MOST stillwater pleasure anglers spent last weekend tucked up by the fire at home, but match anglers are made of sterner stuff and having to break the ice to enable fishing is merely inconvenient.

That is what the 84 competitors assembled for the first round of the teAMS Hyndburn & Blackburn teams of four league were faced with last Sunday on the Leeds/Liverpool Canal, and break it they did. Non-match anglers might find it surprising that any fish at all can be caught after that, but they certainly can as was proven.

The fish are rarely to be found fighting between themselves to be first to your hookbait on days like this, but a careful approach with fine tackle and small baits will usually provide some action. More often than not that would mean a single or double joker, but with the bait banned in these matches an alternative has to be found.

The best, by far, is tiny pieces of punched bread. That means using the smallest punch that can be bought, about two millimetres in diameter, and slices from a thin cut loaf (little to beat Warburtons for sure). Feeding is kept to the minimum, with tiny nuggets of shop bought 'punch crumb' or very finely liquidised bread sparingly used.

The shallowest water is obviously not the right place to find any fish there are and so, like all the others, the winner concentrated on the deepest water. He, Barrie Whittle of Team Van den Eynde, and his nearest challenger Sean Mercer (Lostock Tackle Red), who was at the very next peg, had a 'ding-dong' battle throughout.

They were pegged at Clayton-le-Moors and shared what proved to be a very isolated pocket of fish. Others had to 'scratch' a bit, but not these two. The fish were decent enough roach, up to about six ounces, which fed throughout. The winner, who finished with 6-8-13, stuck to the tiny punch approach but Whittle had some success with hemp towards the end of the five hours, taking a better stamp of fish and brought 6-1-7 to the scales.

These two anglers would appear, on paper at least, to have been fishing a separate match to the rest since the next best weight was a mere 3-13-12. Even that was reasonable for a very difficult day and would have won many matches in other parts of the country. Top local individuals were Dave Wells of Nelson, but fishing for Tri-Cast Rochdale Black, and Dave Brierley, teAMS H&B Black.

In the team stakes, last year's winners Van den Eynde Gold, struggled into 13th place, leaving the way open for the rest to steal a march on them. Lostock Tackle Red, helped enormously by the performance of Mercer, took the honours with 18 penalty points. Specialist Baits were next with 23 and these two have a decent margin over the rest with Ted Carter Southport closest on 31. Local hopefuls teAMS Hyndburn & Blackburn Black had a reasonable day, finishing fourth with 33.

Anglers not involved in the league had the opportunity to book on the Mack's MG Open, being held on the same canal in Burnley. 24 did so, but they found the Wilkies length to be less accommodating than Clayton. Breadpunch was again the top bait but weights were surprisingly poor on this, one of the best stretches in the town. Bolton fishmonger (appropriate)? Mick Hargreaves was an easy winner with 3-12-8, from Padiham angler Nick Bridge who managed 2-6-4.

Whether or not the thaw has been rapid enough to open up the way for the canal anglers tomorrow, remains to be seen. Those of you whose target is the river are not really bothered about that, but you can be sure it will be a bit warmer and the rod rings will not be freezing up, as they were in the week. You should also find the river's chub in feeding mood, wherever you go though barbel may not be so obliging.

At this time of year my personal preference is for the faster, shallower water working a breadflake loaded link leger for the bigger specimens. I am also a devotee of stick float fishing, making me something of a rarity these days but this requires the chosen swim to be a bit deeper and of an even pace.

Just like the ones on the final half mile or so of the River Darwen, before it enters the Ribble at Walton-le-Dale, for example. The pegs on the main river just downstream of where the Darwen enters are also quit suitable for this and, I am happy to report, both have been fishing very well.

The average size of the chub and dace is fairly small in the Darwen itself, but there are plenty of them. The main river is a much different prospect, with a nice variety of fish falling to maggot. Small barbel have started to make an appearance here and figure in many nets. They run to about two and a half pounds, but there are some bigger chub than this and roach of various sizes.