Luton Angling Club - Weekly News Reports: May 2024

Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - Bank Holiday Monday 27th May 2024

Here is the weekly catch reports, news and information round up from Luton Angling Club.

In Memoriam - Peter Bunnage.

The Club has recently received sad news of the passing of one of our senior Life Members, Peter Bunnage who passed away on Friday 24th May in Devon.

Peter was a long-term Committee member, who served as Club Captain for many years and was deeply involved with running the Luton Junior Anglers in the days of Mark Pollard, Rob Hewison, and indeed his own sons Ashley and Trevor, both of whom are still active Club members.

Pete worked tirelessly for many years at work parties, and often acted as Clerk of works for the Club on major developments like Beckerings and the acquisition of Biddenham.

Together with his wife Babs, he ran the Luton 75th Anniversary Celebrations 26 Years ago. Babs who is pictured alongside Pete was also a life member who served as Club Secretary for many years and passed away just over 18months ago.

Thank you both for your considerable contributions to Luton Angling Club over the years.

Many senior members will have fond memories of them both.

Our thoughts are with Ashley and Trevor at this sad time.

Peter and Babs Bunnage

Our 2023/24 membership year draws to a close.

It's the last week of our 2023/24 membership year this week and we'd like to thank all our members for some great catch reports over the last year.

We'll be changing the locks from 8pm on the 31st May. Any members that did not renew must leave venues by 8pm on the 31st.

Any members that have renewed and wish to stay until sunset or are booked on overnight on the 31st must have their new key with them to be able to exit the venue.

Based on previous experience our venues are bound to be fairly busy for the first couple of weeks of the season as new members are keen to try out our popular venues, and as the 1st June falls on a weekend this year this will also be a factor. Please park considerately to make best use of parking space.

New members should also make sure they have read all the rules BEFORE going fishing. In particular some common rules we see broken by new members are

No photo on the membership book - You will be asked to leave the venue if no photo is present.

Setting up bivvies on the track around Beckerings - Bivvies must be on the platforms only.

Leaning Tackle on the Otter Fences.

Catch Reports

It has been an unusually quiet week in terms of catch reports from our members.

Beckerings Reservoir

The bailiffs report plenty of Ide,Roach and Skimmers being caught, Jason Mash had a couple of carp and lost one of the cats. Plenty of the stockies are regularly being caught. The larger Bream have been seen spawning.

The bailiffs gave the grass another cut this week.

Bailiff Colin on the Mower at Beckerings

Wednesday Match Report 22nd May 24 Three Locks Lower GUC

We had intended to fish Bragenham side this week the but the verges were soft, and the grass was extremely high, which would have made parking difficult, and there were large numbers of boats moored north of Bragenham side bridge, so we opted to make a late change to fish Three Locks Lower, section 3 instead.

The weather forecast wasn’t great, rain was falling as we met at the venue, and it was remarked that our rain God was back from his holiday and had brought it with him! The rain continued to fall during the match, at times verging on torrential, so good umbrellas were in order, except for Tim watts who bravely opted to fish in just his waterproofs and got very wet!

The Bream in the Canal appear to have spawned now as they are exhibiting the marks from this activity on their bodies and the fish appear to be starting to spread out again.

Steve Lathwell took the honours this week fishing the willow tree on the bend. Steve fished his pole to the bottom of the far shelf at 10 Mtrs with pinkies, and a second line under the tree with worm and caster. After taking some fish on the shelf line, he switched to fish under the tree, but wasn’t getting bites. A change of bait to big red maggot paid off, as he then started to get bream again. Steve ended the match with a creditable 15lb 1oz.

Tim Watts finished second and very wet! Tim had decided to just set up a waggler rod, his trusty old Splice tip Shimano with an ABU 506 and a 3bb image style waggler. He decided he had nothing to lose so he attacked the swim feed wise, not getting a lot in the first hour but then the Bream and Skimmers moved in. He finished with 6 Bream and Skimmers for 12lb 14oz and was extremely pleased to get second off the peg he drew.

