News from our Waters |
SDAA waters are reopening –
please see the Homepage for Updates
Broom Lake is Open
Work on modifying the swims at Broom Lake has been completed
and the lake is now open to members. Please take care
where the soil has been disturbed as it will take time for the
ground to consolidate. The track around the lake will
remain closed to vehicles until the ground has dried out in the
spring.
Jordans Car Park Barrier
Members should note that a new vehicle barrier has been erected
across the parking are at the Jordans end of Broom River by
contractors working on behalf of Tarmac. The club’s A10
key will open the lock that is shrouded by the lock box at the
river end of the barrier. You will need to crouch down at
the end of the barrier to access the lock box, which is designed
to stop the lock being removed by bolt croppers. The
smaller lock that is visible on the top of the barrier is simply
there to stop people walking away with the main lock and chain.
It is not the easiest lock to access, but please ensure the
barrier is left closed and locked to avoid unwanted visitors.
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Week ending 11th April 2021 Current Shefford & District AA members
can now apply to renew their membership for the 2021/22 season.
Members are currently being contacted by email or post with details
of how to renew their membership, and further details and renewal
forms can be found on the membership section of the club’s website.
Existing members have until 31st May 2021 to renew their membership.
After this date, remaining places will be offered to new and lapsed
members who have expressed an interest in joining SDAA.
With both daytime and night time temperatures well below average
the water temperatures have been affected and sport has been a
little slower than might be expected for this time of year.
Patience has been required by those targeting the catfish at The
Airman, but the catfish activity has been slowly increasing in
recent weeks. Having caught his first catfish of the year at
31lb two weeks ago, Chris Jenkins returned for another session on a
cold windy day. Starting at 11am Chris waited without a bite until
dark and considered going home, but decided to give it "a bit
longer". With one rod packed away and just about ready to
leave, a steady run at 8.30pm was followed by a 10 minute fight
before a catfish of 50lb was safely landed. A long wait but worth
it! Bill Burton also tempted a 36lb 5oz catfish during a
recent session. Phil Thompson presented a small ‘Robin Red’
pellet on a size 14 hook that was wrapped in groundbait to attract
any passing fish on relatively light tackle. Phil was
surprised to find himself attached to something large and powerful,
which eventually resulted in his first ever catfish of 35lb being
landed. Several carp have been landed including a 19lb 8oz
mirror landed by Alfie Youd.
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Week ending 4th April 2021 Current Shefford & District AA members
will be contacted by email or post during April inviting them to
renew their membership for the 2021/22 season. The SDAA
committee has set an upper limit to both membership numbers and
night permits to ensure our waters do not become too busy.
Existing members will have until 31st May 2021 to renew their
membership. After this date, remaining places will be offered
to new and lapsed members who have expressed an interest in joining
SDAA.
The resumption of night fishing on the club’s stillwaters
coincided with some unusually high daytime temperatures and several
members enjoyed success with the carp at Willington Lake during
their first overnight sessions for some time. Twins Barry and
Dean Jarvis were there for ‘opening night’ and had a decent common
and mirror carp during their session. Steve Burbidge fished a
48h session and landed several of the recently stocked VS Fisheries
mirrors around the 14-15lb mark as well as a mirror of 20lb 2oz.
A number of members headed to The Airman hoping the catfish would
be in a feeding mood, but most left disappointed. Several carp
were caught including a 17lb ‘old warrior’ mirror landed by Steve
Leslie. Odd tench also showed up in catches as well as some
decent roach for those targeting the smaller species.
Reports from Broom Lake were thin on the ground but Darren
Stratton did land a nice 6lb 4oz tench. The track around the
lake remains closed to vehicles as it requires repairs to make it
safe following damage caused by the winter floods. The lake
will need to be closed to fishing whilst the contractors undertake
the repairs and the closure dates will be announced in due course.

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Week ending 21st March 2021 Those Shefford & District AA members
who are in possession of a night permit will be able to resume night
fishing on the club’s stillwaters from 8pm on Monday 29th March
2021, provided there are no late changes to the Government’s Roadmap
out of lockdown. All members are reminded that the club’s
Covid-19 additional rules (dated 8th December 2020) still apply
whilst visiting SDAA waters and these can be viewed on the homepage
of the club’s website.
Catches at Broom Lake have been steadily improving as the water
temperatures have slowly risen. Mick Baldwin has enjoyed a few
early season tench during recent sessions targeting the bream, which
has also produced the odd carp. A bailiff witnessed another
member landing a 16lb+ common carp on a feeder set up that had
already accounted for several bream.
Although The Airman has seen plenty of anglers, catch reports
have been rather thin on the ground. Kyle Price-Smith reported
a 15lb mirror that was identified as one of the AJS Fisheries C3
stocked a few years ago.
Current SDAA members will be contacted in a few weeks time with
details of how to renew their membership for the 2021/22 season.
Once existing members have had an opportunity to renew their
membership, any remaining places will be offered to new and lapsed
members who have expressed an interest in joining SDAA. The
committee has set an upper limit to both membership numbers and
night permits to ensure our waters do not become too busy
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Week endind 14th March 2021 Shefford & District AA members are
reminded that no fishing is allowed on river venues for the next 3
months as the river close season applies from 15th March to 15th
June inclusive. Neil Bygrave ventured to Broom River just
before the start of the river close season hoping that his ledgered
worm would attract some of the venue’s large perch. Neil
fished three swims during his session with no sign of any perch, but
his second swim did produce a small roach straight away followed by
a new personal best 6lb 6oz chub.
The Airman continues to be a popular venue that has continued to
produce a number of different species. Some anglers have been
enjoying multiple catches of carp in a single session once the areas
where the carp are feeding have been located.
The Angling Trust has announce that they have confirmation from
the Cabinet Office that night fishing should be able to resume from
29th March under planned changes to Government guidance for the
wider return of outdoor sports and recreation. Night fishing
is not currently permitted on SDAA waters and the committee will
make their decision about resuming night fishing once changes to
government Covid-19 regulations have been announced.
Current SDAA members will be contacted in a few weeks time with
details of how to renew their membership for the 2021/22 season.
Once existing members have had an opportunity to renew their
membership, any remaining places will be offered to new and lapsed
members who have expressed an interest in joining SDAA. The
committee has set an upper limit to both membership numbers and
night permits to ensure our waters do not become too busy.
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Week ending 28th Feb 2021 Shefford & District AA members are
reminded that there are only a few days left to fish river venues
before the river close season applies from 15th March to 15th June
inclusive. The club’s stretches of the Ivel have recently been
producing some decent perch, including an unweighed specimen caught
by Matt Dale whilst lure fishing. Peter Gill reported a 2lb
14oz perch from the Broom River stretch.
The Airman continues to be a popular venue that has been producing a
number of different species. Dick Cook enjoyed an excellent
session with a bag of roach, a perch of 2lb 8oz and two pike to
18lb. Junior member Alfie Youd had success whilst carp fishing
with his best two mirrors weighing 19lb 3oz and 19lb 8oz.
The AGM that was due to be held on 24th March 2021 has been
cancelled and nominations have now closed for committee and officer
positions. The committee will be discussing membership and
potential rule changes for next season during March. Members
will then be contacted regarding renewing their membership for the
2021/22 season.


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Week ending 21st Feb 2021 With rivers fining down and some spring
like temperatures more Shefford & District AA members have been
venturing out to fish. Members are reminded that we are still
in national lockdown and fishing is restricted to day sessions only
(night fishing is not permitted) and members must continue to follow
Government guidelines regarding travel and exercising. The
SDAA committee do not anticipate making any changes to the clubs
‘additional rules’ regarding the Covid-19 situation before 29th
March 2021.
Neil Bygrave made a trip to Broom River on the Ivel in search of
chub and perch. Fishing worm on the hook Neil’s first swim
produced a solitary gudgeon. Moving swims Neil cast a light
link ledger downstream just a rod length out and took two chub of
3lb and 4lb in quick succession. Neil’s only other bite
resulted in a small ‘tommy’ ruffe, a fish that is a very rare
encounter for the vast majority of anglers these days.
The Airman water levels have returned to normal and has been
popular with members since the ice has thawed. Carp have been
feeding with some anglers enjoying multiple captures of double
figure carp in a single session. Nathan Rusbridge had a
pleasant surprise when a 13lb 8oz catfish picked up his white scopex
squid pop up just after casting out. Several pike have also
been caught including a 19lb pike landed by Kevin Currington

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Week ending 14th Feb 2021 It has been a struggle for Shefford &
District AA members to find any venue to fish in recent weeks.
River venues have been flooded for much of the time, which resulted
in both Willington Lake and Broom Lake experiencing flooding.
Then as flood waters receded the cold spell led to the lakes being
frozen over. Hopefully with milder weather forecast the
fishing will improve, provided there is no further flooding.
River anglers should be aware that the river close season will come
into force from 15th March to 15th June inclusive, so there are only
a few weeks left to explore the club’s river venues.
Water levels at The Airman are settling down with just the fronts
of a few swims under a little water. Fishing was rather slow
just before the lake froze over, but a few pike and roach were still
being caught, as these species are usually willing to feed even in
low water temperatures. Although roach were not being caught
in large numbers there were still several roach well over a pound
landed, with odd fish approaching the magical 2lb mark.
The AGM due to be held on 24th March 2021 has been cancelled.
Any member who wishes to put their name forward to join the
committee, act as an officer or become a director should contact the
Chairperson or Club Secretary ASAP, who should also be contacted by
members if they have any proposals for rule changes or
questions/comments about the club. The committee have started
to discuss plans for the 2021/22 season. Current members will
be contacted in the spring regarding any changes being introduce and
how to renew their membership.
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Week ending 20th Dec 2020 We expect a number of Shefford &
District AA members will be looking forward to visiting club waters
over the festive season. Members need to be aware of the
impact of the changes to the local restriction tiers, which come
into effect from 19th December. SDAA waters will move into
Tier 3 (very high alert) with the exception of the Ouse at Little
Paxton that will remain in Tier 2 (high alert). The Government
advises against all unnecessary travel into and out of Tier 3 areas,
and a fishing trip is not judged to be necessary travel.
Before visiting any SDAA fishery, all SDAA members must fully
familiarise themselves with the current set of additional rules
governing SDAA fisheries (and all other club rules) that can be
found on the SDAA website. Some members are still failing to observe
the basic 2m social distancing rule at all times whilst on SDAA
waters. There have also been instances of members leaving
their baited rods in the water to visit friends in nearby swims and
verbal warnings have been issued, which is likely to result in a ban
if the member is found leaving unattended rods again.
There have been relatively few catch reports in recent weeks.
The Airman has produced a number of double figure pike, but blank
sessions seem to outnumber successful trips. Some anglers are
still enjoying good catches of roach along with some decent perch,
but locating the shoals of fish is the key to a good net of fish.
Please note that peg 11 (Green Swim) has been closed as the swim had
become totally waterlogged as it had acted as a sump for rainwater
runoff from the surrounding land.
Whilst anglers have struggled to catch specimen chub and perch on
the river venues using larger baits, a number of members have
discovered a switch to smaller hooks and baits can often produce
some good nets of roach and dace on several of our Ivel and Ouse
venues.
It was with great sadness that the club heard the news that John
Wigg had passed away on Sunday 13th December. In recent years
John was a regular visitor to Broom Lake where he especially enjoyed
pole fishing for the roach. John will be known to many club
members and the club would like to pass on our condolences to his
wife and family.
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Week ending 6th Dec 2020 The drop in temperatures resulted in far
fewer Shefford & District AA members venturing outside to the club’s
waters during the last week. Dick Cook visited The Airman last
Wednesday and his catch included a 2lb 8oz perch, plus roach of 1lb
12oz and 1lb 14oz. The venue has produced several roach over
the magical 2lb mark this season and whilst several have been
accidental captures by carp anglers, some members have successfully
persevered with selective baits to avoid the smaller roach and pick
out the larger redfins.
Please note that the wording of the ‘additional rules’ document has
been updated to reflect changes to Government Covid-19 guidance as
well as an update to the document outlining the Covid-19 risk
factors that are relevant to SDAA members. Both updated
documents will appear on the home page of the club’s website.
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Week ending 29th Nov 2020 The Government’s Covid-19 Winter Plan
has now switched to the new restriction tiers and all Shefford &
District AA waters are currently located within Tier 2. Before
visiting any SDAA fishery, all SDAA members must fully familiarise
themselves with the current set of additional rules governing SDAA
fisheries (and all other club rules) that can be found on the SDAA
website. Bailiffs have noted some members failing to observe
the 2m social distancing rule at all times whilst on SDAA waters.
Work on modifying the swims at Broom Lake has been completed and the
lake is now open to members. Please take care where the soil
has been disturbed as it will take time for the ground to
consolidate. The track around the lake will remain closed to
vehicles until the ground has dried out in the spring. Please
note that the willows located between the lake and river are being
cropped, so please take extra care when accessing Broom River via
the lake.
James Burton landed a couple of perch to 1lb 6oz from Broom River.
One was tempted by ledgered lobworm and the other with a large bunch
of maggots on a maggot feeder. As is often the case on this
stretch, James caught both fish within a 20 minute spell during the
late afternoon as light levels began to drop. Whilst many have
been targeting the perch and chub with large baits, some members
have also reported a notable increase in small roach when fishing
with lighter tackle and smaller baits.
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Week ending 22nd Nov 2020 The Airman has continued to provide
Shefford & District AA members with several notable catches during
the last week. A number of members have been targeting the
pike and Chris Wilkins managed a single run in a 4h session, which
resulted in a new PB pike of 17lb. Ian Webb tempted an even
larger specimen pike of 20lb 2oz on Saturday morning. Steve
Burbidge had several carp ‘topping’ in his swim before his bite
alarm finally sounded that resulted in a 20lb 8oz mirror carp, which
was identified as a VS Fisheries carp stocked just a couple of years
ago. Alan Lawrence is often ‘pestered’ by carp whilst tench
fishing in the spring and summer. Alan was fishing for roach
on his latest trip when he hooked into something much larger that
turned out to be a very unseasonal and large tench.
Unfortunately Alan only had a small set of scales with him to weigh
any decent roach, so the tench was returned unweighed. The
club would like to thank all the volunteers who turned up on
Saturday to help plant laurel bushes in some of the car park swims,
The volunteers also carried out some tree work and applied wood
chippings to a number of swims.
Work on modifying and repairing the swims at Broom Lake
began on 23rd November and notices will appear on social media pages
when the work has been completed and Broom Lake has been reopened to
members.
Mick Webb fished a session on the Flit (Ivel Navigation) using
some homemade cheese paste, which resulted in two pristine chub of
4lb 6oz and 4lb 2oz. Although many areas of the Flit are quite
narrow it is a river that can produce some surprisingly good
catches.
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Week ending 15th Nov 2020 Several Shefford & District AA members
have enjoyed some notable catches over the last week. The
club’s Broom River stretch has produced a number of good perch this
season to just over 3lb, but it is also known to produce the odd
specimen chub. Paul Burton was delighted when he broke
his PB with a chub of 6lb 11oz that was caught on a legered worm.
Members are reminded that Broom Lake will be closed and out of
bounds to all members from 5.15pm on Sunday 22nd November for up to
10 days whilst contractors modify and repair the swims. There
will also be no access to the river via Broom Lake during this
closure, so members wanting to fish Broom River will need to access
from the Jordans Mill end.
The Airman has again been busy and several members have reported
catching a significant number of small perch. However, there
are bigger specimens present and Dick Cook landed three perch over
the 2lb mark, with his biggest weighing 2lb 10oz. Shrubs will
be planted behind some of The Airman car park swims on Saturday 21st
November (not Monday 23rd November as previously advertised), which
may cause some inconvenience to those fishing pegs 1-3.
Young Perren Wynnick enjoyed a ‘red letter day’ at Willington Lake
where he targeted the pike. He landed no fewer than 11 pike to
13lb 6oz last Saturday when it rained for much of the day.
With the undergrowth starting to die back an unacceptable amount of
rubbish is being revealed. One member even left a pile of
rubbish in full view next to a bait box for the rats in peg 12 at
The Airman. All members have a responsibility to respect the
fisheries and take all their rubbish home with them. Any
member found deliberately littering on any SDAA water can expect to
receive a life ban.

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Week ending 8th Nov 2020 Both the Angling Trust and Sport England
have confirmed that fishing can continue during the current period
of national restrictions. Shefford & District AA members must
continue to adhere to the current set of additional rules governing
SDAA fisheries (and all other club rules) that can be found on the
SDAA website. Broom Lake will be closed and out of bounds to
all members from 5.15pm on Sunday 22nd November for up to 10 days
whilst contractors modify and repair the swims. There will
also be no access for members to Broom River via Broom Lake during
this closure. Members should note that willow trees are
currently being harvested on the land between Broom Lake and Broom
River with machinery and vehicles gaining access through the club’s
car park. Regulars have reported that the carp catches at
Broom Lake have tailed off dramatically in recent weeks.
The Airman has again been busy, but actual catch reports have been
thin on the ground. Associate junior Perren Wynnick has
reported landing an 18lb mirror carp and a 2lb 4oz perch.
Shrubs will be planted behind some of The Airman car park swims on
Monday 23rd November, which may cause some inconvenience to those
fishing pegs 1-3.
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Week ending 1st Nov 2020 At the time of writing this report the
Shefford & District AA committee was still awaiting formal
clarification via the Angling Trust regarding the impact on angling
of the Government’s national restrictions that will come into force
from Thursday 5th November. In any event, Broom Lake will be
closed and out of bounds to all members from 5.15pm on Sunday 22nd
November for up to 10 days whilst contractors modify and repair the
swims. There will also be no access for members to Broom River
via Broom Lake during this closure.
The Airman has again been busy with anglers targeting a range of
species. Many anglers have been using float and feeder tactics
to target the roach. Whilst several roach over the pound mark
have been landed, it has often been difficult to avoid the smaller
roach getting to baits first. Those catching roach steadily
inevitably draw the attention of pike into their swims. Junior
member Joe Heffernan managed to land a nice pike around the 12lb
mark. Peter Gill started fishing for pike on a windy day that
caused tangles with his braid mainline, so whilst unravelling the
tangles he ‘lobbed out’ a carp rod and threw a handful of pellets
and boilies at it. The result was two mirror carp in quick
succession that weighed 18lb 12oz and 26lb 8oz.
Junior member Aidan Bone enjoys fishing for pike and his first
session of the season at Willington Lake produced a new PB pike of
15lb 12oz.
Dave Baker spent 3 hours on the Ivel rolling luncheon meat in likely
looking spots. Dave was rewarded with two chub both over the
5lb mark.

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Week ending 25th Oct 2020 Carp once again dominate catch reports
submitted by Shefford & District AA members. The track around
Broom Lake had to be closed from 8th October to vehicles to prevent
any further damage to the track. Heavy rainfall had softened
the ground, which will need to dry out before the track can be
reopened. Therefore, the track is now likely to remain closed
until next spring. Members should also note that Broom Lake
will be closed to members for up to 10 days whilst contractors
modify and repair the swims. The start date for the closure is
likely to be the end of November or beginning of December and the
exact dates will be publicised once agreed. On the fishing
front, Paul Burton once again enjoyed success during his overnight
sessions landing common carp of 17lb 9oz and 15lb 6oz, plus two
mirror carp of 12lb 9oz and 12lb 6oz.
The Airman remains a popular venue with anglers in pursuit of a
range of species. Phil Wilcox cast out a hybrid feeder with
small yellow dumbbell wafter hook bait using a little feeder rod
with 8lb main line and 7lb hook length. After a very quiet day
he had a bite at around 3pm and Initially thought he was attached to
a smallish carp as it came in quite easily until it got close to the
landing net. The fish then woke up and went on several hard runs and
Phil had to play the fish very carefully given its obvious size and
the breaking strain of his line. Phil eventually managed to safely
net a 20lb 15oz mirror carp that was a new PB for Phil.
The club has a policy of stocking small batches of top quality carp
into its major lakes on a regular basis to ensure to ensure the long
term future of the carp fishing. Last Sunday the club took
delivery of 30 stunning C4 (4 summer, i.e. 3.5 years old) mirror
carp from VS Fisheries, which were split equally between The Airman,
Broom Lake and Willington Lake. These latest fish averaged
13lb and ranged from 10lb 4oz to 15lb, which was well above the
average weights of C4s we have received from VS Fisheries in the
past. We would urge members to submit photos (both sides) of
any mirror carp caught from these lakes so that we can monitor the
carp’s progress, which helps formulate our future stocking regime.

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Week ending 4th Oct 2020 With water temperatures falling as we
move further into autumn some Shefford & District AA members have
continued to enjoy some excellent catches. Chris Jenkins
decided to stop his overnight sessions at The Airman and opted
instead for a session starting at noon and fishing into the first
few hours of darkness. Only 10 minutes into his session Chris
latched into a catfish that snagged him up, but after patiently
waiting for over half an hour it moved out of the snag and a PB
catfish of 58lb was successfully landed. Next was a catfish of 48lb
and whilst playing this his margin rod went off. Both fish
were landed, the margin rod was a carp over 20lb, which was returned
unweighed as the catfish was still on his other rod. Another run on
the margin rod produced a 22lb carp. Before 6pm Chris landed
another catfish around 30lb and his Airman PB carp of 24lb. He
stayed on until 9pm, but no more bites were forthcoming. With
6 fish for 200lb in six hours this was the most successful short
session Chris had ever enjoyed at the venue. Junior member
Alfie Youd had suffered a few blanks recently but his perseverance
was rewarded with a new PB mirror carp of 27lb 4oz.
Broom Lake continues to be a popular venue for many members but
angling pressure has probably taken its toll on carp catches in
recent weeks. Carp have been caught, but not in great numbers.
Large bream have been featuring in catches and they often pick up
baits intended for carp. Lloyd Tooley managed a new PB 22lb
common on a recent overnight session. Members planning to fish
Broom Lake should note that the track around the lake will probably
need to be closed in the near future to prevent further damage as
recent heavy rainfall has softened many areas of the track.
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Week ending 20th Sept 2020 The autumn equinox has coincided with a
noticeable change in the weather for Shefford & District AA members.
Many ‘fair weather ‘ anglers might be thinking of putting their
tackle away until next spring, but the next couple of months are
often the most productive as fish in both stillwater and river
venues feed more freely as they try and pack on weight to see them
through the winter. Recent Government announcements have not
imposed any further restrictions on angling. However, it is
important that all members comply with the current set of
additional rules (available from the homepage of the club’s website)
that were introduced to help manage the Covid-19 situation on SDAA
fisheries. Most importantly, unless members are from the same
household or support bubble, members must maintain at least 2m
distance from all other members whilst on SDAA fisheries and must
not share the same swim or equipment. This set of additional
rules is constantly reviewed by the committee to reflect relevant
changes to Government advice and legislation.
Pike also become a target species for many members during the cooler
months and, despite their menacing appearance, pike need to be
handled with great care and pike anglers need to carry the right
equipment to safely unhook pike. Chris Wilkins spent a couple
of short evening sessions lure fishing for pike at The Airman.
His first session resulted in just a small jack pike, but his
second trip produced 3 follows that resulted in a 7lb pike that
smashed into his lure and Chris followed that up with another pike
around the 5lb mark. Members fishing for pike at The Airman
should note that the use of double and treble hooks or uncoated wire
traces is banned between 1st April and 31st October.
Associate Junior Daniel Rusbridge landed his first ever pike of 4lb
8oz caught on a copper red Savage Gear hybrid pike lure with curly
tail whilst fishing at Broom Lake. Carp reports have been thin
on the ground this week, but Shaun Ring was rewarded with a 26lb 8oz
common last weekend.
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Week ending 13th Sept 2020 Members have experienced mixed fortunes
on Shefford & District AA stillwater venues as temperatures
fluctuated during the last week. The Airman saw multiple
catches of catfish one day and then a lack of activity, before they
went on the feed again. Steve Butts fished a 24 session at the
weekend and found sport much slower than on his previous trip with a
single 23lb catfish caught during the hours of darkness. Steve
was just about to call it a day and reel in when one of his rods
ripped off, and after a 20 minute fight he was rewarded with a new
PB catfish of 46lb 4oz. Sid Fuller fished a 48h session and
thought he had missed his chance when he lost a catfish on the first
night, but his patience was finally rewarded on the second night
with a 21lb 15oz catfish. The carp were also being rather
moody with several regulars blanking for the first time for several
weeks. Phil White managed to land two mid double carp during a
day session.
Junior member Nathan Rushbridge landed a 21lb 4oz carp from Broom
Lake, where reports from members have been thin on the ground
recently.
David Hawkes made his first angling trip for some time and decided
to target Broom River. David’s worm rod produced a pristine 5lb+
chub on only his second cast followed by two hours of inactivity,
which prompted a move to another swim that produced a small pike and
a perch of 2lb 11oz. David reported that the ‘cabbages’ were
starting to die off and much of the main channel was weed free.
He passed two anglers who were catching plenty of roach on float
tactics and one had caught a perch of around 2lb 8oz.
Associate Junior Jason Rusbridge was delighted to catch a 1lb 6oz
perch along this stretch.
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Week ending 6th Sept 2020
Last weekend witnessed a dramatic conclusion to the Shefford &
District AA 24h match series with junior member Alfie Youd and Match
Secretary Nigel Gilbert going into the last match both tied on 8
points. The Airman match attracted 8 participants who found
the fish in a feeding mood. Junior Alfie Youd pinned his faith
on his recent success with landing carp at the venue and managed two
carp of 14lb 8oz and 13lb 3oz, but he also hooked into something
much bigger on his carp gear. After an epic struggle lasting
well over an hour Alfie managed to land a specimen catfish of 68lb
8oz. Not only had Alfie managed to land such a large fish on
relatively light tackle, this was his first ever catfish and boosted
his total weight to 96lb 3oz. Meanwhile Nigel Gilbert decided
to concentrate most of his efforts on catching bream and his feeder
tactics saw a steady stream of 16 bream to 5lb 13oz come to the net.
Nigel added a further 12lb 7oz of silvers and a 15lb catfish for a
total weight of 96lb 4oz. This meant Nigel had pipped Alfie
for first place in the match by just one ounce and also meant Nigel
ran out overall winner of the 24h series with 13 points compare to
Alfie’s 12 points. Despite losing out by just a single ounce
in the last match it is worth noting the achievements of young Alfie
during the 24h series, especially as he did not fish the first
match. He won the first match he ever entered in which he
landed his first ever 20lb carp, he caught the largest carp landed
in the Broom match and the largest fish ever landed in SDAA match in
history with his first ever catfish. Third place in the last
match was taken by Phil White with 82lb 13oz, comprising of 2 carp
to 15lb 9oz and three catfish to 25lb 14oz. Neil Bygrave was
fourth with 24lb 14oz made up of a 19lb 7oz catfish plus silvers and
Rhine Van Der Ven was fifth with 24lb 7oz with a 15lb 14oz carp plus
silvers.
Carp fishing at Broom Lake has been patchy at times with several
regulars commenting on the sheer amount of bait that is still being
piled into the venue by spods and catapults on a daily basis.
As is often the case at this time of year the carp have been more
confident feeders during the hours of darkness. Barry Jarvis
fished a short 12h overnight session and left exhausted with little
or no sleep after landing 7 carp with the smallest at 14lb and
topped by a 23lb 3oz ghostie caught at first light. Paul
Burton landed four commons weighing 14lb 10oz, 14lb, 14lb and 10lb
13oz during an overnight session. Ewan Smailes landed a 20lb
2oz common during daylight hours.
Barry Jarvis also made a recent trip to the Ivel in Biggleswade and
was rewarded with a chub of 6lb 3oz.


