SOME very respectable weights have been reported from many venues over the past week or so despite the wintry weather.

Nevertheless, any choice of venue you make at the moment must be regarded as taking pot luck. Just as there is no settled pattern to the weather, there is none to the form of a particular water. Time then to rely on your instincts and, ultimately, your knowledge and skill.

Fish, noticeably on the local stretches of canal, are on the move. They have not yet settled in noted winter hotspots and you could get a decent catch from almost anywhere.

As always you can improve your chances by using your head. Fish feed less when it is cold, we all know that, so choose to fish during the middle hours of the day - when it is warmest. Feed lightly, if at all, and use winter tactics and bait.

For the matchman that generally means, where allowed, bloodworm and joker with caster as a second line of attack. Pleasure anglers should consider the bloodworm when conditions are really hard, but caster will produce the better quality fish right now and breadpunch should produce bites anywhere. Though I would always start down the channel the far shelf should not be ignored as the water warms up during the day.

Think about it, and it is obvious that the shallow water will warm up much more quickly than the deep. Good fish, particularly roach, will move onto the shelf to feed - but this may be for only an hour or so.

John Rogers, who I recall was one of a crop of excellent young anglers spawned by Hyndburn and Blackburn AA, is now 22 years old - and a very good senior angler. This fact was demonstrated very clearly last weekend as he beat some very big names to win the latest round of the Lancashire Winter League. Tri-Cast Highfield, very boringly, won the team event (again) but they couldn't stop John.

The match was on the Bridgewater Canal at Manchester and John, having drawn the gasworks stretch at Old Trafford used the bloodworm/joker combination to great effect.

He fed joker in leam at 11 metres and raw joker at 14 metres, and it was from this swim that he took by far the bulk of his 6-3-7 of roach in the one to three ounce bracket. Single and double joker on a size 24 hook is pretty standard fare at the moment, and it produced consistent sport for John.

1997 Matchman of the Year Steve Conroy (Tri-Cast Highfield) was second with 5-11-0. John's team, Ted Carter Preston, finished third on the day with none of his team mates able to emulate John's performance.

Nelson's Dave Wells, who now fishes for Tri-Cast Calder (and is a little older than John) was also in the frame last week. His match was on the Leeds and Liverpool at Saltaire in W Yorks, a 118 peg practise for this weekend's Pennine Winter League match.

Dave also used the bloodworm joker attack but, like the rest of the top performers on the day, found better quality fish falling to caster. Dave was third with 5-5-0, a long way behind Normark's Andy Barker who won with a very nice roach net of 7-10-0. These were very good weights and it will be interesting to note any change in form this week.

You will know, if you read this column regularly, I favour the Rufford Canal very much as a winter venue. This is one choice where I would consider the chances of a decent catch possible any time in chilly weather. It didn't disappoint the 42 anglers who fished the latest Lostock Tackle Open last Saturday, and the fact most of the anglers used bloodworm is not really significant (bread-punch is great for pleasure anglers).

Saints' Steve Boyd headed the list from a boatyard peg (where you should target) with almost 10lbs of roach.

Chorley Socials and Geoff Done Tackle (Blackburn) each have a team in the Wigan Winter League. Unfortunately neither could provide a money-winner last weekend, but they are clearly evenly matched teams - finishing joint sixth.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Appley Bridge was not on top form and, without the option of bloodworm being allowed, most anglers chose to attack with squatt, punch or caster.

The winner, Jimmy Pidgeon, took an all-roach catch of 4-7-12, mainly on caster, from his peg in the basin at the bottom of Appley Bridge Lock.

The Ribble is, again, running quite low. The leaves have mostly pushed through however, and some decent chub and barbel are falling to maggot and luncheon meat, on feeder, from Samlesbury and Balderstone. By travelling light and trying any likely looking peg you should encounter a fish or two.

This is a great way to spend a day in chilly weather, and one which is very feasible on a river with fewer anglers than for some time in evidence. Don't fish too light though, the one fish you lose may be the only bite of the day.

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