TWO double figure barbel from Lymm Angling Club stretches of the River Severn provide the main news item this week.

First up, member Ian Murray fished an evening session on the club’s stretch at Rossall where his only bite resulted in a superb specimen fish that weighed in at 10lbs 6oz.

Fishing towards the far bank with a ground bait feeder and halibut pellet as hook bait, Ian hooked the fish at around 9pm.

An intense 10-minute battle took place before the fish was safely in Ian’s landing net.

A quick weigh revealed that Ian had broken his personal best for the species by more than a pound.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten to bring his camera with him and with no one else present the fish was returned without being photographed.

Meanwhile, downstream at Atcham, Phil Hatton had success during a ten-hour session that started at around 2pm.

After landing two nice chub and a small barbel during daylight hours Phil had to wait until 7.30pm to see his rod tip heave around in response to what was clearly a good barbel tearing downstream with his bait.

Phil battled with the fish for almost 15 minutes before landing it at the first attempt.

His friend Pete Carmichael, a trustee of the club, was on hand to weigh and photograph the specimen which sent the scales around to 10lbs 2oz 0drs.

In general, the river fishing has improved over the last week although the barbel and chub feeding spells are intense but short-lived.

Best haul of the week was at Atcham where an angler reports landing nine barbel to 9-4-0.

Despite some milder conditions moving across the country carp seem to be still fairly disinterested in feeding.

Wrinehill Pool for example has seen only a single fish come out in the last week although this was a good sized specimen that was weighed at 23-6-0.

One report comes from Tabley Mere, where details of a carp weighing 39-6-0 have been posted in the venue’s catch box.

Several years ago there were rumours of a 40lb fish being landed at the historic venue and it would appear that the fish has once again graced the banks.

The club are currently in the process of contacting the member who caught the fish to confirm the capture and obtain photographs.

If substantiated, this will be a new club record as the member who reported to have landed the 40lb fish never came forward.

Club members should note that New Pool is the venue for the next round of the Winter match series, with the match taking place this Sunday.

Members are permitted to fish on the adjacent Spring Pool while the match takes place but precedence over parking spaces will be given to match participants.

If you need to contact the club, send an e-mail to secretary@lymmanglersclub.com or call 07928 933453 but be prepared to leave a message.