THE effect of the weather on our sport was again well illustrated when several days of easterly winds accompanied by cold rain saw catches on most Lymm Angling Club waters fall into rapid decline.

But over the bank holiday weekend we saw a return to fine, dry, sometimes hot conditions.

This resulted in a feeding frenzy as bream, tench and carp start to pile on the weight in preparation for spawning.

Last Saturday, Belmont Pool was obviously the place to be if the excellent catch of Neil Tivey is anything to go by.

He was initially delighted to land a good-looking carp of around 19lbs 7ozs and would have gone home a happy man with just a single fish.

But a hat-trick of captures, all weighing more than 20lbs, then followed, including a personal best heavyweight that swung the scales round to 28lbs 4ozs.

Neil rated it as one of his best ever sessions.

Unfortunately, when fish are carrying large amounts of spawn, as some are at the moment, there are often one or two fatalities.

Last week an easily identifiable Belmont Pool fish, which regulars had named ‘The Crescent’ owing to a distinctive moon-shaped scale on it’s flank, was found dead in the margins.

The big fish weighed 26lbs 8ozs when last captured at the end of April and had been piling on weight this year.

The most likely cause of the fish’s death is that it was unable to release its eggs.

Since taking on the role as chairman of the club, my fishing trips have been seriously cut back. Each day of each week there always seems to be some business to attend to.

But I was determined I would wet a line over the bank holiday period and since I knew that my local water, Crabmill Flash, had been fishing well for bream and tench it seemed almost impolite for me not to pay it a visit.

I’m glad I did as, during a six-hour session, I landed a personal best tench of 9lbs 14ozs and a personal best bream of 10lbs 8ozs.

All of the club’s pleasure fishing venues bounced back to life with the return of warmer weather.

Village Pool’s carp are being caught on surface baits and bream, roach, rudd and perch prefer something offered a little deeper.

The deep waters of Whitley Pool continue to warm up and crucian carp and tench have responded by feeding close to the margins in around six feet of water where they can be seen, fed and caught with relative ease.

Milton Brook Fishery still continues to be predominantly an evening water as the fish seem to prefer a tea-time meal more than they do a breakfast.

The same cannot be said for either Grimsditch Mill Pool or Walk Mill Pool, which have both been offering continuous sport from dawn until dusk.

To contact the club, e-mail secretary@lymmanglersclub.com or leave a message on 07928 933453.