with KINGFISHER

WITH a bit of luck the Ribble will have received a boost from a modest influx of fresh water, though even in the low water conditions of the recent past, its form has been good enough to give us plenty of confidence.

I have mentioned previously that the motorway swims behind the Tickled Trout (day permits from the garage) were well worth consideration, but I had not considered them worth the catches made recently.

Bags of 100lbs and more have fallen to double maggot, fished under a stick float, comprising mainly of barbel in the two to four pounds bracket, but with loads of dace to six ounces thrown in for good measure. These swims live in my memory (when the Tickled Trout was no more than a chip-shop) for great mixed catches of quality roach and chub, but I suppose the barbel will just have to do for now.

Anyway, if you want barbel of the bigger variety stickfloat/maggot is not the way. Hair-rigged pellet, or pellet-paste are the two most favoured hookbaits at the moment, fished in conjunction with a feeder filled with micro-pellet. Fish close to double figures have been taken recently in the same area and you can expect some much bigger ones to make an appearance soon. Balderstone is worth the price of the Warrington Anglers book on its own, if it fishes anything like it did last back-end.

So do not despair if we have not had much rain, just make sure you are first on the river if we have!

The weather we have been having of late just screams bream at me and you could do worse than target this particular species tomorrow. Local venues, with Foulridge probably the pick, should do well, though I understand that skimmers have been feeding heavily at Anglzarke as well.

Plenty of roach, to about 1lb are a feature on here as well (feederfished red maggot), but remember you need to have your ticket before you fish.

If you want to get a bite a chuck then Bradshaw Hall has to be considered. Pools three and four are the ones to fish, with maggot or caster, for a glut of silver-fish. Hauls of carp from these two are still reaching the 100lb mark, but many anglers are forsaking these in favour of the roach/skimmers.

I certainly hope local matchmen can get themselves amongst the money this week, to make up for a most disappointing performance last week. Only Danny McGuire, with a match-winning performance at Cheshire's Burton Mere, rates a mention. This was only his second visit to the venue but, pole-fishing pellet for 37-8-0 of carp and a few barbel, he could have been easily mistaken for a regular.

The nights are drawing in as you will have noticed and no doubt you have, like me, put the duvet back on the bed (even switched the heating back on)? Time to change your tactics a bit, or at least revise your aspirations. Carp will still feed on the surface, but would you be better of fishing in midwater? Roach will still feed in mid-water, but would you be better off fishing on the bottom?

I do not know the answers, but these are typical of the questions you should be posing to yourself at this time of year in particular.