The Yorkshire Ouse Championship on the river above York on Sunday is the main angling match on what is otherwise a very quiet weekend for competitions in the area.

This event has additional significance this year as it is the second leg of the Rivercare Championship for the Ouse.

Sport is at best unpredictable at this time of year, frosty nights, gale-force winds and squally showers all adding to a complicated equation.

The unsettled conditions over the past few days will almost certainly see the Ouse carrying additional water by Sunday but as long as the frost holds off, this might be no bad thing.

Ticket sales should hopefully be in excess of a hundred, which will allow what these days are rarely fished areas to come into play.

The Beningbrough Park section will probably be favoured and, if the river is in flood conditions, could well produce a winning barbel or two.

I suspect that pegs around Killingbeck and the Rough Field at Redhouse could bring some surprises, if pegged.

The Ouse bream shoals have been absent for most of the season, only occasional stragglers coming to net. The slabs must be hiding somewhere, however, and the long walk could well be repeated.

The situation is mirrored on the river below the city, catches of bream and skimmers having been restricted to one or two fish. In terms of match fishing interest this could be good news as there seems to be a healthy population of smaller fish to take their place.

Numbers of roach, perch and small skimmers are up on last winter. Catches by pleasure anglers are approaching double figures in the right conditions. The smaller fish seem willing to feed in flood conditions when the extra flow pushes them within catching range of the bank.

With only one match booked below York this weekend and extra water predicted this would be my banker for a few bites.

Another venue worth trying is the Foss Basin. Small fish are in residence for the winter and the pike that follow them will not be far behind.