Predator Challenge - South Lagoon 25/10/25
Seven club members gathered for the annual predator match on Saturday, and with everyone raring to go, we started the match slightly earlier than planned and lines were in by 9:15am.
Conditions were generally fair—light winds and spells of sunshine favoured those on the lower-numbered pegs, though the skies turned gloomy at times with the odd light shower passing through.Anglers were well spaced around the lake, mainly targeting Pike and Perch with a variety of tactics.
The first real excitement came at midday when club chairman Fergal O’Kane had a promising run and hooked into a fish, only for it to dive into thick weed and roots in the margins whilst being played which facilitated it's escape.
Undeterred, Fergal was soon back in action, successfully landing a lively 6lb 5oz Pike on a smelt deadbait —while unhooking the fish it struggled and, one of the trebles found its way into his finger. A swift visit from the first aid kit and a patch-up later, the rod was re-cast.
This Pike proved to be the only predator landed during the match.
Those targeting Perch using maggot found themselves catching Roach instead, and although Fergal had two more runs in quick succession, both were dropped.
A special thank you goes to Ray Dempsey last years winner, who generously donated two Pike-themed pewter tankards as additional prizes. These unique items, previously won by his brother in Pike matches on the fens some years ago, were a bonus prize with one going to Fergal and the other being kept for our next predator match.
Despite the quiet fishing, spirits remained high and camaraderie strong, and everyone enjoyed themselves—proof that a good day on the bank isn’t just about the catch, but also the company, the fresh air, and the wildlife - like watching a robin flit around the pegs hopeful of a maggot or two.
If you hadn't guessed already Fergal O’Kane took the win with his Pike and he kindly donated his prize money into the match charity funds, resulting in total a £70.00 donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Plans are already being discussed for the next match, with the river at Wyboston under consideration.
Thanks go to Andy Smith, Dave Murdoch and Barry Emery for their part in organising and running the match.
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| Fergal O'Kane - Predator Match Winner |
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| 6lb 5oz Pike |
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| Predator Match - South Lagoon |
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| South Lagoon - Predator Match |
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| Pewter Tankard - Prize donation from Ray Dempsey |
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| A Robin waiting expectantly for some maggots |
Nathan Porter was over the moon with his first predator session of the year with a stunning looking pike and his pb at 13lb 3oz it took a small whole sardine. Brian Turner was lucky to get a blank saver at the last knockings with a jack at 4lbs. He also had two aborted attacks in the night maybe down to using single barbless hooks for the first time. He feels more practice is needed as he’ll never go back to treble hooks and it’s definitely the way forward.
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| Nathan Porter 13lb 3oz Pike |
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| Nathan Porter 13lb 3oz Pike |
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| Brian Turner - Pike |
Jason Mash continuing his ongoing winter predator campaign, had another tough day on the river on Tuesday. This nice Perch was the only fish he had during the session. He did have a couple of dropped takes but he put them down to smaller perch.
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| Jason Mash - Perch |
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| Jason Mash - Perch |
Beckerings Reservoir
Louis Harford Smith had a pretty mirror from Beckerings last weekend it had a distinctive orange spot on its flank.
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| Louis Harford Smith - Beckerings |
Indoor Coaching Session - Bushmead Community Hub 25th October.
We had a great start to our indoor coaching sessions on Saturday afternoon. Eleven juniors took part, including two girls— it's brilliant to see more females getting involved in a sport that’s often male dominated. Most of the youngsters are just starting out so we started by introducing them to the new CRT awards book, so we and they can track their progress, they can claim certificates of achievement after completing the fun and educational activities in each section.
We had lots of activities, ranging from how to correctly set up a seatbox properly, and we played our pole potting game where our juniors use a pole and a cup to pot balls into different size targets, we demonstrated and practiced making loops with loop tiers, and making loop to loop knots to attach hook links .
We also set up and talked about bread punch fishing, how to punch bread and place it on the hook, how to make liquidised bread, and did a tank demonstration of how balls of liquidised bread down in the water.
Everyone including the coaches enjoyed the afternoon and all our Kingfishers seemed to learn lots , and went home to practice what they had seen, saying they will be back for the next session.
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| Indoor Coaching Session - Bushmead Community Hub |
ROADWORKS ON THE A1 - BLACK CAT
Members should be aware of upcoming A1 weekend closures affecting routes to our Wyboston and Eaton Ford venues. It is likely that there will be significant delays on the diversion routes.
Affecting Tempsford to the Black Cat roundabout:
- A1 Northbound:
9pm Friday 31st October to 5am Monday 3rd November
- A1 Northbound and Southbound:
9pm Friday 7th November to 5am Monday 10th November.
Plan ahead & check diversion routes.
That is all we have for this week, Keep your catch reports coming in via all the usual methods.
Tight Lines,
Dave
Luton Angling Club
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