Luton Angling Club - Weekly News Reports

Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - 28th June 2026

Here is the weekly round up of news, information and catch reports from Luton Angling Club for the week ending 21st June 2026. A fairly quiet week for reports this week likely due to the extreme heatwave we have been experiencing.

With fast rising water temperatures at North House and Beckerings the decision was made to temporarily close these waters for a few days. When water temperatures are high dissolved oxygen levels plummet and fish stress increases exponentially. Thankfully the weather is now cooling off and we have re-opened both venues. Please consider carefully the amount of bait you are using and always keep an eye on the water and if you see any fish in distress please report immediately.

**Important Information for Junior Members**

Following advice from the Angling Trust, together with guidance from our Safeguarding and Legal Advisors, the club must clarify its position regarding junior anglers on Luton Angling Club waters.

We have been advised that no one under the age of 16 may fish unaccompanied on any Luton Angling Club venue. The accompanying person does not need to be an angler, but they must be an Adult who remains present throughout the session.

Although the current club book lists the unaccompanied age as 12, this was an error. The correct and required rule is that all under‑16s must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Luton Angling Club has always been proud to encourage youngsters into angling, and we remain committed to supporting junior participation through coaching events, safe access to waters, and positive experiences on the bank. This clarification ensures that young anglers can continue enjoying the sport safely and responsibly, in line with national safeguarding guidance.

If you do not wish to continue with your Junior membership on this basis, you may return the membership book and any keys purchased to the club’s PO Box address. Once received, a full refund will be issued.

We are sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment this may cause.

In addition to this social media post we have sent letters and also emails to all the Junior members on our membership database. 

Eaton Ford - River Ouse
Lewis Hackett fished the River Ouse section at Eaton Ford and enjoyed a good session, with the standout fish being this stunning perch weighing in at 3lb 9oz.
Lewis Hackett - 3lb 9oz Perch - Eaton Ford
Grand Union Canal
Jack O'Brien had a few hours on the the Grand Union Canal on the Three Locks upper section (just past the bridge). He caught steadily all afternoon feeding groundbait, maggots and hemp with maggot or hemp on the hook on a close line and a further line across the canal. Once the shoal of skimmers and small bream found his bait it provided some great fishing.
Jack O'Brien - Grand Union Canal
Jack O'Brien - Grand Union Canal
Elsewhere on the canal Colin Holmes and Danny Worth fished their Pick and Choose Round 1 match at Grove Church. They fished for four and a half hours and Colin took the win with 6lb 13oz. Danny weighed in with 4lb 5oz
Colin Holmes - Pick and Choose Match
Beckerings Reservoir
Beckerings reopened today (Sun 28th June) after the temporary closure Bailiff Neil Cox had a result catching two off the surface with this one being the biggest.
Neil Cox - Beckerings

Biddenham River Ouse
Today (Sunday) marked Sam Costanini’s very first outing as a Luton Angling Club member. Choosing the River at Biddenham for his debut session, Sam settled onto Peg 9 and was rewarded early.
At 9:15 am, he caught this Mirror Carp, He was particularly relieved that the fish didn’t make a dash for the lily pads as he was bringing it in.
Sam Costanini - Biddenham

That's all we have for this week, keep those catch reports coming in as we love seeing your catches, you can submit your catch reports via our social media pages or via the club website.

Tight Lines

Dave M
Luton Angling Club

Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - 21st June 2026

Here is the weekly round up of news, information and catch reports from Luton Angling Club for the week ending 21st June 2026.

Last Sunday our dedicated work party team consisting of Brian Turner, Nathan Porter, Roger Bland, Fergal O'Kane, Dennis Vivienne, Neville Hunt, and Andy Smith were at Wyboston preparing the swims along the river - Extra thanks to Andy Smith who provided everyone with food and drinks to keep them going. The fisheries team are always wanting additional pairs of hands to assist with maintenance work like this so if you want to get involved get in touch.

Wyboston Work Party

Wyboston Work Party

The start of the River fishing season got off to a good start this week with two of our venues producing some nice River Carp.

Our Eaton Ford stretch of the Ouse wasted no time in reminding us why our river stretches hold such a special place in the club’s history, producing a truly memorable fish on the opening day of the river season. Chris Lilley was the angler to get things underway in style, landing this fantastic 25lb 14oz Common which was witnessed and photographed by bailiff Stewart.