Dennis Hunt, the rain God, had drawn a peg opposite a boat and opted to start on 8mm punch feeding toasted crumb at 4 Metres. Dennis was into bream within a few minutes and had a great first 90 mins, but then the muddy coloured water pouring in from the stream down towards the water point due to the heavy rain reached his swim and fishing slowed appreciably. Dennis then went over on the boat using pinkie and chopped worm over groundbait, but this only produced a few small skimmers and some perch. Dennis took 3rd place with 12lb 6oz.

Colin Holmes took the fourth slot with 3 Bream for 8lb 6oz.

Very many thanks to Colin Holmes for doing the draw and all those who assisted with the weigh-in.

Results

1st Steve Lathwell 15lb 1oz

2nd Tim Watts 12lb 14oz

3rd Dennis Hunt 12lb 6oz

4th Colin Holmes 8lb 6oz

5th Terry Vickers 2lb 12oz

6th Sean Leatherland 2lb 7oz

7th Simon Faulkes 1lb 12oz

8th Naula Grey 1lb 5oz

9th David Ridley 0lb 10oz

Our next Match is on Wednesday 29th May and is on Dani’s lake at How End.

Draw 8.30 at the venue, Venue peg fee, £5-00 optional pools £1.00 Wednesday peg fee, fish 10am till 3pm.

For anyone thinking of joining us for the first time can we ask you message us so we know you are coming before turning up, next week will be extremely popular and we need to ensure we have room as this will allow us to better manage the pegging.

You will be asked to produce your Club book at first appearance, so please have it with you.

Wednesday Match - GUC Lower

Wednesday Match - GUC Lower

Wednesday Match - GUC Lower

Torrential Rain during the Wednesday Match

That is all we have for this week, Please do keep your reports coming in via the usual methods, They can be submitted via facebook message, whatsapp to 07940 229071 or via the catch reports form on the club website, Don't forget there is a £25.00 prize every month for the best picture submitted. It's not always the biggest fish that wins so well worth sending in any of your pictures.

Dave

Luton AC

Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - Week Ending 19th May 2024

Here is the weekly catch reports, news and information round up from Luton Angling Club for the week ending Sunday 19th May 2024.

Grand Union Canal
Dave Nicholson had a challenging day on the Grand Union Canal on Friday due to the sunny conditions. He persevered and managed to catch 5 nice Bream all were caught on groundbait feeder with 3 red maggots on a size 14 hook.

Dave Nicholson - Grand Union Canal

Neville Hunt fished the cut on Sunday and had a decent net of Bream in a few hours. Lee Waring was targeting the Perch on Sunday and he reported being pestered by the Bream

Neville Hunt - Grand Union Canal

North House Lake
Gregg Taberner had a 24hr session on North House Lake and had one of the 2017 stockies. No exact weight as he left the scales at home but estimated in the mid twenties. Looking back at the pictures of the stocking, it looks like number 8 so it's doing really well.

Gregg Taberner - North House Lake - Stockie 8

Stockie 8 in 2017

Graham Crow reported via a facebook comment on the Wednesday match report, that he fished the lake on Thursday and despite the heavy rain which continued almost all of the day he had 5 beautiful Tench up to 7.4lb.

Beckerings Reservoir

Mark North did a 5 hour session and he had a good result all fish were caught using Hemp.

Mark North - Beckerings Reservoir

Brett Collins had a couple of Commons on an overnight session.

Brett Collins - Beckerings

Bill Ridgway had a good day fishing, He had some nice Bream and a 10lb stockie on a size 14 hook and sweet corn.

Bill Ridgway - Beckerings

Bill Ridgway - Beckerings Stockie

Bill Ridgway - Beckerings Stockie

Bill Ridgway - Beckerings Bream

Ben Waymont had a mid double Common.