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Week ending 30th August 2020 The last two weeks have seen many
fluctuations in the weather but Shefford & District AA fisheries
have continued to produce some excellent catches. The
third leg of the 24h series was held at Broom Lake and attracted six
participants who all managed to catch. Phil White won with a
total weight of 114lb 14oz, comprised of 7 carp to 18lb 8oz, 2 bream
and a tench. Only 8 ounces separated the next two places with
Rhys Baldwin securing second place with 7 carp to 17lb 15oz for 92lb
9oz, whilst Junior member Alfie Youd was third with 7 carp and a
tench for 92lb 1oz. Fourth was Nigel Gilbert with 75lb 8oz of
mainly bream to 6lb and a few silvers. Andy Collins was fifth
with 2 carp for 28lb 8oz and Bill Burton sixth with 3 bream and a
carp for 24lb 8oz. After 3 matches Alfie Youd and Nigel
Gilbert have 8 points, but seven anglers are still in with a chance
of becoming the overall winner of the 24h series. The final
leg will be held at The Airman starting at 9am on Saturday 5th
September and ending at 10am on Sunday 6th September. The 24h
matches are open to all members, entry is free and night permits are
not required. If you wish to fish this match please contact
Nigel Gilbert on 07931 215778 (evenings and weekends only).
Please note The Airman will close to fishing at midnight on Friday
4th September. Please look out for notices posted at The
Airman as volunteers may take the opportunity to undertake some
essential maintenance work on Sunday 6th September immediately after
the match whilst the venue is empty, which may delay the reopening
until later in the afternoon.
Broom Lake has been producing plenty of carp to low 20s in recent
weeks and some areas of the lake have also been reliable for good
nets of bream for those targeting the species, as well as accidental
captures by those fishing for carp. Many waters have seen an
increase in the amount of litter left by anglers, which is
inexcusable. Particularly worrying was a large ball of strong line
plus a leader that was recently found partially hidden in the
foliage next to peg 19 at Broom Lake. All members have a
responsibility to help safeguard the fisheries and wildlife, as well
as the safety of other members, so take all your litter and waste
home for disposal. Yet again there have be incidents of gates
being left open and/or unlocked, which appears to be a particular
problem at Broom Lake especially with the gate that is shared with
the Alcove syndicate. The gates are there for a reason and
anyone found deliberately leaving them open or unlocked can expect
to be disciplined by the committee.
The weed growth at Willington Lake over the summer has made fishing
more challenging than usual, but this will hopefully now start to
die back. Dave Baker managed to find a clean spot to present
his bait and was rewarded with a 22lb 4oz mirror carp with a very
distinctive scale pattern that identified it as a VS Fisheries C4
carp that had been unreported for several years. Dave also
landed a bream of around 7lb.
The Airman has continued to produce plenty of catfish and carp, plus
tench and bream, and the ever reliable roach for those in search of
smaller species. During the hot spell the catfish were clearly
feeding well off the bottom with some falling to zig-rigs and one
angler landed a catfish on their first cast with the fish taking the
halibut pellet ‘on the drop’. Peter Gill landed a mirror of
17lb 9oz and returned a few days later to land mirrors of 18lb 1oz
and 26lb 4oz. Nico Miceli reported a 21lb mirror carp on what
was thought to be his first trip to The Airman. Another
reminder that members are asked to leave a piece of paper on the
dashboard of their vehicle with their name and membership book
number clearly visible in order to assist the bailiffs.
With nights drawing in and temperatures cooling down more anglers
will be venturing out onto our river venues, especially once the
weed has died down. Kris Ransom decided to lure fish the Broom
River section of the Ivel for the first time this season and was
rewarded with several jack pike and a perch of 2lb. Saving the
best till last, Paul Welsher decided to fish the weir pool at Little
Paxton following the recent heavy rains hoping the barbel would be
feeding. What Paul was not expecting was a hard fighting 31lb
common carp to pick up his bait, which gave him an amazing fight in
the heavy flow. The club would like to reassure members that
rumours that appear to be circulating in the St Neots area that we
have relinquished the fishing rights at Little Paxton are completely
false, indeed a new agreement was put in place with the land owner
before the start of the current season.
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Week ending 16th August 2020 The changing weather patterns have
seen a welcome drop in temperature and plenty of rain as the week
progressed that will benefit Shefford & District AA fisheries.
The Airman catfish were back on the feed during the early part of
last week with several anglers enjoying success. Steve Butts,
son Wayne and grandson Theo enjoyed a very productive 24h session
whilst temperatures were still high at the start of the week.
Steve landed catfish of 43lb and 14lb, whilst Wayne caught catfish
of 47lb, 33lb, 25lb and 16lb plus a 20lb common with young Theo
helping out with landing net duties. All their fish fell to
halibut pellet bait and both have now set new PBs for UK catfish.
Chris Jenkins fished a 24h session in extremely hot conditions that
produced 4 catfish to 50lb and a 16lb carp. Chris reported the
catfish fed better during daylight, whilst the carp were just
sunbathing in the shallows and not feeding until the hours of
darkness. Dave Price fished his first ever 24h session later
in the week under cooler conditions and landed an 18lb catfish.
Junior member Alfie Youd tempted a 14lb mirror and the next day
fished under extremely wet conditions to land a 7lb 15oz common and
a surprise 1lb 9oz roach on double 16mm boilie as bait.
A reminder that the next leg of the 24h series will be held at
Broom Lake starting at 9am on Saturday 22nd August and ending at
10am on Sunday 23rd August. The 24h matches are open to all members,
entry is free and night permits are not required. If you wish
to fish this match please contact Nigel Gilbert on 07931 215778
(evenings and weekends only). Please note Broom Lake will
close to fishing at midnight on Friday 21st August and reopen for
fishing at midday on Sunday 2nd August. Paul Burton
managed commons of 13lb 3oz and 18lb 14oz during a recent overnight
session. Junior member Alfie Youd managed two low double
commons during a day session under cooler conditions.
The recent heatwave has resulted in even more weed growth at
Willington Lake in recent weeks, but those anglers who can get
their head around fishing in weed have still been enjoying some
success. To prove the point, Jason O’Niel managed to tempt a
16lb 2oz common from a gap in the weed.
Finally, an important reminder to all members that (as well as
the rules listed in their membership book) they must strictly adhere
to the set of additional rules (that can be viewed and downloaded on
the homepage of the club’s website), which were required to help
manage the Covid-19 situation on SDAA fisheries. Unless
members are from the same household or support bubble, members must
maintain at least 2m distance from other members whilst on SDAA
fisheries and must not share the same swim. This set of
additional rules is constantly reviewed by the committee and an
updated version will be posted shortly, which reflects the impact of
recent changes to Government advice and legislation.
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Week ending 9th August 2020 Despite soaring daytime temperatures
several Shefford & District AA members have managed to land some
decent fish with a number of carp being tempted by baits fished on
the surface during daytime sessions. The recent Memorial Match
fished at The Airman saw many anglers target the catfish but Paul
Williams was the only one to tempt a catfish of 28lb. However,
the carp were more obliging with around a dozen mid-doubles landed
during the match, with several falling to surface baits.
Junior member Alfie Youd continued his run of success at the venue
with mirror carp of 11lb and 13lb 8oz. Junior member Alex
Lovell tempted a 21lb 10oz mirror using a dog biscuit fished on the
surface.
Broom Lake’s carp have again spent much of the time cruising in the
surface layers but despite this a few fish have been caught,
including a 21lb 8oz common landed by Tony Thompson. The next leg of
the 24h series will be held at Broom Lake starting at 9am on
Saturday 22nd August and ending at 10am on Sunday 23rd August. The
24h matches are open to all members, entry is free and night permits
are not required. If you wish to fish this match please
contact Nigel Gilbert on 07931 215778 (evenings and weekends only).
Please note Broom Lake will close to fishing at midnight on Friday
21st August and reopen for fishing at midday on Sunday 2nd August.
Most anglers at Willington Lake have recently been seeking shelter
from the sun by fishing in the shade of the trees along the track.
Jason O’Niel tempted two mid double mirrors off the surface with the
largest fish weighing just under 18lb.

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Week ending 2nd August 2020 The latest Shefford & District AA 24h
match was fished at The Airman on 25th/26th July that attracted 7
members despite the wet and windy conditions. Alfie Youd
became the first Junior member to ever win a SDAA 24h match with a
total weight of 52lb 12oz. Alfie caught mirror carp of 18lb
10oz and 13lb 6oz in a ‘double take’ and then added his first
‘twenty’ in the shape of a 20lb 12oz mirror. John Dickman was
second with 51lb 2oz that comprised of a catfish of 47lb 6oz and a
tench. Nigel Gilbert was third with 36lb 8oz comprising of 5
bream for 27lb 12oz plus silvers. Phillip White landed a 17lb
5oz carp for fourth, Lez Reed a 11lb 10oz carp for fifth and Neil
Bygrave 9lb of silvers for sixth. The next leg of the 24h
series will be held at Broom Lake starting at 9am on Saturday 22nd
August and ending at 10am on Sunday 23rd August. If you wish
to fish this match please contact Nigel Gilbert on 07931 215778
(evenings and weekends only). Please note that The Airman will
close to fishing at midnight on Friday 7th August for a Memorial
Match (which is by invitation only) being held on 8th/9th August.
Please look out for notices posted at The Airman as volunteers are
again hoping to take the opportunity to undertake some essential
maintenance work on Sunday 9th August immediately after the match
whilst the venue is empty, which may delay the reopening until later
in the afternoon.
The Airman has been in good form with catfish, carp, tench, bream
and roach all falling to a variety of tactics. Michael Kell
fished a single 21mm halibut pellet in the margins during an
overnight session and latched into a 65lb catfish that gave him “a
hell of a fight”. Chris Jenkins enjoyed a very successful 24h
session landing a 38lb catfish in the early afternoon followed by
two carp to 16lb. These were followed by catfish of 20lb and
14lb during the hours of darkness before Chris rounded off his
session with a new PB catfish of 54lb at 6am. David Bills also
landed a 35lb catfish during a recent overnight session.
Thomas Parsons enjoyed an excellent day’s fishing landing 4 mirror
carp, including a new PB of 26lb 4oz. Thomas also landed a
couple of bream but was frustrated by losing two other carp
including a decent size one at the net. Peter Gill has
continued his successful short sessions that have produced a common
of 10lb and mirrors of 10lb, 12lb 12oz, 13lb 4oz & 15lb 8oz.
Junior Alfie Youd returned after his success in the 24h match and
landed a mirror of 16lb.
Broom Lake’s carp are now following a very predictable pattern often
seen at this time of year with the carp seen cruising in the surface
layers during the heat of the day and often only feeding during the
hours of darkness. Carp to over 20lb have continued to be
caught, with Paul Burton reporting a 17lb 14oz common during a
recent overnight session. A reminder that when using the
shared access gate, care must be taken to ensure the SDAA and Alcove
locks are left such that unlocking either lock will allow anglers
from both fisheries to open the gate.
As is often the case, there have been relatively few catch reports
from Willington Lake. However, Junior member Alex Lovell was
happy to report landing two mirrors of 10lb 8oz and 16lb 6oz.
Also a reminder to ensure the entrance gate is made secure after
entering and exiting, as well as parking vehicles off the track so
that the farmer can access the meadows.
Finally, with temperatures forecast to remain high over the next
period members should immediately report any signs of fish in
distress. Higher water temperatures will mean lower dissolved
oxygen levels and if this is coupled with any water quality issues
it can rapidly lead to fish mortalities.

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Week ending 19th July 2020 The next Shefford & District AA 24h
match will be held at The Airman with the draw taking place at 9am
on Saturday 25th July and the match ending at 10am on Sunday 26th
July. If you wish to fish this match please contact Nigel
Gilbert on 07931 215778 (evenings and weekends only). Please
note that The Airman will close to fishing at midnight on Friday
24th July. Please look out for notices posted at The Airman as
volunteers are hoping to take the opportunity to undertake some
essential maintenance work on Sunday 26th July immediately after the
match whilst the venue is empty, which may delay the reopening until
later in the afternoon. The Airman will again be closed on
Saturday 8th August until 11am on Sunday 9th August for a Memorial
Match, which is by invitation only.
Catch reports have been rather sparse this week. Jim Higginson
landed one of Broom Lake’s very distinctive AJS Fisheries mirror
carp at 11lb 2oz, whilst Daryl Jefferies reported a 24lb common and
5lb tench. Tench have featured in a number of catches at The
Airman and Peter Gill managed to tempt a mirror of 19lb 3oz.
The SDAA committee has reviewed the set of additional rules put in
place to manage the fisheries as safely as possible during the
Covid-19 situation. Members must continue to fish on their own
in a swim, keeping well distanced (>2 metres) from other people at
all times whilst within the fisheries (unless they are from the same
household or 'support bubble'). Fishing sessions remain
limited to a maximum of 48h duration and the sale of guest tickets
remains suspended. Members (but not Juniors) will now be
allowed to be accompanied by a single non-fishing guest from their
household or 'support bubble', provided the member takes
responsibility for ensuring their non-fishing guest strictly adheres
to all SDAA rules. Any non-fishing guest staying overnight
must be in possession of a Non-Fishing Night Guest Permit (cost £25)
only available by contacting the Chairperson. The latest
version of the additional rules will be posted on the club’s website
homepage ASAP.
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Week ending 12th July 2020 A reminder that the Shefford & District
AA 24h match series is now underway and the second match in the
series will be held at The Airman with the draw taking place at 9am
on Saturday 25th July and the match ending at 10am on Sunday 26th
July. The 24h matches are open to all members, entry is free
and night permits are not required. If you wish to fish this
match please contact Nigel Gilbert on 07931 215778 (evenings and
weekends only) or the email address printed on p41 of your
membership book. These matches will be run according to a set
of rules to ensure social distancing is maintained at all times.
Please note that The Airman will close to fishing at midnight on
Friday 24th June. The venue is due to reopen after the match
at midday on Sunday 26th July, but please look out for notices
posted at The Airman as volunteers may take the opportunity to
undertake some essential maintenance whilst the venue is empty,
which may delay the reopening. Some of the maintenance work
(I.e. weed spraying) will depend upon the weather forecast.
Chris Wilkins fished an overnight session at The Airman and was
ruing the loss of a catfish when a 52lb 2oz specimen picked up his
bait, which is the biggest reported so far this season. Chris
also tried some float fishing during daylight hours and was rewarded
with a 5lb bream and two 1lb roach, rather than the tench he was
targeting. Other anglers enjoyed good catches of roach on
float tactics with a number of perch also being caught. Carp
and bream were often seen cruising around the surface of the lake.
Peter Gill has been a regular visitor and often struggled for bites
this week, but he did managed to tempt mirrors of 17lb 6oz and 12lb.
Carp catches at both The Airman and Broom Lake appear to have tailed
off in recent weeks and several members have again commented about
the excessive amounts (i.e. several kilos) of bait that a minority
of anglers have been regularly depositing in the waters via spods,
spombs and catapults. Fish will only eat so much food in any
given time and excessive bait will ultimately result in impacts on
water quality and potential fish mortalities. Therefore, we
would once again urge members to limit the amount of bait they throw
in the lakes and take all unused baits home. If you need
convincing this is an abstract from an article written by Simon
Scott who is co-founder of VS Fisheries (who have supplied many of
our carp), former lecturer in fishery management at Sparsholt
College and a consultant for Korda: “it is reasonably hard to kill a
fish through underfeeding; however, it is incredibly easy to kill a
fish through overfeeding! Carp may not grow a great deal if they are
only fed a little, but they will remain healthy and long lived
provided they have sufficient nutrients to keep themselves ticking
over. However, carp that are overfed are a great risk from all sorts
of water quality problems and health issues. Too much food may be
fine for a day or two but regular overfeeding will quickly lead to a
dramatic deterioration in the quality of the water and this can
cause oxygen crashes where fish suffocate or other issues with
toxicity “
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Week ending 5th July 2020 The first Shefford & District AA 24h
match was fished at Willington Lake and disappointingly only
attracted 3 entrants. Rhine Van Der Ven ran out the clear
winner with a total weight of 51lb 4oz comprising of two carp of
15lb 7oz and 13lb 14oz, 3 tench to 5lb 13oz and a bream. Neil
Bygrave was second with 15lb 1oz of bream and silvers with match
organiser Nigel Gilbert third with 3lb 8oz of silvers. The
second match in the series will be held at The Airman with the draw
taking place at 9am on Saturday 25th July and the match ending at
10am on Sunday 26th July. The 24h matches are open to all
members, entry is free and night permits are not required. If
you wish to fish this match please contact Nigel Gilbert on 07931
215778 (evenings and weekends only) or the email address printed on
p41 of your membership book. These matches will be run
according to a set of rules to ensure social distancing is
maintained at all times.
Broom Lake has continued to produce a number of carp including a
24lb common landed by Steve Burbidge and a 19lb 13oz common landed
by Paul Burton during a ‘quick overnighter’. Phil Wilcox
fished a maggot feeder (helicopter style) at the bottom of the
marginal shelf resulting in roach and rudd, and the occasional
small perch before a 4lb 7oz tench put a bend in his light feeder
rod. Phil also caught 3 bream to 3lb on his second rod using a
hybrid feeder with a banded red wafter on the hook cast the edge of
an island.
Plenty of catfish in the 20lb+ range were landed at The Airman but
there were no reports of any of the larger catfish being landed this
week. Peter Gill continued to tease out some carp during
his short sessions landing mirror carp of 15lb 2oz and 14lb 2oz.
Junior member Alfie Youd reported a common of 14lb 6oz.
The club is still accepting membership renewals from 2019/20 members
(details on the club’s website). The committee also agreed to
release a number of membership books more widely from 1st July;
however, more people have expressed an interest in joining SDAA than
the number of books released. Therefore, a waiting list is now
in operation. All membership enquiries should be directed towards
Richard Bell. If you have not had a response to any email
within 48h please give him a call as a few emails appear to be going
astray.
A reminder that Junior members aged 12 and over are only allowed to
fish unaccompanied during the daytime on SDAA waters provided a
signed copy of a 'SDAA Junior Parent / Guardian Consent Form' has
been completed. A ‘Permission Letter’ will then be issued to
the Junior that must be carried at all times whilst on SDAA waters.
This privilege will be withdrawn if the Junior member disregards any
of the club’s rules.
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Week ending 28th June 2020 The Shefford & District AA 24h match
series gets underway this weekend with the first match being held at
Willington Lake with the draw taking place at 9am on Saturday 4th
July and the match ending at 10am on Sunday 5th July. These
matches are open to all members, entry is free and night permits are
not required. If you wish to fish this match please contact
Nigel Gilbert on 07931 215778 (evenings and weekends only) or the
email address printed on p41 of your membership book. These
matches will be run according to a set of rules to ensure social
distancing is maintained at all times. Please note members
must vacate the venue by midnight on Friday 3rd July.
Club waters have seen some decent fish being caught, but bailiffs
have also reported a significant increase in the amount of litter
being found at venues. If the litter problem continues the
committee may need to close waters so that the litter can be safely
removed by volunteers. Anyone found deliberately leaving
litter or waste at any venue is likely to face a lengthy ban from
the club.
Jim Higginson enjoyed a productive day during changeable conditions
at Broom Lake with common carp of 19lb 2oz, 18lb 6oz and two
doubles, plus bream of 5lb 8oz and 4lb 8oz. Mervyn Saville
reported a common of 17lb 5oz.
Kevin Currington has continued his successful start to the new
season at The Airman landing a 22lb mirror (identified as an AJS
Fisheries stocking) and tench in the 3-4lb range. Kevin then
added a distinctive 26lb ‘old warrior’ mirror carp later in the
week. Bailiffs have reported that several catfish have been
caught that were trailing ‘dodgy’ rigs, including some with treble
hooks that are banned on the venue from 1st April to 31st October.
Nigel Gilbert managed to snatch a quick trip to the Flit in the
Shefford area and managed 4 chub up to 2lb 8oz, 2 roach around 12oz
and plenty of small stuff all caught on the float.

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Week ending 21st June 2020 Shefford & District AA is currently
restricting applications for 2020/21 membership to renewals from
2019/20 members via email and postal applications to the Registrar.
Any 2019/20 member experiencing problems with renewing their
membership should contact Richard Bell. Please note,
membership books are only posted out once funds have cleared into
the club’s bank account, so please allow plenty of time for your
application to be processed if paying by cheque The
committee will review the membership situation at the end of June,
and may decide to offer a limited number of membership applications
more widely.
The committee has decided to allow Junior members aged 12 to once
again fish unaccompanied during the daytime, provided a signed copy
of a 'SDAA Junior Parent / Guardian Consent Form' has been received
by the Registrar. The additional set of rules designed to
ensure members can minimise the risks of spreading Covid-19 whilst
fishing will be updated to include this change. For the
avoidance of any doubt, the announcements made by the PM on 23rd
June has no impact on SDAA social distancing guidelines, i.e. all
members must continue to maintain a distance of at least 2m from
other anglers whilst on SDAA waters (unless they are from the same
household or ‘support bubble’).
Members have continued to enjoy some good catches from stillwater
venues. James Turvey’s last three sessions at Willington Lake
proved very productive. His first two sessions resulted in
over a dozen bream and two tench on each occasion. The bream
were relatively young fish to 3lb 8oz, with the tench ranging from
3lb to 6lb 12oz. On his third trip James found a shoal of
bigger bream and landed 12 bream to 6lb 9oz. James then saw a
carp cruising near the surface and quickly put together a surface
rig and his cork ball pop up bait was taken instantly by a 16lb 8oz
common carp.
Once again carp and catfish have featured in catches reported from
The Airman. Peter Gill was rewarded with mirror carp of 12lb
6oz and 10lb 13oz tempted with boilies on his first trip, and his
next trip resulted in a 19lb 12oz mirror taken ‘off the top’ and a
13lb 6oz mirror on boilie. Steve Butts had endured two
blank sessions and feared a third blank was looming before a 6lb
bream picked up his boilie bait as night fell. Just after
daylight Steve then landed his first ever catfish weighing 13lb at
4.50am, which was then followed in quick succession by common carp
of 14lb, 18lb and a new PB of 25lb before 8.30am with all Steve’s
fish caught on boilies. Kyle Price Smith landed a catfish of
41lb 8oz and Sid Fuller broke his PB for the third time in a month
with a catfish of 49lb 2oz, plus a bream. Chris Jenkins landed
3 catfish to 48lb and a solitary bream.
The first catch report of the new river season has been reported
with Michael Webb landing 4 perch all just under the 3lb mark and a
roach of 1lb 6oz from Broom River.


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Week ending 14th June 2020 Tuesday 16th June saw the start of the
new 2020/21 season for Shefford & District AA and the long
anticipated start of the new river season. The club is
currently restricting applications for 2020/21 membership to
renewals from 2019/20 members via email and postal applications to
the Registrar. Any 2019/20 member experiencing problems
with renewing their membership should contact Richard Bell (using
the number on the front of their membership book). The
committee will review the membership situation towards the end of
June, and if the committee decides to offer membership applications
more widely this information will be posted on the club’s website.
The additional set of rules designed to ensure members can
minimise the risks of spreading Covid-19 whilst fishing have been
updated by the committee and the latest version (effective from 16th
June) is now posted of the homepage of the club’s website. All
members must familiarise themselves with the additional rules that
apply to all SDAA waters before visiting any SDAA fishery.
Members have again enjoyed some excellent catches from the club’s
stillwater venues during the last week, despite a large amount of
angling pressure. Hopefully members will now be exploring our
many miles of river venues, which should see numbers of anglers on
the lakes drop to a more sustainable level. The committee have
received several comments from concerned members about the excessive
amount of bait that a minority of anglers are piling into their
swims. There is a limit to how much food a fish will (can)
eat. The inevitable consequence of excessive amounts of bait
being constantly applied to the lakes will be a dip in catches and
poor water quality. Another concern expressed by members has
been fixed torches/lights being used to permanently illuminate a
swim during the hours of darkness. The agreed custom for night
fishing is to ensure you do not disturb any other anglers around
you, and a small head torch should suffice in most situations.
Mick Baldwin returned to Broom Lake three times during the
week in pursuit of the bream. Mick’s first trip was something
of a disappointment with only four bream landed for a total of 17lb
8oz. Returning in mid-week things improved with his standard
bream tactics resulting in 9 bream and a ‘nuisance’ carp for a total
of 51lb 2oz. His final trip last Friday saw the bream slowly
move in on his modest amount of bait applied at the start of the
session, before bites finally began to tail off. Mick was
contemplating adding more feed, but the bream moved back into his
swim and he ended up with a terrific total of 24 bream and a single
pike for a total weight of 124lb 3oz. Mick always keeps a
diary of his catches and in 9 trips to Broom Lake he has landed 71
bream, 10 carp, one pike and one 3 inch roach for a grand total of
432lb, all caught using red maggots on the hook. The carp
have been feeding sporadically during the day and seemingly more
confident to feed during the hours of darkness with fish to mid 20s
reported. Bill Burton submitted a photo of a 19lb 11oz common
that was clearly carrying plenty of spawn but also a very different
shape from all the other commons he had previously caught.
Careful comparison of the scales showed it was indeed the one and
only common carp amongst the 75 AJS Fisheries mirror carp that had
been stocked several years ago.
Both carp and catfish have featured in catches reported from The
Airman. Peter Gill continued his run of success with a 32lb
catfish, whilst Kevin Currington landed a 21lb mirror carp that had
the very distinguishing scales and down turned mouth, typical of one
of the ‘old warriors’. Mikey Bell recently landed an 18lb 6oz
mirror carp that was identified as one of the AJS Fisheries mirrors
stocked a few years ago, and Mikey added a nice tench of around 5lb
on another trip. Young Evan Beedle landed an 18lb mirror carp
recognized as one of the VS Fisheries carp stocked in recent years.
The next day Evan required all his strength to land a new PB catfish
of 48lb, which delighted his dad Dan.

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Week ending 7th June 2020 The Shefford & District AA committee has
decided to continue to restrict applications for 2020/21 membership
to existing 2019/20 members for the time being, and will review the
situation towards the end of June. Renewals are only available
by email and postal applications to the Registrar (the renewal
process is described on the membership page of the club’s website).
Any member experiencing problems with renewing their membership
should contact Richard Bell (using the number on the front of their
membership book). If the committee decides to offer membership
applications more widely, the website will be updated to reflect
changes to the current situation.
The additional set of rules designed to ensure members can minimise
the risks of spreading Covid-19 whilst fishing are being updated by
the committee to reflect recent announcements by the Government and
the Angling Trust. The updated set of rules will soon be
available from the homepage of the club’s website. All members
must familiarise themselves with the additional rules that apply to
all SDAA waters before visiting any SDAA fishery.
Members have enjoyed some excellent catches in the last week despite
some changeable weather. Broom Lake continued to produce
plenty of carp to mid 20s and several members also enjoyed success
targeting other species. After a week away from the venue,
Mick Baldwin returned to land 8 bream for 35lb 4oz using his tried
and tested feeder tactics. Returning two days later and
fishing one of his favourite pegs, Mick managed to tempt 11 bream to
6lb 9oz and two carp for a total of 75lb 1oz. Junior member
Aidan Graham was also pleased to land a decent sized bream.
Several tench to over 7lb have also been reported. Venue
regulars have landed some larger roach with fish over the pound mark
featuring in some catches. Feeding maggots tends to quickly
fill the swim with a smaller stamp of roach, so the key to tempting
the bigger roach is to leave the maggots at home and have faith in
more selective baits eventually drawing in the bigger redfins.
After some very slow sessions at The Airman, Chris Jenkins finally
found the catfish in a feeding mood. During a 24h session Chris
landed 5 catfish ranging from 10lb up to 46lb, and also experienced
3 dropped runs, with all the catfish caught on halibut pellet in
deep water. Chris added that others fishing that night caught carp,
but one angler put his rods away as only roach and tench took his
baits and keeping him awake all the time. Peter Gill landed a
30lb catfish taken on carp gear and a 14mm pellet from the margins
one evening and Peter landed a common of 17lb 6oz on a subsequent
evening session. Chris Wilkins reported that the ‘pike fed
like crazy’ on a recent trip that was topped by a pike of 15lb 3oz.
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Week ending 31st May 2020 Shefford & District AA is currently
restricting applications for 2020/21 membership to existing 2019/20
members. Renewals are only available by email and postal
applications to the Registrar (the renewal process is described on
the membership page of the club’s website). Any member who
lacks access to the internet and/or email should contact Richard
Bell (using the number on the front of their membership book)
regarding membership renewals. The SDAA committee are likely
to set a limit on the number of SDAA membership books sold for the
2020/21 season to ensure that the waters do not become too busy. If
the committee decides to offer membership applications more widely,
the website will be updated to reflect any changes to the current
situation.
The club introduced an additional set of rules designed to ensure
members can follow government guidance regarding Covid-19.
Before visiting any SDAA fishery, all SDAA members must familiarise
themselves with this set of new rules, which are available to view
and download from the homepage of the club’s website. These
additional rules will be reviewed as government advice changes.
Some members have enjoyed some excellent catches in the last week
or so. Sid Fuller visited Broom Lake for a couple of nights
and had a traffic haul of 19 carp, topped by a 22lb 11oz common.
Jim Higginson landed a 26lb mirror within 30 minutes of casting out
and added two double figure commons and a 4lb tench. Jonathan
Bacon was delighted to land a PB 17lb 4oz common that looked in
perfect condition. Not surprisingly the warm weather saw the
carp preoccupied by spawning at times, but seemed to get straight
back on the feed with several anglers enjoying multiple carp
catches.
After his success at Broom Lake, Sid Fuller turned his attention
to The Airman where he managed to land a new PB mirror of 26lb 3oz
and a couple of commons, but reported he was also ‘plagued’ by
bream. Sid decided to target the catfish on his latest session and
was rewarded with another PB of 42lb 4oz and another catfish of 19lb
14oz. Peter Gill tempted a 17lb 4oz common on a surface bait
one evening and returned to land a 19lb 6oz mirror from the margins.
Other members have reported some good bags of roach, a good number
of tench and plenty of bream.


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Week ending 24th May 2020 Due to an unprecedented number of
enquiries regarding membership, Shefford & District AA is currently
restricting applications for 2020/21 membership to existing 2019/20
members, in the first instance. The renewal process for
existing members can be found on the membership page of the club’s
website
www.shefforddaa.org.uk/membership.html. SDAA membership
books are not currently available from any tackle shops.
Members should pass on the message to those who lack access to the
internet and/or email that they should contact Richard Bell (using
the number on the front of their membership book) regarding
membership renewals. The committee will assess the take up by
current members, before deciding whether to offer membership for the
2020/21 season more widely. This will be kept under constant review
and the membership section of the website will be updated to reflect
any changes to the situation.
The club has introduced an additional set of rules designed to
ensure members can follow current government guidance on ‘staying
alert and safe (social distancing)’ on SDAA waters. Before
visiting any SDAA fishery, all SDAA members must familiarise
themselves with this set of new rules, which are available to view
and download from the homepage of the club’s website. Bailiffs
have reported that the vast majority of members have been more than
happy to abide by these new rules. Anyone unwilling to abide
by these rules will be asked to leave SDAA waters by the bailiffs.
Catches have seen a steady improvement during the current spell of
settled weather, following mixed fortunes during the first few days
of waters reopening. Willington Lake has seen the least
angling pressure, but some of our publicity shy carp anglers have
enjoyed some success once they have located the carp with fish from
mid doubles to mid 20s reported. Carp anglers have also landed
several tench during their sessions, whilst those anglers actually
targeting the tench with more traditional tactics have only enjoyed
limited success.
It had been a bit of a struggle at the ever popular Broom Lake when
last week’s overnight frosts slowed down sport. However, as
water temperatures recovered the fish started to feed. Mick
Baldwin fished on alternate days and his first session produced 6
bream for 25lb 4oz, followed by 3 bream and two carp for 35lb,
whilst his last trip produced 4 bream and 5 carp to 16lb 1 oz for
73lb of fish. James Vosper landed two commons of 17lb and
13lb, whilst other anglers enjoyed up to six carp in a single
session. ‘Telboy’ managed a common of 14lb 8oz and added a 3lb
tench.
Not surprisingly The Airman has occasionally seen all the pegs
occupied. Bailiffs reported that a number of catfish had been
landed to upper 40s, but other species have also been feeding,
including a number of carp tempted on surface baits. 7 year old Evan
Beedle was ‘over the moon’ to land a PB 19lb 8oz mirror carp using a
homemade boilie over some pellets. ‘Telboy’ managed to entice an
18lb 4oz common on sweetcorn ‘pop-ups’ early one morning.
Plenty of bream, tench and roach have also featured in catches since
the reopening, including a 6lb bream reported by Kevin Currington.

