THE sudden change in weather conditions has led to catch returns taking a slight tumble this week but some Warrington Anglers' Association waters have continued to sparkle.

Different species have been coming to the forefront with predatory pike and perch making appearances.

Don Smith, fishing on the Bridgewater Canal, took pikes of 17lbs, 15lbs, 14lbs and 8lbs, two, in a single session. A pike of 29lbs has also been reported this week.

The canal has been fishing reasonably well with decent weights of roach, perch and skimmers being reported.

Cicely Mill has continued to produce the goods with anglers taking good bags of fish. This has been surprising given the water depth and the sudden temperature change.

Sport on the river Ribble has changed - not only the species being taken but also the method of catching.

With all the rain in the upper reaches plus the onset of autumn, the river has been full of debris which has made the normal approach of ledgering for barbel difficult, if not impossible. However, the stick float approach has been paying dividends with roach, dace and chub being taken in considerable numbers.

The River Dee has been following the same pattern with the stick float method taking good catches of dace, grayling and roach.

The regular match on the River Mersey on Sunday produced reasonable catches with last week's Mersey Championship winner Ian Roberts again claiming the spoils. He had a bag of roach weighing 8lbs 9ozs 0drms. Backing weights were also good.

Sandiway Lakes have been fishing steadily with reports of double figure carp being taken from the large lake as well as large bream and tench. The small lake has been accounting for bags of roach, perch plus the occasional tench and chub.

Please keep your water reports coming in as they are an indicator of how our waters are performing. They also allows us to pass this information on to other members, who regularly contact us to ask our advice on where is best to fish.

C. Grehan

Results: River Mersey competition: 1, Ian Roberts, 8-9-0; 2, Stan Deakin, 7-14-0; 3, Craig Ritchie, 4-13-0; 4, Bob Birchall, 4-10-6.

Events: Saturday: Open match, draw 11am, Walton Arms (pegs 181-350).