WITH some half-decent weather persisting throughout the week, just about all local venues have been producing a few fish.

With the summer stretching out ahead of us, now all of them can only get better.

The opening week of the season on the rivers was quite reasonable, as recent seasons go, and the word seems to have got round. At least that's the way it seems with many more anglers giving it a go and, consequently, relatively more disappointments.

You cannot, at this time of year, expect to find fish in every swim. Apart from there being far fewer fish in the river, albeit bigger ones, they are shoaling ready for spawning.

Find the shoals and you will, obviously, have a greater chance of catching. All river fish, it seems, choose shallower water to actually spawn but may hold in deeper water close by. Bear this in mind when choosing your swim.

Personally, as I said last week, stretches like Church Deeps would not necessarily be my choice - but I may have to re-think that one.

Alan Hayes of Ribbleton was after barbel as he cast his luncheon meat-loaded hook into this famous section of swims. As I have just stated, I personally favour the faster water right now, especially if barbel are the target, and it was no surprise to learn he didn't latch on to a massive "whiskers."

I couldn't fail to be surprised however, that a bite and ensuing 20 minute battle ended up with a superb CARP of 28lbs in the net. I suppose shocked may be a more appropriate word, for that is how Alan was described.

That's a big carp by anyone's standard, but it's immense from a river. Truly the fish of a life-time, but not the only big one landed by a local angler this week. Accrington's Mark Halstead is keeping the exact location of the lake near his home, which produced a superb tench of 7lbs 2oz for him last week, a secret. I don't blame him, for this fish was just the biggest of 10 which fell for mini-boilies on a size eight hook to 8lbs b.s. line.

Foulridge Reservoir has been producing some very decent fish also, with roach of 2lbs and over figuring in catches featuring bream to 7lbs also. This water must be high on anyone's list at the moment.

Exception is a word which has been used to describe its form at the moment, and you would be wise to take advantage. Simple feeder tactics are all that is required with worm/maggot on the hook. Take some sweetcorn with you for the hook, and some finely chopped to mix in the feed. You needn't fish too far out, especially on the very shallow pegs if the wind is blowing at you. A cast of 30/40 metres is far enough just about anywhere. Lay down a bed of feed with a large open ended feeder over the first 20 minutes or so, and then change to a medium sized one - or even straight lead.

A size 16 hook should be adequate, and don't fish with a hooklength too fine - the fish are big. Twitch the bait to induce bites. I expect swims at the dam end, where there is deeper water close in for the pole, to produce great roach catches within the next four weeks.

Hempseed will be essential if you are to bag up here with roach, though I am usually tempted to fish caster or tare on the hook.

It is different on the canal, where hempseed is favoured for the hook also. If you want to be the first to start catching roach, in both quantity and quality, then pin your faith in hempseed. It may not work yet that well, but persevere and eventually you will start to fill your net. On the match scene, local anglers had a pretty successful weekend, picking up money at a variety of venues.

John Townend and Dave Wells each framed at Border Fisheries with big weights of small carp. Phil Dewhurst was the winner at Greenhalgh Lodge with an even bigger weight of small carp, 39-0-0, using swimfeeder and maggot.

Tony Brown, of Chorley, framed in a midweek event at the same venue, where 40lbs seems just about the average winning weight. Steve Beswick, Todmorden, won the mid-weeker at Pilsworth, and Steve Embery was third in the weekend's biggest match, a 120 pegger at Dover Lock on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

The latest Division Four practice match organised by Todmorden AS on their Rochdale Canal stretch, attracted 59.

Though fishing a little better than of late, it is still fishing very much worse than it will at the time of the big match.

Again local knowledge was so important and, having made what he thought was a poor draw, Frank Szakely decided it was big fish or bust. Luncheon meat on heavy pole tackle resulted in just two bites and, to his credit, two fish. Both were carp (biggest 9lbs) and the 15-3-4 they weighed was enough to win.

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