Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - 30th January 2022

Here is all this week's news and catch reports from Luton Angling Club, Remember all photos submitted of catches from Luton AC Waters are automatically entered in to our monthly photo prize competition and are judged by the committee at the end of each month with a £25.00 cash prize going to the winner.  Send in your catch reports and photos via the club website or our social media pages.

Wyboston River Ouse

Regular contributor to our weekly reports Wojciech was out on the Ouse again and caught a couple more Chub. 

Also at Wyboston the bailiff team spent some time on Sunday morning repairing some of the potholes along the track.

Beckerings Reservoir

At Beckerings Lee Cooke had a wake up call at 7.30 Saturday morning and was expecting a bream as it did not fight him at all. He was surprised and buzzing to see 16lb 4oz of pure gold in the net.

Biddenham River Ouse

Fergal O'Kane had a 10lb Pike from Biddenham.

Wednesday Match Group

Following their January winter break our Luton Wednesday Group will be back on the bank again next week. They have a full program lined up for the New Year including some inter Club fixtures with some visits to Commercial fisheries.

The program for the next couple of months is as follows:

February 2nd

Town North GUC

February 9th

Biddenham River Ouse Reserve Town South GUC if flooded

February 16th

Three Locks Upper sect 4

February 22nd (Tuesday)

Inter Club Ringstead R Nene

March 2nd

Braggenham Side GUC Section 2

March 9th

Wyboston River Ouse

March 16th

Town South GUC

March 23rd

Cooks Wharf GUC

March 30th

Alders farm

Non-members are welcome to attend the matches on the Canal and other venues where day tickets are sold. Meet for the draw at 8.30, fish 10 till 3, with a £5.00 optional pools and a £1.00 entry fee.

This week the Draw for Town North will be held in Vimy Road - Leighton Buzzard

Grand Union Canal

14 Year old Natalia is taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and one of the activities for this program is Litter picking (Look after your local area by cleaning it up and recycling what you can). As her and her father often walk along the Grand Union canal they contacted us to say that Natalia would be litter picking along the canal towpath. She is very proud to be helping nature and the environment and will be doing this for an hour every week for the next couple of months. It is upsetting to see all the rubbish that is left behind by users of the canal towpath but thanks to Natalia there will be much less of it! Here are some photos from her first litter pick. Well Done and Thank You Natalia.

Tight Lines,

 

Dave M 

Luton Angling Club

www.lutonanglingclub.co.uk

www.facebook.com/LutonAC

www.instagram.com/lutonanglingclub

Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - 23rd January 2022

Here is all this week's news and catch reports from Luton Angling Club, Remember all photos submitted of catches from Luton AC Waters are automatically entered in to our monthly photo prize competition and are judged by the committee at the end of each month with a £25.00 cash prize going to the winner.  Send in your catch reports and photos via the club website or our social media pages.

Wyboston River Ouse

On Wednesday night regular contributor to our weekly reports Wojciech caught a nice Chub weighing 4lb 13oz.

Biddenham River Ouse

Our club chairman and treasurer Fergal O'Kane who is another regular contributor to the weekly catch reports fished Biddenham this weekend. He was using a combination of both live and deadbaits. The going was slow and all he had was one Jack Pike on a live bait. He did not get a touch on his deadbaits.

Beckerings Reservoir

I had a conversation with a club member who was at Beckerings hoping the cold weather would bring some of the bigger Roach out. He said he has had them to 2lb 6oz and had a brace of 2lb fish during a previous session along with lots of fish well over a pound. I have asked him to send in pictures of any future catches and I look forward to seeing them as I know the reservoir holds a good number of big Roach as many were seen when the reservoir was netted by the EA for a biomass survey a few years ago. Well worth a visit if you are into Roach fishing.

