Carp from the Irwell? A fishy tale?

[corkycat]

Apologies to you chaps and chapesses who are not from the north west region, but did anyone see that feature on BBC North West tonight the other week? The one about a young lad who claims to have caught a 20lb+ common carp from the river Irwell? I am suspicious about it because although there was a picture of him holding the fish there was no background to it. The reporter also said that the exact location was a "closely guarded secret", which suggests to me he's caught it from a commercial somewhere, then his mum contacts the BBC to say it was caught from the once filthy Irwell, just to get him on the telly.

I know that the Irwell now supports a healthy head of fish including brown trout, but am I being over-cynical about this? Are there any Mancs or Salford lads who can correct me?

 

[Sam Vimes]

There's loads of pictures and stories of decent Irwell carp all over the internet. I see little reason discount the notion of a 20lb+ fish.
Have a look at the Salford Friendly Angler's Society web page for some insight and even a full feature on the young lad in question.

 

[Lee Richards]

The story was in the papers last week and on numerous websites
The lad has an impressive resume of fish already - make most of us envious

Teenage angler reels in record catch from Salford river

Kaden McCarthy, 15, is eyeing up a bigger catch than the 25lb (11kg) carp he landed.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Deleted member 21081]

I bumped into a couple of lads from Salford Friendly Anglers who were fishing the River Dane in Northwich, they showed me loads of pics of great fish caught around Manchester City Centre including big carp.

The Irwell definitely holds decent fish.