Archive for News
Big carp, chub and pike caught plus Grace Lake stocking
Winston Pogmore decided to fish on The Riddy Nature Reserve stretch of the River Ivel in Sandy trotting a float baited with maggots on a size 16 hook. Regular feeding of the swim with a steady trickle of loose offerings soon got the fish feeding. At first, it was small dace, roach and gudgeon that fed and even the occasional minnow but then chub moved in. He caught two good fish weighing 5lb 8oz and 3lb 10oz during his short session.
Waters spring back into life
The lakes seem to be waking up too. Nigel Cleaver fished an overnight session on Swan Lake from where he caught two fish, a 12lb mirror carp and a 10lb 4oz bream. The secret of catching big fish at this time of year seems to be to introduce a small amount of bait on a regular basis. Excessive baiting can be counter productive and frequently attracts diving ducks into baited swims where they greedily mop up the free offerings. Young Lewis Vereeque proved he has not lost his Midas touch when he landed a 10lb pike using a sprat dead bait mounted on a single hook.
Thomas pays tribute to Paul’s tactical advice
After reading Paul Elt’s article on trotting, BHAA club member Thomas Finney was keen to try the method himself. Thomas fished a stretch of the River Ivel in freezing conditions with snow still lying on the ground, hardly the best of conditions. He was fishing only a short session and, after moving swims a couple of times, he had his first success, a 4lb 8oz chub. He returned to the river later in the week and found a really productive swim from which he caught a 4lb 2oz chub followed by a couple of smaller fish and was broken by another fish. Later, he moved to a swim from where a friend, Ollie Jenkinson, had caught two 3lb plus chub earlier in the day. He trotted his float through the swim and struck into a good fish which turned out to be a 5lb 12oz chub, a new personal best for the Sandy angler. He handed his rod to Ollie and he too caught another big chub, this time a 5lb specimen. He returned to the river the following day but only managed a single chub, a 3lb 8oz fish mainly because his rod rings kept freezing up making trotting nigh impossible. Instead, he opted for a bit of pike fishing and was rewarded with the capture of an 11lb fish. Early in the following week, he was back on the river where his very first trot down produced a fat 5lb 10oz chub for him. Another move of swim enabled him to catch a further three fish, the best weighing 4lb 12oz. Thomas said that he is now hooked on trotting and has targeted a six pound chub before the end of the season.
New lake record set in winter cold
Whilst almost every carp angler has long hung up his rods for the year, Little Paxton anglers Scott Parkin has continued to put the time in at BHAA’s big fish venue Gingerbread Lake setting a new lake record along the way. In the weeks preceding the recent freeze, Scott caught three big carp including the awesome ‘Cluster’ weighing in at a new all time high of 43lb 7oz. Also, he caught another huge mirror, a 38lb 14oz specimen and a superbly-conditioned 19lb common carp.
Big pike keep getting caught
A member fished on a BHAA-controlled lake where a single take late in the afternoon resulted in him catching a 27lb 12oz pike. Another member fishing at a different lake caught a 20lb 14oz pike but he was a little disappointed as he had caught the same fish a week earlier weighing 21lbs!
Carp were still active at McGregor Lake where a few fish were observed leaping clear of the water after overnight rain. The previous week, Brad Curtis caught four fish during a day visit, the best weighing around 11lbs. It seems as though the fish are spending much of their time in the surface layers of water so zig rigs may well be the best method during the cold weather.
Big chub from both the Ivel and the Ouse!
Martin Barnatt decided to fish on a BHAA-controlled stretch of the Ivel after trying his luck on some mor.e popular stretches of the river. Fishing only short morning sessions, Martin’s change of venue brought him the good fortune he was after in the form of a 5lb 13oz chub. However, he is still desperate to break the 6lb barrier before the end of the season
A few boilies can go a long way!
Whilst most carp anglers have put away their rods until the Spring, Pete Housden has continued fishing at Swan Lake where he has been introducing a small amount of bait during the week. Pete’s reward has been to catch 4 20lb plus carp, his latest a 22lb 4oz fully-scaled mirror, and a couple of good-sized doubles. Bailiff Dave Hallybone has employed the same tactics too and has taken a couple of small commons in recent trips.
Alan Wilkie has been putting in the time on the rivers Ivel and Ouse and has caught chub to 6lb 5oz by being prepared to fish into the dark and by keeping his regular swims topped up with a few freebies. Alan fished recently on a BHAA controlled stretch of the Ivel near Sandy from where he caught a 5lb 15oz chub using link ledgered luncheon meat to tempt it.
2011 ends on a high and 2012 starts with a bang!
Biggleswade & Hitchin AA was delighted to be declared as being the best club in the Midlands and East Anglian Region by ‘Anglers’ Mail’ despite competition from a number of much larger fishing clubs and associations. The award took into consideration the quality of the waters and the proactive approach of the club in promoting its fishing.
N-n-nineteen!
Rapidly falling temperatures have brought about a dramatic slowdown in sport but nevertheless some BHAA members have made some great catches. Ollie Jenkinson fished a BHAA-controlled stretch of the River Ivel from where he caught a new p.b. pike, a super 19lb 20z specimen. Club Secretary Alan Davies, a keen pike angler, went after chub fishing on an undisclosed stretch of the river and landed three big chub with two over 5lbs. His best was a 5lb 12oz specimen followed by a 5lb 8oz fish and a 4lb plus one too.
An early xmas present!
Around 240 chub were recently stocked into the lower Ivel at Tempsford by the Environment Agency. These young fish will provide a welcome boost to this section of the river and will be able to swim downstream into the Ouse if they should choose to do so.
Work has begun on the drain down of Grace Lake at Sandy in preparation for the creation of a new fishery which it is planned to open from next June. The residual fish are to be transferred into McGregor Lake and then the lake will be restocked with specimen crucian carp and tench.