Grand Union Canal at the Globe

Work Party 20th January 2022

Eight club members met at the Globe at midday on Thursday which was a chilly but bright day. We were armed with Club Pole Saws, Bow Saws, and loppers to make a start removing the overhanging branches that were obstructing the fishing. We are allowed to carry out this maintenance work under our canal agreement and the work is carefully planned with safety of the volunteers and members of the public being the utmost of our priorities. All those attending enjoyed the engaging banter and light exercise!

We made good progress and lots of overhanging timber was cut down and removed to the rear of the towpath. Roger Baker got a little carried away with a bow saw at one point and felled a huge piece of timber which was a challenge to remove from the canal, winning the days Lumberjack prize. The group managed to clear from the pub to about 150 Yds beyond the power lines, leaving the towpath clear and tidy.

We still have much to do and plan weather permitting to continue with our progress towards Leighton Lock next Thursday afternoon, we will meet at the Globe again at Midday and anybody who wants to come and join it is most welcome, the more the merrier, many hands make light work. If those coming have loppers or bow saws, and a stout pair of gloves they can bring with them it would help enormously.

Thank you to all those who gave up some time this afternoon, we made a brilliant start.

Coaching Event - Saturday 22nd January

On Saturday the Luton AC Coaches organised a very successful coaching event / training session in Luton for CRT at the ‘Raise Up Foundation’ community Centre in Luton, where we have been holding our winter off Bank sessions. In the morning attendees included CRT National Fisheries Manager John Ellis, Simon Mottram (aka Motty) one of the best canal anglers in the country and technical ‘Lets Fish’ adviser to John, plus representatives from Luton AC, Wellingborough AC, Reading & District, Northampton Nene AC, Tring Anglers and Mike Heylin representing the Angling Trades Association who was the driving force for what we now know as The Angling Trust. In the afternoon the Luton Coaches, Simon Mottram and John Ellis stayed on and we were joined by our Luton Juniors.

The morning with the coaches consisted of a Q and A session with Motty on a variety of angling subjects, including the preparation of bread punch as a feed and hookbait, suitable hooks and hook lengths, how to keep swims productive for students while coaching, (feeding, optimum distance between pegs etc) and ways of attracting youngsters from diverse background into angling.

We also discussed how we can all work together and cooperate to get more people fishing, sharing coaches etc. Refreshments, (tea, coffee biscuits) including sandwiches for lunch were provided for the coaches who attended

The afternoon session with students attending focussed on the practical side with questions to Motty on methods and tackle, and hands on demonstrations in rig making, (our Juniors each brought some rigs they had made and Motty was impressed with the standard shown) correct elastication and setting of pole elastics, making and using Bread Punch and liquidised bread, and correct mixing and preparation of groundbait.

Our young anglers really enjoyed getting involved in the practical demonstrations and had all thought up some great questions to ask.

Both Coaches and Students who came had a great day and learned a lot from each other.

That's all for this week,

Tight Lines,

Dave M

Luton AC

Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - 16th January 2022

Here is all this week's news and catch reports from Luton Angling Club, Remember all photos submitted of catches from Luton AC Waters are automatically entered in to our monthly photo prize competition and are judged by the committee at the end of each month with a £25.00 cash prize going to the winner.  Send in your catch reports and photos via the club website or our social media pages.

Wyboston South Lagoon

Wojciech caught 2 double figure pike the biggest weighing 16lb 15oz. The bailiffs reported on Saturday that the lake was around 95% frozen over.

Lavendon Mill

Fergal O'Kane fished Lavendon Downstream, water levels were just about normal but pushing through and carrying a lot of colour. He had 2 small Chub, both around the half pound mark a few Dace and a small Roach.

North House Lake

The bailiffs reported on Saturday that the lake was frozen over.

That's all for this week. Please do send in any catch reports as they are very much appreciated.

Tight Lines

Dave M

Luton AC

Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - 9th January 2022

Here is all this week's news and catch reports from Luton Angling Club, Remember all photos submitted are automatically entered in to our monthly photo prize competition and are judged by the committee at the end of each month with a £25.00 cash prize going to the winner.  Send in your catch reports and photos via the club website or our social media pages.

