg in ‘the dead length’ near the bridge and caught around 100 small roach plus a few perch alternating between pinkie, maggot, and caster for a weight of 7-6-0.

Second-placed angler Rod Fraser drew the opposite end of the stretch and had a similar mix of fish for 7-4-0. Weights averaged out at over 4½lbs per angler.

WAA headquarters at 52 Parker Street remain closed on Friday evenings until further notice.

Members renewing can simply put their book or request in an envelope with their payment and a stamped addressed envelope and post it through our HQ door, where mail is collected and dealt with most days. 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 all very much appreciated by fellow members.

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

Results:

Mersey match series: 1, Derek Bibby 3-5-0; 2, Jimmy Byrne 3-4-0; 3, Alan Faulkner 2-6-0; 4, Neil Buist 1-13-0

Monday, disabled and over 60s: 1, Jimmy Byrne 7-6-0; 2, Rod Fraser 7-4-0; 3, Alan Brown 6-14-0; 4, Dave Hill/Ray Boden 5-13-0

Fixtures:

Sunday, Mersey match series: Members only (23 pegs) Must book on. Draw 9am at Victoria Park, Peg 12 up. £5 pool or £10 all-in. No coins and exact money only, no change given

Monday, disabled and over 60s: Draw 9.45am at Bridgewater Canal, Tramps Grave, Moore Village.

£5 all-in. No coins and exact money only, no change given