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Week ending 17th May 2020 Shefford & District AA recently
reopened The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington Lake to its members
for fishing. However, all the river venues will remain closed
to fishing until 16th June as the river close season remains in
place. The club has introduced an additional set of rules
designed to ensure members can follow current government guidance on
‘staying alert and safe (social distancing)’ and were based on the
guidelines set out by the Angling Trust for a phased return to
angling. Before visiting any SDAA fishery, all SDAA members
must familiarise themselves with this set of new rules, which are
available to view and download from the homepage of the club’s
website. Failure to abide by these new rules is likely to
result in a ban from the club. The SDAA committee have
recently issued a life ban to one individual.
With limited access to fresh bait such as maggots, most anglers
targeted species such as carp and most anglers were expecting to
find the fish easy to catch and after several weeks without any
angling pressure. However, the reopening of the waters
coincided with some sharp frosts and many anglers had to be content
with a day spent in the outdoors rather than catching a procession
of hungry fish. The carp had been very visible to bailiffs
during ‘lockdown’ and some had already been through the spawning
process during previous warm spells. With temperatures set to be in
the mid-20s again it is likely the carp will soon be spawning again.
The Airman appeared to be the most productive venue with several
catfish happy to feed, including a 39lb 6oz catfish reported by
Chris Saunders. A few of the distinctive ‘old warrior’ carp
were also reported including an 18lb 6oz mirror landed by Kristian
Hutchings and a 22lb mirror caught from the margins by Peter Gill,
who also added a 6lb 8oz bream.
Due to an unprecedented number of enquiries regarding membership,
the SDAA committee has decided to initially limit applications for
the 2020/21 season to current members. Books for the 2019/20
membership remains valid until 15th June 2020 and full details of
how current members can rejoin for the 2020/21 season will be posted
on the website shortly. Current members will be encouraged to apply
by email and pay by bank transfer, but postal applications will
still be accepted. The committee will assess the take up by
current members, before deciding whether to offer membership for the
2020/21 season more widely. This will be kept under constant review
and the membership section of the website will be updated to reflect
any changes to the situation.
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Week ending 5th April 2020 Amazingly we are still receiving a few
enquiries from anglers asking if Shefford & District AA waters are
still open for fishing. For the avoidance of any doubt, all
club waters are closed to members (and non-members) until further
notice to conform with the current government rules regarding social
distancing. Any member (or non-member) found on the private
land around our fisheries during these closures will automatically
face a life ban, whether fishing or not.
A Newsletter (dated 5th April 2020) has been published for SDAA
Ltd members and can be downloaded from the home page of the club’s
website (www.shefforddaa.org.uk).
The Newsletter provides an update on the current situation and gives
a brief outline of what would have been discussed at the 2020 AGM,
which had to be cancelled. Changes to the Committee,
membership subscriptions and rule changes for next season are
highlighted. The newsletter also details who won the specimen
fish trophies and match competitions for the 2019/20 season.
As the 2020 AGM was cancelled, the SDAA Committee voted on who
should be awarded the Tookey Trophy and Centenary Cup. The Tookey
Trophy for the best specimen fish was awarded to George Fairey for
his 70lb Airman catfish. The Centenary Cup was awarded to
James Turvey, who over the years has made many important and varied
contributions as a Committee member, Fisheries Officer and work
party stalwart.
We are still receiving reports of captures that took place before
the closure of club waters. Tom Mist enjoyed some successful
short day sessions at The Airman with his last four trips producing
230lb of carp. The day before the closures were put in place,
Tom landed 5 carp in 5 hours, including two just over the 21lb mark,
one of which was part of a brace that he landed within 10 minutes of
setting up. An earlier session included a 28lb 8oz mirror carp
witnessed by the club’s Chairperson.
Members should regularly check the club’s social media pages for
any updates.
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Week ending 22nd March 2020 All Shefford & District AA members
should be aware that all club waters are now closed to fishing until
further notice to conform with the current government rules
regarding social distancing. Prior to the closures several
anglers reported a number of good catches. Mick Baldwin’s
latest visit to Broom Lake resulted in a mixed bag of 5 fish for
36lb 3oz, which comprised of 3 bream to 7b 3oz, a 4lb 12oz tench and
13lb 4oz common carp. Mick keeps detailed records and
his recent trips to the venue have resulted in over well 180lb of
fish with 49 bream, 2 tench, a carp, small roach and a couple of
pike falling to his feeder tactics. Several other anglers
landed carp during the last week.
Several carp and catfish were landed at The Airman in the last week
along with good bags of both bream and roach. Jack Lancaster
proved pike over the 20lb mark were still present by landing a 20lb
8oz specimen that took a rig intended for the catfish.
Kristian Hutchings was also delighted to catch a mirror carp of 15lb
3oz, which was probably one of the ‘old warriors’ that was stocked
nearly 30 years ago.
Members should regularly check the club’s social media pages for any
updates.
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Week ending 15th March 2020 James Turvey was one of several
Shefford & District AA members who concentrated on river venues
during the last few days of the river season, which are now closed
to fishing until 16th June. James concentrated his efforts on
the Pavenham section of the Ouse in search of a specimen chub.
The biggest fish to grace James’ landing net was a decent chub of
5lb 14oz, catching the same fish twice on two separate visits.
Although the larger chub that are usually resident along this
stretch eluded James, he caught a good number of other chub in the
2-5lb ranges as well as smaller chublets and roach up to 8oz.
SDAA members are now restricted to fishing The Airman, Broom Lake
and Willington Lake whilst the river close season is in place.
Anyone who has been advised to stay at home under the current
government advice regarding possible coronavirus (COVID-19)
infection must not visit any of our fisheries, either to fish or
just walk around. The virus is reported to survive on hard
surfaces for up to 2 to 3 days, e.g. the locks and gates at our
fisheries.
The SDAA Ltd AGM is due to be held on Wednesday 25th March 2020,
please check our social media pages to see if the meeting is
cancelled. In any event, members who should be self isolating
or social distancing under government advice should not attend the
AGM. If the meeting does go ahead it will be an abbreviated
meeting focused on formal AGM business.
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Week ending 8th March 2020 The last opportunity for Shefford &
District AA members to fish river venues will be Saturday 14th
March and then club’s river venues must not be fished until 16th
June. Members will be restricted to fishing stillwater venues
for the next 3 months. The Airman remains a popular venue for
members targeting a range of species. Roach anglers have
enjoyed some decent nets of redfins with one angler reporting four
fish over a pound in a single session. The Club Chairperson
twice came across anglers playing good carp and witnessed a 28lb 8oz
mirror caught by an unknown member, who had earlier landed a 16lb
mirror. On a second visit he helped Paul Olney land a hard
fighting 21lb mirror. Paul had been targeting the pike with no
success, so decided to cast out a carp rod that produced a quick
result. Wayne Butts was accompanied by his son Theo and landed
a 29lb catfish during the hours of darkness.
Carp to mid 20s are still being landed at Broom Lake by both day and
night anglers. Reports from Willington Lake have been thin on
the ground and hopefully water levels will continue to drop and make
all the pegs fishable. Kevin Wilkins has provided a photo of
his 12lb 13oz pike from the last pike match that both confirmed
Kevin as the series winner and was the largest pike caught during
the series.
The final deadline for specimen fish claims is 16th March. The
SDAA Ltd AGM is being held on Wednesday 25th March 2020 and the
official notice of the AGM can be found on the club’s website.
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Week ending 1st March 2020 With standing water in many fields,
rainwater is now running off quickly into the rivers making it
difficult for Shefford & District AA members to time their river
sessions between now and the end of the river season on 14th March.
Mick Baldwin would usually prefer to be sat by a river at this time
of year but opted to fish Broom Lake whilst the rivers were
unfishable. Mick’s latest 3 trips have been successful with
four good size bream for 20lb 12oz, followed by 6 bream for 26lb
7oz, and finally four bream and a tench of 4lb 9oz for 21lb 6oz with
all fish taken on feeder tactics. Nigel Gilbert is another
angler who is desperate for the rivers levels to fall before the end
of the season, so took the opportunity to fish for roach at The
Airman. Nigel had roach to 8oz on the float and a bream of 3lb
on the feeder on his first session, but stuck to feeder tactics on
his second trip to land roach of 1lb 5oz and 1lb 6oz, plus two 3lb
bream.
Water levels at Willington Lake have been reacting to the adjacent
river in recent weeks and several swims on the lake are still under
several inches of water.
A reminder that the deadline for specimen fish claims is 16th March
ahead of the SDAA Ltd AGM that is being held on Wednesday 25th March
2020.
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Week ending 23rd Feb 2020 Despite the changeable weather Shefford
& District AA members have continued to report some good catches.
Neil Bygrave enjoyed a successful trip to Broom River even though he
did not manage to catch any of his target species. Neil
adopted a roving approach at the Jordans Mill end in pursuit of
large perch and his first two swims failed to produce any bites.
However, his third swim produced two 4lb chub and a 5lb common carp
in a frantic 45 minute spell. The swim went quiet for another
45 minutes before the tip dropped back and a new PB chub of 6lb 5oz
slipped over the rim of his net.
The Airman again produced pike to mid doubles as well as the odd
carp. Several anglers had reported losing powerful fish in
recent weeks, suggesting the catfish had started to feed. 15
year old Alex Lovell was targeting the perch and tench when he
accidentally hooked into a catfish and despite his relatively light
tackle he managed to land a 50lb specimen. A wire trace with two
trebles attached were safely removed from the catfish’s mouth along
with a large length of line plus a captive back lead, complete with
cord and winder that were trailing from the treble hooks.
The final pike match was held at Willington Lake with the lake brim
full with water after being briefly connected to the adjacent river
when it flooded a few days earlier. Kevin Wilkins won the
match with a decent pike of 12lb 13oz that both confirmed Kevin as
the series winner and was also the largest pike caught during the
series. Match organiser Nigel Gilbert was second with a small
jack of 2lb.
Work parties were carried out at both Broom Lake and The Airman last
weekend with a tree surgeon in attendance to deal with a number of
dangerous trees at both venues. With relatively few volunteers
attending these work parties (5 at Broom Lake and 7 at The Airman)
relatively little was achieved apart from the tree work.
Therefore, there will need to be further lake closures at these
venues for further work parties in the coming months to undertake
other routine maintenance tasks.
A reminder that the AGM is being held on Wednesday 25th March 2020.
All members are encouraged to attend to find out about news and
future developments of the club, as well as elect the committee and
officers who will run the club on your behalf. In
preparation for the AGM, all cups and trophies need to be returned
ASAP and the deadline for specimen fish claims is 16th March.
The deadline for nominations for director, officer or committee
positions and requests for any business to be moved at the AGM was
25th February 2020.
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Week ending 16th Feb 2020 The weather has again influence Shefford
& District AA members choice of venue and style of fishing.
Strong winds and heavy rains deterred all but the hardiest long stay
anglers last weekend and rising river levels have again seen many
stretches of the Ouse threatening to top its banks.
13 year old Luke Allen managed two pike on a trip to The Airman
during storm Dennis with his dad Tony. Luke’s biggest pike was
a new PB of 19lb. Anglers targeting the roach on feeder tactics have
once again enjoyed some good catches with the best roach reported in
recent days just under the 2lb mark.
With the rivers flowing high and coloured, Mick Baldwin decided
to make a trip to Broom Lake where he fished the feeder with maggot
on the hook to tempt 10 bream for a total weight of 48lb, with his
biggest bream weighing 7lb. The lack of really cold weather
has kept the carp active and anglers targeting the carp at Broom
Lake are still catching on a regular basis.
The final pike match will be held at Willington Lake on Sunday
23rd February with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to
4.30pm. Entry is open to all members, and for further details
please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
A reminder that a tree surgeon has been booked to carry out some
essential tree work at our major lakes. For H&S reasons the
venue will be closed to fishing on the day of the tree work.
The first two dates are Broom Lake on Saturday 22nd February and The
Airman on Sunday 23rd February. We will also hold volunteer
work parties starting at 9am on these two dates to carry out
essential maintenance tasks (as well as dealing with felled
timbers), so all members are invited to attend (please bring
suitable footwear and gloves). Willington Lake will be closed for
tree work on Wednesday 26th February, but no volunteers are required
on this date.
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Week ending 9th Feb 2020 With less than a month of the current
river season to go, there has been a noticeable increase in Shefford
& District AA members fishing our flowing water venues.
Michael Webb is a regular along the Broom River stretch and his
persistent efforts were rewarded by a 5lb 10oz chub. The
vehicle barrier across the small car park near Jordans has been
adjusted, so members should find it easier to park when fishing the
downstream end of Broom River. Storm Ciara brought down many
branches and uprooted a few trees on the club’s waters, so members
should take extra care when visiting club venues as further strong
winds are forecast for the weekend.
The penultimate round of the pike series was held at The Airman and
was won by Nigel Gilbert, who was the only one to catch. Nigel
landed two pike of 6lb and 9lb 5oz for a total weight of 15lb 5oz.
Earlier in the week The Airman had produced an upper double pike to
an angler who was lure fishing. The final pike match will be
held at Willington Lake on Sunday 23rd February with the draw at
8.15am and fishing from 9am to 4.30pm. Entry is open to all
members, and for further details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931
215778 evenings & weekends only). Water levels at Willington Lake
have continued to recede and all parts of the lake are now fishable,
with most anglers currently targeting the pike.
A reminder that a tree surgeon has been booked to carry out some
essential tree work at our major lakes, which now includes dealing
with trees damaged by recent storms. For H&S reasons the venue
will be closed to fishing on the day of the tree work. The
first two dates are Broom Lake on Saturday 22nd February and The
Airman on Sunday 23rd February. We will also hold volunteer
work parties starting at 9am on these two dates to carry out
essential maintenance tasks (as well as dealing with felled
timbers), so all members are invited to attend (please bring
suitable footwear and gloves). Willington Lake will be closed for
tree work on Wednesday 26th February, but no volunteers are required
on this date.
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Week ending 2nd Feb 2020 The Club Secretary would like to remind
Shefford & District AA members that the AGM is being held on
Wednesday 25th March 2020. All members are encouraged to
attend to find out about news and future developments of the club,
as well as elect the committee and officers who will run the club on
your behalf. In preparation for the AGM, all cups and
trophies need to be returned by 20th February and the deadline for
specimen fish claims is 16th March. All nominations for
director, officer or committee positions and requests for any
business to be moved at the AGM must be received by 25th February
2020. Anyone interested in joining the committee and playing
an active role in the running of the club should contact the Club
Secretary or Chairperson ASAP, or email
info@shefforddaa.org.uk
The last two rounds in the pike series will be held at The Airman on
Saturday 8th February and Willington Lake on Sunday 23rd February
with the draws at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 4.30pm. Entry
is open to all members, and for further details please call Nigel
Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only). Willington Lake is
over a foot higher than normal and several swims are currently
inaccessible, but levels are steadily falling.
A tree surgeon has been booked to carry out some essential tree work
at our major lakes, and the lake will be closed to fishing on the
day of the tree work. The first two dates are Broom Lake on
Saturday 22nd February and The Airman on Sunday 23rd February.
We will also hold volunteer work parties starting at 9am on these
two dates to carry out essential maintenance tasks (as well as
dealing with felled timbers), so all members are invited to attend
(please bring suitable footwear and gloves). Willington Lake will
be closed for tree work on Wednesday 26th February, but no
volunteers are required on this date. Unfortunately The Airman
work party date clashes with the pike match at Willington Lake, but
the dates were governed by the availability of the tree surgeon and
the need to carry out major tree work before the start of the bird
nesting season.
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Week ending 19th Jan 2020 This week’s report starts with a
reminder to members that the Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM is being
held on Wednesday 25th March 2020. This may seem a long way
off, but all nominations for director, officer or committee
positions and requests for any business to be moved at the AGM must
be received by 25th February 2020. There are vacancies for
members interested in joining the Committee and making a positive
contribution to the future running of the club. The Committee
meets 12 times per year on the 2nd Tuesday evening of each month in
Shefford. If you are interested in joining the committee,
becoming a bailiff, or simply volunteering for future work parties
please contact us ASAP, ideally by email to:
info@shefforddaa.org.uk
Members have been faced by changeable conditions during the week
that once again saw many sections of the Ouse in flood and over its
banks, with Willington Lake briefly joined to the river. The
anglers attending the latest pike match at Willington Lake were
faced with a recently flooded lake with water levels falling during
the match. Despite the conditions Kevin Wilkins managed to
tempt 3 pike to 6lb 8oz for a total weight of 12lb 1oz to win the
match. James Turvey was second with a single pike of 6lb 15oz.
The penultimate round in the pike series will be held at The Airman
on Saturday 8th February with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from
9am to 4.30pm. Entry is open to all members, and for further
details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only). The Airman has produced pike to 14lb in recent weeks.
The carp at Broom Lake are still being caught, but feeding spells
are often very short. One member landed four carp in a hectic
30 minutes feeding spell and then remained biteless for the rest of
the session. Another reminder that the track around the lake
is heavily waterlogged in several areas and remains closed to
vehicles. Vehicles must be parked in the car park near the
lake and not left along the track running past the Alcove syndicate.
Although the Ouse was running high for much of the week, levels on
the Ivel and its tributaries quickly returned to fishable levels.
Mick Webb is a regular along the Broom River section and reported
landing a 5lb 5oz chub.
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Week ending 12th Jan 2020 The continuing relatively mild weather,
coupled with stronger winds, resulted in several Shefford & District
AA members enjoying some good catches. The carp at Broom Lake
returned to feeding during daylight hours with venue regulars
enjoying multiple catches of carp to mid 20s. Although the
carp have been predominantly commons, several heavily scaled mirrors
and even the odd ghostie has been landed recently. The track
around the lake is heavily waterlogged in several areas and remains
closed to vehicles, which need to be left in the car park.
Anglers enjoyed some consistent roach sport at The Airman where the
roach were tempted on both feeder and float tactics, with redfins to
1lb 8oz reported.
The carp fishing at Willington Lake is notoriously slow during the
winter, so Matt Dale was delighted when he tempted a 21lb 5oz mirror
carp during a recent overnight session. Members have continued
to enjoy some good bags of roach on float tactics and plenty of pike
have been caught in close proximity to the silver fish shoals.
The next pike match will be held at Willington Lake on Sunday 19th
January with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 4pm.
Entry is open to all members, and for further details please call
Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
Julian Peacock demonstrated there are still some decent barbel left
in the Ivel on a recent trip to an IPA controlled stretch of the
river. Julian was after roach using a 2.5lb hook length to a
size 18 hook with a single caster under a stick float, when he
hooked into something much bigger and powerful than his target
species. The barbel was slowly coaxed into the landing net and
tipped the scales at exactly 13lb. Damage to the barbel’s tail
fin suggest it had experienced a close encounter with an otter in
the past.
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Week ending 5th Jan2020 The relatively mild January weather has
required Shefford & District AA members to chop and change their
tactics to keep catching consistently. Successful winter pike
fishing is associated with cold and frosty weather and with mild
weather greeting the 3 participants of the latest round of the pike
series at Broom Lake they all knew it would be a struggle, and they
did not manage a single take between them. The carp at Broom
Lake also suddenly stopped feeding reliably during daylight hours,
whilst anglers fishing overnight enjoyed multiple catches of
predominantly common carp to upper doubles. The silver fish
also proved more difficult to catch consistently and it often paid
dividends to keep changing depth to keep in touch with the roach and
rudd that often fed well up in the water.
It was a similar story at The Airman where feeder tactics with
baits anchored on the bottom often failed to attract the attention
of the roach, whereas those anglers float fishing frequently found
the roach willing to feed well off the bottom. With the water
still coloured after the recent flooding at Willington Lake members
have enjoyed some good bags of roach with maggot producing plenty of
bites from the smaller roach, whereas more selective baits produced
fewer bites but from a better stamp of roach. The next pike
match will be held at Willington Lake on Sunday 19th January with
the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 4pm. Entry is open
to all members, and for further details please call Nigel Gilbert
(07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
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Week ending 29th Dec 2019 With the weather forecast for early
January remaining settled and relatively mild it offers an ideal
opportunity for Shefford & District AA members to pay a visit to
river venues before the end of the current river season on 14th
March. The annual Christmas pike match held at Willington Lake
just a few days after the venue was flooded by the adjacent river
and the match only attracted three members, but they all managed to
catch despite the high and heavily coloured water. Kevin
Wilkins took first place with 3 pike to 6lb 1oz for a total weight
of 12lb 7oz. James Turvey was second with 4 pike to 3lb 6oz
for a total of 11lb 4oz with Nigel Gilbert third with 2 pike to 6lb
6oz for a total of 7lb 11oz. The next pike match will be held
at Broom Lake on Saturday 4th January with the draw at 8.15am and
fishing from 9am to 4pm. Entry is open to all members, and for
further details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only). With the Ouse now within its banks the water
levels at Willington Lake are slowly returning to normal and most
pegs are now fishable.
Venue regulars have been enjoying consistent sport at Broom Lake
with carp to mid 20s caught in recent weeks. One of the most
successful methods has been to fish hook baits with no free
offerings and regularly cast to different areas of the swim to
locate any feeding carp. However, the odd blank is inevitable
when carp fishing at this time of year. Some good bags of
roach and rudd have also been taken on float tactics once the shoals
of silver fish have been located.
The Airman has also proven to be a popular venue over the
holiday period with many anglers targeting the roach on waggler,
slider and feeder tactics. Roach to over 2lb have been
reported but it is often difficult to selectively target the larger
roach with so many smaller roach present. Once the roach are
feeding it inevitably attracts the attention of pike into the swim.
Despite applying wood chip to the newly rebuilt swims some of them
remain waterlogged after the heavy rains in recent weeks, so please
take appropriate footwear.
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Week ending 15th Dec 2019 With rivers already running high and
more rain forecast, Shefford & District AA members should check the
link to local river levels on the club’s website. Flood alerts were
already in place on sections of the Ouse ahead of the next batch of
rain that was forecast. The latest round of the pike series
fished at The Airman and provided a new first in the history of
recent pike matches as not a single pike was caught, nor did anyone
have a run. This was a surprising result as a number of pike
into double figures had been caught at the venue in recent weeks and
anglers catching roach usually attract pike that try to intercept
the roach as they are being reeled in.
The annual Christmas pike pairs match will be held over the festive
season with a match entry fee of £20 per pair, with all monies paid
out as prizes on the day. The event will be held at Willington
Lake on Sunday 29th December with the draw at 8am and fishing from
9am to 3pm. Entry is open to all members, and for further
details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only).
The club received a stocking of 300 genetically pure crucian carp
from the Environment Agency’s Calverton fish farm to supplement a
similar stocking of crucians in 2018. The club is trying to
establish a stock pond where crucians are the only carp species
present to avoid any cross breeding. Hopefully the crucians
will successfully breed and in the longer term some of the crucians
will be transferred to other club waters.
‘Half year’ membership of Shefford & District AA through to 15th
June 2020 is available from local tackle shops. Prices are
Full £42.50, Concessions £32.50, Partners £27.50, Juniors £10.
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Week endind 8th Dec 2019 Catch reports from Shefford & District AA
members have been few and far between in recent weeks. Dave
Baker adopted a roving approach on a recent visit to the Ivel and
was eventually rewarded with a chub just over the 5lb mark on
breadflake. With weed dying down and with several flushes
through following heavy rain, the river venues are well worth a
visit between now and the end of the river season on 14th March.
The next round of the pike series will be held at The Airman on
Saturday 14th December with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am
to 3.30pm. Entry for the pike matches is free and open to all
members, and for further details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931
215778 evenings & weekends only).
The recent volunteer work party at The Airman saw swims on the
roadside dressed with woodchip and a general tidy up of the venue.
If any member spots any issues with any of the new swims at Broom
Lake or The Airman please report them to a member of the committee
ASAP.
‘Half year’ membership of Shefford & District AA through to 15th
June 2020 is available from local tackle shops. Prices are
Full £42.50, Concessions £32.50, Partners £27.50, Juniors £10.
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Week endind 24th Nov 2019 With the ground now saturated and more
rain forecast for the middle of the week, Shefford & District AA
members should check river levels before venturing out this weekend.
A link to local river levels can be found on the club’s website.
Although Willington Lake narrowly missed flooding last weekend, the
results of the latest pike match were disappointing. Perhaps
put off by the forecast only 3 anglers attended the match, which was
won by Nigel Gilbert with a single pike of 6lb 1oz with Kevin
Wilkins second with a small pike of 2lb 9oz. The next round of
the pike series will be held at The Airman on Saturday 14th December
with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 3.30pm. Entry
for the pike matches is free and open to all members, and for
further details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only).
A reminder that a volunteer work party is being held at The Airman
on Saturday 30th November starting at 9.00 am. The lake will be
closed to fishing during the work party and open again for members
on Sunday 1st December at 7.00am. However, those members
attending the work party may set up and fish once the work party has
finished, which should be around lunchtime. If you would like
to take part contact the fisheries Officer Gary Taylor via email:
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com
or mobile: 07814 750141.
‘Half year’ membership of Shefford & District AA will be valid from
this Sunday 1st December 2019 through to 15th June 2020.
Prices are Full £42.50, Concessions £32.50, Partners £27.50, Juniors
£10.
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Week ending 17th Nov 2019 Whilst water levels on the Ivel and its
tributaries rose during the last week they are now returning to
normal. However, the Ouse takes much longer to react to
rainfall and Shefford & District AA’s members should take this into
account when planning their fishing trips. Levels were still
running high on the Ouse downstream of Bedford. Provided the
venue is not flooded, the pike series is due to return to Willington
Lake on Sunday 24th November with the draw at 8.15am and fishing
from 9am to 3.30pm. Entry for the pike matches is free and
open to all members, and for further details please call Nigel
Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
A volunteer work party will be held at The Airman on Saturday 30th
November starting at 9.00 am work will involve compacting the MOT
Type 1, applying wood chip to the car park side of the lake and a
general tidy up. The lake will be closed to fishing during the work
party and open again for members Sunday 1st December at 7.00am.
Members attending the work party may set up and fish once the work
party has finished, which should be around lunchtime. If you
would like to take part contact the fisheries Officer Gary Taylor
via email:
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com or mobile: 07814 750141.
‘Half year’ membership of Shefford & District AA will be valid from
1st December 2019 through to 15th June 2020. Prices will be
Full £42.50, Concessions £32.50, Partners £27.50, Juniors £10.
Please note that night fishing at The Airman, Broom Lake and
Willington Lake requires optional Night Permits (there is no part
year discount on these Night Permits).
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Week ending 10th Nov 2019 Whilst recent rainfall has boosted water
levels and flows on local rivers, further rainfall will be required
to help the underlying groundwater levels to rise and allow Shefford
& District AA’s stillwaters to return to normal levels. The track
around Broom Lake had become waterlogged and is now closed to
vehicles in order to prevent damage to the track. Broom
Lake hosted the latest pike match and all five competitors managed
to catch. 1st Kevin Wilkins 7lb 2oz (1 pike); 2nd Enzo Serino
7lb (2 pike); 3rd James Turvey 5lb 7oz (1 pike); 4th Nigel Gilbert
4lb 7oz (1 pike); 5th Alex Lovell 2 lb 3oz (2 pike).
The pike series will return to Willington Lake on Sunday 24th
November with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 3.30pm.
Entry for the pike matches is free and open to all members, and for
further details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only). This is a favourite pike venue for Aiden
Graham who managed a nice 12lb 8oz pike on a recent trip. With fish
now more tightly shoaled, standard float tactics are still producing
some good nets of silver fish including roach up to 12oz, once the
shoals have been located. The pike are often not far from
these shoals of silver fish and one member reported he had already
landed 3 pike within an hour of setting up and was rapidly running
out of deadbaits.
If any members are interested in fishing river matches on the Ivel
then please contact Graham Inwood on 07785 283131. A full list
of match dates can be found on the Ivel Protection Association
website, with the first match being held on Sunday 17th November.
‘Half year’ membership Shefford & District AA will be valid from 1st
December 2019 through to 15th June 2020 and will be available from
our usual outlets towards the latter half of November. Prices
will be Full £42.50, Concessions £32.50, Partners £27.50, Juniors
£10. Please note that night fishing at The Airman, Broom Lake
and Willington Lake requires optional Night Permits (there is no
part year discount on these Night Permits).
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Week ending 3rd Nov 2019 Shefford & District AA members braving
the elements during the recent bouts of wet weather have still
managed some good catches. However, with much of the land now
saturated extra care should be taken when visiting club venues.
Further heavy rainfall will probably necessitate the closure of the
track around Broom Lake to vehicles in order to prevent damage to
the track. Broom Lake has been in excellent form with several
anglers catching several carp in a single session. One
publicity shy member has managed to improve his PB with a 26lb
common and also land one of the much sought after ghost carp.
Those targeting other species have also reported catching bream from
many different age groups ranging from small ‘skimmer’ bream below
the pound mark to much larger bream to well over 6lb.
The next pike match will be held at Broom Lake on Saturday 9th
November with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 4pm.
Entry for the pike matches is free and open to all members, and for
further details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only).
The Airman has also proven to be a popular venue since it reopened.
Roach, bream, tench and perch were being caught on both float and
ledger tactics. Several members have also successfully
targeted the pike. A reminder that to safeguard the catfish,
treble hooks can only be used at this venue from 1st November to
31st March.
The use of 3 rods is now permitted by all adult members through to
31st March at The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington Lake, but
members are reminded the butts of the end rods must not exceed 3
metres.
Shefford & District AA will once again be offering ‘half year’
membership, which will be valid from 1st December 2019 through to
15th June 2020. Full details will soon appear on our website
and Facebook pages and ‘half year’ books will be available from our
usual outlets towards the latter half of November. Prices will
be Full £42.50, Concessions £32.50, Partners £27.50, Juniors £10.
Please note that night fishing at The Airman, Broom Lake and
Willington Lake requires optional Night Permits (there is no part
year discount on these Night Permits).
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Week ending 27th Oct 2019 Contractors have now completed their
work regarding Shefford & District AA’s swim rebuilding programme at
both The Airman and Broom Lake, where all the new swims are now 3m
wide and both venues have reopened. Although the contractors
have finished the swim construction work, there are still jobs left
to do in order to complete these projects at both venues. A
volunteer work party was held at The Airman last weekend attended by
four members (John Dickman, George Fairey, Tony Hickmott and Brian
Sellers) plus 7 members of the committee/directors (Richard Bell,
Colin Smith, Colin Stitt, Andy Riley, Gary Taylor, James Turvey and
Kevin Wilkins). Priority was given to applying a good layer
of wood chippings to the newly constructed swims, as many were
waterlogged following recent heavy rain. To improve safety and
ease of access, all the steps down to swims have been replaced by
ramps, which in a couple of swims may restrict the size of bivvie
that can be accommodated. At Broom Lake areas of bare earth
are being reseeded with grass and once the new swims have had time
to settle, some will need levelling off. The area around pegs
27 to 30 at Broom Lake remains out of bounds to allow for the
disturbed ground to settle and the grass to re-establish. Any
member spotting any issues with the swim rebuilding programme should
alert the Fisheries Officer Gary Taylor via the email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
Toby Moore paid a visit to The Airman shortly after the venue
reopened and managed to catch a couple of predators in the shape of
a pike and decent perch. Other members have enjoyed some good
catches of roach on float and feeder tactics with several pike also
being caught.
The next pike match will be held at Broom Lake on Saturday 9th
November with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 4pm.
Entry for the pike matches is free and open to all members, and for
further details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only).
Shefford & District AA will once again be offering ‘half year’
membership, which will be valid from 1st December 2019 through to
15th June 2020. Full details will appear on our website and
Facebook pages in November and ‘half year’ books will be available
from our usual outlets towards the latter half of November.
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Week ending 20th Oct 2019 Weather permitting, contractors will
have completed their work by Friday 25th October at The Airman as
part of Shefford & District AA’s swim rebuilding programme. A
volunteer work party is planned at The Airman for Saturday 26th
October starting at 9am. Work being undertaken will be general
tidying up after the contractors, compacting MOT type 1 to the
footpath/swims and applying wood chip to swims. Members who
take part in the work party may set up and fish once the work party
work has finished. Those swims where work has been completed
will reopen to all other members from 5.30am on Sunday 27th October.
All persons are welcome to join the work party. Anyone with any
questions about the swim rebuilding programme can contact the
Fisheries Officer Gary Taylor via the email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
The area around pegs 27 to 30 at Broom Lake remains out of bounds to
allow for the disturbed ground to settle and the grass to
re-establish. The carp remained on the feed with several
anglers again reporting multiple catches. New member Jonathan
Bacon was delighted to catch a 16lb common carp in full golden
autumn colours. Mick Baldwin has also enjoyed three successful
sessions targeting the bream. Mick managed a total of 24 bream
and six unseasonable tench for a total weight well in excess of
100lb.
The first round of the popular pike series was held at Willington
Lake and attracted five participants, who all managed to catch.
First place was taken by Enzo Serino with a total weight of 22lb
6oz, comprising of 5 pike to 6lb 1oz; James Turvey was second with
22lb 1oz (3 pike to 12lb 6oz); Alex Lovell third with 12lb 12oz (2
pike to 7lb 2oz); fourth Kevin Wilkins with 6lb 4oz (2 pike to 3lb
4oz); fifth Nigel Gilbert with a pike of 3lb 15oz. The next
pike match will be held at Broom Lake on Saturday 9th November with
the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 4pm. Entry for the
pike matches is free and open to all members, and for further
details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only).
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Week ending 13th Oct 2019 Whilst the recent heavy rain has been
very welcome following a prolonged period of below average rainfall,
it has impacted on Shefford & District AA’s swim rebuilding
programme. The track around Broom Lake and swims 1-26 and
31-42 at are now open to members. The area around pegs 27 to
30 will remain out of bounds for some time, to allow for the
disturbed ground to settle and the area to be reseeded.
Members should take care whilst driving around the track and avoid
driving over or parking on newly dug ground.
Work at The Airman has fallen behind schedule due to lost days
because of the wet weather. We now anticipate the contractors will
complete their work at The Airman on, or before, Friday 25th
October. A volunteer work party is planned for Saturday 26th
October starting at 9am. Work being undertaken will be compacting
MOT type 1 to the footpath/swims, applying wood chip to swims and
general tidying up after the contractors. Members who take
part in the work party may set up and fish once the work party work
has finished. The lake will then hopefully reopen to all other
members from 5.30am on Sunday 27th October. All persons are welcome
to join the work party. Anyone with any questions about the swim
rebuilding programme can contact the Fisheries Officer Gary Taylor
via the email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
The carp were on the feed after Broom Lake reopened with several
anglers reporting multiple catches. One member landed eight
carp in a single session and several ‘20s’ to 24lb were reported.
Those targeting silver fish also had plenty of action and members
fishing maggots enjoyed plenty of bites with several ‘netter’ roach
putting in a welcome appearance amongst good nets of smaller
redfins.
Junior member Aiden Graham enjoys his predator fishing and had a
very successful session at Willington Lake with a string of pike and
perch, all taken on live baits. The first round of the popular pike
series will be held at Willington Lake on Sunday 20th October with
the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 8am to 5pm. Entry for the
pike matches is free and open to all members, and for further
details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only).
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Week ending 6th Oct 2019 Shefford & District AA’s swim rebuilding
programme is still ongoing and The Airman is currently closed to
members whilst contractors are working on site. Swims 1-24 and
32-42 at Broom Lake reopened to members on 27th September and work
on pegs 25 to 31 should soon be completed. Members visiting
Broom Lake should respect any notices regarding areas that might
remain out of bounds. It will take several weeks for the ground that
has been disturbed to fully settle down, so members should avoid
driving over or parking on the newly dug ground. We anticipate the
contractors will complete their work at The Airman on or before
Friday 18th October; however, volunteer work parties may be required
before the whole lake can be reopened to members. Anyone with any
questions about the swim rebuilding programme can contact the
Fisheries Officer Gary Taylor via the email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
Shortly before The Airman was closed to angling, John Dickman
celebrated his 57th wedding anniversary by catching a 53lb 10oz
catfish that was fittingly landed by his wife Margret. This
was John’s best catfish from the venue for some time. Marek
Zanko fished as a guest of member Zbigniew Oskowiak and Marek
enjoyed a productive session landing a specimen pike of 24lb and
catfish of 34lb 7oz.
As reported last week, Nigel Gilbert landed a 21lb 2oz carp from
Willington Lake during the last 24h match. Photos confirm that
this mirror carp was one of the many VS Fisheries carp stocked into
the venue over recent years. The first round of the popular
pike series will be held at Willington Lake on Sunday 20th October
with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 8am to 5pm. Entry for
the pike matches is free and open to all members, and for further
details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only).
Finally, a reminder that all members (except juniors) are permitted
to use three rods at The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington Lake from
1st October to 31st March, provided they have the appropriate EA
licence to cover the use of 3 rods. EA fisheries enforcement
officers have access to all SDAA’s waters and any member who does
not possess a vald rod licence can expect to be taken to court and
receive a hefty fine. The latest list naming 176 anglers
recently prosecuted by the EA showed fines up to £861 were issued by
the courts (https://www.anglingtrust.net/page.asp?section=1012).
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Week ending 29th Sept 2019 Swims 1-24 and 32-42 at Broom Lake have
been rebuilt and are now open to Shefford & District AA’s members.
Please note the area around pegs 25 to 31 remains out of bounds, so
until work in this area has been completed members need to take
extra care driving around the track as there will be two way
traffic. It will take several weeks for the ground that has been
disturbed to fully settle down so members should avoid driving over
or parking on the newly dug ground. We will be seeding these areas
with grass and placing wood chippings in the swims. The Airman
will be closed to members from 7pm Sunday 6th October for up to 2
weeks to enable contractors to rebuild the swims along the old
railway bank. Anyone with any questions about the swim
rebuilding programme can contact the Fisheries Officer Gary Taylor
via the email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
Willington Lake hosted the final 24h match and with the absence of
several regulars, and an unfavourable weather forecast, only
attracted 3 participants. Match organiser Nigel Gilbert won with a
weight of 28lb comprising of a 21lb 2oz carp plus silver fish.
Neil Bygrave was second with 22lb 5oz comprising of 5 bream plus
silver fish. Kevin Wilkins found the larger fish elusive and
finished third with a single 9oz roach. Overall winner of the
24 hour series was James Turvey with 27 points, Kevin Wilkins second
on 23 points and Nigel Gilbert third with Nigel Gilbert third on 15
points.
The first round of the popular pike series will be held at
Willington Lake on Sunday 20th October with the draw at 8.15am and
fishing from 8am to 5pm. Entry for the pike matches is free
and for further details please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778
evenings & weekends only).
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Week ending 22nd Sept 2019 Swim rebuilding at Shefford & District
AA’s Broom Lake has progressed well over the first two weeks.
All the old swims have been prepared for their new fronts and
several swims completed. It is hoped that work on the all the swims
will be completed by 29th September. Members should check the
club’s Facebook page nearer this date to find when Broom Lake will
be reopened and any areas still deemed out of bounds.
The contractors will return to Broom Lake on 7th October in order to
reinforce an area of unstable bank, which will take 2 to 3 days.
The contractors will then be moving onto The Airman to rebuild the
swims along the old railway bank and these works will necessitate
closure of the venue to angling for up to 2 weeks. Anyone with
any questions about the swim rebuilding programme can contact the
Fisheries Officer Gary Taylor via the email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
Willington Lake will host the final 24h match with the match
starting at 9am on Saturday 28th September and ending at 10am on
Sunday 29th September. Entry for the 24h match is free and no
night permit is required. For further details about the 24h
match series please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only).
George Fairey enjoyed another good overnight session at The Airman
resulting in catfish of 46lb 11oz and 13lb. Unfortunately
George lost a big mirror at the net but also landed a couple of
bream and some decent roach.
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Week ending 15th Sept 2019 An ambitious swim rebuilding programme
is underway that will benefit two of Shefford & District AA’s major
stillwaters. Work has commenced on rebuilding all the swims at
Broom Lake and is expected to last until towards the end September.
It became necessary to completely close Broom Lake and access to
Broom River from 17th September in order to complete the swim
rebuilding around Broom Lake as quickly and safely as possible.
The SDAA Committee apologises for the lack of notice regarding this
closure. We had hoped to keep parts of the lake open to
fishing during the works, but this proved impractical without
slowing down the project. Updates regarding the opening of the
lake will be published on the Club’s social media pages. The
contractors will then move to The Airman to rebuild the swims along
the old railway bank and these works will necessitate closure of the
venue to angling for approximately 2 during early/mid October.
Anyone with any questions about the swim rebuilding programme can
contact the Fisheries Officer Gary Taylor via the email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
Broom Lake had continued to produced some good catches of carp and
venue regular Sadie Cornell managed five carp during a recent day
session topped by a new PB 24lb common. Sandie’s carp were all
caught on her own ‘Fairy Moan’ boilies.
Chris Jenkins’ latest overnight session at The Airman resulted in
three catfish of 26lb, 35lb and a new PB of 53lb. All the catfish
were tempted with 28mm pellets. Two bream up to 9lb also took
a liking to the pellets but did not put up much of a fight on heavy
catfish tackle. The Airman hosted the latest 24h match,
attended by six anglers. Kevin Wilkins landed two catfish of
28lb 15oz and a new PB of 48lb 12oz, which together with a few
silver fish gave him an overall winning weight of 79lb 2oz.
Neil Bygrave was second with 73lb 10oz that included a mirror carp
of 15lb 9oz plus catfish of 8lb 7oz and 46lb 7oz (a new PB).
James Turvey was third with 31lb 14oz that was mainly made up of 6
bream plus a few silvers. Nigel Gilbert was fourth with 18lb
5oz that comprised of two bream, a small catfish and some silvers.
Willington Lake will host the final 24h match with the match
starting at 9am on Saturday 28th September and ending at 10am on
Sunday 29th September. Entry for the 24h match is free and no
night permit is required. For further details about the 24h
match series please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only).
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Week ending 8th Sept 2019 Shefford & District AA members should
note that a swim rebuilding programme commenced at Broom Lake on
Monday 9th September with the work expected to last for
approximately 3 weeks. During the first phase of the
works pegs 1-20 will remain open to angling and members can also
gain access to the adjacent river. However, during the first
phase of the work the area including pegs 21 to 42 will be strictly
out of bounds and members will need to abide by all notices posted
at the fishery. Please note that the gate leading to the lake
from the car park is now in operation to help slow vehicles down and
ensure members read the notices. During these works there will be
two-way traffic along the open sections of the track with special
care needed when turning vehicles around. The second phase of the
work will see pegs 26-42 reopen for fishing, whilst the area around
pegs 1-25, and access to the river, will be strictly out of bounds.
Anyone with any questions about the swim rebuilding programme can
contact the Fisheries Officer Gary Taylor via the email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
Broom Lake has continued to produced some good catches of carp,
whilst other members have enjoyed decent bags of bream on feeder
tactics and silver fish on the float. Last week we reported
that George Fairey set a new UK PB with a 24lb 5oz common carp
during the 24h match, it was in fact one of the lake’s mirror carp.
Sid Fuller caught 7 carp and lost another 2 during a 48h session.
Sid’s biggest fish was a common of 19lb 6oz whilst the smallest was
a stunning looking heavily scaled mirror carp of 9lb 4oz.
The Airman will host the next 24h match with the match
starting at 9am on Saturday 14th September and ending at 10am on
Sunday 15th September. Entry for the 24h match is free and no
night permit is required. For further details about the 24h
match series please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only). The catfish have continued to feed with George
Fairey landing a 52lb specimen during an overnight session and Paul
Andrews tempted a 28lb catfish on a boilie.
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Week ending 1st Sept 2019 As summer gives way to autumn Shefford &
District AA members can expect some bumper catches as many species
start to feed hard ahead of the colder winter months. During
the week Broom Lake produced some good catches of bream and a
steady run of carp to over 20lb for several members. Craig
Brooks reported recently landing one of the lake’s elusive ghost
carp at over 25lb. The venue’s recent good form attracted 8
participants to the latest round of the 24h match series.
James Turvey once again focused on getting the bream feeding in his
swim, but also hedged his bets by targeting carp on one of his rods.
James went on to land 28 bream and 3 carp to 20lb 15oz for a winning
weight totalling 154lb 15oz. Second place went to Craig Brooks with
62lb 12oz that was made up by 4 carp to 20lb 6oz and 2 bream to 6lb.
Third and fourth place were separated by just one ounce with Jeff
Fairey landing 3 common carp and a mirror carp to 14lb 2oz for a
total of 51lb 6oz, whilst George Fairey’s 2 mirror carp and a common
of 24lb 5oz (his new UK PB) totalled 51lb 5oz.
The Airman will host the next 24h match with the match
starting at 9am on Saturday 14th September and ending at 10am on
Sunday 15th September. Entry for the 24h match is free and no
night permit is required. For further details about the 24h
match series please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only). Matt Naylor found the catfish feeding hard
during a midweek overnight trip landing 6 catfish in total that
included specimens of 47lb and 44lb 8oz.
Mick Baldwin made his first trip of the season to a club stretch of
the Great Ouse putting his faith in seed baits to target the roach
and leaving his maggots at home. It wasn’t long before Mick
had the roach lined up in his swim resulting in virtually a bite
every cast from a good stamp of roach. Mick lost count after
50 redfins had been landed and also added a decent rudd.
Swim rebuilding will commence at Broom Lake next Monday 9th
September with the work expected to last for approximately 3 weeks.
The lake will be totally closed for fishing from 9am on Sunday 8th
September until noon on 9th September. A volunteer work
party will be held on the Sunday 8th September to ensure the lake is
ready for the contractors and all members are welcome to attend.
Anyone wishing to take part in the work party or with any questions
about the swim rebuilding programme can contact the Fisheries
Officer Gary Taylor via the email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
Pegs 1-20 will reopen for angling at noon on 9th September once the
contractors and their equipment are on site. During the first
phase of the work the area including pegs 21 to 42 will be strictly
out of bounds and members will need to abide by all notices posted
at the fishery. The second phase will see pegs 26-42 reopen
for fishing, whilst the area around pegs 1-25, and access to the
river, will be strictly out of bounds. During these works
there will be two-way traffic along the open sections of the track
with special care needed when turning vehicles around. The
gate leading to the lake from the car park will be in operation to
both help to slow vehicles down and ensure members read the notices.
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Week ending 25th August 2019 The wet and windy weather of the
previous week was replaced by air temperatures soaring above 30C
over the weekend, which made it a struggle for many Shefford &
District AA members targeting the larger species. Broom Lake
still produced a number of carp with Bill Burton enjoying a
productive session before temperatures rose that included three
scale perfect common carp of 25lb 6oz, 20lb 3oz and 16lb 5oz.
David Rainbow landed his first carp from the venue at midday as
temperatures began to soar in the shape of a hard fighting 18lb
common carp that took a bottom bait. Clare Saville set a new
PB by landing a cracking 21lb common carp tempted by a wafter hook
bait. Bream were also caught from the usual areas, but not in
the same numbers as the previous week. Relatively few anglers
fished for the silvers but plenty of roach, rudd and perch were
caught by those fishing standard float tactics with members prepared
to persist with selective baits picking out the better stamp of
fish. Broom Lake will host the next 24h match this weekend
with the match starting at 9am on Saturday 31st August and
ending at 10am on Sunday 1st September. Entry for the 24h
match is free and no night permit is required. For further
details about the 24h match series please call Nigel Gilbert (07931
215778 evenings & weekends only).
Contractors will be undertaking swim rebuilding at both Broom Lake
and The Airman in the near future. Swim rebuilding will commence at
Broom Lake on Monday 9th September. The lake will be totally
closed for fishing from 9am on Sunday 8th September until noon on
9th September. A volunteer work party will be held on
the Sunday 8th September to ensure the lake is ready for the
contractors and all members are welcome to attend. Pegs 1-20 will
reopen for angling at noon on 9th September once the contractors and
their equipment are on site. During the first phase of the
work pegs 21 to 42 will be strictly out of bounds and members will
need to abide by all notices posted at the fishery. The second
phase will see pegs 26-42 reopen for fishing, whilst pegs 1-25, and
access to the river, will be strictly out of bounds. The aim
is to have all swims at Broom Lake rebuilt over a 3 week period.
Anyone wishing to take part in the Broom Lake work party on Sunday
8th September or with any questions about the swim rebuilding
programme can contact the Fisheries Officer Gary Taylor via the
email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
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Week ending 18th August 2019 Wet and windy weather kept many
Shefford & District AA members away from the bank, but many of those
who braved the elements enjoyed some excellent catches. Mick
Baldwin has continued to enjoy some good catches of bream at Broom
Lake in recent weeks that included bags of 50lb and 62lb.
However, his latest trip on a wet and breezy day resulted in an
excellent catch of 21 bream and a solitary tench for a total weight
of 92lb 14oz, and a thorough soaking for Mick as he had to
constantly leave the shelter of his umbrella to land fish and
recast. Sandie Cornell also enjoyed a bumper catch under
similar weather conditions landing 9 common carp and 9 bream during
a day session. Broom Lake will host the next 24h match from
9am on Saturday 31st August through to 10am on Sunday 1st September.
For further details about the 24h match series please call Nigel
Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
Chris Jenkins returned for another one of his regular midweek 24h
session at The Airman that involved a very wet start on the
Wednesday and a windy finish at noon on Thursday. However, the
weather did not deter the catfish from feeding and Chris landed a
total of 7 catfish including a new PB of 52lb, two forties, two
thirties and two around the 15lb mark. Halibut pellet and krill
boilies did the trick for Chris and a bonus 22lb. common carp as day
broke completed his best session this year. Michael Kell had 2
carp on the Wednesday evening both around 15lb and he returned the
next day for a short session catching catfish of around 30lb and
20lb.
Contractors will be undertaking swim rebuilding at both Broom Lake
and The Airman starting in a few weeks time. Work will commence at
Broom Lake and the lake will be closed for fishing from 9am on
Sunday 8th September until noon on 9th September. A
volunteer work party will be held on the Sunday to ensure the lake
is ready for the contractors. Pegs 1-20 will reopen for angling at
noon on 9th September once the contractors and their equipment are
on site. During the first phase of the work pegs 21 to 42 will
be strictly out of bounds to all members and any member straying
into the out of bounds area can expect immediate disciplinary
action, and the committee may decide to then close the whole lake
until works have been completed. Anyone wishing to take part
in the work party on Sunday 8th September or with any questions
about the swim rebuilding programme can contact the Fisheries
Officer Gary Taylor via the email address
SDAAfisheries@outlook.com.
Finally, yet another reminder that all gates should be securely
locked after entering or exiting a fishery. Special care must be
taken where multiple locks are in operation to ensure none of the
locks are by-passed or locked in such a way that renders any of the
padlocks unusable. On Sunday someone who holds a SDAA key
locked the first gate at Broom Lake in a way that rendered the
Alcove syndicate lock unusable. An Alcove syndicate member was
taken ill and their trip to A&E was delayed by over 20 minutes due
to someone not taking care to ensure both locks were left usable.
Anyone found to be deliberately not closing the gates in an
appropriate manner will face disciplinary action.
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Week ending 11th August 2019 The wind and rain over the last
weekend deterred many Shefford & District AA members from venturing
out. However, several anglers who were willing to brave the
elements found the fish in a feeding mood. Many Broom Lake regulars
know that windy conditions often trigger the carp into feeding and
Glenn Mills enjoyed a productive session despite the wind and rain.
Glenn managed a total of five common carp topped by a fish just over
the 23lb mark. The wet and windy conditions also reduced the
attendance of the latest round of the 24h series fished at
Willington Lake to just four anglers. James Turvey took
another step towards retaining the title of overall series winner by
heading the field with a weight of 42lb 3oz. James landed 11
bream, a 3lb 14oz tench and a 1lb roach. Kevin Wilkins had to
be content with second place with a total weight of 28lb 14oz of
mainly bream and roach, which included a 7lb 9oz bream, 1lb 3oz
roach and a tench of 4lb 10oz. Nigel Gilbert was third with
12lb 7oz of roach, rudd and perch plus a 4lb 1oz tench, whilst Neil
Bygrave managed a mixed bag of 4lb 1oz. Broom Lake will host
the next 24h match from 9am on Saturday 31st August through to 10am
on Sunday 1st September. For further details about the 24h
match series please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only).
With trees in full leaf there are likely to be some fallen trees
scattered around our fisheries following Saturday’s gales.
Please make a member of the committee aware of any fallen trees or
branches, particularly where they block tracks or paths. We
can then discuss with the land owners how best to resolve the
problems.
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Week ending 4th August 2019 There were noticeably more Shefford &
District AA members on the bank as air temperatures returned to
normal. However, water temperatures will take longer to cool
down so extra care should still be taken when handling fish, which
should be returned safely to the water as quickly as possible.
This time of year has again seen a rise in the number of confirmed
cases of Koi Herpes Virus (KHV) across the UK, which affects all
carp species and can result in large scale mortalities.
Therefore, members should rigorously follow the Check, Clean and Dry
guidelines to prevent the spread of diseases and invasive species.
Most importantly all equipment (especially nets) should be
thoroughly dried between fishing trips.
Chris Jenkins returned for another midweek 24h session at The
Airman and landed two catfish of 42lb and 47lb, plus a mid double
carp to add to his other recent successes.
Willington Lake will host the next 24h match from 9am on Saturday
10th August through to 10am on Sunday 11th August. For further
details about the 24h match series please call Nigel Gilbert (07931
215778 evenings & weekends only). Kevin Wilkins targeted the
larger roach at Willington Lake using a bait designed to deter the
smaller roach. Kevin managed eight good roach all around the
pound mark, plus a 13lb 8oz mirror carp that proved to be one of the
recent stockies. Other members have reported catching several
carp, tench and bream in recent sessions with most fish coming from
the margins, or just past the marginal weed.
Contractors will be undertaking swim rebuilding at both Broom
Lake and The Airman in a few weeks time. It is hoped that work
will commence at Broom Lake on 9th September where parts of the lake
will be kept open to angling, whilst those areas being worked on
will be strictly out of bounds. It is anticipated the work at
Broom Lake will take 2 to 3 weeks to complete. The contractors
will then move on to The Airman to renew the pegs along the western
bank, which will necessitate the venue being completely closed to
angling for approximately one week. Further details will be
made available nearer the time. Work parties will also be
required on both venues both before and after the contractors carry
out their work.
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Week ending 28th July 2019 Shefford & District AA members managed
some good catches during the week although not surprisingly sport
often slowed down when temperatures soared above 30C. Rob
Laidlaw fished a 72h session at The Airman and landed catfish of
46lb 10oz and 47lb 8oz during the first 24h, but then things slowed
right down as temperatures rose. Then after a heavy
thunderstorm Rob landed another small cat of around 4lb. At
first light Rob switched to a feeder rod with double maggot as bait
and caught well over 30 good sized roach, plus a 6lb pike that
grabbed a roach being reeling in. A switch to small pellet to
try and get a better stamp of fish produced another 3 roach around
the 12 - 14oz mark and 2 bream of 3lb and 5lb before bites finally
dried up at 10am as temperatures once again started to soar.
Chris Jenkins fished a 24h session in stiflingly hot conditions from
Wednesday into Thursday. After a very slow start Chris landed a
24lb catfish at midnight followed by another catfish of 27lb an hour
later. Two mid-double carp followed and as daylight broke a 36lb
catfish graced his net. Finally, Chris landed another catfish of
38lb at midday to completed an excellent session with all his fish
falling to 28mm halibut pellets. The weather then changed
completely and 10 members braved almost continuous rainfall over the
two days of the catfish match. James Turvey ran out the winner
with a total of 61lb 15oz (6 catfish from 2lb 11oz to 17lb 15oz).
Kevin Wilkins had to settle for second place with 51lb 15oz made up
by two catfish of 29 lb 10oz & 22lb 5oz. Junior member Alex
Lovell secured third place with a 22lb 12oz catfish with Mick abbot
fourth with a catfish of 12lb 7oz. Willington Lake will host
the next 24h match from 9am on Saturday 10th August through to 10am
on Sunday 11th August. For further details about the 24h match
series please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only).
Mick Baldwin made two trips to Broom Lake either side of the heat
wave and again located the bream shoals. Mick’s first trip
resulted in 13 bream for 50lb 7oz. Returning at the end of the
week he landed a further 10 bream and 3 common carp for 77lb 1oz.
Mick’s last three day sessions at the venue have resulted in 245lb
8oz of fish made up of 45 bream, 5 carp and a tench.
Members visiting Broom Lake will now be confronted by two locks on
the first gate the SDAA lock (black casing) accepts the club’s A10
key whilst the new lock with a blue base is for members of the
Alcove syndicate. Make sure that the gate is closed and
securely locked after entering or leaving the venue, taking special
care not to bypass the other lock.
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Week ending 21st July 2019 With a prolonged spell of hot weather
forecast Shefford & District AA members should take extra care when
handling fish. Avoid retaining fish in keepnets or sacks and
return fish as quickly as possible to the water once they have
recovered from the exertion of being landed. Make sure
unhooking mats and cradles are doused with fresh water from the lake
or river before laying any fish on them. Rising water
temperatures means less dissolved oxygen in the water and oxygen
levels can suddenly crash to dangerously low levels for a number of
reasons, so please immediately report any signs of numbers of fish
in distress to both the EA Incident Hotline and the club.
Despite plenty of anglers on the banks of both our lakes and river
venues the only capture reported was a 25lb 5oz common carp landed
by Kyle Price-Smith whilst fishing Broom Lake. A reminder
that The Airman hosts the popular catfish match fished over two
nights from 6pm on Friday 26th July through to 9am on Sunday 28th
July. All the swims at The Airman must be vacated by 3pm on
Friday 26th July and the venue will reopen for general fishing at
11am on Sunday 28th July. To book a place in the catfish match
and to obtain further details about the 24h match series please call
Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
Weed cutting has been taking place on the Ivel and Broom River has
already been cut. Finally, a reminder that all gates should be
securely locked after entering or exiting a fishery. Special
care should be taken where multiple locks are in operation to ensure
none of the locks are by-passed. In recent weeks members have
locked the entrance gate at Little Paxton in such a way that the
allotment holders could not gain access.
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Week ending 14th July 2019 Catch reports from Shefford & District
AA members has been rather sparse this week, but a few anglers have
been willing to share their successes. Broom Lake has been in
good form with Michael Webb managing to land a pristine 20lb 4oz
common carp on float tackle. Mick Baldwin had already enjoyed
two 100lb plus bream catches in recent weeks on a large reservoir
and bream made up the bulk of his 118lb haul from Broom Lake during
a recent day session. Mick started with a bream on his first
cast and they were still feeding when he packed up, with Mick
topping up his feed when bites started to tail off. Mick’s
catch included 22 bream for 88lb 4oz, a small 2lb 12oz tench and two
common carp of 9lb 13oz and 17lb 13oz. The venue also hosted
the latest round of the 24h series and James Turvey managed to
locate a shoal of feeding bream that formed the vast bulk of his
119lb 6oz winning weight. James only set up one of his rods
for bream that accounted for 25 bream averaging around the 4lb mark,
and added a 6lb carp and a few bits. Lez Reed secured
second spot with 79lb 6oz made up of 6 carp to 21lb and a solitary
bream, whilst Neil Bygrave finished third with 26lb 14oz
comprising of a carp of 15lb 5oz , a tench of 4lb plus a mixed net
of silver fish weighing 7lb 9oz.
The Airman hosts the next leg of the 24h match series, which is
the popular catfish match fished over two nights from 6pm on Friday
26th July through to 9am on Sunday 28th July. All the swims at
The Airman must be vacated by 3pm on Friday 26th July and the venue
will reopen for general fishing at 11am on Sunday 28th July.
To book a place in the catfish match and to obtain further details
about the 24h match series please call Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778
evenings & weekends only).
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Week ending 7th July 2019 The settled weather helped to produce
some consistent sport on Shefford & District AA stillwater venues
during the last week. The Airman was in excellent form for the
Dean Johnson memorial match, which was fished over 24h. Over
400lb of fish were caught by the participants including 10 catfish
from 6lb to 45lb, 10 carp from 9lb to 22lb, plus bream and tench.
Earlier in the week a 46lb 12 oz catfish was reported
Robert Symonds enjoyed a productive session at Broom Lake landing
common carp of 26lb and 20lb, as well as a tench. Later in the
week Sid Fuller fished a two night session and landed 4 commons to
18lb 3oz on the first night, nothing during the day, but added 2
more commons during the second night. As Sid was packing up he had
a take on one of his rods and to Sid’s amazement it resulted in a
pike on a cream seed pop up. Unfortunately Sid had to rescue a
goose that had become tangled in a long length of line that had been
carelessly discarded on the bank and also reported a bag of rubbish
left in the bushes. Any member found deliberately leaving
litter at any venue can expect a ban. Broom Lake hosts the
next leg of the 24h match series this weekend with the draw at 9am
on Saturday 13th July with fishing continuing through to 10am on
Sunday 14th July. These matches are free to enter and night
permits are not required. Details about the 24h match series
can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only).
With unconfirmed reports of double figure barbel in recent weeks,
Little Paxton has been proving popular. Members are reminded
that whilst within the allotments, vehicles must not exceed 5mph and
parking is only permitted within the gravelled parking area (located
at the end of the 3rd track on the right) or the newly designated
space (3 vehicles maximum) next to the river between the 1st & 2nd
track, which are clearly signed. One inconsiderate driver of a
bright blue van drove down the footpath along the river bank
completely blocking the footpath, but they had left by the time a
bailiff attended. Non-members should note Little Paxton is
strictly SDAA members only and that day tickets have never been
available whilst SDAA has controlled the fishing rights. As
part of Operation Traverse, bailiffs are instructed to involve the
police whenever non-members are found illegally fishing club waters.
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Week ending 30th June 2019 Members have continued to enjoy some
good catches from Shefford & District AA river and stillwater venues
during the last week, but most will go unreported as many members
are unwilling to publicise their successes.
Broom Lake continues to produce plenty of carp to standard carp rigs
and boilies. However, Gary Taylor decided to adopt a more
active approach using match style tactics to try and get the fish
competing for food. Gary’s different approach resulted in 8
low double carp up to 15lb 2oz, 3 bream and a tench during a very
productive morning session. Some good bags of silver fish have
also been taken in recent weeks and the better quality fish are
usually caught by persevering with selective baits and exploring
different depths. Broom Lake will host the next leg of the 24h
match series with the draw at 9am on Saturday 13th July with fishing
continuing through to 10am on Sunday 14th July. These matches
are free to enter and night permits are not required. Details
about the 24h match series can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931
215778 evenings & weekends only).
The Airman is closed to general fishing from midnight on Friday 5th
July through to 11am on Sunday 7th July for the annual Dean Johnson
memorial match, which can only be fished by invitation.
The club’s Ouse venues have produced some good fish since the start
of the season, but the only member happy to disclose their catch was
an impressive 3lb 11oz perch landed by Jacob Gonzales at Pavenham.
The most popular areas at Little Paxton and Little Barford have been
strimmed and pegs opened up. On other river venues anglers may
need to trample down the undergrowth to create their own swims, but
must refrain from pruning any trees or digging the banks.
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Week ending 23rd June 2019 Several members enjoyed good catches on
Shefford & District AA waters during the last week. The Airman
continues to live up to its reputation as a true mixed fishery by
producing a range of species to a wide variety of methods.
Alan Forster made his first trip of the season and cast out his
feeder expecting to have to wait for an hour or so before the fish
homed in on his bait. However, as soon as Alan’s feeder hit
the bottom on his first cast his tip pulled round resulting in a
decent roach. A steady string of roach followed on the feeder
with most fish in the 4oz to a pound bracket. It soon became
apparent that using a keepnet would not be a good idea as a number
of pike had assembled just in front of Alan attracted by all the
roach being caught. Inevitably they grabbed a few of the roach
as they were being landed and Alan managed to land 3 of the pike,
with the biggest a plump 14lb pike in pristine condition and with
the other two pike approaching double figures. Alan lost count
after landing 40 roach but carried on catching. A brief switch
to a float rod produced several nice perch. By the end of the
session Alan estimated he had landed around 60lb of fish (including
the pike). The weekend saw the venue host the first 24h match
where again a wide variety of species featured in catches.
Kevin Wilkins ran out the comfortable winner with a total weight of
91lb 4oz made up predominantly of 5 catfish to 29lb 10oz, plus a
tench and silvers for another 9lb 10oz. James Turvey’s total
of 55lb 2oz secured second place and consisted of 7 bream for 41lb 4
oz, a catfish of 10lb 4oz and some silvers. Match Secretary Nigel
Gilbert had to settle for third place with a total of 52 lb 10 oz
comprising of a 16lb carp, 22lb 12 oz catfish plus just under 20lb
made up of silvers and a bream.
Sandie Cornell enjoyed a productive session at Broom Lake that
included a new PB tench of 7lb 13oz, a 23lb 3oz common carp , plus
another smaller carp and bream around the 6lb mark. All the
fish were tempted on Sandie’s new “Fairy Moan” boilies whom her
partner Clive rolls especially for their visits to Broom Lake.
The Ivel and its tributaries are currently quite heavily weeded, but
with a bit of searching plenty of clear patches can be found to drop
a bait in. Tony Hickmott adopted a mobile approach on the
stretches around Shefford and was rewarded with seven different
species in one day. Tony’s best fish of the day was a 1lb 4oz
roach taken on the float with double maggot as bait. Tony was
surprised at the number of rudd he landed and also included some
plump dace and even the humble gudgeon he caught was well above
average. Another member landed a 3lb 12oz chub on bread.
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Week ending 16th June 2019 The 16th June heralded the start of the
new river season and the start of the new Shefford & District AA
season, so members fishing on 2018/19 books will need to renew their
membership to allow them to continue fishing club waters.
Form at Broom Lake has been up and down in recent weeks with anglers
targeting the carp enjoying success one day and then struggling for
a bite the next. New member Dave Turner was the only angler on
the lake when he landed an 18lb common carp. Kevin Donovan
managed three carp at the beginning of the week, a nice 19lb carp on
his second trip, but his third trip looked like ending in a blank
despite carp being visible in the surface layers of his swim for
much of the day.
Willington Lake has also been proving a tough nut to crack for those
targeting the larger fish in recent weeks. However, anglers
targeting the silver fish have been enjoying some good catches from
the usual hot spots around the lake. A 7am start for Brian
Barrett resulted in a "fish-a-chuck" on red maggots but he was
unable to get his bait down to the bigger fish as they were hitting
the bait on the drop, even on the feeder. A switch to
sweetcorn on the hook brought roach and rudd up 6oz all morning, but
no sign of the hoped for tench.
James Turvey had a mixed bag at The Airman on his latest session.
James experienced a number of dropped runs but managed to tempt an
18lb catfish and two different 12lb pike, one that took a liking to
his plastic maggots fished on a feeder rod. James added
several roach to a pound and a perch which was just shy of 2lb. A
few 30lb and upper 40lb catfish have been witnessed as well as
several carp caught from the margins. The Airman hosts the
first 24h match with the draw at 9am on Saturday 22nd June with
fishing continuing through to 10am on Sunday 23rd June. These
matches are free to enter and night permits are not required.
Details about the 24h match series can be obtained from Nigel
Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
The committee is pleased to announce that Gary Taylor has
volunteered to take on the role of Fisheries Officer. Gary
would like to encourage members to email him (SDAAfisheries@outlook.com)
with suggestions for improvements to any of the SDAA fisheries and
to highlight any urgent work that is needed. Also feel free
to contact Gary if you want to be involved in any of maintenance
work on any of our fisheries.
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Week ending 9th June 2019 The recent heavy rainfall will probably
impact the Shefford & District AA river venues that reopen for
fishing on Sunday 16th June. Whilst stretches of the Ivel and
its tributaries are likely to have returned to normal levels for the
start of the new river season, the club’s stretches on the Ouse are
still likely to be running higher than normal. Members
planning to fish the Ouse at Little Paxton should note that access
to the allotments will not be available until late on 15th June.
Members fishing Broom River on the Ivel now need the club’s key to
access the parking area near Jordan’s Mill and the new pedestrian
gate leading to the river from Broom Lake. All gates must be
locked after entering or leaving a water.
The Airman again proved a popular venue and produced a range of
species. George Fairey and Jeff Fairey fished an overnight
session at the beginning of the week that produced a catfish of 25lb
2oz for George and an 18lb 8oz catfish for Jeff. George
returned later in the week and was delighted to land a PB 38lb
catfish, plus a tench of 3lb and 1lb 8oz roach. Leigh Harris
fished close to a reed bed to tempt a 19lb mirror carp. James
Turvey landed a 16lb 2oz catfish, several roach and a few bream to
5lb. Once again James reported catfish trailing rigs and
significant lengths of line. New members may not be aware that
this venue contains zebra mussels that are notorious for damaging
and weakening any line that rubs across their shells. Anglers
can minimise the problem by avoiding the use of back leads and
making sure they regularly inspect their mainline for any sign of
damage.
Three new members fished an overnight session at Broom Lake and
between them caught five bream and two carp with the biggest carp of
17lb landed by Steve Long. Jim Higginson landed a 16lb 2oz
common caught on a Nash bait topped with fake corn on a blowback rig
within an hour of casting out. Jim lost another carp before
landing a 5lb 5oz tench


