Luton Angling Club - Weekly News Reports: December 2025

Luton Angling Club - Weekly News, Information and Catch Report Roundup - Week Ending 21st December 2025

With Christmas fast approaching, our waters have settled into their familiar winter rhythm. The days are short, the mornings crisp, and while things naturally quieten down at this time of year, there’s still been enough activity across the club to keep the weekly round‑up ticking along.

Thank you to everyone who continues to send in reports and updates during the colder months — they’re always appreciated. Here’s this week’s news as we head into the festive break.

Amer Jawad has been making the most of his time off work with some afternoon sessions at Beckerings. His first outing started slowly, with two quiet hours before the swim finally came to life, producing a handful of tidy skimmers along with a couple of small roach.

Undeterred, Amer returned for another go. It proved to be another challenging session, but steady perseverance paid off with around a dozen roach and two more quality skimmers, all taken on the feeder at 40 metres.

A solid effort across two cold winter days, and a good reminder that Beckerings can still reward those who stick at it.

Amer Jawad - Beckerings

Luton Juniors - 2025 Coaching and review of angling achievements.

This year our young anglers have had a great year, and Luton junior numbers continue to grow, with some very enthusiastic boys and girls growing our ranks this year, helping ensure the Club has a bright future.

Our coaches have worked hard at recruiting new members via the CRT ‘Lets Fish’ program, ran a successful CRT sponsored Coaching Conference and CPD day in January, we also delivered 15 Lets fish sessions on the Canal , gaining some terrific feedback from parents, and we also supported our Luton anglers in 5 regional and National competitions.

We were invited to run some special sessions for a Luton school in the late summer / autumn.

The Club ran junior bankside coaching on Saturday afternoons where many fish were caught, and we also ran six indoor classroom sessions at Bushmead during the winter, and all those were well attended and concentrated on teaching the more technical aspect of the sport in an engaging and fun way.

As well as doing well in the regional matches two young anglers went and took part in trials for the CRT Division 2 National teams,with one of our lads winning the selection match on the Nene with 4Kilo 200 Grams, and they gained two places in the team that competed to represent CRT in the emerging talent National teams on the Ouse.

There were 10 Juniors representing Luton at the CRT National Celebration in September, where we won numerous prizes and many were invited to participate in the Daiwa/CRT Global communities’ event in October, and we posted all the results of these competitions at the time.

Both these CRT events are held in Shropshire. All our young anglers did very well, keeping Luton at the forefront of Junior angling nationally.

One of our Juniors competing in a Wednesday Club outing managed to achieve a catch of over 100lb in a five hour session, and we have also had several great catches from the Canal this year some of which have been entered and have been awarded prizes in the CRT ‘Fish of the Month’ Competition

We would like to publicly thank all the parents, as without their support with travel to the events we couldn’t achieve these results, and those anglers who have so generously donated unwanted tackle that was fit for further use to either be sold to raise funds or passed on to our young anglers.

Well done to all our young anglers we are very proud of all of you.

We have an equally full program planned for 2026 and always have more room for qualified coaches to support our work.

Bursaries are available to help gaining the required coaching qualifications, it is very rewarding, so if you are interested in coaching with us please let us know.

Coaching 2025 Round Up

Match Report and end of year celebration buffet ‘The Globe’ – GUC 17/12/25

This week was our Christmas match and our end of year celebration at ‘The Globe’ which is always a popular event. We had a record attendance of 26 fishing, and some of our friends who couldn’t fish the match, joined us for the celebration buffet afterwards, swelling our numbers still further. Our fishing this week was 10am to 1.45pm, shorter than usual to allow us to weigh in, pack up, and get to the pub in time for our buffet at 3pm.

The weather on the day was better than we expected, given the heavy rain last weekend, and indeed the rain on the following day (Thursday), so we were lucky to have a clear window. We did, however, have an overnight frost, early morning mist, and drizzle at times through the day which was quite cold. The canal had turned a milky coffee colour due to the influx of rainwater, and the water temperature was measured at 7C. Given the conditions we all expected the fishing to be difficult, and so it proved with low weights overall and several anglers recording DNW.

