Welcome to this week’s round-up of news, venue updates, and catch reports from across all Luton Angling Club waters week ending 2nd August 2026.
It has been another scorching week across the region, with unrelenting sunshine, high daytime temperatures. Forecasts indicate that Bedfordshire will experience temperatures in the mid - high twenties again this week with mostly dry weather with only a small chance of light rain or drizzle on Tuesday.
A reminder to take care of yourselves and our fish during the hot weather, Prolonged hot weather causes low oxygen levels putting additional stress on fish. Our fisheries teams are keeping a close eye on our waters and the club will take any steps necessary to protect our fish stocks.
FISHERS GREEN - RIVER LEA CLOSURE & PIKE FISHING RESTRICTIONS
The committee at Fishers Green have informed us that due to critically low water levels and reduced oxygen levels, the river is closed to all fishing with immediate effect until further notice.
Conditions will be monitored closely, and the situation will be reviewed on a daily basis. We will provide updates as soon as it is safe to reopen.
To help protect the welfare of the fish, this closure also includes all pike lure fishing on the lakes and the relief channel.
In addition there has been several reports of dead and distressed eels in waters throughout the Lee valley between Broxbourne and Waltham Cross. Our waters Slipe Lane Pits and Fishers Green are in this catchment.
If anyone observes a dead or moribund eel please take a photo and provide us with a what 3 words location or National Grid Reference so that we can provide these details to the EA. Alternatively please call the EA incident hotline: 0800 80 70 60.
The EA Fisheries team have recently obtained a freshly dead eel to take to their National Fisheries Laboratory, to be screened for several eel specific pathogens, but they would welcome more specimens for examination.
Molly's Magic 100
Firstly this week we have another Let's Fish success story written by Sue Brown who is Molly's Grandma. Although this catch wasn't from a Luton AC water we are always pleased to report on the progress and success of the juniors that have attended our Let's Fish Events! - Well Done Molly!
"Molly first discovered fishing through the Let's Fish initiative last summer. She enjoyed it so much that she soon joined Luton Angling Club and later attended the winter coaching sessions run by the club’s volunteer coaches. Those sessions developed her skills enormously and, just as importantly, gave her the confidence to keep learning.
She's certainly not from a fishing family, although her Grandad has learned a great deal alongside Molly and he now takes her out whenever there is a chance. Most of our trips have been to the canal at Slapton, which is quite a journey for us.
However, with the Tring Anglers section of the canal at Broughton being only a mile from our home, we thought we would see what it had to offer.
Armed with fresh pinkies collected from Aylesbury that morning and some Sensas 3000 Canal Groundbait, we found a nice shady spot on what turned out to be a sweltering hot day. After mixing the bait, plumbing the depth and assembling the rod, Molly was ready to begin.
She started fishing at 9.00 a.m. By 11.30 she had already reached the target we had optimistically agreed beforehand—20 fish. But, as every angler knows, there's always the temptation of "just one more!"
That one more became 30… then 40… then 50… and before we knew it, Molly had reached the magical milestone of 100 fish! Considering that previous outings had produced seven or eight fish, with perhaps 20 on a really good day, this was nothing short of remarkable. Her catch included a lovely mix of perch, roach, rudd and bream—although she was slightly disappointed not to add a gudgeon to the tally! She finally packed away at 4.00 p.m., tired but absolutely delighted.
Perhaps even more rewarding than the number of fish was seeing how much Molly's confidence has grown in such a short time. She now handles fish carefully and confidently and has become much more proficient at unhooking them herself..
One of the real strengths of Luton Angling Club is that the coaching doesn't stop when the sessions finish. A quick message to the junior coaching WhatsApp group asking for advice on why fish were coming off the hook during the landing process brought several helpful replies almost immediately.
That ongoing support is an invaluable resource for both young anglers and their parents, providing encouragement, practical advice and regular contact with the coaches throughout the summer.
We simply wouldn't be fishing today without the time, patience and generosity of Dennis, Roger, Richard and Mark and Neil.
Their enthusiasm, knowledge and willingness to support both juniors and complete beginners have opened up a wonderful new hobby for our family.
Watching Molly achieve her first 100-fish day was something we'll all remember for a long time, and it's a testament to everything the club's coaching programme is achieving.
Thank you, Luton Angling Club, for inspiring the next generation of anglers"
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| Molly's Magic 100 |
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| Molly's Magic 100 |
Upcoming Let's Fish Events
Let's Fish - Upcoming Summer Events. Each year in conjunction with the Canal and River Trust, Luton Angling Club host several learn-to-fish introductory taster events called Let's Fish!