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Week ending 2nd June 2019 The settled weather again saw plenty of
Shefford & District AA members visiting the club’s lakes during the
last week. The forecast cooler spell of weather may put a
temporary halt to spawning activity and will hopefully bring some
much needed rain to the region, but probably nowhere near enough to
make up for the prolonged spell of below average rainfall that has
impacted both rivers and stillwaters in the region.
Several tench were reported from The Airman including a tinca of 5lb
7oz landed by Leigh Harris. Junior member Alex Lovell
enjoyed a productive 48 hour session whilst fishing with his dad
Gary Lovell. Alex managed to land 5 carp weighing 13lb, 15lb, 18lb
and two at 20lb. Alex was also delighted to add a new PB catfish of
35lb during the hours of darkness. Venue regular Jack
Lancaster continued his string of success with a mirror carp of 23lb
8oz and a catfish of 35lb 12oz. James Turvey landed a catfish
of 24lb 2oz and then had all his rods ‘wiped out’ by a much larger
catfish that was trailing a lot of line with the lead still
attached. One of James’ rigs became attached to the trailing
line for about 10 minutes before the lead finally pulled free, but
the fish was still left trailing a long length of line.
Hopefully the fish will free the trailing rig itself or another
angler will land the catfish and remove the offending rig before the
catfish becomes snagged.
Merv Saville enjoyed further success at Broom Lake with a 17lb 9oz
common carp caught during an afternoon/evening session.
Several other anglers reported mid double carp but also reported
signs that the carp were preparing for spawning during the hot
weather.