Chris Howard found himself pegged close to a tree and decided to fish a 3‑metre whip and bread punch rather than try and use a longer pole. Chris said he tried worm over looking for bream, but quickly gave it up as a bad job. He had a good day on the whip, ending with 4lb for first place.

Sean Leatherland took second place with an almost all‑roach catch. Sean said he started fishing at 3 metres on squatt and took a few fish, then changed to a 12‑metre line using punch over punch crumb which he found more productive, so stayed on this line to the end, finishing with 3lb 3oz.

Keith Ward started on punch down the track to no avail but had fed chopped worm over, so switched to that, catching four small perch. Keith then changed to groundbait with pinkie on the hook and started to catch skimmers on the line used earlier for punch. This produced a decent skimmer followed by a roach, then several smaller skimmers. Keith finished with 2lb to take third place.

Following the weigh‑in we all made our way to The Globe to meet our non‑fishing friends and enjoy a beer and our end of year celebration buffet and present exchange, which was excellent and enjoyed by everyone. We also presented Sean Leatherland, this year’s winner, with the Wednesday League Shield, which he won with one match to go.

Many thanks are due to The Globe and the staff for allowing us to park in the car park and for providing such a great buffet; to Barry Roper for the pegging in the dark; to Ray Burton for the admin; and to all who assisted with the weigh‑in and helped make the day a resounding success.

We now enter our winter break and don’t fish together again until February. We will post details of the first match nearer the time.

We would like to wish all our fellow Luton Club members and others a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Abridged Results

1st Chris Howard – 4lb 0oz

2nd Sean Leatherland – 3lb 3oz

3rd Keith Ward – 2lb 0oz

4th Dave Abbott – 1lb 11oz

5th (Joint) Dave Ridley & Colin Holmes – 1lb 1oz

Wednesday Match Group

Report from the 8th round of the 2025 Sunday Series.

Sorry for the delay in providing this report but better late than never! - The 16th November saw the final round of the LAC Sunday series take place at Three Locks between Three Locks and Chelmscote Bridge.

With the top 3 places still to be decided and the league being based on the best 5 results from the 8 matches, it was all to fish for.

Thankfully the forecast rain generally held off and every one caught albeit not an easy days fishing.

To make the top places required you to have caught a bonus fish. And that was the case for Dudley Frankland who won the match with 3lb 4ozs which included a beautiful perch well of 2 and a half pounds. Dudley caught his fish on the pole with worm and pinkie.

In 2nd place was Tim Watts, one of the club's canal aces, with 2lb 9ozs. Tim caught his fish on the pole on pinkie over groundbait.

Keith Ward had struggled for much of the match but he stuck to the task in hand and was rewarded with a large bonus perch near the end of the match to weigh 2lb 7ozs. For the overall standings, that bonus perch proved vital for Keith.

At the end of the match, we retired to the pub and the overall standings were quickly worked out, but it was clear that the overall winner was Chris Howard. Chris has had a superb Sunday Summer Series and well deserves the outright win.

The league 2nd place was won by Myles Tommey who continues to maintain high finishes in the LAC leagues. However, Myles only made 2nd place due to a better over match points having drawn with third place on league points.

The bonus perch for Keith Ward was indeed important as that helped him pip Sean Leatherland for 3rd place overall. Both anglers have had consistent performances.

The 2026 LAC Winter League will start on January 18th 2026. The league is based on 5 canal matches that run from January to March. The dates are 18th Jan, 1st Feb, 15th Feb, 1st Mar and 15th Mar.

This is a friendly league and anyone interested in joining, please let the organiser know. The matches are open to eligible club members and if you are joining us for the first time can we ask that you message us so we know you are coming before turning up. You will be asked to produce your Club book at first appearance, so please have it with you.