Ben Waymont - Beckerings

LAC Sunday Match Series - Round 2

The second match in the LAC Sunday Series was held on the South Lagoon on Sunday 12th May.

Due to some illness, the numbers attending were lower than expected for the match but 11 anglers arrived in good spirits for what they were hoping would be a day of skimmer and bream fishing.

With the lower numbers attending, the match group re-arranged the pegs to free up space on the lake in case pleasure anglers arrived who were unaware of the match taking place and therefore, due to our re-pegging would be able find some areas to fish.

Whilst no one is complaining about the recent change in our weather, with Sunday being the hottest day recorded so far this year, fishing was hard with anglers reporting spells where they could get bites and then longer spells waiting for any indications.

Winner this week was Myles Tommey who drew the favoured Peg 1. Myles made no mistakes and fished the feeder to catch 6 bream and a few smaller fish to weigh 16lb 9ozs and finish well clear of the field.

In second place was Pete Smith with 5lb. Pete drew match peg 9 and caught a decent bream, and a few skimmers and small fish on a groundbait feeder.

In form Liam Willis maintained his recent record to frame in matches by coming third with 4lb 4ozs. Laim caught mostly small skimmers, hybrids and some nice rudd using dead maggots and worm hookbaits over ground bait on the pole at 11m.

LAC Wednesday Match - North House Lake

This week's Wednesday match saw the anglers returning to the Wyboston fishing complex where the previous Sunday the match had been held on South Lagoon. This match was the first in many years to take place on North House Lake. There had been much anticipation across the club on what fish would be caught and in particular what silver fish might appear.

Once again, this is a fabulous fishery and thanks should go to Brian Turner, Barry Emery and the other venue bailiffs for the brilliant work they do to maintain the fishery to such a high standard.

14 anglers arrived at the draw and although a full range of match fishing tactics were deployed throughout the match, unfortunately, if the lake has any shoals of silver fish, they proved elusive to catch resulting in only 2 people catching fish on the day, although other anglers reported hooking and losing carp.

Winner on the day was Adrian Smith on peg 11. Adrian had a day to remember as his 3 fish were all new personal bests in a total weight of 21lb 2ozs 8 drms. Adrian fished the pole at 9m where he had fed a large mixed pot of chopped worm, caster, maggots and pellets. His first fish was a carp of 9lb 12ozs 8drms which was followed by an eel of 5lb 1os 8 drm and a tench of 6lb 4ozs 8drms. All fish were caught on double red maggot.

Second place went Steve Lathwell with 18lb 2ozs. Steve employed similar pole tactics and caught a 7lb 14 ozs 8 drm carp close in near some cover on worm before switching to his other line at 13m to catch two tench also on worm for 10lb 3ozs 8 drms later in the match.

Adrian Smith - Tench - North House Match

Steve Lathwell - Carp - North House Match

Adrian Smith - Eel - North House Match

Venue Maintenance

Roger Bland the Lavendon bailiff sent me a before photo, showing Lavendon downstream, like a jungle, followed by 3 photos of after he and Bob Burdiak strimmed it. It will also get another haircut just before the season starts. Thanks to both Roger and Bob for getting this done!

Lavendon Downstream - Before

Lavendon Downstream - After

If you would like to send us a catch report from a Luton AC Water you can send reports and pictures via our facebook page and other social media accounts, the club website or via what’s app message to 07940 229071. Don’t forget every picture we receive is automatically entered in to our monthly photo prize which is judged by the committee and you could win £25.00. It’s not always the biggest fish that wins so well worth sending in any of your catch reports.

Tight Lines Until Next Week!

Dave M

Luton AC

Luton Angling Club Weekly News Report for the Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire & St Neots Cambridgeshire Area - Week Ending 12th May 2024

Here is the weekly news and information round up from Luton Angling Club for the week ending Sunday 12th May 2024.

