Mir the merrier

ANGLING: FOR a super day out, head to the Mirfield Canal, where there is an abundance of fish in the two to four pound bracket.

In the latest open match on the water, Eric Green came out on top with a fantastic 14lb 14oz catch of mainly roach.

He used the three-metre pole and bread punch before switching to bronze maggot across for more of the same.

Richard Jackson was second from two pegs away, with punch at six metres tempting plenty of roach for 12lb 7oz.



I fished the Mirfield Canal for pleasure in an area ‘shoaled-up’ in front of the Lidl store.

Opting for a bag of liquidised bread for feed and white bread for hook bait, I found where the nearside shelf ended and put in a big pot across to 12 metres, followed by another.

My first drop in on the nearside swim saw a dumpy roach take the bread hook bait, and this carried on for several hours with similar fish around two ounces following.

Every half-an-hour I put in a cup of “liccy” and the fish just kept coming. I then switched to the far swim and carried on with the odd better fish putting in an appearance. I finished the day with a good 10lb plus net of pristine fish.



IT was hard-going in the J & B open on the Peak Forest Canal, with organiser John Edwards needing just 3lb 14oz of small roach on his favourite bread punch to claim top honours.

Second place went to Alan Crook, of Maver NW. He had a brace of 6oz roach and a few perch which, added to some small roach on bread punch and chopped worm, weighed in at 3lb 1oz.



SIMON Walton was my partner in the Pennine Pairs League on the Shipley town centre lengths of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

I was on peg five on the boats section, near to where I won the same match last year, so I fancied my chances.

Alternating between two areas — one in five feet of water and another four metres to my left — I caught more than 300 small roach for 4lb 14oz to win my section and finish third.

Dave Chadwick (Halifax Matrix), boasting a superb record on the water, emerged victorious with some roach and a small skimmer on bread punch for 6lb. Chadwick’s team-mate John Meredith was second and again he caught a better stamp roach than those around him, with bread punch again the telling bait for a 5lb 1oz net.



I SOUGHT out the advice of my Tri-Cast Rochdale team-mate Dave Wells when I fished a Wigan open match on the Botany Bay length of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Wells is rarely out of the money at this venue, and told me there was some big roach, especially off the bottom. With that in mind I set-up three rigs.

I fed a big cup of “liccy” in each and was just about to cup out some casters when I noticed the two anglers to my left were already into good fish.

I went straight out on the 11-metre line with a big punch laid three inches over and the float had hardly settled when I landed a 2lb bream.

The great start continued with half-a-dozen roach, after which I got my head down for some small roach for a second-placed net of 4lb 11oz.

Alan Whalley, the winner, had 6lb of small roach and small skimmers from the end peg.



Venue Guide

Denshaw Vale: Memberships are available. For further details, contact John on 665 1779.

Dowry Reservoir: Day tickets available from Sheddings Angling.

Ogden Reservoir: Day tickets on the bank and at Tight Lines, Shaw. Pike feeding but also worth a go for the carp, with fish of more than 20lb caught this year.

Strinesdale Reservoir: Day tickets on the bank. Maggot for chub. Some good skimmers and roach. Maggot for bait.

Cargate Pool: Medlock Bridge AC members-only water.

Rochdale Canal: The pike are feeding up for the winter, so get out the spinning rod and have a few casts. Pike to double figures are all along this water. Bread punch still a great bait for roach and the odd skimmer.

Bardsley Canal: Day tickets on the bank.

Alexandra Park Lake: Day tickets on the bank. Pegs either side of the footbridge are the best as plenty of perch are feeding. Skimmers and chub also worth a go using either maggot or worm.

Hollingworth Lake: Despite the colder weather, this water still throws-up the odd decent catch. Spin away as there are plenty of pike in this gin-clear water.

Tanners Dam: Diggle AC members-only. A bit harder last weekend with anglers catching skimmers and silvers on pole-fished maggot.



Diary Dates

Sunday: Todmorden AS members-only match on Croft and Townhouse Fisheries. Draw up to 9am at the Falcon Hotel, Littleborough. Fishing 10am to 1pm.

Every Sunday: Open match on Peak Forest and Macclesfield canals. Draw 9am. Fishing 10am to 3pm. Tickets are £11 all in. To book and for further details, call Albert on (0161) 792 2684.

Tuesday, December 17: Diggle AC match on Tanners Dam. Draw 9am. For full details, contact Dave on 07879 474029..

Every Sunday: Open matches on Old Hough Farm Fishery. Draw 8.45am. Turn up on the day.

Every Saturday: Open matches on local canals. Draw 9am. Fishing 10am to 3pm. To book and for further details, contact John on 07801 276059.

To report any news or views on the local or national angling scene, contact Jan Verbruggen on 07846 456408 or email janangling@hotmail.co.uk.