They're suitable for adults and children aged six or over. Details on our upcoming events can be found at the links below.
4th August 2026
13th August 2026
18th August 2026
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| Let's Fish Events |
North House Lake
Having not fished at North House for 25 years Andy Childs had his first fish of the year a 17lb 13oz dark Common. He said "It's great to be back, Love it"
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| Andy Childs - North House Lake 17lb 13oz |
Beckerings Reservoir
Members should be aware that water levels at Beckerings are currently very low. Please take extra care when fishing, minimise handling, and carefully consider the amount of bait you use to avoid any water quality problems.
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| Beckerings Low Water Levels - 01/08/26 |
Abby Williams had a great session at Beckerings with 8 carp on the bank! The biggest fish was a 25lb 8oz mirror. Voodoo Baits Dark Spell topped with Citrus spell wafter was the standout combination, accounting for 6 of the 8 carp, while Voodoo Baits Forbidden Fruit landed the other 2, including the biggest fish of the session.
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| Abby Williams - Beckerings |
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| Abby Williams - Beckerings |
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| Abby Williams - Beckerings |
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| Abby Williams - Beckerings |
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| Abby Williams - Beckerings |
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| Abby Williams - Beckerings |
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| Abby Williams - Beckerings |
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| Abby Williams - Beckerings |
Nathan Edwards had a new PB at 24lb from Beckerings last Saturday. It was caught on a bottom bait - double 15mm red robin boilie. He also had another Common of 22lb on an 18mm Scopex.
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| Nathan Edwards - Beckerings |
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| Nathan Edwards - Beckerings |
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| Nathan Edwards - Beckerings |
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| Nathan Edwards - Beckerings |
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| Anthony Ansell - Beckerings |
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| Anthony Ansell - Beckerings |
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| Anthony Ansell - Beckerings |
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| Anthony Ansell - Beckerings |
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| Anthony Ansell - Beckerings |
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| Anthony Ansell - Beckerings |
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| Anthony Ansell - Beckerings |
Match Report - Wed 29th July 2026.
River Nene - Barnwell Plantation.
The Wednesday group were due to fish Wellingboroughs section of the R. Nene at Barnwell Marina, but due to heavy weed growth, and despite the best weed clearing efforts of Wellingboroughs work party, it was deemed unfishable and an alternative venue was hastily offered by Wellingborough Chairman, Ivor Stokes.
So it was to the Nene at the Barnwell Plantation section that 16 Wednesday group members headed to brave the 4th heatwave of the year. As this section of the River is a fair distance from the road we made our journey along a track through pleasant plantation woodland until eventually arriving beside the river around half a mile later.
The recent and ongoing drought conditions were having an obvious effect with the river gin clear and with very little flow. Despite this there was the usual enthusiasm and good banter, the latter surely one of the best reasons for being there!
The initial enthusiasm though, somewhat predictably given the conditions did not result in anything resembling a 'red letter' day.
There could be many adjectives to adequately describe the day, for example tough, demanding, tricky or arduous, but let's just stick with challenging and disappointing. Predictably weights were low and bites were hard to find, especially from the famous River Nene Roach. The Waltham Abbey raider, otherwise known as Dave Whillock took top spot using a combination of groundbait feeder with worm hookbait and pole at 11m to take Rudd, Perch and Gudgeon and a lovely Tench of around 2lbs.
Second placed Barry Roper fished a 9m whip alternating hookbait between worm, caster and hemp to take chublets, perch and roach. Barry fed hemp in the last 2 hours and was one of the few to find the roach.
Third placed Andy Frankum fished groundbait caster and worm down the middle and hemp and caster 5m out to take chublets, perch and gudgeon mostly on worm.
Full Result
1. Dave Whilock 4. 9. 8.
2. Barry Roper 4. 8. 0.
3. Andy Frankum 3. 10.0
4. Simon Foulkes 2. 5. 0.
5. Bart Bonito 1. 15.0.
6. Graham Stringer 1.10.0.
7. Dave Abbott 1. 9. 0.
8. Keith Ward 1. 7. 0.
9. Tony Hickmott 1. 6. 0.
10. Dave Ridley 1. 3. 8.
11. Richard Gibbs 1. 2. 0.
12. Les Burton 1. 0. 0.
13. Colin Holmes 0. 12.0.
14. Pete Smith 0. 10.0.
15. Ray Burton 0. 9. 8.
16. Richard Darbon DNW
Once again, and as usual there was a team effort with members stepping up to assist with pegging, thank you Andy Frankum and Dave Whilock and to Ray Burton for conducting the draw. Thanks also to Colin Holmes and Dave Ridley for weighing in pegs 1 to 8 and additional thanks to Andy Frankum and Dave Whillock for weighing in pegs 9 to 16. No photographs again this week as preferring instead to return fish as quickly as possible given the weather conditions.
