THE weather last weekend may have proved to be a disappointment to many, but the fish were in a surprisingly co-operative mood at most commercial fisheries.

Even the previously dismal Pilsworth produced a winning matchweight of over 40lbs.

Almost without exception some of the best weights of the year so far were reported, with carp in particular feeding strongly.

Pellet and paste are the top baits without doubt, but most successful matchmen would not go without being armed with caster as well.

Cat meat has made its presence felt for a number of good pleasure catches with one top matchweight as well.

That was at Copthorne on Sunday where it produced a top weight of 66-0-0, carp to eight pounds from peg 21 on The Lake, which just about doubled the weight of the nearest challenger. The event was the Premier League in which Hyndburn's Arthur Hargreaves, despite not figuring in the frame, is still hanging on to second place overall.

Nelson's Terry Clark was in action at the same Nateby venue the day before, finishing in the runners-up spot with 26-9-0. The match was fished after a very cold night and the competitors were surprised that catmeat presented close to a near bank weedbed produced 47-10-0 of carp for the winner.

There was no local success last week at Brookside where all the species present seem to have been feeding well, including the carp, producing winning matchweights of over 50lbs.

A good choice of venue for the pleasure angler is this Stretton fishery, where caster will get you bites all day long from chub, carp, roach, rudd, tench and skimmers. Having said that, soft pellet fished over lightly fed micro-pellet is likely to produce as much, if not more action.

The top fisheries were however, predictably I suppose, Bradshaw Hall and Greenhalgh Lodge. Lake Four, at the Bolton fishery, is the one to target with a pole presented paste/pellet approach producing a match-winning 125-12-0 from peg 6.

There was local interest, as usual, in the match at Greenhalgh Lodge and they did not disappoint. John Rogers' 56-3-0 put him into third place on a good day, just edging out Dave Pickering who brought 52-2-0 to the scale.

The match provided the winner, bailiff Leon Weszka, with his second successive Saturday victory and a memorable catch of 102-7-0. It would have been much more, but he was 'seen off' by big fish no less than six times during the match.

He knows the fishery better than anyone else, of course, making that knowledge count by choosing to fish feeder as others set up poles. His block-end feeder was packed with micro-pellet and he hair rigged either pellet or corn to tempt carp into double figures.

There are pleasure anglers who are still unsure about pellet fishing, preferring to stick with conventional baits. They are missing out on the most significant bait revolution to hit angling since Benny Ashurst sorted out casters for us - and that was some time ago now.

The use of pellets on commercial fisheries, where the fish are used to them, can make an enormous difference to catch rates. They certainly attract the bigger specimens than either maggot or caster and, significantly, are an inexpensive option.

That is because you need only small amounts, with a standard bag providing enough for at least four sessions. You cannot get enough maggots or casters for 50p and that's for sure.

The cheapest are trout pellets which, like carp-specific pellets are very rich. Both are pungent and produce an attractive oily slick when you introduce them. You do not need large amounts to either attract fish into your swim, nor to hold them there when they arrive.

Small helpings fed very regularly, is the way to do it. If you fell the need to put down a bed of feed then use only the micro-pellets referred to earlier. They will hold the fish for long periods without filling them up. You can feed the larger pellets, little and often, over the top.