A new member Fevrier Sevilleno from Cherry Hinton near Cambridge has got off to a cracking start by catching the boily munching machine known as Cluster! Fevrier caught this lovely looking mirror carp weighing 43lb 11oz, a few ounces down on its previous weight when last caught. He added that the fish put up a really good fight and took him several minutes to land. The weighing was witnessed by another new member Alan Cross who took photos of the fish and who was suitably impressed. Overall, sport remains a little on the slow side with only the odd carp being caught to upper 20s. Tench and bream have been showing themselves by rolling on the surface as they get ready to start spawning.

Conor Young was fishing with his young friend Aiden Jones at McGregor Lake where he helped him to land a 12lb 5oz mirror, a nicely proportioned carp. About half an hour later Aiden’s other buzzer screamed out and he was into another fish, this time a 10lb 5oz mirror. Whilst Conor was helping him to land this fish, Conor’s own alarm sounded and he rushed back to his swim to land a 9lb 5oz mirror, his first carp of the year. Conor went on to catch another carp over 8lbs to make it a lively session for the angling duo.

The recent heavy rains have left the tracks in a poor state in places and aglers must exercise care when driving on to low-lying ground as cars have got stuck at both Gingerbread and McGregor Lakes. It has been necessary to chain off part of the track at Gingerbread Lake to prevent vehicles from making it even worse. Members wishing to fish the river side of McGregor Lake should drive around the far side of the lake and not attempt to take the short cut from the bridge on the north side.

A rucksack containing fishing equipment has been found outside the inner gate at Gingerbread Lake. If you think it may be yours, please contact Richard Holden on 07929 332879 who is holding it in safe keeping.

Mick Day has been trying to catch a decent pike from a local club fishery but, despite catching many pike, he has struggled to get any much above 10lbs. He decided to try his luck at Swan Lake using sprats as bait. He was soon into a fish which turned out to be a 9lb pike, nothing to write home about! His luck was to change on his next cast when he struck into a powerful which turned out to be an 18lb 4oz specimen.

After the rain finally stopped, some warm sunshine brought groups of carp on to the surface at the Links Pool where they were swimming about with their backs out of the water. A few anglers were tempted to try for them but no reports of any captures have been forthcoming.

Work continues at Grace Lake to get this new fishery ready for opening in June but the recent rains has raised the water level by a couple of feet. However, several swims were created by the removal of dead or overhanging branches that were blocking them.

Another hardy soul Thomas Finney paid a visit to McGregor Lake for a short afternnon session using only a single rod. He noticed some fish moving and catapulted out some freebies in their direction. Within 5 minutes he had a screaming run which turned out to be a 13lb 10oz mirror. He went on to catch another two carp within a 45 minute window. Later in the week, he returned for another short session but was about to call it a day when an 11lb 8oz mirror took his bait.

During the week, several thousand small roach and skimmers have been stocked into Grace Lake together with a few more tench, the best weighing over 6lbs.

Members are asked to exercise extreme caution when trying to drive their vehicles on to the lakes as the ground is extremely soft and treacherous so don’t get stuck. One of our bailiffs has already had to tow two vehicles from around Gingerbread Lake that had become embedded. Instead, consider leaving them on hard standing and walk to any swims that are still fishable.

Alan Wilkie has been in the doldrums over the past few weeks but his luck changed for the better when he caught two double-figured bream from Swan Lake during an overnight visit. His best fish weighed an impressive 11lb 1oz. Barry Richardson hooked and lost three good carp during a recent session so he is probably feeling a bit miffed at the moment!

Members are asked to exercise extreme caution when driving around the lakes as the recent heavy rains have softened tracks and previously hard ground. If in doubt, walk your route before attempting to drive it as the club does not provide a breakdown service!

Reports have been received of some good-sized carp being caught from Swan Lake with one angler catching three fish over 20lbs in an overnight session. Another angler fishing at the adjacent McGregor Lake found big bream to be feeding. He used method feeder tactics to catch more than a dozen big bream up to over 8lbs.

Carp to low 20s wee being caught at Swan Lake too as well as the odd double-fiured specimen. Roach and bream have been feeding well at McGregor Lake for those anglers seeking a change from the ever-present carp.