We are grateful to Ivor Stokes for arranging the change of venue and for visiting us on the bank, It's always a pleasure to see him!
Next wednesday we are at How End Fishery on Danis Lake. Please do not get to the venue before 8am.
Draw as usual at 8.30am fish 10am to 3pm.
Lastly our best wishes go out to regulars Terry Vickers and Malcolm Ogden who have not been able to join us lately. We look forward to seeing them both back on the bank soon.
GUC Summer Evening Series - Round 3
The third round of the GUC Summer Evening Series was held at The Globe on Thursday 23 July.
Eight anglers (including two Luton juniors) gathered for the 5pm draw & were welcomed by a large number of boats moored nose to tail from the pub towards Leighton Buzzard, possibly due to the Linslade Canal Festival at Tiddenfoot over the following weekend.
Plans adapted, the anglers made their way towards their pegs on the “soldier blue” side of the pub. All anglers caught small skimmers roach and perch throughout the match with bonus fish absent.
Winning angler, Sean Leatherland, started the match on a 3.5m line and caught small skimmers from the start on pinkie over groundbait.
When this line slowed, further skimmers small roach and perch on pinkie and large red maggot were found on 9m line for a winning weight of 6lbs 4oz.
Results:
1st - Sean Leatherland 6-4-0
2nd - Tim Watts 5-3-0
3rd - Pete Mills 2-8-0
4th - Chris Howard 2-5-0
5th - Paul Carr 1-11-0
6th - Dylan Carr 0-11-0
7th - Daniel Carr 0-8-8
8th - Mark Sessions - DNW (tipped back)
Next round - 13th August - The Globe (boats permitting!). Please note the draw for this one will be at 4pm, fish 5pm to 8pm, so we don’t need torches to see the scales next time.
This competition is a four round evening series of matches of 3 hours duration to be fished on the GUC on Thursday evenings. The best 3 points results out of the 4 matches will count and standard Luton Match rules apply.
League standings after three rounds:
Chris Howard - 56 points (3 matches)
Dudley Frankland - 38 points (2 matches)
Sean Leatherland - 37 points (2 matches)
Pete Mills - 36 points (2 matches)
Mark Sessions - 35 points (3 matches)
Colin Macbeth - 19 points (1 match)
Tim Watts - 19 points (1 match)
Richard Darbon - 16 points (1 match)
Paul Carr - 16 points (1 match)
Dylan Carr - 15 points (1 match)
Daniel Carr - 14 points (1 match)
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| GUC Summer Evening Series - Round 3 |
Unfortunately we are seeing evidence of open fires at some of our waters. In particular Biddenham and Eaton Ford - it is likely these were the work of people who should not be at the venue, often arriving on boats, canoes and paddleboards.
The banks, surrounding fields, and grass banks at ALL our venues are currently tinderbox-dry. A fire can quickly get out of control and cause major damage to surrounding properties, farmland as well as harming wildlife. We have a strict fire ban at ALL our venues.
No Open Fires or BBQs: Under no circumstances are open fires or charcoal/disposable BBQs permitted anywhere on club property or leased waters.
Cooking Stoves: Only stable, raised camping stoves are permitted. Ensure they are set up away from long dry grass or overhanging vegetation and are never left unattended.
Cigarette Butts: Please ensure all smoking materials are completely extinguished in a metal container or tin and carried home with your litter. A single stray ember poses a massive risk to wildlife, surrounding farm crops, and our venues.
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| Evidence of a fire at Biddenham |
WORK PARTY - SLIPE LANE PITS 08/08/26 & 09/08/26
The Slipe Lane Pits complex will be closed on the 8th & 9th August for work parties.
Any members that attend the work party are more than welcome to fish in the evening/overnight.
If you are able to lend a hand it would be appreciated.
Meet in the car park at 8am on each day.
That's all we have this week, please keep your catch reports coming in, you can submit them via our social media pages or via the catch report section of the club website.
Tight Lines,
Dave M
Luton AC