It’s always nice to report big catches that are not made up of carp, so it’s with relish that I can write about a new venue record of 97lb of bream from the Walsall Arboretum.

The super catch of 40 bream from peg 25 behind the bandstand fell to Birmingham’s Barry Hall, who fished feeder and worm at range and beat the existing record of 87lb set a couple of years ago by Dave Berrows.
The news comes from John Miller, who has just run the Walsall Arboretum AC Vic Lees Memorial and has several junior events lined up including another memorial on the 28th just for Midlands anglers aged 7-15, which will see trophies and medals handed out thanks to Corus Steel, who Vic used to work for. The adult version saw Walsall’s Kevin Edwards take the trophy with 12 bream for 28-8-0 from peg 8 by the boat house, again on feeder and worm, just ahead of Mac Pearson who had 27-8-0 of bream and two carp. John can be contacted on 07736 388412.