By Kingfisher

JUST a few years ago we would now, having entered the close season for coarse fishing, be considering just what we would be doing for the next three months.

I'm not going to dig up the old 'Should we or shouldn't we?' debate, but there are certain benefits to the old way which are sorely missed.

Not least of these is the annual tackle check - when rods and reels would be subject to a close examination, and would be cleaned/serviced/repaired as a matter of habit, before being put away for a rest.

Now that equipment is used all year round, by the vast majority of coarse anglers, this just does not happen any more. I heard someone remark the other day that his new reels didn't seem to last as long as the old ones, despite improvements in design.

When I pointed out that they need, and used to get, annual attention it seems he had forgotten and, despite using the reels much more than he used to, they received no maintenance at all now.

I really used to enjoy spreading out my tackle for cleaning in the living room - though the newspapers didn't always repel the three in one oil. That seems to be such a long time ago now for, many years before the abolition of the close season, I had discovered the joys of trout fishing and only changed the venues come March 15.

That was back in the days before the development of commercial put and take fisheries really boosted trout fishing for the masses, but at least we weren't known as fluff flingers. The advent of year-round coarse fishing and, in particular, the introduction of heavily stocked commercial coarse fisheries has had a quite dramatic effect on trout fishing.

It is quite simply this - some anglers who used to fish for trout now don't. That now means those who do have fewer places left open to us, for large numbers of the commercial trout fisheries have now been converted to commercial coarse fisheries.

Variety is, they say, the spice of life. That's why we all used to belong to clubs which offered both coarse and game angling, or to clubs which specialised. The coarse fishing biased clubs now seem to be flourishing with the new rules, but is that at the expense of the trout clubs?

My view is that it may well be the case, and that explains why Colne Water Angling Club wrote to me this week.

Their membership level is falling below the number they need to maintain, never mind improve, the quality of fishing on its club waters. The long and short of it is they need members and, as a result, are offering an excellent incentive to potential new recruits. For this year only they are waiving the very substantial new members fee usually applicable. They have some (two) very interesting waters in Laneshaw Reservoir and the small (Colne Water) river flowing through the valley. Both are picturesque venues and, between them, offer the variety often missing from the lives of fluff flingers. There has never been a better time to join.

Give Robin Varley, the hon sec, a ring on 01535 634426 and see what they have to offer. I know he will tell you that it is a friendly and old established club which assures new members of a warm welcome and excellent sport, but I'm sure you will have some other questions for him. There remains, of course, a close season on the rivers. Last weekend saw the last opportunity until June 16 to target chub and barbel (not many anglers now specialise in dace). Some anglers on the river were able to secure a decent fix which will last until then, but most were disappointed with the standard of sport to finish the season with.

They will no doubt, revert to the canal and other stillwaters to try to satisfy their craving. Unfortunately for them they will find the going quite difficult for a while yet, with sport on the canal, in particular, entering a very quiet spell.

Catches will improve as the fish gather for spawning, with bream featuring. Not yet though, and roach catches are on the decline.

Hyndburn and Blackburn AA held the final round of their teams of four league, on the canal at Clayton-le-Moors/Rishton last weekend and, though weights look reasonable, there were clear signs of a slowing down. Being the last match, team performances must take priority over those of individual anglers, though that of Hyndburn's own John Rogers (fishing under the Ted Carter Preston banner) was pretty special.

Lostock Tackle Box Blue could hardly have done better, winning the day and attracting just 17 penalty points. They were lying in second place overall before the match, but it would have needed a disastrous day for GTI Rochdale as well to give them the title, and that didn't happen.

Rochdale finished fifth on the day but still clinched the championship by a clear 17 points.

Back to John Rogers then. This young man was pegged on the red buildings at the Rishton end of the match, where he used pole/punch for an excellent net of roach and skimmers for a 7-2-0 total.

That was well over two pounds clear of second placed Steve Duckworth (Hyndburn Messrs). He, like Lostock Tackle, couldn't have done any better on the day but the result was the same. It just wasn't quite enough to clinch the overall title, and John had to be satisfied with second - still a great performance.

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