Chris Lilley - 25lb 14oz Eaton Ford

On Wednesday on the Ouse at Biddenham Barry Hpa had a Mirror Carp of 15lb 6oz it put up a great fight on the float and a number of firsts as its the first time Barry has fished the ouse and it was his first ever River carp and also the first picture of a carp caught from Biddenham that has been sent to us.

Barry Hpa - Biddenham

At Lavendon Mill on the upstream section Barry Stevenson had he had 2 bream with the biggest weighing 7lb 2oz, he also had 4 roach, 2 Bleak & 1 Dace.

Barry Stevenson - Lavendon Mill

At Beckerings On his 3rd session at Beckerings Paul Andrews had a Cat that was well over 44lb as it spun the dials on his Reuben Heaton scales. The bite came at around lunchtime and it took him a long time to land it using 15lb mono size 6 barbless hook and a 2.75lb TC rod as he didn't want to lose it.

Paul Andrews - Beckerings Catfish

Finley Parish has found his feet at the reservoir now as after a long run of blanks he's now finding the fish, after catching four carp including a new PB common on his last session, His latest session gave him a new PB Mirror at 17lb and a Common at 15lb.

Finley Parish - Beckerings

Finley Parish - Beckerings

Match Report for Wednesday 17th June 2026

The Author CS Lewis wrote “Some journeys take us far from home. Some adventures lead us to our destiny “. Thirteen anglers set out on a journey to the wonders of Northamptonshire to fish the Snake Lake at Ringstead which is owned and managed by our esteemed friends at Wellingborough Angling Club. The destiny for 2 anglers in particular was not what they were hoping for. 

Graham Stringer found out that the centre of gravity of the human torso is limited by the distance you lean out over the water to recover a hook from an overhanging snag. The result was a big splash as he fell in! 

The second unfortunate was Andy Frankum who suffered an even worse (and more expensive) mishap which resulted in the breakage of the bottom section of his Pole. Had Graham Stringer stood next to Andy, the heat generated by the language he used would have dried his clothes very quickly. 

There was nothing to be done to help poor Andy except to sympathise with his bad luck. Graham was luckier in the form of one of the staunchest members of the club, Ray Burton, who not only supplied Graham with some dry clothes but had also previously provided him with a spare landing net pole to cover for the one Graham had forgot to pack. Once again Ray “rescue remedy” came to the fore with kindness. Thank you Ray.

The match was pegged to the right side of the lake. The weather was relatively kind in that early rain dissipated and the day remained dry with sunny intervals (Dennis Hunt was out of the country so could do no harm). The lake looked very inviting with good colour, but the wind was a hindrance to some pegs.  

Despite the foregoing setbacks, most enjoyed a decent day fishing. Wellingborough Angling Club keep the venue in pristine condition, and we are very grateful to them for allowing us the use of it. 

We are indebted as usual to Ray Burton, who, as well as organising the administration of the match and dealing with the finances acted as a tackle guru and lifeguard to Graham Stringer. Very grateful thanks as usual Ray.  

Additionally, Ray, assisted by Andy Frankum undertook the weigh in at the end of the match – Thank you again Ray and Andy. To repeat again, we are truly blessed with such fantastic blokes who always pitch in to make matters as efficient and enjoyable as possible. 

The actual fishing was somewhat patchy as the weights set out below illustrate. However, some anglers did manage to engage with some of the Carp which populate the Lake and others managed to find some decent sized Bream and Roach.

A well-deserved magnificent winning weight of 25lbs 15oz deservedly went to a real stalwart of the club.

Bart Bonito who supports all matches and carries out any duties asked of him with a ready smile and a kind word. He fished a pole set up on peg 18, feeding Hemp and Tares down the middle of the lake with Roach in mind. He added a further line of caster on the far bank and added an inside line fed with pellets in the hope of tempting carp. Bart caught steadily all day with Chub, Roach and Bream on the far line, then Roach and Bream on the middle line of hemp. With no result from the inside line, Bart reverted to the far line and lost 3 carp. Changing up to a more robust rig resulted in the successful capture of 3 Carp and further silver fish to top up his winning weight. Well done Bart – a just reward for such a thorough and well thought out approach.     

In second place was Dave Ridley with 9lbs 15oz made up of Roach, Skimmer Bream, one decent sized Bream and Perch. He used a Rod and Line approach with a crystal waggler float with maggot and caster hook bait and loose feed, regularly catching fish “on the drop” from Peg 10. A good effort Dave – just shows that Rod and Line always has a place in match fishing.

