INTERMITTENT showers and falling temperatures have made fish more active over the past week with many moving off the bottom to feed.

Canal waters have begun to clear following the long summer and pike to double figures have been spotted in shaded swims.

Overall, fishing conditions continue to improve along most stretches of the Leeds-Liverpool waters and there have been reports of roach shoaling up at some sites.

Leaches Bridge, west of Riddlesden, remains a popular and productive spot. One Keighley club member landed 20 roach and five perch in three hours using maggot and bread punch.

As water plants and other vegetation start to recede, anglers have reported improved fishing conditions on Roberts pond where roach and perch succumbed to maggot and worm baits.

Meanwhile on the River Aire, 42 fish were caught in a single session at Utley. The haul mainly comprised chub, roach and dace attracted by mixed maggot and hemp combinations. Most of the fish were reported to be of modest size although larger specimens were caught in waters closer to Kildwick.

Keighley Angling Club noted a sharp rise in the number of people viewing its YouTube videos, mostly created by Darren Watson. Darren, who is an accomplished fisherman and keen amateur film-maker, regularly adds footage to the site.

So far more than 84,000 people have watched films linked to the popular angling club.