THE River Mersey was thankfully on better form over the weekend for members of Warrington Anglers' Association.

Local match organizer Bob Campbell recorded his first win of the year with 4lbs 11ozs 5drms consisting of two bream and two roach taken on legered red maggot.

He was almost 2lbs clear of runner up and Mersey regular Harry Morris on 2-12-0.

The River Dane is still producing decent sport with grayling and the odd chub.

For a change, our bailiff Ron Williams took some time out from helping other anglers to have a spot of fishing himself on Sunday.

He had to wait more than two hours before his first bite and ended up with four chub all around the 4lb mark.

The fish came in a 30-minute spell and fell to legered cubes of luncheon meat.

The Disabled and Over 60s match on the Bridgewater Canal showed a slight improvement on the previous week but weights were still well down with Ron Durr only needing 2-8-10 for the win.

Catches were generally made up of small silver fish taken on punch bread.

It was a similar situation in the Warrington Local Winter League but while some sections struggled for a bite it was obvious that most of the roach were tightly shoaled up near the boats in Cliffe Lane. The latter provided all the top weights, mainly roach taken on punch bread or pinkie.

There has been a fish kill on the Trent and Mersey Canal near Middlewich involving, I understand, at least around 1,000 fish but the slug of pollution is still moving down towards our stretch.

The Environment Agency is dealing with the matter. If any angler has any information, let me know.

Please let me have your catch reports on 01928 716238, fax 01928 713898 or e-mail frank@warrington-anglers.org.uk. HQ Parker Street will be open as usual tomorrow, Friday, between 7pm and 9.30pm for subscriptions and new memberships.

Results.

Mersey Winter Series: 1, Bob Campbell 4-11-5; 2, Harry Morris 2-12-0; 3, Jim Gannon 2-7-0; 4, Eddie Cook 2-5-0.

Warrington Local Winter League: Individuals: 1, Andy Lewis 5-15-0; 2, Trevor Cummings 5-0-0; 3, Jim Byrne 4-11-0; 4, Geoff Wyatt 4-1-2. Teams on the day: Cheshire Angling Gold 23pts, Warrington Gold and Warrington Red 21, Monk Sports 21. Teams overall: Warrington Red 175pts, Warrington Gold 174, Monks Sports 166, Cheshire Angling Gold 149, Altrincham AA 137.

Disabled and Over 60s: 1, Ron Durr 2-8-10; 2, Ron Lever 1-9-0; 3, Harry Newton 1-3-0; 4, Dennis Greenhalgh 1-0-2.

Forthcoming events: Sunday: Mersey Series, draw 9am at Weir Lane (the match will be cancelled if conditions are considered dangerous). Monday: Disabled and Over 60s, draw 10.30am at Star Inn.