Anglers have been catching carp off the top during surface fishing trials at Springside.

Fishery bosses say they're relaxing the rules to let anglers use baits like crust and mixers.

One managed a 100lbs net of carp off the top from one of the swims near the car park.

It's an exciting method, because you see the carp approach and hopefully take the bait.

It's also well easy to miss them by striking too soon and yanking the bait straight out of their mouths.

For those who'd rather watch a float than a dog biscuit, the lake's back on form in the bream and tench department.

Peg seven in the bushes on the horsey bank produced a haul of 15 bream and three carp to pellet over the weekend, while fish seem to be moving into the shallower swims at the narrow end.

Rivers and drains seem to be on a bit of a downer, with the Middle Level around Three Holes probably the best of the bunch.

It's nice sitting there in a T-shirt, could the lack of rain we've had – other than last weekend – provide a clue?

I read somewhere else that the rest of the summer's going to be a wash-out. We can but hope.

A few seasons back, predator anglers enjoyed a couple of months of good fishing on the rivers as summer turned to autumn. Bream and roach fishermen were sacking up too.

Those who remember it will also recall this was after the wettest summer for donkey's years, when there were floods across the Midlands.

There should not be any floods in the Fens this winter, thanks to the shiny new pumping station at St Germans.

But with the removal of the sluice beneath Mullicourt Aqueduct, the whole system is going to feel the affects of it.

The sluice divided the Middle Level and maintained water levels further inland for navigtion.

It also meant stretches ranging from the Sixteen Foot and Popham's Eau to the Old Nene didn't often see the harsh flows sometimes encountered on the 'Level when all the pumps were running full belt.

Life never stands still in the Fens. That's for certain.