AS more severe flooding hit the region, the major casualty was the Acomb Tackle York and District Winter League which suffered its third cancellation of the campaign.

Fortunately, levels started to drop further up the river systems and a few anglers were able to sample the delights of flowing waters.

Fish were hard to tempt on the usually prolific Cowthorpe stretch of the Nidd but Simon McArdle (Pontefract) was rewarded for his persistence in Sunday's Bradford No1 match.

With the river carrying several feet of murky flood-water, lob worm was the obvious choice and his only bite of the day, at peg 14 above the Cabbage Patch, was from a superb barbel of 10lb 2oz. Double-figure barbel from the Nidd are rare fish indeed and so it was fitting such a splendid beast should be sufficient to secure victory.

Ian Newby (Bradford No1) was the best of the rest with a brace of chub from peg eight. His fish also fell to lob worm and scaled 7lb 5oz.

The Ouse upstream of York had fallen to a manageable four feet above normal for the third round of the Leeds Winter Series at Hunters Lodge and Linton, which was won in handsome style by Craig Turbitt from peg 258 at Linton.

Using a small chopped worm feeder, Turbitt had to scale down to a single maggot on a 22 hook to tempt bites. His ploy paid off as a dozen roach responded but it was a bream of 6lb which put the result beyond doubt with a 9lb 2oz total.

Second place went to Steve Messenger who also coaxed a bream out of the fancied 219 at Hunter's Lodge. He desperately needed a second one to compete but his groundbait feeder and chopped worm on the hook only produced a further five roach. He had to settle for second place with a final 6-14-0.

The Saturday match on the same venue was fished on a still swollen, but falling river, and was won by Ian Bowman from the unfancied peg 15 at Thorpe Underwood.

Bowman used a small worm feeder, alternating maggot and caster on the hook, and was rewarded with 18 roach for a 4lb 2oz tally. Runner-up Peter Hyde used the same tactics five pegs above the winner to find more, but smaller roach for 3lb 15oz.

Dave Miles must have fancied a bream or two at 221 at Hunter's Lodge but he too had roach to share third spot with Andrew Bradley, who also had 3lb 9oz of roach at 18 on the Thorpe stretch.

Despite a week of milder weather the fish turned fickle at Langwith Lakes and weights unexpectedly fell.

Steph Armitage found his 40lb 14oz offering enough to earn him the fattest brown envelope. Drawn 5 on Bethany's, pellet at 13m saw him safely home ahead of Andy Simpson at 13 on Anya's Lake where the same tactics accounted for 37lb 14oz as carp to 2lb again responded.

Simon Beswick was among the front-runners again this time filling third with 36lb of pellet caught carp from peg 9 on Kevin's Lake.