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.
Fishing in sub-zero temperatures, BHAA member Paul Elt had a remarkable 14 fish haul of chub from the River Ivel near Biggleswade. His best fish weighed 6lb 2oz with another four fish topping the 5lb mark. The remaining fish were all around 4lb each. If you want to learn the method Paul used to catch his fish, you will have to purchase a copy of IYCF magazine in which he reveals all. A few weeks earlier, Paul fished on a BHAA controlled stretch of the Ivel from where he caught a 4lb 5oz perch to add to his impressive tally of big fish catches.
Over the next few months, the Club will be making strenuous efforts to prepare Grace Lake for its opening as a fishery on 16th June. Working parties will be held on every second Sunday and on the last Sunday in each month. If you would like to help in this work, please come along. The work will involve bank clearance, land restoration and the creation of permanent swims. The Board has sourced supplies of mature crucian carp and tench to get the fishery off to a flying start. Further species will be introduced in due course.
Complaints have been received of inconsiderate anglers allowing their dogs to foul the bank side in swims and not to keep their animals restrained. Unless this situation rapidly improves, the Association will have no hesitation in banning dogs from its fisheries again and/or banning the offenders. READ AND OBEY THE RULES CONCERNING DOGS.
Some irresponsible anglers seem to think it is acceptable for them to discard litter at McGregor Lake. Bailiffs have been asked to inspect swims and any angler found with rubbish in his swim risks losing his membership. PLEASE TAKE YOUR RUBBISH HOME WITH YOU.
It is with regret that we have learned of the death of Eddie Felstead. Eddie was a keen angler and bird watcher who spent many of his later years at the Sandy Lakes fishery until he suffered a major stroke. Also, he was the first Chairman of the newly-formed Biggleswade and Hitchin Angling Association after the two clubs amalgamated. During this time, he did a lot of work behind the scenes to help with the development of Gingerbread Lake as a prime fishery.
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.
Cheese paste turned out to be successful bait for Winston Pogmore when he made a return visit to High Romper on the Ivel. Although bites were hard to come by, he still managed to catch chub weighing 4lb 7oz, 4lb 3oz and 3lb 14oz. Later, he ventured on to a seldom fished stretch of the nearby Ouse called Campers Meadow where most of the swims had become overgrown with blackthorn bushes. He still managed to catch a 3lb plus chub and missed several good bites during his visit. Robert Livock fished on an increasingly popular stretch of the Ivel near to the Sandy Lakes fishery and ended up fishing a swim from which he regularly catches chub. He kept getting fish knocking his bread flake hook bait and was beginning to think they were caused by small fish when a bold bite changed his mind. He struck and found he was into a good chub which turned out to be a 4lb 9oz specimen.
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 more 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.
Fraser Hayden thought he might try for some of the elusive Ivel roach fishing The Riddy stretch of the river in Sandy. He set up with a stick float, centre pin reel, size 18 hook and a 2.2lb bottom. Bait was a single maggot. Fraser fed his swim with a dozen or so maggots every couple of minutes and guided his float down the centre of the river. However, it was not roach that he was to catch but some pristine conditioned chub. Over a short 3-hour session, Fraser took 5 chub between 3lbs and just over 4lbs for a total weight of about 18lbs.
Alan Lawrence fished on a BHAA-controlled stretch of the River Ouse from where he caught six big chub all over 4lbs. His fish weighed 4lb 3oz, 4lb 12oz, 5lb 5oz, 5lb 11oz and two 6 pounders weighing 6lb 3oz and 6lb. All of Alan’s fish were taken on quiver tipped popped-up cheese flavoured bread crust.
Notifications have been sent to night permit holders inviting them to renew their permits for the forthcoming season. The deadline date for renewal will be 30th April after which time any vacancies will be filled from the waiting list. If any member has not received his notification, he should contact the Membership Secretary.
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.
Winston Pogmore ventured on to his favourite stretch of the Ivel, High Romper at Tempsford but was disappointed to find the river almost without any flow and clear. After failing to get a bite in a number of swims, he moved down on to a wooded stretch of the river. The recent strong winds had brought down a number of branches creating some shelter for the fish and it was here that he found them. Using float-fished bunches of maggots, he soon found himself getting a bite every task and a steady stream of roach, small chub, dace and even minnows coming to the net.
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.
Around 300 silver fish and small perch were transferred from Grace Lake into McGregor Lake together with an 8lb common carp and pike to 15lbs. The lake is now rapidly refilling and will soon be stocked with crucians and tench, hopefully, in time for the start of next season. There is still a lot of work to do removing debris from the banks and sowing grass seed around the lake. It should make a great addition to the club’s portfolio of fishing and offer anglers some exciting float-fishing in the future.
The continuing mild weather has meant that the carp at McGregor Lake have continued to feed. Robert Livock has been catching carp to over 13lbs with one or twp red letter days with multiple catches. Bradley Curtis ended the year fishing into a near gale force wind but managed to land mirror carp weighing 8lb 6oz and 15lb 3oz. The bigger fish fell to a banana flavoured pop-up boilie.
Chub fishing in the Sandy area has been good with several anglers catching fish to well over 5lbs. One of the more successful methods has been float-fishing with a single maggot which has accounted for most of the larger fish. It was this method that enabled Simon Carr of Walker’s Pitch to catch a 6lb 2oz chub. Whilst Simon concentrated on chub fishing, his young son Alex fished alongside him using a ledgered smelt. Alex hooked a big pike that threatened to pull him in but with dad’s guidance the fish was landed, a superb 21lb 4oz specimen from a BHAA controlled stretch.
PAC member Richard Callf fished a BHAA controlled lake during the week landing two super pike. Both were females and weighed 17lbs and 28lbs, the latter being a new record for the undisclosed venue. Richard was reluctant to publicise his catch for fear of putting too much pressure on these delicate fish as they approach spawning time. Recently, he has witnessed so-called pike anglers using inferior tackle resulting in fish being lost with lures and traces in them. He advises anglers wishing to pike fish to seek advice on the correct handling and unhooking of fish to minimize damage.