The club received some sad news on Saturday that one of the great Let’s Fish coaches, Wellingborough’s Pat Byrne (Coach Pat) has passed away from Covid. Many of the Luton Coaches knew Pat and had worked alongside him on many occasions. Through his time coaching Pat has introduced hundreds of kids and adults to fishing. We send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues and all those that learnt from him. He will be missed.

Unfortunately we have had very little by way of catch reports this week but this is not uncommon for this time of year.

Biddenham River Ouse

Calin Lucian made the most of a cold but sunny day on the River Ouse at Biddenham and was catching Perch using Crazy Fish Nimble. His catches included these two huge Perch, They were not weighed however the largest one measured 45cm and the other 39cm. This stretch holds some huge Perch and Perch of 4lb have been caught in recent years and 2lb plus fish are common so well worth a try.

North House Lake

The work party team were at North House Lake this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday. An amazing amount of effort was put in by all who attended and despite the wet and miserable weather on Saturday we cleared all the Brambles,Hawthorn and Blackthorn that were growing against the otter fence on the track side of the lake - a prickly and painful job to say the least. Also on Saturday hundreds of metres of Grass protection matting was cut and laid on the inside of the fence to deter the rabbits from digging out under the fence. 

On Sunday in much better weather we continued to clear troublesome brambles and some considerably sized Blackthorn trees that were growing through the Otter fence with the end result being that the entire perimeter of the Otter fence is now clear of any vegetation that could potentially damage or compromise it. Our thanks go to all the volunteers that came along to give us a hand as we would never have achieved so much without your help.

That's all for this week.

Tight Lines

Dave

Luton Angling Club

Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - 3rd January 2022

Apologies for the lack of weekly reports during December however we received very few catch reports during the month so have collated them into our New Year report below.

Happy New Year and Tight Lines for 2022 from Luton Angling Club. Did you know that Luton Angling Club was formed on 10th April 1922 so April 2022 will mark the club's 100th year. If you have any really old membership books, stories, articles or photographs from throughout the club's history we would be really interested in hearing from you so please get in touch.

Monthly Photo Prize

Our monthly catch photo competition is now back so any pictures submitted during each month will be entered in to and judged by the committee at the end of that month. The winner will receive a £25.00 cash prize. Catches must be from Luton AC waters and caught during that month. Send in your catch reports and pictures via our social media pages or the club website.

South Lagoon Wyboston

Wojciech Weremij caught a great specimen zander over the weekend weighing in at an impressive 12lb 3oz. He also caught an 11lb 7oz Pike during a previous session over Christmas.

Grand Union Canal

Karol Lis had two nice winter Commons on the Grand Union Canal.

North House Lake

Paul Sweet fished an overnighter on North House and had a 14lb 4oz Mirror which is one of the 2017 stockies (Number 20) originally stocked at 5lb 8oz.

Lavendon Mill

Fergal O'Kane fished upstream at Lavendon a couple of times just before Christmas. On his first session he caught a few Pike There was one angler there already when he arrived and after taking a look at couple of swims he decided it was a bit too swampy near the cattle drink so chose a spot elsewhere.

As he was unhooking his second pike the other angler, who had been catching roach, started shouting for some help. He needed a bigger landing net to land a pike of about 8lb that had taken a single maggot on a size 20. He had been playing it for about 10 minutes. Using his new 50inch landing net there were no problems getting it in. It was quite heavily scarred, where another pike had probably tried to eat it a while back. After assisting the other member he went on to catch another couple of pike.

The final one came at about 4pm. It looked familiar, it was the one with the scarring that he had helped to land earlier. It was getting dark, so he did not bother with a photo of that one.

His next trip proved to be quite a painful one as when he started unhooking the first Pike of the day it jumped on the unhooking mat and he felt a sharp pain in his finger, The treble hook had gone in one side of his finger and straight out the other. Some minor surgery using a pair of wire cutters, Anti Bacterial wipe, plasters and then a rubber glove to keep it clean and then it was back to fishing followed up with a call and a visit to the GP for a tetanus jab. On a following trip to Lavendon he caught the same scarred Pike mentioned previously for the second time.