The next working party date for Grace Lake will be Sunday, the 29th of April where work is proceeding apace to get the fishery ready for the new season. There will be a designated car park alongside the lake which members will be able to access through the currently locked gate. Also, a large selection of water plants are being set to help provide features as well as defining swims. If you would like to help in the work, please come along for a few hours in the morning.

A few selfish anglers have been allowing their bait boats to cross into other anglers’ swims causing annoyance. People reported using boats in this manner will be disciplined by the Club and risk losing their membership and/or night permits. Please follow the guidelines set out in Rule 4 of your club book.

Thomas Finney has continued fishing for pike and his latest capture is an 18lb specimen which fell to a ledgered mackerel.

Young Kavanagh Palmer-Fletcher has continued with his terrific start at Swan Lake by landing a second double-figured bream, a 10lb 8oz specimen. The only disappointment for Kavanagh was that he was trying to catch one of the lake’s elusive carp!

Biggleswade and Hitchin AA Ltd held its AGM during the week where members were informed that the Association had enjoyed another good year with a record and ever-growing membership. The Board sought the Meeting’s approval to introduce a two rod limit for all the waters at the Sandy Lakes Fishery from next season in an effort to relieve pressure on these popular lakes. Views were fairly divided on the move but in the end the Board’s recommendation was carried. Work was continuing on preparing Grace Lake for opening as a fishery from the start of next season but more help is sought from members on working parties to complete new swims and landscaping. Working parties are being held on the second and last Sunday of each month and the old proverb ‘Many hands make light work’ applies so, if you are able, why not come along? The lake has been divided into two distinct halves. Big Grace Lake has been stocked with crucian carp and tench but Little Grace Lake is still to receive a stocking of mixed silver fish namely bream, rudd and roach with the possibility of other species too.

Winston Pogmore returned to a BHAA controlled stretch of the Ivel near Sandy from where he caught a 5lb plus chub on his previous visit. Sport started more slowly this time and, for a couple of hours, all he could catch was the odd minnow. He kept feeding his swim with breadcrumb and a trickle of maggots and put a bunch of them on to his size 16 hook. He soon landed a 3lb 10oz chub but then hooked into a really powerful fish that he thought was probably a pike. However, when he finally netted the fish it turned out to be a 6lb 15oz chub, his biggest ever chub. His friend Alan Wilkie fished the same stretch of river catching two big chub weighing 5lb 4oz and 5lb 14oz. The latter of the two chub he has caught this season on three separate occasions!

Adam Pinfold fished the Ivel near Biggleswade catching 10 chub and a big perch before his bait ran out and all from the same swim. Alan’s chub weighed 5lb 10oz, 5lb 4oz, 5lb 2oz, 6 over 4lbs and a small 3 pounder. His perch weighed exactly 2lbs. Ollie Jenkinson fished the same stretch of river catching his best ever chub, a 6lb specimen as well as another 5lb specimen. Over the last couple of weeks, Thomas Finney has been enjoying some great sport catching up to 10 chub per visit and landing his first 6lb specimen too. On his penultimate trip of the week he landed 12 chub to 5lb 7oz and a dace. When he returned to the river on his next visit he found his favourite swim taken so he found another swim lower down the river to fish. After an unsuccessful spell of ledgering he swapped to float tackle and on his first trot through the swim his float was buried beneath the surface. A long and hectic 15 minute fight ensued but at the end Thomas had a pristine 10lb barbel at his feet. The swim died shortly after catching the big barbel so he went back to his old swim that was now fee. Within an hour, he landed 5 chub all but one were over 5lbs with the best topping 6lbs.

Alan Bates has fished at Gingerbread Lake for the past year witnessing other anglers landing carp to well over 30lbs and it has been his ambition to crack this barrier. He had hooked and lost several big fish throughout the year but he finally succeeded by catching a deep bellied 33lb common carp. Alan’s fishing companion, Steve Bull, fished a short session using only a single rod but still managed to rack up another big carp, a 31lb mirror. Darren Coles caught an even bigger carp, a 37lb 8oz mirror during the week and Scott Parkin added a 26lb mirror to his New Year tally. Rob Norris fished a 48 hour session to land a 23lb common, 21lb mirror and a double figured common using a popped up boily on a ‘chod’ rig.