North House Lake
Recently Daniel Keefe decided to concentrate all his efforts into catching some of the stunning carp that reside in North House Lake. Just doing one or two nights a week he's had
22 bites and landed 18 carp. He had loads of stockies, a few originals, and the biggest fish of the bunch being a 30lb mirror.

Daniel Keefe - North House Lake

Daniel Keefe - North House Lake

Daniel Keefe - North House Lake

Daniel Keefe - North House Lake

Daniel Keefe - North House Lake
Grand Union Canal
On Sunday at Three Locks, Dexter one of our Kingfisher members used some of the skills learnt at our Lets Fish and coaching events and caught this Bream using pinkies.

Dexter - Grand Union Canal at Three Locks

Neville Hunt fished the Grand Union Canal again and had Bream ranging from 8oz to 4.12Ib it was a very sunny day with no breeze, but plenty of boats coming through.

Neville Hunt - Grand Union Canal

Beckerings Reservoir
On a really hot day on Thursday Liam Arnaud was feeder fishing at Beckerings using a 0.13 hook link. This 19lb 8oz common took a single red maggot.

Liam Arnaud - Beckerings Reservoir

Having not fished Beckerings reservoir since October, Neil Cox took a low double off the surface and another at 20lb 9oz off the bottom during a very short afternoon session on a lovely sunny day. his Madbaits doing the business as normal.

Neil Cox - Beckerings Reservoir

Neil Cox - Beckerings Reservoir

Steve Emery fished a short evening session which produced a 19lb common, and this 25lbs 3oz mirror off the top.

Steve Emery - Beckerings Reservoir

Steve Emery - Beckerings Reservoir

Craig Mahoney spent a few hours on the reservoir, All his fish were off the bottom, biggest was 19lb 12oz

Craig Mahoney - Beckerings Reservoir

Craig Mahoney - Beckerings Reservoir

Craig Mahoney - Beckerings Reservoir

Fergal O'Kane spent Friday afternoon and evening at Beckerings he had carp of 21lb 7oz & 16lb 1oz and a 7lb 9oz Bream

Fergal O'Kane - Beckerings

Alan Lidgley had a surprise carp on double sweetcorn float fishing in the margins with 6lb main line and a 5lb hook length with a size 12 hook many thanks to Craig Mahoney for netting the fish and assisting with weighing and taking the photo. He also lost 2 other mirrors that smashed him up in the reeds, Alan also had a nice 9lb bream on the same method.

Alan Lidgley - Beckerings Reservoir

Brett Collins had a Common Carp on Saturday night.

Brett Collins - Beckerings Reservoir

Let's Fish Event

The sounds of joy and excitement were deafening at the Let's fish event on the Grand Union Canal at Town South last Sunday. Lots of youngsters got the opportunity to have a go at fishing and catch their first ever fish. Check out the canal and river trust website to find and book on to a future event in your area https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/things.../fishing/lets-fish

Lets Fish Event - Grand Union Canal

Lets Fish Event - Grand Union Canal

Venue Maintenance

Our hard working volunteers and bailiffs work tirelessly behind the scenes keeping the venues in superb condition. This week Bob Burdiak strimmed the Slapton canal car park.

Slapton Car Park - Thanks to Bob Burdiak

Bailiff Des Saunders is starting to get our river sections ready for the 16th of June, After recently repairing platforms and clearing lots of the detritus that was deposited by the winter floods, He has mowed the Biddenham car park and pathways, Then at the Lavendon Mill Upstream section, Des mowed the car park and swims in the first field and created pathways down to the river across the first two fields.

Lavendon Mill Car Park Entrance - Thanks to Des Saunders

Lavendon Mill Car Park - Thanks to Des Saunders

Lavendon Mill Paths to the River - Thanks to Des Saunders

Lavendon Mill Paths to the River - Thanks to Des Saunders

At Beckerings Neil Cox has recently mowed all around the reservoir.

Beckerings - Thanks to Neil Cox

We'll keep you updated with any other work and we will be arranging some work parties in the coming weeks which existing (and New) members are encouraged to attend.