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Week ending 26th May 2019 The relatively settled weather ensured
plenty of Shefford & District AA members visited the club’s lakes
during the last week and a number of good fish were again reported.
The next bout of warm weather is likely to see species such as carp,
tench and catfish become preoccupied with spawning and members are
requested not to disturb any fish that are obviously involved in
spawning activity.
Catfish remain the target of many anglers at The Airman and Matt
Naylor’s latest overnight session produced an early morning run that
resulted in a 47lb catfish. John Schoonraad hooked into his
first ever catfish on relatively light tackle but eventually managed
to land the 42lb catfish with some help required to get the tail of
the large fish into his landing net. Sam Fairey and Jeff
Fairey both enjoyed a productive overnight session. Jeff
landed his first ever catfish of 38lb 12oz and 28lb, whilst Sam
landed two catfish of 21lb 3oz and 20lb 8oz, plus two mirror carp to
15lb 8oz. We repeat our advice that anyone deliberately targeting
catfish at The Airman needs to respect the sheer size and power of
this species by using tackle that is capable of landing a 60lb
catfish, unhooking and returning safely to the water.
Danny Wright enjoyed further success at Broom Lake with his latest
two short evening sessions producing common carp of 22lb and 21lb
2oz, plus a smaller common. Both the larger commons fell to
DNA Baits pop ups fished over a scattering of 8mm S7 boilies, whilst
the smaller common was tempted by bread dunked in Betastim fished on
the surface.

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Week ending 19th May 2019 Shefford & District AA members have
enjoyed some good catches from all three of the major stillwaters.
At Willington Lake the tench have been on the feed with some anglers
enjoying multiple catches during daytime sessions. The main
problem for tench anglers are the shoals of silver fish homing in on
their baits, so a more selective approach is often required.
Anglers have enjoyed success with carp at Broom Lake that has
illustrated the different scale patterns and colours found amongst
carp. Venue regular Andy Richwood landed one of the much sought
after ghost carp weighing 24lb 11oz. A short evening session
resulted in a common carp of 14lb 1oz and a fully scaled mirror of
10lb 1oz for Merv Saville. After a string of common carp in
previous visits, Danny Wright tempted a lightly scaled mirror carp
on a DNA baits milky malt pop-up. Common carp outnumber the
other scale patterns at Broom Lake and Jack Lancaster managed to
tempt a healthy looking common carp of 19lb.
Catfish are the target of many anglers at The Airman and Jack
Lancaster managed a 47lb 12oz specimen on his latest session.
New member George Fairey enjoyed success on his very first visit to
the venue in the shape of a 19lb catfish. Several anglers have
caught tench in recent weeks with Jeff Fairey reporting a tench of
6lb 8oz. Bailiffs reported that several anglers have been
targeting the catfish using tackle that is totally inadequate for
this species. Catfish are very powerful and run to over 60lb
at The Airman. The Catfish Conservation Group recommendations
are provided in the membership book, i.e. minimum 3lb test curve
rods (3.75-5lb test curve preferred), minimum 20lb BS mainline,
abrasive resistant hooklength, landing net with minimum 50 inch
arms, extra large unhooking mat (or use two), long forceps and extra
large weigh sling. Bailiffs will ask members to stop fishing
and leave the water if their tackle is considered inadequate or
unsafe for the species being targeted.



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Week ending 12th May 2019 There have been plenty of Shefford &
District AA members on the club’s stillwaters, but actual reports of
fish captures have been few and far between. Catfish continue
to be the main target of many anglers at The Airman and Sam Fairey
continued his success with this species by landing a catfish of 29lb
on his latest session.
Shefford & District AA membership books for the 2019/20 season are
now available by postal applications and tackle shop outlets, with
membership valid from date of purchase through to 15th June 2020.
Please note night permits and associate junior membership are only
available by postal applications to the Registrar.
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Week ending 5th May 2019 The Airman has been on good form despite
the fluctuation in daytime temperatures and has proven to be a
popular venue for Shefford & District AA members. Catfish over
40lb were caught during the week but have gone unreported, with
carp, tench, pike and roach also featuring in catches. James
Turvey landed three catfish to 34lb 10oz with feeding activity
noticeably slowing down after a heavy hail storm that resulted in
lots of dropped runs as the catfish became more finicky. Kevin
Wilkins landed a catfish of 13lb and his roach rig produced several
big redfins before a pike started to show an interest in hooked
fish. A switch to a pike rig soon resulted in Kevin landing a
double figure pike. Paul Williams landed pike of 9lb 12oz and
11lb 1oz whilst fishing for catfish. Members should note that
to safeguard catfish, use of double hooks, treble hooks or uncoated
wire traces is banned at The Airman between 1st April - 31st
October. To safeguard both pike and catfish, a coated wire
hooklink material must be used by catfish anglers when using fish
live or deadbaits. Several hooks and catfish end rigs have
been recovered from some of the larger catfish in recent weeks, and
although there was usually nothing wrong with the end rigs
themselves, the mainline often looked to be only in the 8-12lb
range. The Catfish Conservation Group recommend a minimum of
20lb mainline when targeting catfish.
Shefford & District AA membership books for the 2019/20 season are
now available by postal applications and tackle shop outlets, with
membership valid from date of purchase through to 15th June 2020.
Please note night permits and associate junior membership are only
available by postal applications to the Registrar. The
membership fees for 2019/20 remain the same as last season and full
details and application form are available to download from the
club’s website.
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Week ending 28th April 2019 The last week has seen fish of all
sizes feeding on Shefford & District AA’s stillwaters with members
finally enjoying some consistent sport. Kevin Wilkins landed
an 8lb 3oz bream from Willington Lake along with a few smaller
bream, lots of rudd and a few pike. Fishing partner James
Turvey landed several bream to over 7lb. James commented that
the lake is currently alive with small rudd that quickly home in on
any bait, which has made targeting the bream and tench frustrating.
Once rudd have been attracted into the swim they are soon followed
by the pike.
Their next trip was a catfish session at The Airman during the high
winds of last Saturday. Kevin Wilkins landed a catfish of 35lb
5oz plus a low double pike, but lost another catfish at the net and
had several dropped runs. Meanwhile James Turvey enjoyed some
frantic action from the catfish and landed a total of 7 catfish
ranging from 5lb 13oz to 17lb 8oz, lost a few more fish to hook
pulls and experienced several dropped runs. Kevin and James
caught all their catfish during daylight hours. The small
catfish caught by James is proof that the catfish have successfully
spawned in The Airman in recent years. Any member targeting
the catfish should ensure they have adequate tackle to safely land
and unhook these powerful fish, which run to over 60lb with an
unreported 62lb 14oz specimen landed last August.
Members fishing Broom Lake should take great care when casting so
that they do not leave rigs and line dangling from trees. If
members do accidently leave long lengths of line trailing from a
tree please let a member of the committee know ASAP so that the snag
can be removed before endangering wildlife. A committee member
had to venture out in a boat to free a goose trapped in a very long
length of line. Lost rigs incorporating leadcore have also
been recovered, despite the use of leadcore being banned on all of
the club’s waters. The Broom Lake carp have been feeding well
with Jack Lancaster landing 6 carp during a 24h session including a
17lb fully scaled mirror. Danny Wright once again made a
couple of successful short visits tempting a mid-double common carp
on each occasion using DNA Baits pop-ups over a handful of DNA Baits
Nuttas boilies. Warren Bacon landed a common of 19lb 2oz and a
linear mirror of 13lb 11oz during the same session on Thripster
baits.
Shefford & District AA membership books for the 2019/20 season are
now available by postal applications and will be available from most
tackle shop outlets by 4th May. Membership will be valid from
date of purchase through to 15th June 2020. Please
note night permits and associate junior membership will only
available by postal applications to the Registrar. The
membership fees for 2019/20 remain the same as last season and full
details and application form are available to download from the
club’s website.
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Week ending 21st April 2019 The prolonged warm spell saw plenty of
Shefford & District AA members visiting stillwaters and enjoying
some good catches. At Willington Lake traditional float
tactics have produced good catches of silver fish. Whilst
feeding maggots and using maggot on the hook will ensure most bites,
more selective baits such as sweetcorn and pellets have picked out
the better quality fish. Having a shoal of silver fish in the
swim inevitably invites the attention of pike trying to steal fish
off the hook.
Carp have been feeding more reliably at Broom Lake during the
last week and it has often paid to present baits at different
depths. Jim Higginson managed his first common carp of 13lb
3oz from the venue after being “plagued by bream and tench”. Danny
Wright made a couple of short visits after work and managed to tempt
a common carp on each occasion using bread dipped in DNA Baits
betastim fished on the surface.
Shefford & District AA membership books for the 2019/20 season
will be available from early May and will be valid from date of
purchase through to 15th June 2020. Please note
night permits and associate junior membership will only available by
postal applications to the Registrar. The membership fees for
2019/20 remain the same as last season, i.e. Full £75; Concessionary
£55; Partner £45; Junior £20; Associate Junior free; First night
permit (Airman/ Willington or Broom/Willington £53; Second night
permit £26.50; Junior night permit and Non Fishing Night Guest
permit £26.50. We are keeping the existing A10 key, £5 if
required.
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Week ending 14th April 2019 Catch reports from Shefford & District
AA members have been rather sparse in recent weeks, which suggests
the carp that most members are targeting have not been feeding
consistently. The catfish at The Airman have certainly woken
up from their inactivity during the winter and have been on the
feed. Catfish to just under 50lb have been caught in recent
weeks and Sam Fairey managed three catfish of 22lb, 28lb and 29lb
during a recent overnight session. Plenty of roach to well over a
pound have being caught on both ledger and slider float tactics.
A work party was held at The Airman last weekend and the volunteers
(Sam Fairey, George Fairey, Carl Vernon, Paul Williams, Colin Stitt,
Tony Hickmott, Brian Sellers and Peter Docherty) managed to enhance
many of the swims around the lake. A group of divers also
entered the lake and have identified the location of a number of
snags. It is hoped the divers will return during May when
efforts will be made to remove some of these snags from the lake
bed.
Several enquires have been received regarding membership.
Shefford & District AA membership books for the 2019/20 season are
currently being printed and should be available from local tackle
shops from early May and will be valid from date of purchase through
to 15th June 2020. Please note night permits and
associate junior membership will only available by postal
applications to the Registrar. The membership fees for 2019/20
remain the same as last season, i.e. Full £75; Concessionary £55;
Partner £45; Junior £20; Associate Junior free; First night permit
(Airman/ Willington or Broom/Willington £53; Second night permit
£26.50; Junior night permit and Non Fishing Night Guest permit
£26.50. We are keeping the existing A10 key, £5 if required.
Full details about 2019/20 membership, night permits and application
forms will soon be available on the membership section of the SDAA
website.
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Week ending 31st March 2019
Attendees of the Shefford & District AA AGM were given a full
update on the club’s healthy membership and financial situation.
Consequently there will be no increase in the cost of membership for
the 2019/20 season, which will be available from early May.
Phase 1 of the swim renewal programme at The Airman was completed
last October, and the club plans to renew the remaining swims in
late 2019. The club also plans to renew all the swims at Broom
Lake during September 2019. To comply with the contractor’s
insurance these waters will be subject to a full (or partial)
closures whilst these works are ongoing. Chairperson Richard
Bell emphasised that SDAA runs all its waters as mixed fisheries
that suit a wide range of fishing styles, and not as specimen carp
waters. He highlighted some of the practical and financial
challenges that need to be overcome before otter proof fencing could
be considered on stillwaters, which the club rents. Club
Secretary Colin Stitt stated that rule breaking by a minority of
members was still an issue. Some members had been endoesed for
leaving their tackle in a swim whilst leaving the fishery for
several hours. Bailiffs will be instructed to immediately
remove the membership documents from any member found leaving litter
and/or fouling the banks. On a more positive note it was
announced that both Colin Smith and David Hawkes had been made life
members of the club in recognition of their outstanding
contributions to the running of the club over a number of years.
An appeal was made for more volunteers to step forward to help with
the running of the club.
Following the AGM, specimen trophies were presented to Barry Jarvis
(27lb 1oz carp), Stuart McLean (48lb catfish) and James Turvey (5lb
13oz chub) who also received the Tookey Trophy for best overall
specimen fish as voted by the AGM attendees. James Turvey was
awarded the 24h Match Series trophy, whilst Tony Archer received the
Pike Series shield, both having won the same trophies the previous
year. The Centenary Cup was awarded to Tony Hickmott for
attending the vast majority of work parties across a range of
venues, and (with committee approval) Tony has recently started to
organise regular work parties at Stanford Pit.
Last weekend saw volunteers apply 5 tonnes of Siltex to Broom Lake,
fill in some of the pot holes around the lake and open up a few
swims. Immediately ahead of the work party, anglers had been
catching a number of carp to upper doubles as well as plenty of
bream.
The Airman catfish have started to become far more active with Chris
Jenkins catching a new PB of 49lb and another catfish of 25lb on
28mm halibut pellet. The Airman will be closed to fishing on
Saturday 13th April for a work party and all volunteers are welcome
to attend. We also hope divers will be visiting the venue on
13th and/or 14th April to locate potential snags on the lake bed.
If the divers attend on 14th April this will disturb fishing for a
few hours and hopefully we will be able to provide further details
nearer the time.
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Week ending 17th March 2019 With the river close season now in
force, Shefford & District AA members are restricted to fishing the
stillwater venues until 16th June. Any angler found fishing a
river venue during the close season can expect to be taken to court
by the Environment Agency, which is likely to result in a hefty
fine.
The Airman has proved a popular venue with some of the recently
stocked carp turning up in catches. Chris Perry landed a
distinctive 10lb 8oz mirror carp whilst Kevin Wilkins managed a
lightly scaled 12lb 6oz mirror, as well as a tench of 5lb 8oz.
We have provisional dates for divers to visit the venue on 13th
and/or 14th April to locate potential snags on the lake bed and then
returning on 4th and/or 5th May to try and remove these snags.
The venue will be closed to fishing whilst any diving is taking
place and these closures will be an opportunity for work parties to
take place for general maintenance.
Due to the relatively dry winter the track around Broom Lake has
remained open. Carp fishing can still be unpredictable from
day to day but continues to improve as water temperatures continue
to rise. Ken Sharp also managed a tench of 4lb 2oz on a recent
trip. Broom Lake will be closed on Saturday 30th March for a
volunteer work party to apply 5 tonnes of Siltex to the lake by
boat, and if enough volunteers attend some additional general
maintenance tasks.
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Week ending 10th March 2019 Several Shefford & District AA members
have been trying their luck on river venues before the last day of
the river season on 14th March, after which no more fishing on river
venues is allowed until 16th June. Tony Hickmott, Brian
Sellers and Phill Thompson decided to visit Pavenham on a recent wet
and very windy day when brollies were in danger of being blown away.
Unfortunately Tony and Brian blanked, but Phill was delighted to
land two chub. Phill fished a waggler float with two maggots
presented on a size 16 hook to land a 3lb 10oz chub and then his
next bite produced a specimen chub of 6lb 8oz.
Steve Burbidge has fished a couple of day sessions at The Airman
with his first session producing mirror carp of 19 lb and 16lb, and
his second visit landed a mirror of 14lb 8oz. Steve also reported a
member who was fishing on light ledger tackle managed to hook and
successfully land a catfish around the 25lb mark.
Finally, we hope members will make every effort to attend the
Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM that is being held at 8pm on
Wednesday 27th March 2019 at Shefford Town Memorial Hall.
Important club news and changes will be discussed at the AGM with
admission and voting by club card only. The bar will be
available from 7.30pm and in addition to the formal AGM business
there will be a raffle, presentation of trophies and an opportunity
for members to raise issues.
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Week ending 3rd March 2019 Tony Archer had already secured the
Shefford & District AA pike series before the final round was held
at Willington Lake on Sunday where Tony again ran out as match
winner with four pike to 7lb 9oz for a total weight of 23lb 11oz.
Second place was secured by James Turvey 17 lb 14oz (3 pike to 8lb
12oz), third Kevin Wilkins 13lb 1oz (2 pike to 8lb 13oz) and fourth
was series organiser Nigel Gilbert with a single pike of 6lb 3oz.
The unseasonably warm weather has seen species normally associated
with the summer months turning up in catches. The first tench
of 2019 was reported several weeks ago and Jack Lancaster landed the
first reported catfish of the year from The Airman with a 38lb
catfish caught towards the end of February. Despite the warm
weather, the carp fishing has remained rather unpredictable with
short feeding spells interspersed between long periods of
inactivity. Danny Wright fished a short session at Broom Lake
during the strong winds of storm Freya and was rewarded with instant
success in the shape of a small common carp falling to a DNA Baits
Milky Malt pop up fished in conjunction with a small PVA bag of
chopped The Switch boilies soaked in Nuttas spod syrup.
A reminder that all claims for specimen fish trophies must be
received by 16th March. Match and specimen fish trophies will
be presented at the Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM that is being
held on Wednesday 27th March 2019. The captor of the best overall
specimen fish will also receive free membership for next season.
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Week ending 24th Feb 2019 There have been plenty of Shefford &
District AA members lining the banks enjoying the recent mild spell,
but no catch reports have been submitted. The final round of
the pike series will take place at Willington Lake on Sunday 3rd
March with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 5.00pm, and
details can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only).
All claims for specimen fish trophies need to be received by 16th
March. Match and specimen fish trophies will be presented at
the Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM that is being held on Wednesday
27th March 2019. The captor of the best overall specimen fish will
also receive free membership for next season.
Finally, yet another reminder to members that all gates must be left
closed and securely locked after entering or leaving fisheries.
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Week ending 17th Feb 2019 The penultimate round of the Shefford &
District AA pike series held at Willington Lake attracted 6
participants and plenty of pike were caught. Kevin Wilkins
landed five decent size pike to 11lb 8oz for a winning weight of
35lb 10oz. Tony Archer was second with seven pike to 5lb 5oz
for 26lb 7oz. Third place was secured by James Turvey with
five pike to 8lb 10oz for 24lb 10oz that were all taken in the
afternoon. Peter Wright had a single pike of 10lb 9oz taken in
the first few minutes of the match and Nigel Gilbert a single pike
of 8lb 1oz. Tony Archer’s second place means he secured
winning the overall pike series with one match still remaining. The
final round will also take place at Willington Lake on Sunday 3rd
March with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 5.00pm and
details can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only).
Brian Sellers decided to fish the slider float at The Airman using
maggot as bait. Brian was expecting to catch roach but found
his tackle truly tested by landing a tench of 6lb 15oz followed by a
mirror carp of 19lb 12oz. Other anglers have managed roach on
feeder and slider tactics with the odd good perch also showing in
catches. A few carp have also fallen to more conventional
ledger tactics. Members should be aware that there will be
some routine maintenance work being carried out on Saturday 23rd
February at The Airman towards the north end of the lake, which may
cause some disturbance for anglers fishing the ‘Green Swim’ and
‘Mudflats’.
The EA have recently stocked 80 barbel into the Great Ouse around
Harrold and 91 barbel in the Ivel at Biggleswade Mill. Some of
these barbel were well over 30cm in length and approaching 3lb in
weight. Most importantly these fish have been marked with a
blue dye that should last 3-5 years. The EA would like anyone
catching any of these marked barbel to take a photo and forward
details (weight location, etc) so that the EA can learn more about
their growth, survival and spread.
The Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM is being held on Wednesday 27th
March 2019. All nominations for director, officer or committee
positions and requests for any business to be moved at the AGM must
be received by 27th February 2019. All claims for specimen fish
trophies need to be received by 16th March.
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Week ending 10th Feb 2019 Several Shefford & District AA members
have enjoyed some excellent catches over the last week. The
depths of winter are always a struggle for anglers targeting carp,
which often remain torpid for long periods of time between short
feeding spells. Jack Lancaster timed his latest four night
session to The Airman to perfection by landing 7 carp within the
first 24 hours of setting up, followed by a long spell of inactivity
and adding one final carp just before he packed up. Jack’s
biggest carp were 21lb 8oz and 20lb 4oz, and the rest were all
doubles. Most of the carp were the lake’s older residents but
he also caught some of the carp stocked in more recent years that
appeared to be in excellent condition.
River anglers have reported a noticeable upturn in silver fish
stocks, particularly roach on our stretches of the Ouse downstream
of Bedford. Dace numbers are also increasing and Julian
Peacock landed an excellent net of dace to 8oz from a ‘SDAA river’
using red maggot below a stick float. Members planning to fish
the Ivel Navigation should note that the EA is still carrying out
some tree work from Shefford downstream to the confluence with the
Ivel. The close season is still in force on rivers with no fishing
allowed from 15th March to 15th June inclusive, so there are only a
few weeks left of the current river season. The EA is
currently consulting the public about the future of the close season
on rivers (https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/fisheries/consultation-on-the-review-of-the-close-season/)
and the closing date for expressing your views is 11th March 2019.
The penultimate round of the pike series will be held at Willington
Lake on Saturday 16th February with the draw at 8.15am and fishing
from 9am to 4.30pm and details can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert
(07931 215778 evenings & weekends only). The final round will
also take place at Willington Lake on Sunday 3rd March.
The Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM is being held on Wednesday 27th
March 2019. All nominations for director, officer or committee
positions and requests for any business to be moved at the AGM must
be received by 27th February 2019. All trophies need to be returned
by 20th February and all claims for specimen fish trophies need to
be received by 16th March.