GUC Three Locks – 16th November 2025 - Match Result

Dudley Frankland (Peg 3) – 3 lb 4 oz, Match Position 24, Section Position 1, League Points 6
Tim Watts (Peg 6) – 2 lb 9 oz 8 dr, Match Position 23, Section Position 2, League Points 5
Keith Ward (Peg 9) – 2 lb 7 oz, Match Position 22, Section Position 1, League Points 6
Danny Worth (Peg 4) – 2 lb 1 oz 12 dr, Match Position 21, Section Position 3, League Points 4
Terry Vickers (Peg 13) – 2 lb, Match Position 20, Section Position 2, League Points 5
Adrian Smith (Peg 11) – 1 lb 14 oz 4 dr, Match Position 19, Section Position 3, League Points 4
Chris Howard (Peg 1) – 1 lb 12 oz, Match Position 18, Section Position 4, League Points 3
Sean Leatherland (Peg 10) – 1 lb 12 oz, Match Position 18, Section Position 4, League Points 3
Dave Whillock (Peg 12) – 1 lb 4 oz 8 dr, Match Position 16, Section Position 5, League Points 2
Peter Deppe (Peg 2) – 1 lb 4 oz 8 dr, Match Position 15, Section Position 5, League Points 2
Pete Smith (Peg 7) – 1 lb 3 oz 8 dr, Match Position 14, Section Position 6, League Points 2
Myles Tommey (Peg 8) – 9 oz 12 dr, Match Position 12, Section Position 6, League Points 2
Richard Darbon (Peg 5) – 13 oz 12 dr, Match Position 11, Section Position 6, League Points 2

Winter League – Overall Standings

Chris Howard – 30 lb 12 oz 4 dr, 113 match points, 28 league points
Myles Tommey – 24 lb 11 oz 8 dr, 111 match points, 25 league points
Keith Ward – 9 lb 11 oz, 100 match points, 25 league points
Sean Leatherland – 12 lb 13 oz 4 dr, 103 match points, 24 league points
Dave Abbot – 15 lb 4 oz 8 dr, 101 match points, 22 league points
Danny Worth – 12 lb 3 oz 8 dr, 104 match points, 21 league points
Pete Smith – 9 lb 3 oz, 97 match points, 20 league points
Dave Whillock – 6 lb 9 oz 8 dr, 83 match points, 17 league points
Adrian Smith – 10 lb 12 oz, 93 match points, 16 league points
Peter Deppe – 7 lb 2 oz 4 dr, 91 match points, 16 league points
Bart Bonito – 6 lb 15 oz 8 dr, 77 match points, 16 league points
Terry Vickers – 7 lb 11 oz 8 dr, 87 match points, 15 league points
Dudley Frankland – 7 lb 1 oz 12 dr, 83 match points, 14 league points
Tim Watts – 6 lb 6 oz 4 dr, 58 match points, 14 league points
Richard Darbon – 3 lb 1 oz, 61 match points, 12 league points
Liam Willis – 11 lb 12 oz 12 dr, 47 match points, 12 league points
Colin Macbeth – 2 lb 7 oz 8 dr, 30 match points, 7 league points
Peter Mills – 2 lb 10 oz 12 dr, 21 match points, 4 league points

As we bring this week’s report to a close, here’s wishing all our members a very Merry Christmas. Thank you for your support, and the effort you put into keeping the club thriving.

Enjoy the festive break, and we look forward to starting a fresh year of fishing together in the New Year.

Tight Lines
Dave M
Luton AC

Luton Angling Club - Weekly News, Information and Catch Report Roundup - Week Ending 14th December 2025

As we move deeper into December, the shorter days and sharp overnight frosts are certainly making their presence felt on the bank. Catch reports remain understandably limited at this time of year, but there’s still been enough activity to keep the weekly round‑up ticking along. A big thank‑you to everyone who continues to send in updates — every report helps keep the club connected through the winter months. Here’s what’s been happening across our waters this week.

