I first joined Biggleswade and Hitchin angling club the season of 09/10 firstly fishing Swan lake (formally known as New Road) but then moved onto Gingerbread the following season. I spent about 3 years on Gingerbread resulting in catching many fish including 10 different 30’s the biggest being ‘Cluster’ the biggest fish in the lake at the time at 39lb 8oz (the first time it had been under 40lb that year, grrr!). After that there was one particular fish I wanted, a fish known as Moonscale. Every fish I caught would have me saying “one closer to Moonscale”. But alas it wasn’t to be and at the end of the 2014 season I moved onto pastures new.I rejoined the night syndicate last year (2018) but unfortunately didn’t have much time to fish it. I did one night in July catching a small double but then didn’t return until late Autum where I did a couple of weekends resulting in catching some of the lakes specimen bream. My first trip of 2019 was mid Febuary when I fished The Point. Saturday lunchtime i had a take, the fish gave a slow and steady fight but was soon in my net. One of the bailiffs was stood with me at the time and soon identified the fish as MoonScale and at a weight of 38lb 10oz I was over the Moon (pardon the pun!)The lakes are very well run and maintained and the annual work parties keep on top of all work that requires doing. The swims are comfortable and give the angler their own water where in most cases cant be encroached by other anglers. The bailiffs are very friendly and will help in anyway they can and regular rig checks ensure the fish are being looked after and fished for safely. The majority of the fish I have caught have been during daylight hours so dont think you need a night ticket to get amongst the fish. I highly recommend Biggleswade and Hitchin Angling Club, I’m definatly spending a few more seasons here. Get out there, enjoy yourself and remember… it’s only fishing.
Mark Horspool
Well a quick round up of how the year has gone on Gingerbread Lake.
It’s now been over a year since the fence was put in place and the future is looking very bright indeed for the fishery.Without any worry from the otters, the main concern for the fish now is the anglers but with several rig checks being carried out over the year by the bailiffs it’s all heading in the right direction.
The fish had a very good spawn this year, I believe 3 times over a month period and all anglers did the right thing and left the fish well alone to get on with it. I believe this is very important as this year we only saw the loss of just one low 20lb mirror unfortunately, with some fish actually losing over 10lb in weight this year but hopefully that shows they fully got it out of there system. That being said the fish weights have soared up heading into winter and with no otters chasing them about all winter they can have a proper rest stress free period. It’s been very noticeable over the last year that fin and tail damage on a few fish has been healing very well, some almost fully repaired now.
There’s 3 X 40s and over 26 x 30s with 9 of them being 30lb plus commons up to 37lb, the stockies are growing nicely and a few are now pushing upper teens.
With the last work party done and another good turn out there is always work that needs doing around the lake, swims and track maintenance being looked at again when the next work party is planned. As always we need the numbers to make it worth while, so please feel free to come along.
Darren Coles
I’ve been a member for 4 years now and have a photo album full of beautiful fish from the Gingerbread lake. It’s a great fishery run very well by some of the friendliest members I’ve met in over 40 years of angling.
The fishery is exceptionally clean and secure for both anglers and fish alike. Keep up the great work.
