By KINGFISHER

OSWALDTWISTLE matchman Neil Livesey returned from his latest trip to Ireland with a pocketful of money and a whole lot more kudos.

He may not have won the Waterways Ireland Classic Festival, formerly the Guinness, but to be runner-up he had to beat no less than 315 other top anglers.

Not only that but, when all three day's weights were added together he had fallen just a couple of bream shot of taking the top honours.

He got off to a great start, taking 28.3 kg of bream from peg three at Ely Lodge to put himself in second spot. A good draw was, as always, essential and unfortunately for Neil the next two days were nowhere near as good. Nevertheless he stuck at it and, though not again finishing in the day's frame, he still managed to put together another 13.88kg for a three-day total of 42.18kg.

Tough conditions locally last weekend ensured catches were generally disappointing. Greenhalgh Lodge provided the best matchweights, as you might expect, but even here only the very best anglers made the frame.

Hyndburn's Dave Pickering is one of these for sure and he easily took the top money with 79-0-0. A still bait is needed as we have heard before, and Dave chose to fish with a block-end feeder to ensure that would be the case in the blustery conditions. He packed it with pellets and baited with hair-rigged paste to tempt the fishery's carp, finishing a good 25lbs clear of the field.

Bob Harrison, TeAMS H&B, figures regularly in the frame at Brookside Fisheries, but he decided on a change last week, heading into Yorkshire. The Oaks fishery was his target, where Maple Lake was the venue for a 52-peg event. Pole-fished pellet for carp is the method here and that poses no problems for Bob. He made his trip worthwhile by taking 34-4-0 for fourth place, just six and a half pounds of small carp short of another win.

Hyndburn's Arthur Hargreaves was in action again at a gale-lashed Copthorne last Sunday, in a 55-pegger. He knows the water well and it was no surprise to see him frame yet again, in fifth place with just 17-14-0.

That match was fished on the newly-extended Canal Pool and was a very even affair. The Lake is producing bigger fish though, with pole-fished catmeat resulting in carp to four pounds from the shallowest (less than a metre of water) pegs.

The Hebden Bridge 'Golden Peg' match on Sunday attracted a class field of some 45 matchmen, including a good number from this side of the border. Quality fish were needed to top the list and the winner managed two bream and two tench, on caster, in his 9-10-8 from the Moderna length. Top local was Burnley's Andy Shirtliffe, who knows this water like the back of his hand, with 4-14-8.

I note that there are some decent weights coming from the Bridgewater Canal around Manchester. Bream are featuring in pleasure weights of over 30 pounds and Sale or Timperley might be worth a visit. It is not only for that reason that I mention this however, there is something else.

It - bream weights from here - has been a signal to me for a number of years now that it will not be too long before we will be taking decent catches of the same locally.

Heavily coloured water is the best clue to the presence of large numbers of bream.