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Week ending 3rd Feb 2019 The cold weather and snow kept many
Shefford & District AA members away from the banks, but anglers
choosing river venues again demonstrated that good catches are still
possible. Chris Jenkins fished the Ouse at Willington on a
cold but bright day and found the fish in a feeding mood.
Chris started by float fishing a single maggot on 2lb line and was
soon getting a bite every cast, catching mainly roach and bleak. A
slow bite then resulted in a chub of just over 4lb and later on a
bite under the rod tip delivered another chub just under the 6lb
mark. Chris changed over to a ledger rig as it got dark, which
resulted in another chub over 4lb to a meat bait. Andrew
Burton opted to spend a cold afternoon on the IPA waters at
Biggleswade and offered bread on a ledger rig. Andrew adopted
a mobile approach and tried six different swims. His only bite
resulted in a hard fighting chub of 5lb 13oz that took almost 10
minutes to land. Members heading to the Jordans Mill end of
Broom River should note that Southill Road to the east of Broom
village is now closed through to the end of March, but our car
parking area can still be accessed by approaching from the east side
of the river. Members planning to fish the Ivel Navigation
should note that the EA is planning to carry out some tree work from
Shefford downstream to the confluence with the Ivel over the next
week or so.
The penultimate round of the pike series will be held at
Willington Lake on Saturday 16th February with the draw at 8.15am
and fishing from 9am to 4.30pm and details can be obtained from
Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only). Please
note that this pike match has been switched from Broom River (as
printed in the membership book) to Willington Lake.
Another reminder to members that the Shefford & District AA Ltd
AGM is being held on Wednesday 27th March 2019. All nominations for
director, officer or committee positions and requests for any
business to be moved at the AGM must be received by 27th February
2019. We hope some members will be interested in joining the
Committee and making a positive contribution to the future running
of the club. The Committee meets 12 times per year on the 2nd
Tuesday evening of each month in Shefford.
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Week ending 27th Jan 2019 Falling temperatures saw fewer Shefford
& District AA members on the bank over the last week. The deep
water at The Airman means water temperatures remain fairly
consistent at this time of year and ensures the carp are always
likely to accept an angler’s bait. New member Jim Higginson
fished his first day session at the venue during the high winds and
was rewarded with a 20lb 2oz mirror carp. Roach continue to be
reliable feeders with fish to over 2lb a realistic prospect, but
locating the tightly packed roach shoals is the key to success, and
the pike are often found in close proximity to the roach shoals.
Pike continue to be the main target for anglers fishing
Willington Lake and whilst many pike are in the 5-7lb bracket a few
low doubles have also been reported. Roach are also willing
feeders on both float and ledger tactics. Several swims within
the wooded areas have been opened up following the recent tree work
undertaken by tree surgeons. The penultimate round of the
pike series will be held at Willington Lake on Saturday 16th
February with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 4.30pm and
details can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only). Please note that this pike match has been switched
from Broom River (as printed in the membership book) to Willington
Lake.
Broom Lake continues to attract a good number of members, but
catch reports remain few and far between. A bailiff reported
one member had caught pike of 5lb and 7lb last Saturday.
Please note that several sections of the track around the lake have
become ‘marginal’ and some areas are likely to be closed to vehicles
in the near future. Track closures at this time of year
prevent damage that will require extensive repairs before the track
can be reopened in the spring.
A number of anglers are concentrating their efforts on the rivers
at this time of year, but have become reluctant to give away too
many details about their catches. The club’s sections of the
Ouse below Bedford continue to produce good catches of roach.
The local sections of the Flit (Ivel Navigation) in and around
Shefford have also been producing some good roach with odd fish over
1lb, along with some good dace and chub.
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Week ending 20th Jan 2019 A great turnout of nine anglers fished
at The Airman in the latest round of the Shefford & District AA pike
series. Unfortunately the pike were not in a feeding mood with most
participants failing to catch. Tony Archer won the match with
a pike of 13lb 8oz, which now stands as the biggest fish of the
series. Dennis Thompson also managed a decent pike of 11lb 1oz
for second place. James Turvey was the only other angler to
have a take, but failed to connect with the fish. Tony Archer
currently heads the series with 10 points followed by James Turvey
on 5 points and four anglers further behind on 2 points. The
penultimate round of the pike series will be held at Willington Lake
on Saturday 16th February with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from
9am to 4.30pm and details can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931
215778 evenings & weekends only). Please note that this pike match
has been switched from Broom River (as printed in the membership
book) to Willington Lake. Members heading to the Jordans Mill
end of Broom River should not that there is a planned closure of
Southill Road through to the end of March and these roadworks may
well impact access to our car parking area.
Neil Bygrave managed to snatch a quick afternoon trip to The Airman
and did not arrive at the venue until 1.30pm. By 2pm Neil had
his maggot feeder rod set up and, after a few quick cast to deposit
some feed, the roach quickly homed onto his bait of a couple of red
maggots fished on a size 14 hook. During the next two hours
Neil had a steady run of bites and landed 18 good roach up to the
pound mark for a net easily approaching double figures. To
Neil’s surprise the bites suddenly stopped around 4pm as the light
began to fade. Then at 4.30pm a small pull on Neil’s
quivertip was met with solid resistance upon the strike, which Neil
at first might be a snag. However, the ‘snag’ then began to
slowly move towards the middle of the lake and after a 15 minute one
sided tussle the 2.5lb hooklink finally parted with the prime
suspect being one of the lake’s large catfish.
Please note that SDAA membership books are no longer available from
Manor Farm, which is currently in the process of being sold.
Finally, we have to report that a few irresponsible members have
been to blame for a spate of unacceptable behaviour in recent weeks.
If the individuals involved are identified they are likely to
receive an indefinite ban from the club. One incident involves
garden waste being dumped behind a swim at Broom Lake, presumably
transported to the lake in the back of a member’s vehicle.
There have been several incidents of human waste being deposited
both in, and adjacent to, swims along with the associated paperwork
at several venues, but most notably Broom Lake. How many times
do members need to be reminded that this in wholly unacceptable
behaviour? There has been a noticeable increase in litter left
in swims, with one incident including a broken lure with two treble
hooks and wire trace still attached that was left lying on the
ground at Willington Lake in an area used by grazing animals.
Gates have also been left open and/or unlocked on several occasions.
Landowners will not tolerate this type of behaviour and the club
risks losing fishing rights if these types of incident continue.
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Week endind 13th Jan 2019 This week’s report starts with a
reminder to members that the Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM is being
held on Wednesday 27th March 2019. This may seem a long way off,
but all nominations for director, officer or committee positions and
requests for any business to be moved at the AGM must be received by
27th February 2019. We hope some members will be interested in
joining the Committee and making a positive contribution to the
future running of the club. The Committee meets 12 times per
year on the 2nd Tuesday evening of each month in Shefford. The
next few months will also see a number of work parties being
organised at several of our fisheries with most of the work being
undertaken by volunteers from the club. If you are interested
in joining the committee or simply volunteering for future work
parties please contact us ASAP, ideally by email to:
info@shefforddaa.org.uk.
The first planned maintenance work will take place at Willington
Lake on Monday 21st January to Wednesday 23rd January when tree
surgeons will be ensuring the swims in the wooded areas remain
fishable. The venue will remain open to anglers, but please
ensure you do not enter any areas where tree work is being
undertaken, which will be taped off. Work parties are also
being planned for The Airman, Broom Lake and Stanford Pit that will
be advertised in due course.
Fishing reports have been few and far between. The mild
weather prompted Kevin Wilkins to cast out a carp rod at Willington
Lake, which resulted in a 14lb 10oz mirror carp caught with a boilie
and PVA bag of crushed boilies cast tight to a dying weed bed.
Kevin also managed to catch a number of roach on a feeder rig.
Bailiffs report that The Airman has been producing several carp
during the last week and several anglers targeting the roach have
been enjoying some good results with fish over a pound featuring in
catches. The stretches of the Ouse at Willington and Little
Barford continue to produce some good bags of roach to both float
and feeder tactics. Members fishing Little Paxton are normally
targeting larger species and good sized pike have featured in recent
catches.
The next round of the pike series will be held at The Airman on
Sunday 20th January with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to
4.00pm and details can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778
evenings & weekends only). All members must vacate The Airman by
midnight on Saturday 19th January and the venue will reopen for
general fishing at 6.00pm on 20th January.
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Week ending 6th Jan 2019 The lack of both rain and wind has kept
sport relatively quiet for Shefford & District AA members on both
stillwater and river venues. Lakes have rarely had any
significant surface ripple caused by the wind and combined with
crystal clear water this invariably makes catching fish a challenge.
Plenty of members have continued to target the carp at Broom Lake
with odd carp being willing to feed, whilst the roach fishing has
proved a struggle during the middle of the day with the roach
feeding more confidently as the light begins to fade.
Willington Lake continues to attract plenty of pike anglers who are
enjoying some success with odd fish to low double figures. The
silver fish are more tightly shoaled than during summer, but good
catches are possible once the shoals are located (often with the
pike in close proximity). The next round of the pike series
will be held at The Airman on Sunday 20th January with the draw at
8.15am and fishing from 9am to 4.00pm and details can be obtained
from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
The lack of rain means local rivers are all running low and clear
and they would benefit from a good flush through with rainwater.
Michael Webb had been struggling to locate fish on the Ivel so opted
for a switch to the Horsebridge section of the Flit, which resulted
in 4 ‘cracking’ roach, two chub and a brown trout. The Ouse at
both Willington and Little Barford has been producing some good nets
of roach to both float and ledger tactics, with the odd bonus perch,
chub and bream also turning up in catches. The planned road closure
of Southill Road, Broom is now set to run from 14th January to the
end of March, which might affect access to the Jordans end of Broom
River.
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Week ending 30th Dec 2018 The Shefford & District AA Christmas
Pike Pairs Match was held on Saturday 29th December at Willington
Lake and attracted nine members. A reasonable number of pike
were caught during the match with Tony and Alfie Archer winning the
match with four pike to 9lb for a total weight of 27lb. Martin
Sharpe and Nigel Gilbert were second with 4 pike for 17lb 9oz,
whilst Kevin Wilkins and James Turvey took third spot with two pike
for 14lb 5oz. The next round of the pike series will be held
at The Airman on Sunday 20th January with the draw at 8.15am and
fishing from 9am to 4.00pm and details can be obtained from Nigel
Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
Hector Jane adopts a very mobile approach when pike fishing and a
recent trip covering the Ivel from Biggleswade upstream and along
the Broom River stretch produced five pike to 7lb. Members
should note that there is a planned road closure of Southill Road,
Broom from 7th January to the end of March, which will probably mean
that the Jordans end of Broom River will not be accessible via Broom
village.
Members are also reminded to close and lock all gates when entering
and leaving fisheries to ensure they remain secure. Please
report any problems with any of the gates and locks to a member of
the committee ASAP.
Shefford & District AA ‘half year’ membership books are available
from all our usual outlets and remain are valid through to 15th June
2019.
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Week ending 16th Dec 2018 The Shefford & District AA Christmas
Pike Pairs Match will be held on Saturday 29th December at
Willington Lake with the draw at 8.00am and fishing from 9am to
3.00pm. The Christmas Pike Pairs Match has an entry fee of £20
per pair, with all monies paid out as prizes on the day and details
can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only). All members must vacate Willington Lake by midnight on
Friday 28th December and the venue will reopen for general fishing
at 5.00pm on 29th December. Please note that the pike match
due to be held on Broom River on 16th February 2019 will now be
fished at Willington Lake.
James Turvey and Kevin Wilkins returned to The Airman and once again
their target species was the specimen roach. However, it was a
repeat performance of their previous visit with James landing a
‘nuisance’ mirror carp of 13lb 12oz, whilst Kevin managed to land a
15lb 5oz ‘nuisance’ mirror carp on their roach rigs.
Reports are slowly beginning to trickle through from river venues
with a 5lb 13oz chub reported from an undisclosed club venue.
Venues on the Ouse are producing some good bags of silver fish on
both float and ledger tactics. Life member Brian Barrett made
a visit to the river at Willington on a brief visit back to the area
from Wales. Brian elected to fish the feeder close to the far
bank and soon had the fish feeding, catching mainly a good stamp of
roach along with a few small chub. The next day Brian came
across another venue regular trotting a stick float in a nearby swim
and taking a ‘fish a chuck’ comprising of roach and dace.
Shefford & District AA ‘half year’ membership books are available
from all our usual outlets and remain are valid through to 15th June
2019.
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Week ending 9th Dec 2018 The latest round of the Shefford &
District AA pike series was held at Willington Lake and produced an
excellent result with all seven participants catching and a total of
21 pike to 10lb 15oz landed. James Turvey won the match with a
total weight of 35lb 2oz comprising of 5 pike to 8lb 3oz.
Second Hos Graham 25lb 2oz (4 pike to 8lb 3oz); third Kevin Wilkins
23lb 7oz (3 pike to 10lb 15oz); fourth Tony Archer 18lb 0oz (4 pike
to 5lb 15oz); fifth Nigel Gilbert 9lb 11oz (2 pike to 6lb 11oz);
sixth Aiden Bone (junior member) 7lb 0oz (2 pike to 4lb 13oz);
seventh Dennis Thompson 6lb 13oz (1 pike). The next pike match
will be the one off Christmas Pike Pairs Match fished on Saturday
29th December at Willington Lake with the draw at 8.00am and fishing
from 9am to 3.00pm. The Christmas Pike Pairs Match has an
entry fee of £20 per pair, with all monies paid out as prizes on the
day and details can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778
evenings & weekends only). All members must vacate Willington
Lake by midnight on Friday 28th December and the venue will reopen
for general fishing at 5.00pm on 29th December.
James Turvey and Kevin Wilkins visited The Airman to target both the
pike and specimen roach. James managed two pike of 10lb and
5lb on deadbaits. The specimen roach proved elusive on the
day, but James landed a ‘nuisance’ mirror carp of 26lb 14oz on his
roach ledger tackle whilst Kevin managed to land a 15lb ‘nuisance’
common carp on his roach rig.
The overhanging branches on all the islands at Broom Lake have been
cut back by tree surgeons. Plenty of lost rigs were recovered
during this process, including those that incorporated a leadcore
leader that have been banned on all SDAA waters for several years.
Whilst the tree surgeons worked on the islands, volunteers helped to
open up several swims, cut back undergrowth encroaching on the track
and several other maintenance tasks. Siltex has been delivered
to the lake but unfortunately there were insufficient volunteers on
any one day to apply the 5 tonnes of Siltex to the lake. Work
party regulars Brian Sellars and Tony Hickmott were the only two
non-committee members to attend the work parties, with Tony bringing
along two ‘friends of the countryside’ who are not members to help
on one day. Committee members attending during the week were
Andy Riley, Colin Smith, Colin Stitt, James Turvey, Mick Burley,
Phil Belfield and Richard Bell. A further lake closure for a
work party will be arranged for the early part of 2019 to apply the
Siltex and hopefully enough volunteers will attend to enable the
task to be completed.
Shefford & District AA ‘half year’ membership books are available
from all our usual outlets and remain are valid through to 15th June
2019.
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Week ending 2nd Dec 2018 The next round in the Shefford & District
AA pike series will be held at Willington Lake on Sunday 9th
December with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am to 3.30pm.
The pike matches are free to enter and details can be obtained from
Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only). All
members must vacate Willington Lake by midnight on Saturday 8th
December and the venue will reopen for general fishing at 5.30pm on
9th December. Young Aidan Graham recently found the pike at
Willington Lake in a feeding mood and landed two pike during an
afternoon session.
As water temperatures continue to drop carp will often remain
dormant and only feed in short spells. However, the deep water
at The Airman ensures water temperatures are less prone to
fluctuations, which results in the carp normally remaining more
active and feeding throughout the winter months. James Elliott
reported a mirror carp of 15lb 3oz from the venue last weekend,
which was identified as one of the VS Fisheries carp stocked in
November 2014.
With weed and undergrowth now dying down along rivers, these venues
should prove more popular between now and the end of the river
season on 14th March. Members have access to several miles of
river bank along the Flit, Ivel and Great Ouse and we are keen to
hear how these river venues are fishing.
Shefford & District AA ‘half year’ membership books are now
available from all our usual outlets and remain are valid through to
15th June 2019.
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Week ending 25th Nov 2018 There was a much better turnout for the
latest round in the Shefford & District AA pike series with 9
members spread around the banks of The Airman. Unfortunately
the pike were not in an obliging mood and only three anglers managed
to catch a single pike each. First was Steve Millward with a pike
of 11lb 6oz, second John Dickman with 6lb 1 oz and third Tony Archer
4lb 6oz. Current standings in the series are Tony Archer 7 pts
with James Turvey, Nigel Gilbert and John Dickman all on 2 pts.
The next round of the pike series is being held at Willington Lake
on Sunday 9th December with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am
to 3.30pm. The pike matches are free to enter and details can
be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only). All members must vacate Willington Lake by midnight on
Saturday 8th December and the venue will reopen for general fishing
at 5.30pm on 9th December.
John Dickman had not publicised his catfish captures at The Airman
over the warmer months, but has now revealed that he managed 6
catfish over 45lb this season with his best fish weighing in at 50lb
3oz. Many anglers are convinced that catfish only feed during
the hours of darkness, but John only fishes day sessions.
Whilst the catfish tend to be dormant during the colder months they
can sometimes to be tempted to feed at this time of year with Stefan
Canny landing a catfish last weekend.
A final reminder that Broom Lake will be closed to fishing from 8am
on Monday 3rd December until 5pm on Friday 7th December whilst
contractors work on trimming back trees on the islands. During
the closure, volunteer work parties will take place to undertake a
variety of maintenance tasks around the lake and apply Siltex to the
water to keep silt levels in check. If you wish to help out on
these work parties please contact Richard Bell in advance so that
work can be scheduled against the number of volunteers likely to
attend on each day.
Shefford & District AA ‘half year’ membership books are valid from
1st December 2018 through to 15th June 2019, and available from our
usual outlets. Prices are Full £42.50, Concessions £32.50,
Partners £27.50, Juniors £10. Please note that night fishing
at The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington Lake requires optional
Night Permits (there is no part year discount on these Night
Permits).
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Week ending 18th Nov 2018 The cooler weather appears to have kept
many Shefford & District AA members away from the banks this week.
With water temperatures cooling down many of the silver fish are now
tightly shoaled on our stillwater venues, so locating the shoals is
the key to success, and anglers seeking the pike will often find
these predators in close proximity to the silver fish. Alan
Forster reported float fishing The Airman and after regular feeding
the roach started to feed after two hours and then Alan went on to
have a ‘bite a chuck’ for the rest of the session and put together a
good net of roach. A second pike rod resulted in three hooked
fish, but all three managed to shake off the hooks.
The third round of the pike series is being held at The Airman on
Saturday 24th November with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am
to 3.30pm. The pike matches are free to enter and details can
be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only). All members must vacate The Airman by midnight on
Friday 23rd November and the venue will reopen for general fishing
at 5.30pm on 24th November.
Broom Lake will be closed to fishing from 8am on Monday 3rd December
until 5pm on Friday 7th December whilst contractors work on trimming
back trees on the islands. To make best use of the closure,
volunteer work parties will take place to undertake maintenance
tasks around the lake and apply Siltex to the water to keep silt
levels in check. If you wish to help out on these work parties
please contact Richard Bell in advance so that work can be scheduled
against the number of volunteers likely to attend on each day.
Shefford & District AA ‘half year’ membership books, which will be
valid from 1st December 2018 through to 15th June 2019, will be
available from our usual outlets. Prices are Full £42.50,
Concessions £32.50, Partners £27.50, Juniors £10. Please note
that night fishing at The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington Lake
requires optional Night Permits (there is no part year discount on
these Night Permits).
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Week ending 11th Nov 2018 A further batch of top quality VS
Fisheries C4 mirror carp were introduced into Shefford & District AA
waters last Saturday as part of the long term stocking policy for
carp. 30 carp were stocked into The Airman and Willington Lake
with the fish ranging from 9lb 4oz to 14lb 4oz. Both lakes
received 15 mirror carp with an average weight of just under 12lb.
We urge members to submit photos of both sides of any mirror carp
caught on club waters so that we can monitor the progress of stocked
fish as this information helps to influence the future stocking
policy.
To demonstrate this point, Michael Broomfield reported catching two
mirror carp and a bream at The Airman on Sunday. Michael’s
biggest carp weighed 21lb and was identified as a carp stocked in
2011 as part of a batch of AJS Fisheries C3 carp. Michael’s
other mirror was a 12lb mirror carp that was identified as a VS
Fisheries C4 carp stocked in 2014.
The third round of the pike series is being held at The Airman on
Saturday 24th November with the draw at 8.15am and fishing from 9am
to 3.30pm. The pike matches are free to enter and details can
be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only). All members must vacate The Airman by midnight on
Friday 23rd November and the venue will reopen for general fishing
at 5.30pm on 24th November.
Shefford & District AA ‘half year’ membership books, which will be
valid from 1st December 2018 through to 15th June 2019, will soon be
available from our usual outlets. Prices will be Full £42.50,
Concessions £32.50, Partners £27.50, Juniors £10. Please note
that night fishing at The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington Lake
requires optional Night Permits (there is no part year discount on
these Night Permits).
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Week ending 4th Nov 2018 Several Shefford & District AA members
switch their attention to predators such as pike and perch during
the colder months, so it was a surprise that only two members turned
up for the recent pike match at Willington Lake that has produced a
number of double figure pike in recent weeks. Tony Archer made
it two wins out of two matches with a total of exactly 21lb, made up
of 4 pike weighing 2lb 15oz, 3lb 4oz, 5lb 11oz and 9lb 2oz.
Nigel Gilbert had to settle for second place with 19lb 9oz made up
of 3 pike weighing 3lb 3oz, 4lb 14oz and 11lb 8oz. Nigel’s two
smaller fish came on his first two casts in the first 40 minutes of
the match. Hopefully the third round of the pike series being
held at The Airman on Saturday 24th November will be better
attended. The pike matches that are free to enter and details
can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends
only). All members must vacate The Airman by midnight on
Friday 23rd November and the venue will reopen for general fishing
at 5.30pm on 24th November.
On their latest session at Willington Lake, brothers Barry and Dean
Jarvis caught eight pike to 8lb, but the main focus of their trip
was the carp. Barry was delighted to land a hard fighting
mirror carp of 27lb 1oz during the hours of darkness, which was
identified as VS Fisheries fish stocked as a C4 in 2010. A
further batch of these top quality VS Fisheries carp is on order for
stocking later in the year.
The rebuilding of pegs 1-12 at The Airman (part-funded by a grant
from the Angling Improvement Fund) has received favourable feedback
from members. Those fishing shortly after the reopening of the
venue found most species willing to feed, with tench that are
normally associated with the summer months featuring in a number of
catches.
Shefford & District AA will once again be offering ‘half year’
membership, which will be valid from 1st December 2018 through to
15th December 2019. Full details will appear on our website
and Facebook pages later in November and ‘half year’ books wil be
available from our usual outlets towards the end of November.
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View Airman Swim photos here |
Week ending 28th Oct 2018 Shefford & District AA members will find
that pegs 1-12 at The Airman have been completely rebuilt during the
recent closure. A work party was held last Saturday to remove
wood and metal debris from the old swims, and give the venue a
general tidy up. Volunteers also tackled the large willow that
had fallen into the water next to peg 2, which took several hours to
drag from the depths to the margins. Thanks go to the twelve
volunteers who attended the work party, namely Andy Riley, Brian
Sellers, Carl Vernon, Colin Stitt, James Turvey, John Dickman, Kevin
Wilkins, Mark Palmer, Mick Burley, Richard Bell, Tony Hickmott and
Tony Scarrott.
Alan Forster spent a few hours at Willington Lake and landed two
double figure pike on deadbaits, whilst catching silver fish on his
float rod. The wind blew floating leaves into his swim making
float fishing impossible, so Alan packed up and moved to Broom Lake
where he managed to find the silver fish feeding landing roach to
14oz along with numerous smaller roach and perch. The next
round in the pike series will be held at Willington Lake on Sunday
4th November (draw 8.15am, fish 9am to 4pm). Details of the
pike matches can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778
evenings & weekends only). All members must vacate Willington
Lake by midnight on Saturday 3rd November and the venue will reopen
for general fishing at 6pm on 4th November.
Finally, advanced warning that Broom Lake is due to be closed from
Monday 3rd December to Friday 7th December whilst contractors cut
back overhanging branches on all the islands. During the
closure we also plan to hold a number of work parties where members
can volunteer to help, including applying Siltex to the lake.
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Week ending 21st Oct 2018 A reminder to Shefford & District AA
members that The Airman will remain closed to members until 9am on
Saturday 27th October when a work party will be held before the
venue is opened up for fishing later in the day. Contractors
are currently rebuilding swims 1-12 and work is expected to be
completed by the end of the week. Volunteers attending the
work party should bring suitable footwear and gloves, and a
wheelbarrow would also be useful. Old swim materials will need
to be cleared away and the newly built swims dressed with wood
chippings.
The first round of the pike series was fished by five anglers at
Broom Lake and the result suggested fish have already started to
shoal tightly ahead of winter. Tony Archer ended up the clear winner
with 5 pike for 17lb 5oz, his biggest weighing 5lb 14oz. James
Turvey was the only other angler to catch with a pike of 5lb 13oz.
The next round in the pike series will be held at Willington Lake
on Sunday 4th November (draw 8.15am, fish 9am to 4pm). Details
of the pike matches can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778
evenings & weekends only). All members must vacate Willington
Lake by midnight on Saturday 3rd November and the venue will reopen
for general fishing at 6pm on 4th November.
Steve Burbidge has been limited to short day sessions in recent
months but has been successful in tracking down at least one carp on
most of his sessions on club waters. Steve’s latest trip to
Willington Lake produced a 14lb 8oz mirror carp, which was
identified as one of the stockies introduced in recent seasons.
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Week ending 14th Oct 2018 Although the majority of Shefford &
District AA members restrict themselves to fishing stillwater venues
all year round, there are still a significant number who turn their
attention to the rivers at this time of year. With several
miles of river venues to choose from, and a range of species to
target, it is surprising river venues are not more popular.
For the second week in a row a specimen barbel has grabbed the
headlines, this week in the shape of an 11lb 2oz barbel caught by
Alan Lawrence on our Pavenham stretch of the Great Ouse. In
addition, Alan also landed two decent chub of 5lb 3oz and 4lb 12oz.
For anglers visiting Pavenham for the first time it pays to travel
light, as it requires a walk of at least 400m from the parking areas
to the river. Access along the river bank was vastly improved
during the close season by replacing two dilapidated stiles with two
new kissing gates and a refurbishing the footbridge that crosses a
ditch, which was part funded by a grant from the Angling Improvement
Fund.
The Airman is currently closed to fishing whilst contractors
undertake an extensive swim rebuilding programme. The lake
will remain off limits to all members until Saturday 27th October
when a work party will be held to tidy up the lake before The Airman
is opened up again for fishing.
The popular pike series begins with the first match at Broom Lake on
Saturday 20th October (draw 8.15am, fish 9am to 5pm). Details
of the pike matches can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778
evenings & weekends only). All members must vacate Broom Lake
by midnight on Friday 19th October and the venue will reopen for
general fishing at 7pm on 20th October.
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Week ending 7th Oct 2018 With water temperatures still relatively
high Shefford & District AA members have continued to enjoy some
good catches, including species often associated with the height of
summer. Paul Williams landed catfish of 34 and 46 lb from The
Airman during a recent weekend session. Steve Burbidge landed
two mid double carp and three tench around the 5lb mark during a day
session on the same venue. The Airman will be completely
closed to fishing whilst contractors undertake an extensive swim
rebuilding programme for pegs 1-12. The lake will close at 7pm
on Sunday 14th October and will remain off limits to all members
until Saturday 27th October. A work party will be held on
Saturday 27th October to tidy up the lake before The Airman is
opened up again for fishing.
Many local anglers still think that barbel only exist on the Great
Ouse on the stretches above Bedford. However, our stretch at
Little Paxton is also a noted venue for barbel with fish from 1lb to
double figures caught each season, but rarely publicised.
Local tackle dealer, and life member, Andy Davis was delighted to
land a 14lb 8oz barbel from the venue, albeit the capture was a few
weeks ago.
The popular pike series begins with the first match at Broom Lake on
Saturday 20th October. Details of the pike matches can be
obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
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Week ending 30th Sept 2018 There is some important news for
Shefford & District AA members. Last weekend a number of
volunteers (Sam Fairey, Colin Stitt, Colin Smith, Carl Vernon, Paul
Williams, Mick Burley, Les Old, Tony Hickmott and John Dickman)
assisted a tree surgeon in removing a large dangerous willow at The
Airman. The committee can now confirm that The Airman will be
completely closed to fishing for almost two weeks whilst contractors
undertake an extensive swim rebuilding programme for pegs 1-12.
The lake will close at 7pm on Sunday 14th October and will remain
off limits to all members until Saturday 27th October. A work
party will be held on Saturday 27th October to tidy up the lake
before The Airman is opened up again for fishing. The
contractor’s insurance stipulates the venue must be completely
closed during the works. No members should try and visit the venue
between 15th and 26th October and we will hopefully be able to give
updates as the work progresses.
A reminder that from 1st October members (but not juniors) are
permitted to use three rods at The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington
Lake, provided they have the appropriate number of EA licences.
To safeguard catfish at The Airman, use of double hooks, treble
hooks or uncoated wire traces is banned until 31st October.
The popular pike series begins with the first match at Broom Lake on
Saturday 20th October. Details of the pike matches can be
obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
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Week ending 23rd Sept 2018 Plenty of fish are still being caught
across Shefford & District AA venues with The Airman recently
producing a string of large catfish. Dave Hedges put
together a grand total of 354lb of catfish during a recent four day
session, topped by a specimen of 55lb, as well as several 30s and
40s. Steve Osborne’s first trip to the venue also produced his
first ever catfish of 46lb and 34lb, plus a mirror carp of 15lb 6oz.
Kevin Wilkins also reported a catfish of 45lb 13oz that was caught
as light was fading on a miserable wet day. Sam Fairey landed three
catfish of 34lb, 31lb and 28lb, plus two carp around the 15lb mark.
Other species are also being caught with Nigel Gilbert managing 9
bream to 5lb on a method feeder and followed this up on his next
trip with a 25lb bag of roach and skimmers on the pole. The Airman
will be closed for a work party on Saturday 29th September when a
dangerous willow will be removed and other maintenance work
undertaken. All volunteers are welcome to attend the work
party.
The strong winds last weekend brought down a large willow tree at
Broom Lake that fell across the track. Three committee members
James Turvey, Gary Taylor and Colin Smith gave up several hours of
their time on Monday to remove the fallen trunks and branches so
that the track can once again be used by vehicles.
Nigel Gilbert recently made his first visit to the Little Barford
stretch of the Ouse and finished with a mixed bag well over 20lb.
Most of the catch was made up with roach to 12oz, but a switch to
worm produced a number of perch to 1lb. Nigel described the session
as a ‘bite a chuck’ and would probably have caught even more if he
had not been troubled by pike activity from time to time during his
session.