Beckerings Reservoir
As part of the club’s ongoing stocking programme, 200 eight‑inch ide were released into Beckerings Reservoir on the 11th December, the fish were supplied by one of our usual and trusted suppliers, Epperstone Fisheries. This continues our commitment to maintaining healthy, well‑balanced fisheries across our waters.

A big thank‑you to everyone who came along to help with the stocking — your support makes these improvements possible.

Water levels are also now back up at the platforms as the reservoir has been topped up.

Ide Stocking at Beckerings

Often the small day‑to‑day jobs our venue bailiffs do, go unnoticed. Here’s one example—a simple but important repair to a Beckerings platform that keeps things safe and sound for everyone. Thanks to Rob Thomas for getting this sorted.

Platform Repair at Beckerings

North House Lake

After a few hard weeks on South Lagoon, due to the inconsistent up and down weather, Kletos decided to give North House a go instead and it paid off and resulted in this great looking 12lb 3oz Pike.

Fishing into the wind, the fish was caught off Peg 13 at approx. 20 metres on a Ledgered Deadbait.

Match Report for Wednesday 10th December 2025

Following the retreat of Storm Bram earlier in the week 16 brave souls set out to the Greensands Fishery near Sandy. It is a commercial venue consisting of 2 lakes with a reputation for producing high match weights, mainly made up of Carp and F1 Hybrids. It was a first visit for many of us, and we approached it in expectation of a fruitful day, though the optimism was slightly diminished by the high winds expected on the day. However, the weather was temperate for the time of year with some sunshine and only one short lived (but biblical) shower. The expected wind did arrive which in turn hindered bait presentation and bite detection for some of the pegs.

We must mention again that Malcolm Ogden was not well enough to join us. Also, our rock, in the form of Dennis Hunt was again not able to be with us. Our best wishes and hopes go to them both for better health and we look forward to seeing them both on the bank very soon.

In The absence of Dennis, Tony Hickmott stood up to the plate with reconnaissance of the venue and Colin Cooper gave us the benefit of his advice and experience, having fished the venue previously. As usual, our second rock in the form of Ray Burton undertook the administration tasks, the finance gathering, organising the draw at the start of the match and recording the weights at the end of the match. It cannot be overstated how grateful we all are to them for their willingness to put themselves to inconvenience for the general benefit and welfare of the members. Thank you, Gentlemen.

The owner of the fishery advised us to split our party between the two lakes with some anglers fishing the top lake and the remainder fishing the bottom lake. He recommended this to give anglers more space between pegs. We took him at his word but in practice it transpired not to be a good decision as the fishing on the top lake proved to be very difficult.

The lakes appeared to be in good condition with a little colour although still somewhat below normal level. The winner on the day without any of Shakespeares’s “Hubble Bubble, Toil or Trouble was Colin Macbeth with a weight of 17lbs 6oz from peg 27 on the bottom lake. Colin started at 11m, feeding maggot from a pole pot and maggot on the hook. He had some small roach to begin with then after about an hour had a small carp and 2 F1’s. Despite trying micro and expander pellets bites were very slow so moved to a margin line and caught a few small roach. Still searching, he moved back to 11m line but without success. Undaunted he started a new line at 5m directly in front of him and found 3 more carp and some silvers in the last hour, losing a fourth carp with 5 minutes to go.

In second place was our Fire Brigade lady, Sam Rose with 14lbs 1oz from peg 35, also on the bottom lake. Having the sun in her eyes for the first hour made it difficult to see a float even with sunglasses, so she reverted to a method feeder with a mix of F1Sweet Dark and Match Original groundbait laced with dead maggots and micro pellets, with 2 maggots on the hook. This produced immediate indications, but actual bites took time to develop. All but 2 of her fish were captured on the feeder close to the island. She changed to pole tactics,(top kit plus 2) and caught an F1 and a carp off the bottom before things went quiet again, so she reverted to the feeder tactics, having a brief try in the margins and in front of her nets, losing a late large perch at the landing net near the end of the match.

