WEEKENDS really do not come much worse than the last one.

The conditions were atrocious for all anglers and those that ventured out were struggling for bites - never mind fish.

Thankfully the temperatures have risen through the week and that, combined with much calmer conditions, has seen catches improve dramatically.

Just three weeks ago, Greenhalgh Lake recorded its worst ever match result.

On that occasion Blackburn's Damian Brierley was the winner with just four fish for 27-8-0, but last weekend's match made that one look like a 'cakewalk'.

The cold bit hard on that side of the M6 and this time it needed ONE fish only to take the honours. The fish in question was a carp which weighed in at 11-4-0.

It fell for maggot fished in conjunction with a block-end feeder, standard tactics here in hard conditions.

The runner-up had a much more active match altogether, with much smaller samples, to 2lbs, in his 10-3-0.

Bradshaw Hall, the previous Wednesday before the really bad weather set in, had been marginally more accommodating, producing a winning 16-11-0 from Lake 4 for Octoplus Blackburn angler P White.

Over 9lbs won the previous Octoplus Blackburn Open at Riley Green but there was little chance that would be emulated in last week's affair.

The weather certainly put paid to any hopes of decent weights for the 37 hardy souls gathered at a dour looking Leeds-Liverpool Canal, but there was little doubt what the winning tactics were likely to be.

That's right, you got it first time, bread-punch!

No sign of those hybrids either, so it was left to small roach to make up the best weights. That the winner needed only 3-2-8, of fish no bigger than 3oz (from a peg by Finnington Bridge), is a very good indication of just how difficult it was. Only four more anglers managed to break the two pound barrier on a day when the anglers' resolve was sorely tested.