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Week ending 16th Sept 2018 Members have continued to enjoy some
good catches across Shefford & District AA lakes during the last
week. The 24h Dean Johnson memorial match held at Broom Lake
saw all 18 competitors managing to catch. Five carp over 20lb
were landed during the event and the winning team weighed in 125lb
with the second team on 115lb. Broom Lake was also fishing
well earlier in the week with several anglers enjoying multiple
catches of carp. Bailiffs witnessed Sandie Cornell land a carp
on her very first cast and she had already landed three double
figure carp by the time the bailiffs had completed their tour of the
lake.
Publicity shy members have reported carp to just under 20lb
Willington Lake during the week and we continue to urge members to
submit photos of mirror carp (ideally both sides) so that we can
monitor the growth rates of the carp we have stocked, which
influences our future stocking policy. James Turvey has
struggled to catch significant numbers of tench on club waters but
has become a ‘bream magnet’ in recent months landing 12 bream to 7lb
2oz from Willington Lake during his latest session.
The Airman has continued to fish well for a number of species.
One carp angler had a couple of low doubles that proved to be fish
stocked two years ago that had put on an extra 5lb in weight and he
also managed several tench. James Turvey targeted the venue’s
tench earlier in the week but was ‘pestered’ by bream. A
reminder that The Airman will be closed for a work party on Saturday
29th September when a dangerous willow will be removed and other
maintenance work undertaken. All volunteers are welcome to
attend the work party. The venue is likely to be closed for
two weeks during the second half of October whilst contractors
rebuild a number of the swims, and full details will be published
once everything has been finalised.
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Week ending 9th Sept 2018 September is often one of the most
productive months and Shefford & District AA lakes continue to
produce some good catches for a variety of species. We
recently reported Mick Baldwin enjoying a catch of mainly bream for
just over 100lb from Broom Lake. Not surprisingly Mick has
been a frequent visitor over the last two weeks and his last six
trips have produced total weights of 76lb, 51lb and four nets around
the 30lb mark. Mick has caught all his fish on white maggots
using standard ledger rigs. Mick’s seven daytime sessions have
produced a total of around 350lb of fish, which have comprised of 67
bream from 1lb 8oz to 7lb 2oz, five carp, two tench, two pike and
several roach and perch. Broom Lake will be closed to members
from midnight on Friday 14th September until 11am on Sunday 16th
September for a memorial match, which is by invitation only.
Prior to these latest trips, Mick Baldwin had been fishing
Willington Lake where he was finding it difficult to get through a
constant stream of 2-3lb bream to any bigger fish. Other
anglers trying to target the tench and larger bream have also
commented on the apparent explosion of smaller bream that quickly
home in on their baits. Chris Thripp, Duane Richardson and
Bill Mann have recently landed a number of decent carp from
Willington Lake all caught on Thripster baits. In addition to
the carp, Duane Richardson landed a 10lb 6oz bream on Thripster
bream mix.
Alan Lawrence enjoyed a good mornings roach fishing on The Airman
landing around 20 roach, with 11 all over the 1lb mark. Alan
employed a slider float setup with punched bread as bait, and added
two tench that tested his roach tackle. A reminder that The Airman
will be closed for a work party on Saturday 29th September when a
dangerous willow will be removed and preparatory work will be
undertaken ahead of a significant swim rebuilding programme.
Michael Webb thought he had finally cracked the 4lb mark when he
first landed his latest perch from the Broom River stretch of the
Ivel, but on the scales it was just short of his target, weighing in
at 3lb 14oz. Members should avoid fishing near Stanford Lock
on Sunday 16th September due to a ‘duck race’ event.



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Week ending 2nd Sept 2018 Several Shefford & District AA members
have enjoyed some good catches from a variety of club waters during
the last week. Michael Webb fished the Broom River stretch of
the Ivel and managed two perch of 3lb 5oz and 3lb 3oz, which took
Michael’s tally to 10 perch over 3lb from this fishery.
Michael commented that with the warm water temperatures and lack of
flow the fish seemed very tired after fighting strongly when hooked.
Michael took great care to ensure the perch were fully recovered in
the landing net before being released.
Gary Barnes has not been fishing for some time but was over the moon
with his latest session at Broom Lake. Gary started off with a
mixed net of roach, rudd and perch to 8oz and then added a 25lb
common carp and 6lb 8oz bream. Michael Purday also landed a
good common carp that looked over the 20lb mark, but unfortunately
Michael forgot to take his scales. Broom Lake will be closed
to members from midnight on Friday 14th September until 11am on
Sunday 16th September for a memorial match, which is by invitation
only.
Alan Forster made his first trip to Willington Lake this season with
the aim of targeting the better quality roach. Alan’s
favourite swims were all occupied so settled into an unfamiliar swim
and balled in some groundbait to the edge of a weedbed. 30
minutes later the fish had shown no interest in his double sweetcorn
bait. Dropping down to single grain of sweetcorn as bait
resulted in an instant response and it was a bite every cast from
that point on. Alan stopped counting after landing his first
50 roach with most in the 4-8oz bracket. A switch to bread on the
hook resulted in the same stamp of fish being caught. The
roach were still feeding hard when Alan had to pack up and the only
issue Alan had was a number of pike that intercepted several roach
as they were being reeled in.
The catfish match fished at The Airman last weekend resulted in nine
catfish being caught. Kevin Wilkins won the contest with a
total of 60lb 10oz made up of four catfish of 23lb, 19lb 8oz, 9lb
9oz and 8lb 9oz. Sam Fairey was second with two catfish of
27lb 12oz and 17lb 4oz for 45lb. James Turvey landed the
largest catfish of the match at 34lb 10oz for third place.
Martin Sharpe was fourth with a 25lb 15oz catfish and Paul Williams
fifth with a 13lb 11oz catfish. This result meant James Turvey
was the clear overall winner of the four match night series.
Wendy Smith has just returned to fishing after a break of several
years and was delighted to land a mirror carp of 13lb 2oz from the
same venue. The Airman will be closed for a work party on
Saturday 29th September when a dangerous willow will be removed and
preparatory work will be undertaken ahead of a significant swim
rebuilding programme that is planned during the second half of
October (further details nearer the time).
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Week ending 26th August 2018 Cooler temperatures are likely to
lead to more consistent results across Shefford & District AA
waters, and as we move into autumn several species will start to
feed heavily to put on extra weight to see them through winter.
Mick Baldwin arrived at Broom Lake to find ideal conditions for the
bream with an overcast sky and a strong breeze blowing steadily
throughout the day. Mick fished a feeder set up and soon had
the fish feeding, going on to land a total of 20 bream ranging from
3lb to just over 5lb, plus three carp. Mick’s total catch came
to just over 100lb and is the best bag of bream reported from the
venue for some time.
A reminder that the catfish match is being fished at The Airman from
6pm on Friday 31st August through to 9am on Sunday 2nd September.
The Airman must be vacated by 3pm on Friday 31st August and will
reopen to members at 11am on Sunday 2nd September. Broom Lake
will be closed to members from midnight on Friday 14th September
until 11am on Sunday 16th September for a memorial match, which is
by invitation only.
The committee are currently finalising plans for several maintenance
projects at our major lakes from late September through to December.
Some of these projects will involve closure of the lake whilst the
work is being carried out. We will try and provide at least
two week’s notice of these works, especially when they will involve
closure of a lake.
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Week ending 19th August 2018 Several Shefford & District AA
members fishing The Airman last week found the catfish were well and
truly in a feeding mood. Although many anglers still consider
catfish as a species that only feeds under the cover of darkness,
many of the captures were during daylight hours. The first report
received was from new member Stuart McLean who landed a 48lb catfish
at 8pm on ‘meat’, to better a 47lb catfish landed on a previous
visit. Chris Jenkins fished a 48h session and caught 8 catfish
over 20lb, with four over the 30lb mark. Successful bait was 28mm
halibut pellet and all but one of Chris’ catfish was caught in
darkness. Douglas Reynolds dropped a yellow pop-up tight up to
a reed bed during a day session and the bait was taken on the drop
by a fish that powered off. Douglas was targeting carp at the
time, but after an epic 45 minute battle he finally managed to
safely net a 51lb 3oz catfish. Douglas also managed to stalk
an 18lb mirror carp from the margins. Dave Claydon landed a
30lb catfish during daylight hours over the weekend.
Hopefully the catfish will be on the feed for the catfish match
that is being fished at The Airman from 6pm on Friday 31st August
through to 9am on Sunday 2nd September. The match is now fully
booked and this year pegs will be chosen by a normal draw rather
than a ‘walk off’. The Airman must be vacated by 3pm on Friday 31st
August and will reopen at 11am on Sunday 2nd September

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Week ending 12th August 2018 Cooler air temperatures and some
welcome rain greeted Shefford & District AA members last week, but
it will take some time for water temperatures to fall back to normal
levels. The latest round of the 24h series was fished at
Willington Lake and James Turvey made it three wins out of three.
James had been regularly enjoying nets well over 50lb of bream and
the odd tench from the venue in recent weeks, but struggled the
weekend before the match to catch just two small bream.
However, in the match James managed to land 14 bream for 54lb 3oz,
which included bream of 7lb 4oz, 7lb 3oz and two others over 6lb for
a comfortable win. Neil Bygrave secured second place with 17lb
4oz made up of 5 bream and a tench. Lez Reed’s 3 bream and a
tench for 12lb 6oz proved just enough for third place with match
organiser Nigel Gilbert finishing fourth on 12lb 3oz comprising of 2
bream and 4lb of roach. The points total for the series has
James Turvey on 15 points with Lez Reed second on 11 points.
The final match in the series will be the catfish match fished at
The Airman from 6pm on Friday 31st August through to 9am on Sunday
2nd September. The match is now fully booked and this year pegs
will be chosen by a normal draw rather than a ‘walk off’. The Airman
must be vacated by 3pm on Friday 31st August and will reopen at 11am
on Sunday 2nd September.
Several members have enjoyed some good bags of quality roach from
Willington Lake in recent weeks on float tactics. The key to
catching the larger stamp of roach appears to be leaving your
maggots at home and having faith in fishing with more selective
baits such as sweetcorn and pellets. After landing 16 tench in
a single session on his previous trip, Alan Lawrence returned to
Willington Lake but could only manage to tempt two tench, before
eels moved into his swim. Therefore, Alan decided his next
session would be at The Airman where he enjoyed a great mornings
fishing catching 9 tench to 6lb 11oz and 3 carp to 13lb 10oz before
the heavens opened up and gave him a good soaking.
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Week ending 5th August 2018 Despite the high
temperatures Shefford & District AA members have found
several species of fish willing to feed on both stillwater and river
venues. Twin brothers Dean and Barry Jarvis have been enjoying
some good sessions at Willington Lake recently with both
catching a variety of species. Dean has landed a common carp of
21lb 12oz, whilst Barry has landed mirrors of 19lb 4oz and 17lb 6oz.
In addition to the carp, their tactics have produced lots of bream
and tench to 7lb 4oz and 4 quality roach up to 1lb 4oz. Steve
Burbidge has also enjoyed some success at the venue on recent day
sessions landing 4 double figure mirror carp to 16lb.
Interestingly on one session Steve was plagued by eels all day.
Steve only landed 2 eels, but he could tell from the bites and
whittled down boilies that eels had homed in on his baits.
Willington Lake will host the third leg of the 24h series
starting at 9am on Saturday 11th August and finishing at
9am on Sunday 12th August. The match is open to all
members, entry is free with an optional pools and you do not require
a night permit to take part. Please note Willington Lake
must be vacated by midnight on Friday 10th August and
will reopen for fishing at 11am on Sunday 12th August.
Further details about the 24h series can be obtained from Nigel
Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
The catfish match will be held at The Airman
from 6pm on Friday 31st August through to 9am on Sunday 2nd
September and the match is now fully booked. The Airman must
be vacated by 3pm on Friday 31st August and will reopen
at 11am on Sunday 2nd September.
Regulars report that Broom Lake has
continued to fish well for carp up to low 20s with one member
landing six carp in a single day session. Please note that
Broom Lake is also used as an irrigation lake and the farmer is
permitted to lower the water level by up to 24 inches. Pumping
activities have currently lowered the water level by approximately
18 inches so extra care is needed in some swims, especially when
landing and returning fish.
The club’s sections of the Ouse near St Neots
have been fishing well recently with the river seemingly stacked
full of silver fish. Gary Taylor visited Little Paxton
and put together a decent bag of quality roach using pole tactics.
Initially Gary had trouble getting through the bleak and commented
he has never seen so many bleak in the river. Later in the day
Gary swapped to feeder tactics and found numerous bream up to 6lb to
round off an excellent day’s sport. Members have also been
enjoying good mixed bags of fish on the Little Barford
stretch where many of the swims in the trees offer some welcome
shade. Depending on the tactics employed catches have mainly
been made up of roach, dace, chub, bream, perch and eels.
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Week ending 29th July 2018 Shefford & District AA members have
reported some excellent catches from club waters during the last
week. Alan Lawrence enjoyed an excellent days tench fishing at
Willington Lake landing a total of 16 tench between 4lb and 5lb
11oz. Willington Lake will host the third leg of the 24h
series starting at 9am on Saturday 11th August and finishing at 9am
on Sunday 12th August. The match is open to all members, entry
is free with an optional pools and you do not require a night permit
to take part. Please note Willington Lake must be vacated by
midnight on Friday 10th August and will reopen for fishing at 11am
on Sunday 12th August. Further details about the 24h series
(including the catfish match) can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert
(07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
Matt Naylor enjoyed a productive overnight session at The Airman in
pursuit of the catfish. Matt landed four catfish in total
topped by catfish of 46lb 4oz and 32lb. A reminder the catfish
match will be held at The Airman from 6pm on Friday 31st August
through to 9am on Sunday 2nd September. The match is limited to 18
anglers and there are already 12 entrants, so please contact Nigel
Gilbert as soon as possible if you want to reserve your place.
Despite the hot weather Broom Lake has been producing some good bags
of carp. Sandie Cornell landed a new PB common carp of 23lb
8oz, part of a 4 carp haul caught in 30 degrees heat on boilies.
Mick Rosendale also reported a 22lb common from the same venue.
There have been few reports from the rivers but the Ivel has
continued to produce a few decent fish with Jay O’Neil managing to
track down a couple of river carp.

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Week ending 15th July 2018 With temperatures forecast to remain in
the mid to high 20s through the rest of July Shefford & District AA
members are reminded to immediately report any signs of fish in
distress at any of the club’s waters and to follow recent advice
about handling any fish caught with great care. Last weekend
The Airman hosted the second round of the 24h series where James
Turvey again won the match. James winning 55lb 9oz catch was
made up of 11 bream and a few roach. Lez Reed secured second
spot with 42lb 1oz comprising of 3 carp to 13lb 3oz and two bream.
Third place went to Neil Bygrave who weighed in 22lb 9oz of roach
caught on sweetcorn.
Chris Thripp landed a specimen 14lb 3oz bream from
Willington Lake
caught on Thripster bream mix.
James Turvey and Kevin Wilkins have been enjoying some good catches
at Willington Lake with both enjoying bags over 50lb during a recent
trip. James catch was comprised of bream and tench to 6lb 3oz,
whilst Kevin catch also included other species. Willington
Lake has also produced several carp to over 20lb in recent weeks.
We encourage members to send in photos of any mirror carp caught so
that we can continue to monitor growth rates, even if members do not
want the photos published. For example a recently caught 16lb
mirror was shown to be a VS Fisheries carp stocked at 9lb in October
2016, i.e. 7lb weight increase in 20 months.
There have been few reports from the rivers where the lack of rain
has resulted in lower than usual water levels and flows.
Michael Webb reported a 3lb 1oz perch from Broom River, which is his
eighth perch over 3lb from this venue. Stephen Creasey also
reported a 3lb 8ox chub from the IPA section just downstream of
Jordans Mill.
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Week ending 8th July 2018 With higher than average temperatures
forecast to continue and little or no rain likely, there is a danger
of fisheries suffering from low oxygen levels and Shefford &
District AA members should immediately report any signs of fish in
distress at any of the club’s waters. Any fish caught should
be returned to the water as quickly as possible to minimise any
stress and the use of keep nets is discouraged, and they should
never be used in shallow margins during hot weather. For those
targeting larger fish, do not place any fish on a dry unhooking mat
that has been left baking in the sun. Unhooking mats, weigh slings,
etc must be wetted before coming into contact with any fish using
freshly drawn water, rather than water from a bucket that has been
left for several hours to warm up. Fish are also more
susceptible to diseases when water temperatures are elevated so make
sure you “Check, Clean & Dry” your angling equipment after each
fishing session. Thoroughly drying for at least 48h
(preferably exposed to sunlight) is the best way of disinfecting
equipment.
We are aware of double figure barbel and 20lb+ carp being caught
recently from club waters by some of our publicity shy members.
This weekend will see the second match in the 24h series fished at
The Airman starting at 9am on Saturday 14th July and finishing at
9am on Sunday 15th July. The match is open to all members,
entry is free with an optional pools and you do not require a night
permit to take part. Please note The Airman must be vacated by
midnight on Friday 13th July and will reopen for fishing at 11am on
Sunday 15th July. Further details about the 24h series (including
the catfish match) can be obtained from Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778
evenings & weekends only).
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Week ending 24th June 2018 Bream have featured in several Shefford
& District AA members’ catches during the latest hot spell whilst
the carp have continued to go through spawning on several venues.
Sean Roberts returned to the Ouse at Little Paxton to find the river
had changed a lot since he last fished the venue some 20 years ago.
However, Sean has been delighted with his early season catches with
numerous chub up to 4lb and plenty of bream. Sean has landed
three bream over 8lb with his largest bream weighing 10lb 4oz, which
is a notable fish as double figure river bream are rarely reported.
James Turvey’s first night session of the season at The Airman
produced a 44lb 2oz catfish, 8 bream all between 5lb 2oz and 5lb
14oz and 2 double figure pike. One bailiff reported that a
catfish was recently caught trailing a second rig constructed of
leadcore. Leadcore is banned on all SDAA waters. Members
must sign their membership books to confirm they have read the
contents and will abide by all the club’s rules before they fish any
SDAA water.
The carp at Broom Lake have often been seen cruising in the
surface layers during the heat of the day but a few have fallen to
angler’s baits, including a mirror carp to Jack Lancaster.
Anglers targeting the silver fish have found the roach, perch and
rudd to be reliable feeders on float tactics. Last weekend saw
the first round of the 24h series fished at Broom Lake with six
members taking part. First place went to James Turvey who
landed six bream for a total weight of 26lb 4oz. Lez Reed was
second with 19lb 2oz comprised of two bream, a 9lb 9oz carp plus a
few silvers. Jack Lancaster was third with 17lb that included
a 13lb carp and 4lb bream.
Members heading to Willington Lake should note Barford Road in
Blunham is closed from 25th June to 6th July. Therefore,
access is via Willington village from the south or Great Barford
from the north. With increased traffic passing the lake,
members should take extra care when exiting the lake.
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Week ending 17th June 2018 Firstly a reminder to Shefford &
District AA members that the 2017/18 membership book has now expired
and membership needs to be renewed in order to continue fishing the
club’s waters. Andrew Garner enjoyed success at Willington Lake
during a short 4h session by getting the carp feeding on the
surface. Andrew managed to land three mid double carp (two
commons and a mirror) but also missed several ‘takes’.
With storm Hector passing through, Tony Hickmott decided to fish the
relatively sheltered west bank at Broom Lake but found the fish fed
well in the strong winds. Tony landed a 4lb bream, 4lb 8oz
tench and a 20lb common carp, all caught using a small method
feeder; the bream and tench on maggot, and the carp on hair rigged
dendrobaena worm. Tony also fished double maggot under a homemade
‘wind cheater’ float that produced endless small perch, roach and a
couple of small rudd. This weekend will see the first match in
the 24h series fished at Broom Lake starting at 9am on Saturday 23rd
June and finishing at 9am on Sunday 24th June. The match is
open to all members, entry is free with an optional pools and you do
not require a night permit to take part. Please note Broom
Lake must be vacated by midnight on Friday 22nd June and will reopen
for fishing at 11am on Sunday 24th June. Further details about the
24h series (including the catfish match) can be obtained from Nigel
Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only).
Several members took the opportunity to return to fishing the rivers
from 16th June. Michael Webb was hoping for a specimen perch
on his first trip to the Ivel but instead hooked a hard fighting
common carp of 11lb 10oz, which he did well to land on relatively
light tackle.
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Week ending 10th June 2018 The Airman has once again proved to be a
popular venue for Shefford & District AA members and whilst noted
for carp and catfish during the summer months, many members have
been content to target the roach, tench and bream. Jason
O’Neil managed to tempt a 23lb mirror carp off the surface with
Danny Wright once again managing to tempt an 18lb mirror carp on a
humble piece of bread dunked in DNA betastim. Carp on some
venues have already been observed spawning, so any carp that are
caught should be handled with great care and returned to the water
as quickly as possible.
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Week ending 3rd June 2018 There was a good turnout of Shefford &
District AA volunteers for the latest work party at The Airman,
namely Sam Fairey, Colin Smith, Colin Stitt , Carl Vernon, Kevin
Beswick, Graham Smith, James Turvey , Chris Jarvis and Tony
Hickmott. Swims were strimmed with the reeds at the front of each
swim removed to aid landing fish. Trees and hedges encroaching on
the footpath were trimmed back to aid access and the entrance
strimmed to aid visibility when exiting. A recently fallen
tree was removed from between pegs 18 and 19. Hopefully no
further major maintenance work will be required at this venue over
the summer. Danny Wright was again successful during a short
session at The Airman netting a 14lb 8oz common carp on bread soaked
in DNA Betastim, but losing another carp.
Elsewhere Gary Taylor and his son have been busy strimming paths and
swims at both Little Paxton and Little Barford in preparation for
the river season that restarts on Saturday 16th June. Some
small fallen trees blocking the path at Little Barford have been
removed. However, members should be aware that a fallen willow
at Little Paxton is currently partially blocking the path in the
weir pool, which is being dealt with by the land owners.
Broom Lake was again a popular venue with members targeting both
carp and silver fish enjoying success. One venue regular has
encountered several lost carp rigs left hanging from bankside trees
close to the swims, presumably snagging the branches whilst casting.
It looks like the line has been cut close to the reel with long
lengths of line left dangling down, which creates a hazard to
wildlife.
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Week ending 27th May 2018 Shefford & District AA members who are
keen river anglers are already looking ahead to Saturday 16th June
when they can return to fishing river venues. The Ivel
Protection Association (of which SDAA is a member) is currently
reviewing the fish stocks, habitats and general environment of the
River Ivel on the stretches it controls the fishing on.
Therefore, we request that SDAA members let us know their
experiences on IPA waters and suggestions on what the IPA could do
to improve the fishing on the Ivel. Please email your comments
and suggestions to
members@shefforddaa.org.uk by Sunday 10th June. Please include
reference to the IPA waters you have fished (if any), whether you
caught and how the fishing compares with previous years. Your
feedback is important and will help to shape the IPA’s action plan
for the future.
Earlier in the year Shefford & District AA was successful in
securing a grant from the Angling Improvement Fund to make some
significant improvements to access on our Pavenham stretch of the
Ouse. During the close season volunteers have replaced two
dilapidated stiles with new kissing gates and refurbished a
footbridge that crosses a ditch, which now means members can walk
safely along the bank from the downstream boundary to the railway
bridge without having to climb over any structures.
A work party is planned for The Airman from 8am on Saturday 2nd June
and the lake will be closed to fishing whilst the work party is in
progress. All volunteers are welcome to attend, please wear
suitable footwear and clothing, and bring a pair of gloves.
Willington Lake is still proving a frustration for many anglers who
have been trying to target the tench. James Turvey finally
managed his first tench of the year weighing 5lb bream along with 7
bream to 7lb 9oz. Odd tench continued to fall to baits
intended for carp. Plenty of bream have also been caught at
Broom Lake in recent weeks and anglers float fishing for roach have
been picking up the better quality fish by fishing either with
selective baits such as sweetcorn or feeding heavily when fishing
with maggot.
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Week ending 20th May 2018 The warm weather has seen water
temperatures rise and some species of fish clearly getting ready to
spawn on Shefford & District AA stillwaters. Carp have been
very visible at The Airman with bream also cruising around in the
surface layers, whilst the larger roach have been elusive.
However, The Airman has still produced some good bags of tench to
7lb and bream to just over 8lb in the last week.
Although the carp have been very visible they have not necessarily
been easy to catch with Andrew Garner managing to tempt a mirror
carp on a 4 foot zig rig, followed by a common carp taken on a
surface bait just as light was fading. Danny Wright could not
get the carp taking off the surface, so squashed down a bit of bread
and soaked it in DNA Betastim liquid and 10 minutes later he landed
an 18.5lb mirror carp. A work party is planned for The Airman
from 8am on Saturday 2nd June and the lake will be closed to fishing
whilst the work party is in progress.
At Willington Lake bream continue to be far more responsive to most
anglers baits than the tench. Whilst bream to 7lb have been
reported, scaling down tackle and the size of bait can produce
endless bites from skimmer bream to 2lb from some areas of the
lake.
Alan Lawrence has enjoyed some good bags of tench from Shefford &
District AA water this spring, and last week had a cracking session
on an undisclosed water that resulted in 14 tench going from 4lb to
6lb 9oz and 4 bream averaging about 5lb to 6lb, all taken
using maggots and a block-end feeder.
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Week ending 13th May 2018 With the track around Broom Lake
now open to cars and small vans the venue has proved a popular
destination for Shefford & District AA members. Gary Taylor made a
successful return to Broom Lake, which he had not fished for over 20
years. Gary had a really good bag of roach on the pole and
whip which was over 20lb that contained a healthy number of really
good sized roach.
At Willington Lake anglers are currently finding the bream far more
responsive that the tench. However, anglers targeting the carp
have accounted for a few tench during the week as well as owning up
to a number of the smaller carp being landed.
Advanced warning that a work party is planned for The Airman from
8am on Saturday 2nd June. Full details will be available
nearer the date but the work will include a general tidy up of the
venue including cutting back the undergrowth and nettles that are
encroaching on the footpath and car park. The lake will be
closed to fishing whilst the work party is in progress.
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Week ending 6th May 2018 The Airman was once again the stand out
venue for Shefford & District AA members as the tench and catfish
came on the feed. Alan Lawrence managed an incredible catch of
no fewer than 16 tench to 7lb in a single session. Several
anglers caught catfish over 40lb during the week with a couple of
fish topping the 50lb mark.
Members will be pleased to learn that the track around Broom Lake
has been repaired and reopened thank to the hard work of the seven
volunteers who attended the recent work party, namely Dave Baker,
Phil Belfield, Andy Riley, Colin Smith, Tony Hickmott, Keith Parker
and Paul Dale. The Committee will be taking a 'zero tolerance'
approach to anyone misusing the track and we urge members to report
any vehicle (registration number) breaking the rules governing use
of the track.
Shefford & District AA membership books for the 2018/19 season are
available from local tackle shops and will be valid from the date of
purchase. Please note night permits and associate junior
membership are only available by postal applications to the
Registrar. Full details about 2018/19 membership, night
permits and application forms are available on the membership
section of the SDAA website. New members should take care to
read and sign their membership books before fishing any club water
as there have been some rule changes, e.g. prebaiting on stillwaters
is now banned following a vote at the AGM. The committee had
received numerous complaints about excessive baiting by some
anglers, including turning up to prebait swims (often with several
kilos of bait) whilst other members were actively fishing.
Prebaiting whilst others are fishing a water is unacceptable as it
potentially reduces the chances of those already fishing being able
to catch.
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Week ending 29th April 2018 The first reports of tench being
caught at all three major Shefford & District AA lakes are beginning
to filter through as they become more active with water temperatures
rising. At Willington Lake many of the tench have been
accidental captures by members targeting the carp. Roach once
again grabbed the headlines at The Airman where John Wiigg has
enjoyed some wonderful bags of redfins in recent weeks. John
has managed one specimen roach of 2lb 1oz and another at 1lb 13oz,
with well over a dozen fish between 1lb and 1lb 8oz along with
numerous smaller roach. Danny Wright has been fishing short
after work session at Broom Lake and was rewarded with a common carp
of 17lb 4oz, tempted on a DNA Milky Malt pop up over 20 DNA
Nuttas/Switch boilies.
Last week’s work party at Broom Lake that was cancelled due to the
ground being waterlogged will now take place from 9am on Saturday
5th May to repair the track around the lake. The lake will be closed
for fishing from 7am until the work party has been completed. The
work will involve levelling out the ruts and filling holes in the
Type 1 ‘tram lines’. Volunteers should bring along spades/shovels,
wheelbarrows, tampers, etc and wear suitable footwear and gloves. It
is hoped that there will be a good turnout of volunteers so that the
repairs can be completed and the track reopened. An
announcement will be made on Facebook if the work party has to be
cancelled at short notice.
Shefford & District AA membership books for the 2018/19 season are
currently being distributed to local tackle shops and will be valid
from the date of purchase. Please note night permits and
associate junior membership are only available by postal
applications to the Registrar. The membership fees for 2018/19
will be: Full £75; Concessionary £55; Partner £45; Junior £20 (no
change); Associate Junior free; First night permit (Airman/
Willington or Broom/Willington £53; Second night permit £26.50;
Junior night permit and Non Fishing Night Guest permit £26.50.
We are keeping the existing A10 key, £5 if required. Full
details about 2018/19 membership, night permits and application
forms are available on the membership section of the SDAA website.
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Week ending 22nd April 2018 Shefford & District AA members have
been hoping the catfish at The Airman would come on the feed with
the water temperatures rising. However, it was Les Reed who
enjoyed a ‘session of a lifetime’ in pursuit of the large roach.
Les decided to adopt a different approach to normal roach tactics
and only caught ten fish, but this included a 2lb 7oz specimen roach
and another 8 roach between 1lb 1oz and 1lb 10oz, plus a bonus 6lb
13oz bream.
Julian Peacock reported catching a distinctive 22lb 10oz ghost carp
from a ‘Shefford water’ on a boilie, adding the fish fought hard by
making several runs from the near bank to an island. Danny
Wright managed four carp in a single session at Broom Lake between
12lb-16lb 10oz. The first mirror fell to bread dipped in DNA
betastim liquid on the surface, whilst the others (one mirror and
two commons) were caught on the bottom using a white milky Malt DNA
pop up over DNA nuttas boilies fished to the islands.
Two new kissing gates were installed by club volunteers at Pavenham
last weekend with the project partly funded by the Angling
Improvement Fund. A work party will take place at Broom Lake
from 9am on Saturday 28th April to repair the track around the lake.
The lake will be closed for fishing from 7am until the work party
has been completed. The work will involve levelling out the ruts and
filling holes in the Type 1 ‘tram lines’. Volunteers should bring
along spades/shovels, wheelbarrows, tampers, etc and wear suitable
footwear and gloves. It is hoped that there will be a good turnout
of volunteers so that the repairs can be completed and the track
reopened.
Shefford & District AA membership books for the 2018/19 season are
currently being printed and should be available from local tackle
shops from early May and will be valid from date of purchase.
Please note night permits and associate junior membership are only
available by postal applications to the Registrar. The
membership fees for 2018/19 will be: Full £75; Concessionary £55;
Partner £45; Junior £20 (no change); Associate Junior free; First
night permit (Airman/ Willington or Broom/Willington £53; Second
night permit £26.50; Junior night permit and Non Fishing Night Guest
permit £26.50. We are keeping the existing A10 key, £5 if
required. Full details about 2018/19 membership, night permits
and application forms will soon be available on the membership
section of the SDAA website.
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Week ending 15th April 2018 The Airman has again proven very
popular with Shefford & District AA members as the improvements to
access in recent years ensured anglers could get to their pegs
despite the surrounding land being totally waterlogged. The
Airman has also benefited from an influx of water that has produced
a significant rise in the water level. Many anglers have
continued to target the roach with at least one member landing a
fish over 2lb during the last week. Members are reminded to
fish from marked pegs only and should not attempt to fish from (or
access) any area of bank between these pegs (e.g. the bank between
pegs 1 and 24, the bank between pegs 12 and 13 or any of the reed
beds). The company carrying out pest control has asked us to
remind members not to leave any excess bait or litter that
encourages the rodents to forage and the black plastic bait stations
must not be moved or tampered with in any way.
The rainfall in recent weeks has also had a beneficial effect at
Stanford Pit where water levels have risen considerably in recent
weeks, but it is doubtful many fish survived the low water levels
experienced towards the end of last summer. A work party is
being held from 9am on Saturday 21st April at Pavenham to install
two new kissing gates and all volunteers are welcome to attend.
As many members as possible should make an effort to attend a work
party that will take place at Broom Lake from 9am on Saturday 28th
April to repair the track around the lake. The lake will be closed
for fishing from 7am until the work party has been completed. The
work will involve levelling out the ruts and filling holes in the
Type 1 ‘tram lines’. Volunteers should bring along spades/shovels,
wheelbarrows, tampers, etc and wear suitable footwear and gloves. If
insufficient volunteers attend the work party and the repairs are
not completed the track will remain closed.
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Week ending 8th April 2018 The rivers may be closed to angling
until 16th June, but Shefford & District AA members still need to
keep an eye on river levels. Both Willington Lake and Broom Lake
were subject to some minor flooding last week, with at least one
angler having to beat a hasty retreat during the hours of darkness
when they suddenly realised they were surrounded by rapidly rising
water. The Airman continues to attract plenty of
members and produce some good catches, although not always the
species the angler intended to catch. Alan Lawrence had a
strange days roach fishing using his typical roach setup consisting
of 4lb main line and 3lb hook length to a size 16 hook. Alan landed
4 carp from 10lb 9oz to 19lb 3oz, before finally catching a roach at
1lb 9oz. Alan joked that perhaps he would catch more roach on
carp tackle (NB Darren Seeney landed 5 roach over 2lb in a single
session on carp tackle and 10mm boilies in December 2015, plus a
28lb carp!). Andy Richwood was fishing with carp tackle when
he landed a 22lb pike that took a liking to his carp bait.
Now we are in April members need to be reminded that to safeguard
catfish, use of double hooks, treble hooks or uncoated wire traces
is banned at The Airman between 1st April - 31st October.
Members without night permits are limited to two rods on all venues
between 1st April - 31st October. Night permit holders can use
up to 3 rods in accordance with Rule 16.3. Members should also
check they have an up to date rod licence as the EA enforcement
officers do have access to our waters, and anyone without a valid
licence can expect to end up in court and face a hefty fine.
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Week ending 1st April 2018 The Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM was
held last week and members were kept informed of key developments
within the club as well as voting on rule changes for next season.
The club’s finances remain in good shape, but the committee have
decided to increase subscriptions for the 2018/19 season to provide
additional funds for future fishery maintenance projects.
Membership books for next season will be available from local tackle
dealers in early May and will be valid through to 15th June 2019.
Please check the club’s website towards the end of April for full
details about membership for next season. Following the formal
AGM, trophies were presented to the winners of the specimen and
match competitions. Sandie Cornell secured the Tookey Trophy
for the best overall specimen for her 3lb 5oz crucian carp.
James Turvey was the winner of the 24h match series trophy (as well
as bream and dace specimen trophies) and Tony Archer winner of the
pike series shield. Nigel Gilbert was awarded the Centenary
Cup for the many years he has actively served on the General
Committee, acting as Fisheries Officer and Match Secretary.
Nigel always put the needs of the Club first and has been a regular
work party attendee since joining SDAA.
Mick Baldwin has been out of action for 6 weeks following a knee
operation, but revealed he enjoyed a tremendous spell at The Airman
just prior to his operation. Mick used slider tactics, 4lb
main line, 2lb 12oz hook link and a size 14 hook and over 7 sessions
amassed a total of 186 fish. The vast majority of the fish
were roach to 1lb 10oz, but he also landed 7 carp between 14lb and
23lb 6oz, one perch and a fish he was convinced was a dace.
Following a sustained period of heavy rain, water levels have risen
slightly at Broom Lake and many areas of the track around the lake
are again waterlogged. Danny Wright reported a 17lb 2oz
common caught on a DNA Baits pineapple and banana pop-up cast to
showing fish.
Willington Lake was brim full as it was briefly connected to the
river over the weekend and with rain water still travelling down the
river from above Bedford there is a chance of flooding before the
end of the week.