Andy Frankum took third place with 11lbs 5oz from peg 3, also on the bottom lake. As Mr Frankum has not advised the tactics he used, we guess that it was a secret which he did not want to share. Either that, or due to his lack of direction, he is still trying to find his way home at the time of writing so hasn’t yet got round to filling us in!

In fourth place with was Mr Consistency, Dave Ridley on peg 37 of the bottom lake where he produced 10lb 10oz. Starting at 5m with double pinkie on a waggler over groundbait, Dave caught small roach & skimmers for the first hour. Noticing carp being caught on adjacent pegs, he changed to a method feeder with micro pellets, fishing about 1m off the island for the rest of the match. This change proved very successful producing four carp.

The weigh in (together with net collection ( very much appreciated) was conducted by the Fishery Proprietor with the indefatigable Ray Burton and the indispensable Tracey recording the weights. We are truly blessed with so many good people who so willingly pitch in to help with all matters relating to the day.

A deep felt Thank You to all those mentioned.

The overall result of the Match was as follows: -

1st Colin Macbeth 17lbs 6 oz

2nd Sam Rose 14lbs 1oz

3rd Andy Frankum 11lbs 5oz

4th Dave Ridley 10lbs 10oz

5th Tony Hickmott 8lbs 12oz

6th Mark Sessions 7lbs 2oz

7th Simon Foulkes 5lbs 13oz

8th Bart Bonito 5lbs 10oz

9th Graham Stringer 4lbs 13oz

10th Pete Smith aka “The Bedford Bandit “ 4lbs 3oz

Joint 11th Colin Cooper & Sean Leatherland 4lbs exactly

12th Terry Vickers 3lbs 10oz

13th Ray Burton 2lbs 14oz

14th Richard Darbon 2lbs 9oz

15th Les Burton 5oz

Our next and final match for 2025 is our Christmas Match, which is on the Grand Union Canal on the Globe stretch near Leighton Buzzard. It will be held on Wednesday 17th December 2025. Draw at the venue at 8.30am, £5.00 optional pools plus £2.00 Pegging Fee. Fish 10.00am – 2 pm followed by a visit to the pub to celebrate/ commiserate over a fine repast with liquid libations as usual. Christmas hats and Jumpers are optional. Also, there will be gifts supplied by every participant to a value in excess of £10.00 which will be redistributed to enhance the general goodwill and festivity.

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. This will help us to manage the booking and pegging of the venue. Please bring your club membership book (and a gift) with you as you will be asked to produce it for your first appearance.

Finally, very best wishes to all members of Luton Angling Club for a very happy Christmas together with a prosperous and successful 2026.

Greensands Fishery

Finally this week, keen wildlife photographer Howard Birley has been out visiting several of our venues recently, capturing some wonderful images of the wildlife that calls our waters home. He has kindly shared a selection with us.

For those who enjoy wildlife photography, Howard’s Flickr page is well worth a look — it features many more of his photos and videos:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/birleyinfocus/

Kingfisher

Goldfinch

Blue Tit

Wren

Little Grebe

That’s all for this week. Thanks to everyone who contributed — whether through match results, catch reports, or behind-the-scenes help, enjoy your fishing, and we’ll see you on the bank next week.

Tight Lines

Dave M

Luton AC

Luton Angling Club - Weekly News, Information and Catch Report Roundup - Week Ending 7th December 2025

Catch reports are understandably thin on the ground at this time of year, so if you’ve been out on the bank, we’d really appreciate hearing from you. Every report helps keep the weekly round‑up going through the winter months.

We start the report this week with some sad news, the recent passing of Mick Stringer at the age of 78. Mick was a long-standing club member and a regular face at Beckerings Reservoir.

Mick was also a club bailiff at the reservoir for around 18 years.

Funeral arrangements:

- Date: Friday 2nd January

- Time: 2:00pm

- Location: Flitwick Crematorium

- Afterwards: A gathering is provisionally booked at the Wingfield Club.