Despite the disaster with the bottom section of his pole, Andy Frankum still managed a very creditable 3rd place with a weight of 8lbs 4oz from peg 5. Unfortunately, Andy has not supplied any information on his tactics (obviously likes keeping secrets)

Simon Foulkes finished in 4th Place with 7lbs exactly – again we have no details of method/ bait except that Simon used a pole rig from peg 8 using maggot caster and chopped worm feed to capture a mixed bag of fish.    

The overall result of the Match was as follows: - 
1st   Bart Bonito 25lbs 15oz   
2nd Dave Ridley 9lbs 15oz 
3rd Andy Frankum 8lbs 4oz
4th  Simon Foulkes 7lbs 
5th Richard Gibbs 5lbs 14 oz
6th Graham Stringer 5lbs 10 oz 
7th Colin Holmes 4lbs 9 oz 
8th Malcolm Ogden 3lbs 4 oz 8 drams
9th Paul Carr 2lbs 7 oz 
10th Les Burton 2lbs 5 oz 
11th Pete Smith 2lbs 4oz 
12th Ray Burton 2lbs 1oz
13th Dave Whillock 1lb 12oz

Our next match is on Wednesday 24th June 2026 which is again to be held upon an away venue at St Albans Lakes Complex, North Orbital Road, St Albans AL4 0RY. There is a tackle shop on site which can supply bait. Organisation for pegging, parking etc will be easier if people can advise the likelihood of their attendance at the earliest possible time. 

Please remember that this is predominantly a Carp Fishery but also has large bream also possible so 2 keep nets is a requirement and the fishery do not supply them. Please look up St Albans AS fishery Rules. 

Draw at the venue at 8.30am, £10.00 day tickets price plus £5.00 optional pools. Fish 10.00am – 3.00 pm. The number of available pegs may be limited so book early.

For anyone thinking of joining us for the first time please message Dennis Hunt or Ray Burton so we know you are coming before turning up. 

Please bring your club membership book (With Photograph in place) as you will be asked to produce it for your first attendance. 

Wednesday Match

Hot Weather Reminder for All Members - Heatwave 

With the temperatures climbing over the next few days and some amber alerts issued for hot weather, please take extra care of our fish and yourselves. 

Fish Welfare
- Minimise the amount of bait used to prevent water quality issues.
- Keep handling to a minimum and always over a wet unhooking mat.
- Rest fish fully before release  
- Avoid using keepnets where possible.
- Keep an eye on the water and report any signs of fish in distress as algal blooms can cause dissolved oxygen levels to crash.

Angler Welfare  
- Stay hydrated and take regular shade breaks  
- Wear a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen  
- Know the signs of heat exhaustion.

A little extra care goes a long way in warm weather.  

Look after the fish, look after yourselves and others, and enjoy your time on the bank.

If you see any fish in distress please contact the club immediately and also the environment agency incident line on 0800 80 70 60

That's all we have for this week

Tight Lines.

Dave

Luton Angling Club.

Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - 14th June 2026

Here is the weekly round up of news, information and catch reports from Luton Angling Club for the week ending 14th June 2026.

The wait is nearly over for those itching to get back on our River stretches — the river season opens on 16th June, After the usual three months of closed‑season rest,

The rivers are ready to welcome anglers back and we look forward to seeing your catch reports from our River sections - Will you be the first to report a catch from one of our River sections for the 2026/27 Season? Send us in your catch reports via the website or our social media pages.

Beckerings Reservoir

Harry Hart had 5 Carp from Beckerings on Saturday night - the weights were 25lb, 13lb, 15lb, 16lb and 20lb

Harry Hart - Beckerings

Carlo struggled to get past the Bream during his session,but eventually the rod ripped off with a nice 24lb common and then at first light he had another common.

Carlo - Beckerings

Junior member Jacob Moynes had nothing all day so decided to change swim during the afternoon. The move soon paid off with a lovely looking 14lb Mirror this looks like Stockie 17 from 2022.

Jacob Moynes - 14lb Mirror

Jacob's fish when it was stocked in 2022.

Rob Miller sent in some recent catches from Beckerings. Last week he had a Cat at 62lb from Peg 13. It was his first ever Catfish and was caught at half past midnight. He also sent in some pictures of this weekends session with him catching a 20lb Linear and his son Max had a 12lb Stockie. His other son Teddy had a beauty of a common at 16lb and a chunky 8lb Bream that he was chuffed to catch. Rob commented that Beckerings is an amazing water and that bailiff Neil couldn't be any more helpful and friendly.

