with KINGFISHER

SO this is summer! No wonder the fishing remains patchy.

Few waters are responding in the way we have a right to expect at this time of year, but do not despair.

A few waters have shown some signs of improvement and, thanks to the proliferation of commercial fisheries, we have never had as much choice of suitable venues. They might, on the face of it, appear to be expensive but at least you know you will catch a few.

And there are a number of more traditional waters currently offering more than a little hope of decent catches, so dry out your gear and get catching.

Foulridge reservoir has continued in the same rich vein of form for bream and skimmers. Loads of pegs available here capable of producing decent weights, to feeder-fished red maggot and worm.

The most successful anglers are well armed with lobworms to chop up for the feeder, collecting from the lawn after dark. At least that particular exercise has been made easier with the sodden ground.

I have also had good reports of bream catches, from Birkacre Reservoir at Coppull.

This beautifully located Wigan DAA day ticket water will respond to exactly the same tactics though, with a fair head of tench present as well it might be wise to consider a corn attack. They are not small ones either, up to 6 lbs. If you want more information ring 01257 272392.

The Ribble's dace are also active and offer great sport to float anglers. What a refreshing change this is, to see the float diving under 50 or more times in a session.

No problem with bait either - maggot!

They appear to be well spread throughout the river, although the Ribchester area is certainly as good as any.

Quality chub are likely, and welcome, intruders into your dace swim. Remember that constant feeding is the key to dace success. Not handfuls, but certainly a steady trickle throughout your session.

Some big barbel have also shown, at Balderstone. Pellet has been a successful tactic, fished in conjunction with a feeder of course, with hair-rigged pellet on a size 8 hook.

No fancy pellets are needed for this, just the cheaper trout variety will be fine. I prefer to make a nice paste from them, by soaking some in boiling water, to mould round my hook instead of the hair-rigging - but each to his own.

Anyway, the best catch reported was a fine double-figure trio, weighing 12lb 1oz, 10lb 6oz and 10lb 4oz. Fish like these cannot be ignored, I am sure you will agree.

There are few anglers fishing the canal locally, so it is difficult to get a true picture of its potential. From experience I can tell you that the roach will start to feed in earnest from mid-July.

That is not to say you will not get a few now, but bream should be your prime target for the time being. Do not ignore the roach though, you could be the first to bag up if you constantly drip-feed hempseed away from your main line of attack.

Then keep trying it on the hook, for a few minutes at a time, fishing it very much on the drop.

Anglers looking for somewhere different, with the holidays now very close, might consider the canal, but not necessarily ours! Many years ago I used to enjoy visits to the Lancaster Canal in search of perch -- big ones that had a taste for live-minnows. The weedy and deserted upper reaches, where no boats venture, provided fantastic perch sport then, and may still do. I do know for sure however, that some great big tench are being taken in the Stainton area -- well worth a consideration.

A visit to the match scene reveals that a few local anglerswere in the money last weekend. The list must be headed by Mark Gornall who, fishing under the teAMS H&B banner, comfortably won the 42-entry Northwich AA Open match on the River Weaver at Hartford (Cheshire) Mark had peg 153 on the meadows from where his groundbait feeder/worm tactics located a couple of good bream and plenty of skimmers for 14-5-0.

That was more than three pounds clear of the second placed angler, and an excellent win for Mark.

Ian Lathom fishes for GTI Rochdale, but is very much a local lad. His techniques have been honed on the local Leeds-Liverpool and Rochdale canals but, in winning a 25-pegger at Cheshire commercial water Brookside Fisheries he showed there is more to him than just that. It was a very comfortable win as well, almost doubling the weight of his nearest challenger. Lathom's winning net of 27-4-0 was made up of carp and chub taken on maggot, fished at 12 metres against the far bank.

Hyndburn's Dave Pickering was on the mark again at Greenhalgh Lodge, finishing in fourth place with 36-8-0. Greenhalgh has been one of the better waters of late, and this match, won with 61-5-0, produced some very good action all round. The fish, however, are quite big on here, well into double figures. They respond to feeder tactics, but the top matchmen use the pole -- with paste on the hook.

Wherever you go though, do ensure you are in possession of a current Environment Agency Licence. Their bailiffs are most definitely on the prowl and could turn up anywhere. We want to see your name in this paper for catching fish -- not being up in court having had your tackle confiscated. You have been warned!