North House Work Party 8th & 9th January

We will be at North House Lake on 8th and 9th January 2022 carrying out essential maintenance around the otter fence to clear undergrowth etc. We will also be laying matting to deter rabbits from digging out from inside the perimeter. Pretty much all the work carried out at our venues is done by the Committee, Bailiffs and some Volunteer Members but sadly gone are the days when we had 20 or more members turning up to help out. If you are able to come and help out for a couple of hours then please come along and help improve your fisheries.

Last Wednesday Match Group Meet Up 22/12/21

Match Report, The Globe 22nd December 2021

This week saw us revive the Luton Tradition of a Christmas match. The competing anglers met on the coldest morning of the year so far (-2C) at the Globe, with the red light of dawn still in the Eastern sky.

We had 18 expectant anglers fishing, all with presents to exchange later. This week’s the match was shortened to 4 hours to allow time for exchange of presents and a drink at the Globe afterwards.

We were pleased to welcome both Simon Willsmore and Phil ‘Endpeg’ Speakman to fish with us, and Keith and Liam from one of Luton’s affiliate clubs Abbey Lads.

Malcolm Ogden was keen to get on the bank again after his recent spell in hospital and was chauffeured by his daughter and chaperoned by his grandson, desperate to fish again and use his new pole.

The Canal was cooler, but holding colour, and the morning although cold was dry. After the draw, ably conducted by Richard Gibbs and Dudley Frankland the anglers set off to their pegs (alas no ‘Endpeg’ for Phil today).

This week’s event was pegged away from Leighton lock back towards the pub, thanks Bart Bonito for volunteering to do the pegging.

Most Anglers opted to fish the pole in a match that turned out to be challenging but fair, fish being caught along the length. Some tried punch in the track for the roach, others like Richard Gibbs opted for a chopped worm attack down the far and near shelf, while Dennis Hunt opted to fish Pinkie with loose fed Squatt on the inside trying caster over, with an additional chopped worm swim under the stern of a moored boat. Although the fishing was hard most seemed to be winkling out a few fish.

We had a few boats; most disturbance being caused by a wide work platform with a crane heading for the work at Three Locks due to start on 1st Jan, which passed just after midday. This caused the fishing to decline for some but pick up for others!

Simon Willsmore had a bonus 3lb bream near the end of the match on the 6 Metre line, fishing 6mm Punch while feeding sloppy liquidised bread to take the day.

Bart Bonito fished 6 & 9 Metre line with the bread to take skimmers and a few roach and lost out to Simon by ½ ounce to take second.

Colin McBeath took second with Skimmers and Colin Holmes with another net of skimmers finished 4th.

After the weigh in we repaired to the pub for exchange of presents and a drink to end the day. A special award of most improved Angler this year was made to Ray Burton, who thanked everyone for helping him giving him more confidence in his fishing abilities.

We will start our regular weekly outings again in February and would like to wish everyone who has fished with us through the year who were not present yesterday a Happy Christmas and tight lines in the New Year.

Results

1st Simon Willesmore 3lb 110z

2nd Bart Bonito 3lb 10oz 8drm

3rd Colin McBeth 2lb 11oz

4th Colin Holmes 2lb 2oz

5th Richard Gibbs 2lb 1oz

6th Phil ‘Endpeg’ Speakman 2lb

7th Barry Roper 1lb 15oz

8th Dennis Hunt 1lb 14oz

9th Dudley Frankland 1lb 10oz 8drm

10th Steve Osmond 1lb 9oz

11th Liam Willis 1lb 3oz

12th Joint Dave Abbot & Malcolm Ogden 1lb

Look out for our forward program for 2022 on our facebook page and we welcome any member (or non member when we fish day ticket venues) to come along and fish with us.

That's it for this week

Tight Lines

Dave M Luton Angling Club