Rob Miller 62lb Catfish - Beckerings

Rob Miller - Beckerings

Teddy Miller - Beckerings Bream

Teddy Miller - Beckerings

Max Miller - Beckerings

Midweek Match - Wednesday 10th June 2026 - Report by Terry Vickers

The famous writer John Ruskin wrote” there is no such thing as bad Weather, only different kinds of good weather “. Fifteen anglers who turned up to fish a match upon the Town South pound of the Grand Union Canal on 10th June 2026 would beg to differ. The weather forecast for 10th June was changeable with sunny periods and occasional showers. It should have read short sunny periods with a regular deluge!  

Even being aware of the likely vagaries of the weather, the anglers who did turn up showed hardy bravado and dared the weather to do its worst. 

The weather obliged. Some crumb of hope to be saved from drowning was grasped at due to the absence of The Great Leader and weather doom merchant, Dennis Hunt. In the event such hope turned out to be a forlorn one. 

Despite the previous days of persistent rainfall, the canal looked in a reasonable state. Tony Hickmott, our Climate Adviser, recorded a water temperature of 16 degrees Celsius, which roughly equated to the air temperature. 

The pound was well populated by moored boats and there was a constant procession of other boats passing through which did not help the water colour. Further jeopardy appeared during the match with heavy rain culminating in an overhead thunderstorm at the end of proceedings, resulting in the return to the car park becoming a march of endurance. (Someone commented that they had never seen Bart Bonito move so fast)  Also Thunder and lightning is definitely not welcome when using a 14m carbon fishing  Pole.  

Once again, the overhanging trees adjacent to the towpath were of concern in the high wind and heavy rain. Luckily no reports of falling branches or trees was evident this time. Nonetheless this is still an issue of which the CRT / Local Authority should deal with as promptly as possible. 

We are indebted to Bart Bonito for his scouting mission to establish boat numbers moored in the pound and for setting out the pegs in the available gaps. The number of boats moored in the pound made pegging less straightforward than it should have been. Thank you Bart. 

Also, thanks go to Tony Hickmott for standing in for Dennis to arrange draw balls, Match sheets, clipboards, pens and scales for weighing in. A very welcome return to the fold was in the form of Ray Burton, who as usual turned out on a day of dodgy weather to administer the finance and administration required to make an enjoyable match.  

Additionally, Tony, ably assisted by Colin Holmes, undertook the weigh in at the end of the match – Thank you again Tony and Colin. To repeat, we are truly blessed with such fantastic blokes who always pitch in to make matters as efficient and enjoyable as possible.

The actual fishing along the stretch was somewhat patchy as the weights set out below illustrate. However, some anglers did manage to engage with some good-sized fish in various parts of the pound.

The winning weight of 8lbs exactly deservedly went to Pete Smith (aka The Bedford Bandit a name earned from landing £100 prize pot for one 2oz perch in a match at Bedford ). He drew peg 6 which held some good-sized mature fish. The “deservedly” tag was appropriate because Pete forgot to pack his Brolly, so he fished 5 hours with no cover at all. Peter fished the pole in two lines at 6m and 12m respectively and capitalised by fishing pinkie over groundbait. This resulted in the capture of a number of skimmer bream and small fish which weighed in at 8lbs exactly. Well done, Peter.

 A long way behind Pete in second place was Tim Watts with 3lbs 7oz 8 drams made up of 62 small fish from Peg 11. Tim opted to target small fish with squatt and pinkie on size 22 and 24 hooks.   He fished 2 lines at 4.50 metres and 11.00 metres respectively. A good effort Tim – persistence rewarded,

The bread punch king, Chris Howard on peg 14 took third place with 2lbs 14 oz – again mainly small fish. Starting well, Chris caught consistently down the track for the first hour but struggled thereafter with the heavy rain causing inconsistent flow patterns in the water which was exacerbated by the passage of several boats. 

Dave Whillock experienced the same difficulties but still managed to finish in 4th place from Peg 13 with 2lbs 10oz. Dave also made a good start with a 12oz skimmer bream and some roach using bread punch down the track.  When this line stopped producing he reverted to pinkie over groundbait at 11.00m for a few small perch and roach to make up his bag.  

