IT'S difficult to recall a more dismal week than the one we have just endured, but there is at least one positive thought to come from it.

That is there is little doubt that, compared with last week, prospects for anglers of all persuasions are good. Not great, mind you, just good relative to last week.

Few anglers, as you would expect, have been out and about during a week in which we have suffered sub-zero temperatures, floods, and gale-force winds. Hardly surprising really, though Sunday was the best day of them all.

That ensured that at least the match anglers were able to satisfy their lust for competition, though catching fish was more difficult. Fishing couldn't, for sure, be described as a pleasure but you should be able to get a bite or two this week.

It wasn't comfortable on the exposed stretch of Leeds and Liverpool canal at Crook, but, surprisingly, there were a few decent weights as the Wigan Winter League drew to a close. I was hoping the Blackburn team, Geoff Done Tackle, could finish with a winning flourish, but it wasn't to be. Team member Dave Seddon, though, did manage to frame in fourth place individually, with 3-9-4.

The winner, Alan Marsden (Comtech) was on that most exposed section where he managed to take a mixture of roach and perch, for a 4-6-11 total. Alan fished punch just in the channel at nine metres to start with, moving out to 13 with caster later on.

Van den Eynde Crown snatched the title in this increasingly popular 150 peg event, winning on the day with 53 penalty points to Wigan's 63, and overall with a massive 60-point advantage over Octoplus Standish. Why this league should be so popular that there is a waiting list to get in, I can't imagine. That it isn't a bloodworm dominated event couldn't have anything to do with it, could it?

Bloodworm is certainly THE bait for anglers fishing the Pennine Winter League, which had a 112-peg practise match for this week's round.

The venue is the Calder and Hebble Canal at Brighouse and, if the canal's form last week is anything to go by, the competitors will find it patchy to say the least.

Todmorden's Paul Cryer was the winner with a decent mixed bag, roach, perch and skimmers, on pole fished bloodworm, which totalled 5-8-0. He was pegged on the 'pop shop' length whilst runner-up, Mick Balmforth (Fish O'Mania) had just roach and perch in his 4-12-0 from the gasworks.

Patchy it may have been, but it was certainly better than the frost affected Hebden Bridge AS Christmas Open just a few miles away on the Rochdale Canal. Here the 43 anglers struggled very hard for little reward, and getting a bite was considerable a success.

Punch and chopped worm brought small roach and a perch or two for winner John Daykin (Hebden), from his peg at Luddenden Foot. He and runner-up Malcolm Sutcliffe were the only two to break 2lbs. This section of canal disappeared from my possible list some time ago - and doesn't look like ever getting back on it.

If you're looking for a match for tomorrow then the Hyndburn & Blackburn AA Open is trying the Tesco length of Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Blackburn. There are some very decent roach along here and, if conditions are OK, it could need a good caster weight to win. The draw takes place at the Foresters Arms at 8.30am and fishing is from 10am to 3pm. Book on for this one with Dezzy on 01254 262301 or 0798 0431905. At £10 all-in, it should be a decent pay-out, though the Pennine Winter League will dilute the entry.

Away from the canal, and match scene, and before the floods, the Ribble continued to produce decent barbel. The best of them was a superb 11lbs 1oz fish for Lancaster angler Alan Billington, which took a fishmeal boilie.

No swim location has been forthcoming from Alan, as you may expect, but most probably a dusk session at one of the most popular stretches is worth a try.

The Ribble barbel, and chub, are very heavy at the moment and, under the right conditions, willing feeders. Those conditions could occur this weekend and here must be high on anyone's list.

With the match taking place in Blackburn I might suggest a pleasure visit to Rishton, for the canal angler, could prove fruitful. The pegs on the concrete are the ones to aim for and, maybe, breadpunch the best bait.

No fancy tactics required here and you should be able to have an enjoyable, and successful, session on either rod or pole. Choose to fish down the centre of the canal, and perhaps put a bit of hemp and a few casters across for later.

The colour should have dropped out of the water by now, so approach and fish with this in mind.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.