Adam Green, a member for over 20 years, finally has caught a "double." Here he tells the story.....

Let me take you back to when I was around 8 years old and my grandad hooked a huge barbel by Cressage bridge on a lump of meat and a drilled bullet, I rushed down the bank with the net and being so keen to land it jabbed at it too early, it turned, stripped the old Mitchell 300 and was never seen again... Well today I can finally say I’ve seen the like again. This fish has took me the best part of 20 years to catch when I rejoined Leighton after grandad died and I’m just absolutely overjoyed. It took me a good 20 minutes battle on quite light tackle, on a single 6mm pellet under a nearside willow and at one point it was stuck fast in weed which by the grace of god it managed to free itself from. One turn by the net and heart in mouth it was there. 10lb 6oz! I’ve always wondered and waited for the feeling of catching that first double figure barbel and now I know!

Sunday 16th August dawned with a heavy leaden sky and later heavy rain fell into an already high and somewhat coloured river. It did eventually stop after about 3 hours, but it certainly didn't feel like August! Winner, from Peg 102, with 25 Lbs 14 Ozs was Paul Harrison. Second, with 11 Lbs 14 Ozs from Peg 13, was Colin Morris and third was Will Carr from Peg 27 with 11 Lbs exactly of silvers taken on the float! Paul extends his lead to 31 points over Jason Owen in second with 26 and Clive Biddulph and myself in joint third with 22. For the full result please click on the link.

MatCH 5 - 16 Aug 20.pdf (32.73 kb)

On a very low and gin clear river, it was always going to be hard to locate fish in the bright sunshine. The 19 matchmen and 1 lady who turned out to fish this one found out just how hard! Just 11 of us weighed in and those leading the league blanked! Winner, from Peg 75 was Colin Booth with 16 Lbs exactly (sorry Colin, but I didn't get to hear what your net consisted of!) Second was Colin Morris from Peg 97 with 3 barbel for 12 Lbs 14 Ozs and third from Peg 103 was Steve (NOT Ben) Boyd with a barbel and a chub for 11 Lbs 14 Ozs. 

MATCH 4 - 2 Aug 20.pdf (30.42 kb)

It has been reported to me that some members have been leaving line, hooks and other pieces of tackle on the bank. The most recent case found by one of our bailffs was a load of braid left on Peg 119 - see photo. This is just not good enough. Any bird, sheep, cattle, amphibian or dog could have become seriously tangled in this, which would almost certainly have resulted in a very painful death. If any member is caught leaving any litter or particularly discarded tackle on the bank, they will be BANNED from the Society. This is just the sort of thing that gets anglers a bad name. Please clear up any discarded tackle and litter - even if it is not yours. Protect the enviroment. Protect wildlife. Be a thoughtful angler.

I'm very pleased to report that after a few attempts in matches, Steve Boyd finally managed to tempt a good sized barbel out of peg 103 in last Sunday's match. The river was running low and gin clear after all the abstraction that farmers have been engaged in upstream. This made it very difficult to locate fish for most competitors. But Steve put this fish and a chub on the scales for 12 Lbs and third place. Well done Steve!

Member Colin Booth found a stainless steel flask on peg 76 last week. If it is yours, please get in touch with Colin on 07814 684337.

Would all members please note that when there is a Society Match (dates are all on your Membership Card) pleasure anglers must ask competitors, before selecting a peg to fish, if they are happy for them to fish in a peg up or downstream of them. Remember, competing members have had to pay for their peg on match days and this,plus their pools money, can mean that a considerable sum can be won, or lost, by disturbing them. There are plenty of pegs on the river to fish - 124 in fact - and on match days we seldom use more than 30 of them. So, there are around a 100 free for pleasure fishing.

Thank you for your cooperation.