Our thoughts are with Mick’s family and friends at this difficult time - RIP Mick.

Junior Success Story – Molly Wins CRT Fish of the Month
We’re delighted to report that one of our Juniors, Molly, has been awarded CRT Fish of the Month for her fine bream caught on punch at Town South.

After taking part in a couple of Let’s Fish! sessions over the summer, Molly joined the Kingfishers as a Junior member in September.

Since then, she has continued to grow in confidence, steadily developing her skills and showing real promise on the bank.

It’s fantastic to see her progress, and we look forward to celebrating many more of her achievements in the months ahead.

Molly - CRT Catch of the Month

NORTH HOUSE LAKE

Paul Martin enjoyed a productive session at North House, landing two decent pike during a short winter outing. With reports understandably thin at this time of year, it was great to see some predator action coming through.Paul’s catches add a welcome highlight to this week’s round‑up and show that North House continues to offer good winter sport

Paul Martin - North House Pike
Paul Martin - North House Pike

Match Report - Wednesday 3rd December 2025 – Ouse Embankment, Bedford

This week we fished the Ouse Embankment in Bedford – a venue familiar to many, but one we hadn’t tackled as a group before. Parking proved a little tricky due to ongoing construction work, but everyone managed to squeeze in eventually.

Weather & Conditions
The river looked inviting, with good colour, a steady slow flow, and a measured water temperature of 7°C. Given the weekend’s match results (20 fished, only 2 caught!), we knew it would be a testing day.

For once, the rain stayed away. The morning began bitterly cold at -2°C with frost on the ground, before lifting into a bright late morning and afternoon. As the sun dipped, the temperature dropped sharply again.

The Fishing

Barry Roper fished two lines – an 8m whip and 10m pole. After a steady run of roach, his pinkie rig buried and the elastic streamed out. Following a tense 3–4 minute battle, Barry netted a surprise December tench weighing 3lb 4oz. He added more roach to finish with 4lb 3oz and first place.
Mark Sessions christened his new 8m Drennan Acolyte whip. Feeding caster and pinkie with occasional groundbait, he built a tidy mixed bag of roach and perch. His careful approach earned him 3lb 12oz and second place.
Danny Worth fished his pole at 9m with worm heads over groundbait and pinkies. He finished third with 1lb 3oz.
Colin Holmes found unexpected depth by the island and tried liquidised bread, squat, pinkie, and chopped worm without success. Switching to a small feeder brought a few roach, though lilies claimed some feeders. He ended with 8oz.

Despite modest weights, spirits remained high. Everyone agreed the venue deserves a return visit next year, when parking should be easier once construction is complete.

Thanks

Grateful thanks to Barry for pegging, Ray for admin and weigh‑in, and all who helped on the day. As ever, it was a real team effort.

Results

1st Barry Roper – 4lb 3oz (incl. Tench 3lb 4oz) 2nd Mark Sessions – 3lb 12oz 3rd Danny Worth – 1lb 3oz 4th Colin Holmes – 0lb 8oz 5th Dennis Hunt – 0lb 7oz 6th Tony Hickmott – 0lb 2oz 7th Dave Ridley – 0lb 1oz 8drm 8th Les Burton – 0lb 1oz

DNW: Ray Burton, Dudley Frankland, Graham Stringer, Richard Darbon, Terry Vickers, Sam Rose

Next Match

Venue: Greensands Date: Wednesday 10th December Meet: 8.30am in the car park Fish: 10.00am – 3.00pm Fees: £5 optional pools + £2 Luton pegging fee + £10 fishery fee

New members: Please message us beforehand so we can manage pegging. Bring your club membership book, as it must be shown on your first appearance.

Embankment Match 3rd December

That’s all for this week. Thanks to everyone who shared reports and updates — they really help keep the news flowing through the winter months. Stay warm, look after yourselves, and we’ll see you on the bank next week.

Tight Lines

Dave M

Luton AC