The overall result of the Match was as follows: - 

1st   Pete Smith 8lbs exactly  
2nd Tim Watts 3 lbs 7 oz 8 drams
3rd Chris Howard 2lbs 14oz
4th Dave Willock 2lbs 10 oz
5th Simon Foulkes 2lbs 4 oz
6th Syd Wilson 1lb 14 oz 
7th Bart Bonito 1lb 7 oz 
8th Dave Abbott 1lbs 2 oz 
9th Sean Leatherland 1lb 1 oz 8 drams
10th Ray Burton 14oz 
11th Pete Mills 11oz 
12th Colin Holmes 6 oz 8 drams 
13th Tony Hickmott 4 oz 8 drams 
14th Dave Ridley 2 oz 8 drams 
15th Les Burton 1 oz 

Finally, once again our thanks are due to the Tracey for her assistance with the weigh in and all the post-match record keeping including the hot fishing posting, as well as keeping Sean on the straight and narrow.  

Our next match is on Wednesday 17th June 2026 which is to be held upon an away venue upon Wellingborough AC Snake Lake in the Fishery Complex at Ringstead, Northants.  Organisation for pegging, parking etc will be easier if people can advise the likelihood of their attendance at the earliest possible time. 

Draw at the venue at 8.30am, £5.00 optional pools. Fish 10.00am – 3.00 pm. The number of available pegs may be limited so book early.

For anyone thinking of joining us for the first time please message Dennis Hunt or Ray Burton so we know you are coming before turning up. Please bring your club membership book with you as you will be asked to produce it for your first appearance.

Pick and Choose - Match Result
Daniel Carr and Tony Hickmott.
Daniel and Tony fished their match on the canal at Town South today. They fished for 5 Hours with Daniel taking the win with 75 fish totalling 3lb 13oz.  Tony Hickmott weighed in 1lb 1oz. 
Daniel Carr angling shared his experience in his own words.
"Today I fished Luton Angling Club's canal pick and choose tournament. 1st round.
I arrived not too happy about the venue as my opponent chose town south which ain't one of my favourite stretches of canal and I had to borrow my younger brother's old tackle as my tackle was split between two places fortunately I got to pick the swims and I got the one I wanted.
So I set up two lines one 4ms out on whip and one on the far bank. Then kept it simple and fed groundbait and pinkies on both lines. I only ended up catching 2 fish on the whip but I didn't know what was happening for the rest of the day as I just kept catching fish nothing big and just and constant flow of them.
I finished with 75 fish for 3lb 13oz which is my best match numerically on the canal so was super happy with this result as I beat my opponent and move on to round 2" 

"In the Net History"

You may recall we published some historical pics from our members a little while back.  It's always great to see some historical pictures so if you have any to share from Luton waters then please send them in. 

One of our members Kletos' father passed away a couple of weeks ago and his mum has given him several pictures from when he was fishing with his dad in the 90s, including several from fishing at Beckerings and a few from the Canal.  As he goes through them he is going to send them over so we can share them.

The first one is December 1991 and Kletos' first double figure Pike (10lb 4oz). This was caught off Peg 4 at Beckerings. 

He said the venue hasn't really changed over the years other than the water used to be crystal clear and it was full of Canadian Pond Weed, particularly at the top end as you come in. 

You used to park in the Carpark by the gate as you come in and then walk all the way across the field to the base of the lake and up the stairs. 

He was talking to Neil, the Bailiff, about the venue yesterday and said that the Half Lin Mirror was in the reservoir at that point and came out at around 26lb 8oz back then.

He has got several more pictures to share including pics of the 2lb 4oz 4dr Perch which was our former long standing Junior Club Record caught on October 12th 1991. 

Kletos with a Pike from Beckerings in December 1991

Prompted by the facebook post of the photo of Kletos' Pike from the early 90's, Steve Humm dug out some old photos also of catches from Beckerings in the 90's - Thanks Steve for sharing these.

Steve Humm - Beckerings 1990's

Slipe Lane Pits

We've been informed that the lakes at Slipe Lane are open again following a temporary closure for spawning. The bailiffs have asked that all clubs remind members to make sure they read the rules. 

Our water share venues have their own rules which differ from our own so please ensure they are followed.

Important Notice: North House Lake Pre-Baiting Reminder.
Please be reminded that following suggestions from concerned members at the AGM a strict no pre-baiting rule remains in effect at North House Lake. 
Unfortunately this missed the print deadline so does not appear in the rule book however local venue signage has been installed to make anglers aware.
This policy is vital to protect the lake's water quality and to ensure fair fishing conditions for all of our members. 
Thank you for your continued cooperation.

That's all we have for this week.

Tight Lines

Dave M
Luton Angling Club