ALTHOUGH we are currently enjoying summer again, with an amazing temperature of 26C promised for today, the first frost of winter can only be weeks away.

Night time temperatures through the past week have been falling, with only 6C on Thursday, and I suspect shallow stillwaters may have been adversely affected.

Canals, in particular, have been fishing well, but could show a slowing down of sport. Nevertheless they still represent the chance of some decent fishing, especially for roach.

I have always found autumn to be by far the best season for roach catches. As these temperatures fall, the roach seem to sense the forthcoming long period when food will be scarce, and start to feed heavily.

We still benefit from the last throes of summer with hempseed working well as both feed and hookbait, but my favourite caster now really comes into it own.

A single shell will attract bites from fish as small as an ounce, but fished in doubles or trebles, the caster will search out some fantastic canal roach of well over the pound mark.

Some of you may be surprised to learn that most local stretches of canal hold fish of this size. Even those which fish poorly for smaller roach and other species can be worth trying.

Try pre-baiting an unlikely looking spot with both hemp and casters, perhaps over a period of a few days. Provided you ensure no one sees you, and you have chosen well, there will be no question that the peg will be vacant when you give it a go. Just a couple of hours in the evening may produce the fish of a lifetime - believe me.

There are 852 anglers in Todmorden today, who set out hoping that cool overnight temperatures and the bright heat of the day would not have a too dramatic effect on the fishing.

They are the competitors in the much awaited Fourth Division National Championship, an event which sees anglers pegged from Littleborough all the way through Todmorden and Hebden Bridge to Halifax, where the Rochdale Canal gives way to the Calder and Hebble Navigation.

Steve Michaels, skipper of the crack Tri-Cast Calder side and an expert for many years on this stretch of water, is absolutely spot on when he said: "There cannot be a canal that is more different, section by section, and unless you have done your homework you will be facing a hard time."

A lot of those competitors today will feel that the homework but many will be disappointed in my opinion.

Many of today's competitors swelled the ranks of would be Embassy Pairs qualifiers last week on the same sections (a very bad move I think), and there were 450 of them lining the banks.

Five pairs qualify for the free trip to Denmark for the final next year. There was a pair from Leeds who were probably fortunate. The other four pairs were from Rochdale (two pairs), Hebden Bridge and Todmorden.

Nevertheless I suspect that all those fishing today know exactly the peg at Stubbins Wharf, Hebden Bridge, which produced a truly magnificent winning weight of 33-11-12 for Leeds angler Brian Clay.

Brian pole fished caster over chopped worm feed for 23 bream, and a weight which would most probably have won a gold medal today. Last week, because his partner fared very badly, it didn't even land him a place on the boat to Denmark.

Rochdale's Alan Buckley, with two slabs and 12 skimmers from Finneys for 18-14-4, was second and secured a final place with his partner.

I don't think therefore, that the Rochdale Canal will be top of my list for tomorrow's session. I think a stretch of Leeds and Liverpool locally will be better (perhaps Feniscowles), or I may consider treating myself with a trip to Rufford. Here the side branch of the Leeds and Liverpool is in great form. Bream are being taken in reasonable numbers, but it's roach which are figuring both in good quality and quantity. Bread, both punch and flake, hempeed and casters are working well.

Foulridge Reservoir is definitely the pick of the larger stillwaters locally. Pegs on the field side and the matchbank are producing decent mixed bag. Because of the cooler nights I should ignore the shallower water of the nick-end and stick with pegs where at least 9ft of water can be found.

Very simple feeder tactics are most anglers preference, with maggot, worm, casters and corn the top baits. Shortish casting of 30/35 metres is enough. You must be careful on here to ensure you establish in which direction the undercurrent is going - and allow for it.

We have had a little rain this week, though probably too localised to have had too much of an effect on many Ribble tributaries. There has been some in Yorkshire also, don't forget, and the combined effect could have been significant.

On that basis I wouldn't discount the Ribble as a potential provider of great catches this weekend. Samlesbury certainly looks a good bet for chub and barbel, with Red Scar and Balderstone very, very attractive. Make sure you take loads of hempseed, and meat for the hook, whichever species you fa ncy here.

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