with KINGFISHER

THE catch of the week has to be that of another double figure barbel from the Ribble.

Mark Halstead's record of 14lbs 7oz was in no danger from this one, but there are bigger ones remaining un-caught, for sure.

This one, a fine fish of exactly 13lbs had much to commend it though, not least that its captor has only been fishing for the species for a year and describes himself as a pleasure angler - so there's hope for us all!

Chris Gerrard, of St Annes, chose not to reveal the exact location of the swim, a reasonable thing to do, but I am fairly certain it was not a long way upstream of the motorway bridges at Preston.

On arrival he put in a few halibut pellets, only about 20, while tackling up.

He used an uncomplicated rig (sensible chap), which comprised a groundbait feeder to 8lbs bs line with a size 8 hook.

The feeder was packed with a fishmeal based groundbait (you might consider grinding up some pellets) and hempseed. At the business end was a hair-rigged pellet.

He had a bite first chuck but, after a brief struggle, a decent fish found a snag and broke his line. He only had to wait another 30mins for his next bite, which proved to be from the big one.

It only felt like a small fish at first, admitted Chris, but then it decided it didn't like being hooked and took off upstream. Another 15 mins lapsed before he could slip the net under a new personal best which, he hopes, will not be the last this winter.

Elsewhere on the Ribble there are reports of some very big chub being taken and of decent hauls of dace for the stick float anglers. Melling Wood, at Preston and Preston Centre members water, is reported to be the home of chub weighing in excess of seven pounds.

Dace are difficult to locate in numbers but can be found at Walton-le-Dale, by London Road Bridge, and in the Darwen where it joins the Ribble.

Warrington AA's water at Balderstone is in improving form for mixed catches of quality chub and barbel and you might consider investing in a Hyndburn and Blackburn AA card, to get on the Calder if nothing else.

They have other very good and interesting waters as well, but re-stocking of the Calder by the Environment Agency is bearing fruit in the shape of some great dace fishing.

A good number of local match anglers have fished the Monaghan Festival, in Ireland, for numerous years with some notable success.

This year was as good as any, though, with Steve Duckworth beating 77 others to the top money, winning his section three times for a 12 point total and a comfortable winning margin.

Lough Muckno, at Casteblaney, fished brilliantly with roach everywhere. Pole was the method, with red maggot on the hook, and winning weights were around the 50lbs mark. John Clapham made sure this area was better represented in the frame than any other, by finishing in fourth place.

The Jim Fleming memorial match was held over the weekend, a very special event. Not only because it remembers this very popular local matchman, but because it is a pairs competition where each 'team' member is pegged on a different water.

Rishton and Hoddlesden were the waters used and 48 anglers chose to take part. Both waters produced some fish and the top honours went to Greenhalgh Lodge dynamic duo Dave Pickering and John Rogers, further demonstrating that they are more than carp men (if that were necessary).

Pickering was pegged on Rishton where, knowing the water as he does and having the recent open match in mind, he chose to attack with pole. He used both caster and maggot on the hook to take a mixed bag of roach and perch, weighing 12-13-12.

That meant Rogers was on Hoddlesden, which he tackled with the accepted top method on here, of crumb feeder and worm. It attracted the target skimmers enabling him to contribute 16-0-0 to the pair's total weight and put them a full 6lbs clear of the second couple, Bolton's John Crook and John Taylor.