FANTASTIC temperatures for October have been keeping the fish feeding at most venues.

Happily there is no sign of the frosts we might have been expecting, and good sport should continue.

There really is nowhere that is fishing badly. You might be able to argue that catches from your local stretch of canal, for example, are not great -- but they are very decent on other sections. With the canal it really is very important, as always, to choose carefully.

If you think of the canal in terms of volume of water, it is not possible for there to be fish everywhere -- is it?

It is not great, or so it appears, at Wigan. The Chorley Socials Open attracted a decent field of some 64, but only 3-8-0 was needed to win it. Chris Rimmer worked with the pole, at 11 and 13 metres, with squatt and punch, for over 100 tiny roach.

There was no sign of bream, and the alternative to these tiny roach were only smallish perch. There were some better ones amongst them, as runner-up Ron Edwards showed with fish to one and a half pounds in his 3-5-8. Red Maggot fished over chopped worm/maggot attracted the billies.

So it doesn't look very good here. Before writing it off however, bear in mind that the match was interrupted, continuously, by more than 50 canoeists.

It was much better at Burscough, where a new-look Standish Autumn League got underway. It is a little complicated, on the fact of it, but the idea is to spread the cash, and some goodwill, to the humble club teams with little hope of beating the semi-professional outfits.

A very laudable idea -- and it seems to have worked, with three teams showing in Division Two who seldom make the news in leagues as tough as this one. Anglers compete against each other in the 140 peg matches, but there are seven teams in each league, with promotion and relegation planned.

Anyway, back to round one at Burscough. The Leeds-Liverpool Canal was in receptive form, with bream to three pounds featuring in some decent weights. Winner Joe Mort (Bickershaw Labour), had a number of such fish in his 17-8-6 from Garst Lane boats.

Joe's team is in the new Division Two and, with Joe's help, head that division after one round. It's no surprise to see that. Dream Angling lead Division One, with Daiwa Wigan and Octoplus Standish in close order.

The Calder and Hebble Navigation was in decent form for the opening round of the Pennine Winter League. Odd big bream showed up, but roach made up the bulk of catches.

Alternating lines, at eight and 11 metres with punch and caster respectively, Mack's Claret angler Tony Green put together a nice 8-3-0 net to win. Tony is something of canal veteran, with plenty of expertise and experience on which to call. When he found fish in front of him he knew exactly what to do.

Another raider from this side of the border, in the form of Hyndburn Match Group's Shaun Dempsey, was closest to Tony. Shaun had one of those bream, a fish of around 2lbs, in his 6-13-0. The balance of his catch was made up of roach, on punch, from down the centre.

Unsurprisingly Mack's Claret head the league -- but locked together in second place and only a point adrift, are Headingley C and Todmorden Red.

It seems strange that winter leagues are underway, when the grass is still growing and flowers still blooming. Still, we shouldn't complain -- I suppose. I like winter, certainly the old-fashioned sort anyway. The ones that were cold, yet fine. Not these wet and warm things we have now.

Anyway, having climbed down from the soapbox, I am happy to report that local commercial fisheries continued to do well. Carp are still feeding, and in some quantity.

Having said that, roach are a real feature of some catches at Bradshaw Hall. Superb fish of up to two and a half pounds are falling to caster and, with temperatures as they are, up in the water tactics are doing well.