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Week ending 18th March 2018 The last few days of the river season
provided Shefford & District AA members with some good catches from
the Ivel and its tributaries, whilst those targeting the Ouse
struggled with the river running high and coloured. Dave Baker
decided to rove along the IPA controlled Biggleswade Common and
managed to hook 6 chub using breadflake as bait, employing both
ledger tactics and trotting with a float with his trusty centrepin
reel. One chub managed to shed the hook and the five that Dave
landed weighed 2lb 12oz, 3lb 2oz, 3lb 12oz, 4lb 12oz and 5lb 8oz,
which shows there is a good spread of chub from different year
classes in the river. Elsewhere Julian Peacock tempted a new PB
13oz dace caught from a ‘local river’ at dusk. Julian’s successful
tactics were red maggot under a stick float again using a centrepin
reel. Kevin Williams decided to target the perch on Broom
River and was rewarded with a 3lb 9oz specimen caught on lobworm.
Stephen Creasey fished Broom Lake at the weekend, and despite
conditions being so cold that his reel and rod rings were icing up,
his efforts were rewarded by landing a 9lb 8oz pike.
Thankfully the river levels at Pavenham had fallen sufficiently by
last Friday to allow the first work party to go ahead. The
seven volunteers who attended managed to clear access to the
footbridge and remove the two dilapidated stiles downstream of the
railway bridge. The next work party is being held on Saturday
24th March from 9.30am and will focus on reboarding the footbridge
and (if water levels allow) opening up adjacent swims, so volunteers
should bring loppers, bow saws, etc. Further work party dates
have been provisionally set for Friday 30th March and Saturday 31st
March to install the kissing gates.
The Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM is being held on Wednesday 28th
March 2018 and the formal agenda for the AGM is now available on the
club’s website.
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Week ending 11th March 2018 Shefford & District AA members enjoyed
some good catches along the Broom River stretch of the Ivel despite
the influx of melted snow and then rain water. Mick Webb was
delighted to catch a brace of perch weighing 3lb 1oz and 3lb
exactly, but was upstaged on the same day by Mick Burr with a perch
of 3llb 6oz. Paul Gurton alternated lobworm gear and trotting
for roach in several swims, and as is often the case did not get his
first bite until late afternoon. The next two hours produced
at least 10 roach between 8oz and a pound, plus a few smaller roach
and a couple of nice dace. The larger roach fought brilliantly
in the flow using light tackle. Meanwhile one of Paul’s
fishing companions managed a perch over 2lb 8oz, whilst another
landed two smaller perch and a couple of pike to 8lb.
With the river season ending on 14th March, members will now have to
concentrate on the stillwaters until the river season resumes on
16th June. The club will be carrying out some access
improvements at Pavenham during March, which will include replacing
a couple of dilapidated stiles with kissing gates and reboarding a
footbridge that crosses a ditch. The first work party is being
held on Friday 16th March from 9.30am with the focus on preparing
the area around the footbridge and adjacent swims, so volunteers
should bring loppers, bow saws, etc. Further work party dates
will be advertised once confirmed. This work is being part
funded by a grant from the Angling Improvement Fund that is
administered by the Angling Trust.
The Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM is being held on Wednesday 28th
March 2018 and the formal agenda for the AGM will appear on the
club’s website.
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Week ending 4th March 2018 The ‘Beast from the East’ resulted in
most of Shefford & District AA’s stillwaters becoming totally
covered in ice and the freezing temperatures and snow also kept most
members off the rivers. The final leg of the pike series had
to be cancelled as Willington Lake was still covered in ice on
Sunday.
With only a few days of the river season left, Mick Burr has spent
several sessions on Broom River in pursuit of the large perch.
Several perch graced his landing net, topped by a 3lb 13oz specimen.
Mick’s tactics also produced a 3lb 8oz bream that have become an
increasingly rare sight on this stretch of river in recent years.
The last day of the river season is 14th March and all specimen fish
claims must be received by 16th March 2018.
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Week ending 25th Feb 2018 Prior to the arrival of the ‘Beast from
the East’, several Shefford & District AA members had been out on
the bank enjoying the dry and bright conditions. The Airman
was once again the most popular venue with most anglers either
targeting the carp or roach. Although carp had been feeding
through most of the winter they seemed more interested in finding
shallow areas in the margins that were warmed up by sun. Roach
were once again intermittent feeders with short bursts of feeding
activity sandwiched between long periods of inactivity. Kevin
Donovan also had his roach tackle tested by a carp of around 15lb
that was safely brought to the net.
There have been few reports from the river venues and members are
reminder that the river season comes to an end on 14th March.
Broom River has seen far fewer anglers than normal this season but
reports have been received of perch to well over 3lb and chub over
5lb in recent days.
Weather permitting, the final round of the pike series will be
fished at Willington Lake on Sunday 4th March with the lake closed
to anglers not taking part in the pike match (further details can be
obtained from Bryan Lancaster 07810 454819).
The committee would like to thank the members who attended the work
parties at Broom Lake last weekend. Work parties will
concentrate on Pavenham during March to improve access along the
river bank, with the work being part funded by the Angling
Improvement Fund and work party dates will be publicised once
confirmed.
A reminder that the Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM is being held on
Wednesday 28th March 2018 and all specimen fish claims must be
received by 16th March 2018.
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Week ending 18th Feb 2018 The penultimate round of the Shefford &
District AA pike series was held at Willington Lake last Saturday
under bright and mild conditions. First place was taken by
Tony Archer with pike of 9lb 9oz and 7lb 12oz for a total weight of
17lb 5oz. Second place was taken by Dennis Thompson with 3
pike up to 3lb 7oz for a total weight of 8lb 1oz and Bryan Lancaster
was third with a single pike of 3lb 1oz. With one match
remaining Tony Archer has an unassailable 11 series points and is in
pole position for the best fish in the series with his 9lb 9oz
specimen. The final round of the pike series will be fished at
Willington Lake on Sunday 4th March with the lake closed to anglers
not taking part in the pike match (further details can be obtained
from Bryan Lancaster 07810 454819).
Mick Webb is usually found on the club’s river sections but decided
to fish for the roach at The Airman. Mick set up a small
feeder and enjoyed a ‘fish a chuck’ with 46 roach in just 4 hours
for just under 20lb, and thanked Mick Baldwin for giving him some
top tips.
The next work parties are scheduled for Broom Lake with the lake
closed to fishing from 8am Saturday 24th February until 4pm Sunday
25th February. We will have the tree surgeon trimming overhanging
branches and those thought likely to cause problems in the future.
Volunteers are welcome to attend to help deal with the felled
branches and timber.
The Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM is being held on Wednesday 28th
March 2018 so all nominations for director, officer or committee
positions and requests for any business to be moved at the AGM must
be received by 28th February. All specimen fish claims must be
received by 16th March 2018. There are vacancies for both
committee and officer positions for any member wanting to take an
active role in managing the club, with committee meetings taking
place on the second Tuesday evening of each month.
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Week ending11th Feb 2018 Catch reports from Shefford & District AA
members have been rather thin on the ground with those who are
catching often reluctant to give away too many details. Alan
Lawrence fished a club stretch of the Great Ouse and was rewarded
with four good chub of 4lb 10oz, 5lb 3oz, 5lb 5oz and 5lb 9oz.
There are only four weeks left of the river season (last day 14th
March) and this is the time of year when many river species are at
their top weights.
The penultimate round of the pike series will be fished at
Willington Lake on Saturday 17th February with the lake closed to
anglers not taking part in the pike match (further details can be
obtained from Bryan Lancaster 07810 454819).
The next work parties scheduled at Broom Lake are on Saturday 24th
February & Sunday 25th February, when we will have the tree surgeon
trimming overhanging branches and those thought likely to cause
problems in the future. If enough volunteers attend we can
hopefully start to make repairs to the track around the lake with
the aim of reopening it in the spring when the waterlogged areas
have dried out.
The Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM is being held on Wednesday 28th
March 2018 so all nominations for director, officer or committee
positions and requests for any business to be moved at the AGM must
be received by 28th February. All cups and trophies must be
returned by 20th February 2018 and all specimen fish claims must be
received by 16th March 2018.
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Week ending 28th Jan 2018 Thanks go to those Shefford & District
AA volunteers who were busy over the weekend undertaking a variety
of maintenance work at Broom Lake. Aided by a tree surgeon,
several dangerous trees were made safe and the large (partially
submerged) branches that were growing horizontally across peg 2
almost to the island were successfully removed. Volunteers
collected a large amount of litter from around the lake and also
found several areas being used as a toilet. Please bag
everything up and take it home, otherwise the club risks losing the
fishing rights. The prize find was a broken wash hand basin,
presumably dumped out the back of a vehicle by a so called member,
behind peg 42. Volunteers once again went around the islands
in a boat recovering various items of lost tackle and line,
including a spomb that had been left trailing over 50 yards of heavy
braid in the water that had collected an array of other tackle and
probably led to hooked fish becoming snagged. The next work
parties scheduled at Broom Lake are on Saturday 24th February &
Sunday 25th February, when we will have the tree surgeon trimming
overhanging branches and those thought likely to cause problems in
the future. If enough volunteers attend we can hopefully start
to make repairs to the track around the lake with the aim of
reopening it in the spring. The lake is still producing carp
and venue regular Danny Wright tempted an 18lb 4oz common during one
of his regular short afternoon sessions.
The Airman has proved popular in recent weeks with the new car park
and solid footpath around the lake making access to swims far less
of an ordeal than other venues where the ground is waterlogged.
Good nets of roach have again featured in catches, and whilst most
anglers are happy with nets of roach to just over the pound mark
some anglers are trying to deliberately target the larger redfins
that exceed the 2lb. Whilst most anglers fish with feeder
tactics and red maggot on the hook, Alan Lawrence decide to try
float fishing with a 17ft rod, 2lb 8oz line and a size 16 hook using
punched bread as bait. Alan succeeded in tempting 14 roach to
1lb 12oz but also had his sport interrupted by two carp. In
Alan’s own words “the fight of the carp on this tackle can only be
described as squeaky bum time.” One member landed a double
figure common from one of the car park swims with a bait place
closed in the margins.
The penultimate round of the pike series will be fished at
Willington Lake on Saturday 17th February with the lake closed to
anglers not taking part in the pike match (further details can be
obtained from Bryan Lancaster 07810 454819). The Council is
carrying out some tree work within one of the fenced off areas to
make safe some willows that were in danger of falling onto the path
used by anglers accessing swims.
The Club Secretary has requested a reminder to members that all
specimen fish claims must be received by 16th March 2018. Also
all cups and trophies must be returned by 20th February 2018.
The SDAA Ltd AGM is being held on the 28th March so all nominations
for director, officer or committee positions and requests for any
business to be moved at the AGM must be received by 28th February.
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Week ending 21st Jan 2018 Most of Shefford & District AA’s river
venues have been swollen by recent rainfall with some venues
threatening to top the banks, but hopefully sport should improve as
water levels begin to recede. On the stillwaters roach and
pike have been the most reliable feeders during the recent spell of
colder weather. The Airman has continued to produce some good
nets of roach for those locating the feeding shoals. A common
theme is to have long periods of inactivity followed by the roach
suddenly switching on the feed with anglers catching fish in quick
succession, before bites dry up. The Airman also hosted the
latest pike match that proved to be an ordeal for those who attended
with the overnight frost followed by snow that slowly turned into
heavy rain. Bryan Lancaster ran out the clear winner with two
pike of 8lb 6oz and 5lb 15oz for a total of 14lb 5oz. Tony
Archer landed the only other pike caught that weighed 4lb 2oz.
This result leaves Tony Archer ahead in the overall pike series with
8 points, whilst Bryan Lancaster and Alfie Archer are tied for
second place with 5 points each.
The penultimate round of the pike series will be fished at
Willington Lake on Saturday 17th February with the lake closed to
anglers not taking part in the pike match (further details can be
obtained from Bryan Lancaster 07810 454819). A member recently
landed a 5lb pike at Willington Lake that was in poor condition as
it was trailing another set of trebles on a trace that had appeared
to also snag other lost items of tackle including various hooks,
leads and line. All the hooks and tackle were removed and the
pike returned safely to the water. From the photo provided
this looked like another example where inappropriate tackle had
probably been used and rigs had been poorly designed such that
leads, etc could not be discharged in the event of the main line
breaking.
A reminder that the track around Broom Lake is now closed to
vehicles. Work parties are scheduled at Broom Lake on Saturday
27th January & Sunday 28th January and on Saturday 24th February &
Sunday 25th February, when we will have a tree surgeon trimming
overhanging branches and those thought likely to cause problems in
the future. The lake will be closed during the work parties
and volunteers are encouraged to attend (start time around 9am) to
put cut wood into the chipper and helping to pull cut wood out of
the lake with the ropes provided.
The SDAA Ltd AGM is being held on the 28th March so all nominations
for director, officer or committee positions and requests for any
business to be moved at the AGM must be received by 28th February.
We have already received a positive response from several members
regarding volunteering at future work parties and/or acting as
‘Fishery Wardens’ for a specific venue. If other members are
interested in these (or other) volunteering opportunities within the
club can you please contact us ASAP, ideally by email to:
info@shefforddaa.org.uk
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Week ending 14th Jan 2018 Sport on Shefford & District AA
stillwaters has continued to produce some good catches.
However, the first issue to highlight is that a sheep at Willington
Lake was found by the farmer with fishing line wrapped around its
legs, which had broken through the skin and caused an infection that
required treatment with antibiotics. There is no excuse for
any angler leaving line (or any other form of litter) on any of our
waters. Willington Lake is still a productive venue for pike
anglers and the secret for success is often to locate where the
silver fish are shoaled up. Members have also enjoyed some
good catches of roach, with some pegs producing quality redfins
where all the fish are ‘netters’.
Andy Richwood is a regular visitor to Broom Lake and despite the odd
blank his day sessions have produced a string of good carp with
several commons over 20lb, topped by a fish of 25lb 1oz. James
Lamb and Dan Tadgell managed 7 carp between them during a recent 24h
session, which included some fin perfect commons and a stunning
looking mirror carp. James commented that they caught nothing
during the hours of darkness and the carp started to feed in areas
where the sun hit the water during the morning. The track
around Broom Lake is now closed to vehicles and it is anticipated
the track will remain closed until repairs have been undertaken in
the spring. Work parties are scheduled at Broom Lake on
Saturday 27th January & Sunday 28th January and on Saturday 24th
February & Sunday 25th February, when we will have a tree surgeon
trimming overhanging branches and those thought likely to cause
problems in the future. The lake will be closed during the
work parties and volunteers are encouraged to attend to put cut wood
into the chipper and helping to pull cut wood out of the lake with
the ropes provided.
The Airman has continued to produce some good nets of roach with
fish seemingly shoaled in several areas of the lake. The perch
fishing has also shown improvement with 2lb fish being caught
regularly and the odd perch occasionally topping 3lb. The next
match in the pike series will be held at The Airman on Sunday 21st
January with the lake closed to anglers not taking part in the pike
match (further details can be obtained from Bryan Lancaster 07810
454819).
There have been surprisingly few reports from our river venues.
Stephen Creasey landed a 5lb 5oz jack pike from downstream of
Stanford Lock, whilst further downstream on Broom River several
perch to over 2lb have been reported but the bigger specimens are
proving elusive.
In the build-up to the AGM on the 28th March the Committee is
reviewing how maintenance work is carried out on SDAA waters and who
does it. We are evaluating what we can do ourselves and what we need
to get contractors in to do for us. Like all clubs we do not usually
get as many volunteers as we would like at work parties, so we are
putting out a special request to all members. If you are interested
in volunteering at future work parties can you please let us know in
the near future, ideally by email to:
info@shefforddaa.org.uk
As part of our review of the maintenance of SDAA waters, the
Committee also want to recruit volunteers to act as 'Fishery
Wardens' for each of our waters. The role involves identifying and
reporting on issues arising on each water and putting forward
solutions to these issues for Committee consideration. One for Broom
Lake is already in place, so ideally we would like ones for The
Airman, Willington & Stanford Pit and at least one for our river
portfolio. It would also be ideal if the 'Fishery Wardens' were on
the Committee as well, but this is not essential. The Committee
meets 12 times per year on the 2nd Tuesday evening of each month in
Shefford. If you are interested in volunteering as a Fishery
Warden contact us ASAP, ideally by email to:
info@shefforddaa.org.uk
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Week ending 7th Jan 2018 With fish now more acclimatised to colder
water temperatures sport on Shefford & District AA stillwaters has
started to show some improvement. After a string of common
carp to 23lb from Broom Lake towards the end of last year, Danny
Wright’s last 3 carp have all been mirrors from the batches of AJS
Fisheries carp stocked a few years ago. His last two short
stints have produced mirrors of 9lb and 10lb. The smaller
mirror managed to find a snag close to the bank that Danny managed
to free the fish from. Pulling part of the snag out of the
lake, Danny found a mid double carp tethered to a lost rig and the
carp was safely freed, unhooked and returned to the lake.
The depth of The Airman means the water temperatures remain fairly
constant at this time of year and members are now reporting some
good nets of roach from some areas of the lake. Kevin Wilkins
managed to land a 18lb 2oz mirror carp on his latest trip. The
next match in the pike series will be held at The Airman on Sunday
21st January with the lake closed to anglers not taking part in the
pike match (further details can be obtained from Bryan Lancaster
07810 454819).
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Week ending 31st Dec 2017 With temperatures constantly fluctuating
over the holiday period none of Shefford & District AA waters has
shown any consistent form. The rivers were worse hit with snow
melt and then heavy rain seeing levels rapidly rise, with several
stretches of the Ouse being in flood. However, anglers
catching the rivers fining down should expect improved sport.
Michael Webb fished Broom River on Christmas Eve and was rewarded
with a solitary 5lb 4oz chub on homemade cheese paste, which was his
only bite of the day.
The Christmas pike pairs match held at Willington Lake on Saturday
30th December saw eight anglers fishing under what appeared to be
perfect conditions. However, the pike were not in an obliging
mood and Stuart Lancaster landed the only pike of the day with the
3lb 8oz jack ensuring Stuart and his brother Bryan secure the prizes
for both the winning pair and the biggest pike of the day. The
next match in the pike series will be held at The Airman on Sunday
21st January with the lake closed to anglers not taking part in the
pike match (further details can be obtained from Bryan Lancaster
07810 454819).
Members will find a new vehicle gate at the bottom of the track
leading to both the Alcove Syndicate (formerly known as Ivel Valley
Fisheries) and Broom Lake. This gate is fitted with a single
lock and members should ensure the gate is left locked after
entering or leaving. The lock is fitted with a special barrel that
works with both the SDAA A10 key and the Alcove Syndicate's key,
thus avoiding the need for two separate locks. All other locks
on SDAA waters will only accept the A10 key. With the ground
becoming increasingly waterlogged it is likely that the track around
Broom Lake will soon need to be closed to avoid further damage
caused by vehicles straying onto soft ground.
With the vegetation dying back the perennial problem of litter being
thrown into the undergrowth is once again evident. The worse
effected fishery is The Airman where litter and discarded bait help
attract vermin. A small minority of anglers show no respect
for the fisheries and one member fishing The Airman packed up in
disgust after discovering the swim he was fishing had recently been
used twice as a toilet by another thoughtless member.
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Week ending 17th Dec 2017 The melting snow saw most Shefford &
District AA members struggling on river venues with levels rising
rapidly and water temperatures just above freezing. Stillwater
anglers have also had to endure some waters being covered in ice
following several frosty nights with pike and roach being the most
reliable feeders. Fortunately milder conditions are forecast
over the festive period and this should see fish being more inclined
to feed.
A Christmas pike pairs match will be held at Willington Lake on
Saturday 30th December with the lake closed to anglers not taking
part in the pike match. Match entry fee will be £20 per pair with
all monies paid out as prizes on the day. Please note the
rules for this pairs match differ slightly from the rules in the
pike series, i.e. livebaiting will not be allowed and each
competitor is limited to fishing with two rods (further details can
be obtained from Bryan Lancaster 07810 454819).
With several new public and permissive footpaths currently being
created between Broom and Stanford, members will notice some changes
to access over the next few weeks. The first will be an
additional vehicle gate at the bottom of the track leading to both
the Alcove Syndicate (formerly known as Ivel Valley Fisheries) and
Broom Lake. This gate will be fitted with two locks and one
will be the SDAA lock that requires the ‘A10’ key. Members
should ensure this gate is left locked at all times and in such a
way that the Alcove Syndicate lock is not by-passed.
Contractors working on behalf of Tarmac plan to fit a vehicle gate
to the small parking area near Jordans Mill and a pedestrian gate on
the track leading up to Broom River from Broom Lake. These
will also be fitted with the club’s lock to deter unwanted visitors.
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Week ending 10th Dec 2017 Despite the excellent sport that can be
enjoyed on Shefford & District AA river venues, relatively few
members fish the rivers these days and with only 3 months left of
the river season left perhaps it is time to give the rivers a try.
Two recent captures should help convince members to head for the
rivers. Julian Peacock was absolutely delighted to set a new
personal best in the shape of a 2lb 5oz 12dr roach caught on a
‘local river’ using a single caster as bait. Alan Lawrence
loves fishing for chub and a recent session on the River Flit
produced three chub between 2lb and 4lb, but just on dusk Alan was
rewarded with a fine specimen chub of 6lb 4oz. With fish often
tightly shoaled at this time of year it is often best to adopt a
mobile approach until the fish have been located.
The arrival of the snow led to the cancellation of the latest round
of the pike series. A one off Christmas pike match will be held at
Willington Lake on Saturday 30th December with the lake closed to
anglers not taking part in the pike match. Match entry fee will be
£20 per pair with all monies paid out as prizes on the day (further
details can be obtained from Bryan Lancaster 07810 454819).
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Week ending 3rd Dec 2017 Shefford & District AA is delighted to
announce that it has been awarded a grant from the Angling Trust
through the latest round of the Angling Improvement Fund to help
improve access across field boundaries and to swims at Pavenham.
Tasks will include replacing dilapidated stiles with kissing gates,
reboarding a footbridge across a ditch and tree work to reopen some
popular swims. The club will be providing additional funding
and the volunteers who will undertake the work during a series of
work parties in the New Year. A condition of the award is that
work must be completed by the end of March. Any volunteers
wanting to help should contact Richard Bell (info@shefforddaa.org.uk)
as the work party dates could be impacted by the weather and/or
state of the river.
Danny Wright has continued to enjoy success in his short two hour
sessions at Broom Lake squeezed in after work. Danny has
mainly been catching common carp to over 20lb, but a recent trip
included a 10lb beautiful ‘fully scaled’ mirror carp that was
identified as one of the 75 C3 AJS ‘scaley’ carp stocked a few years
ago. Elsewhere, Michael Webb probably thought he had latched
into a monster perch on Broom River, but when the fish came to the
net it turned out to be a hard fighting 4lb carp. Michael Webb
also visited the river Flit and managed three plump chub of 3lb
12oz, 3lb 14oz and 4lb 2oz.
Please note the fourth round of the pike series will be held at
Willington Lake on Sunday 10th December with the lake closed to
anglers not taking part in the pike match (further details can be
obtained from Bryan Lancaster 07810 454819).
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Week ending 26th Nov 2017 Nine anglers attended the third round of
the Shefford & District AA pike series fished at The Airman last
Saturday. Kevin Williams landed four pike between 6lb and 7lb
12oz for a winning total weight of 27lb. Tony Archer was
second with two pike for 8lb 7oz whilst junior Alfie Archer was
third with a single pike of 6lb. The fourth round of the pike
series will be held at Willington Lake on Sunday 10th December with
the lake closed to anglers not taking part in the pike match
(further details can be obtained from Bryan Lancaster 07810
454819).
Young 8 year old Jack Gaby enjoyed a mixed bag on a recent trip to
The Airman consisting of an 11lb mirror carp, a jack pike and some
roach. Several anglers have enjoyed some good bags of silver
fish comprising of roach, skimmer bream and perch, with several
perch well over the 2lb mark being reported.
A weekend work party is being planned for Broom Lake to manage some
of the trees around the lake. The date has been provisionally
set for 9th and 10th of December.
Shefford & District AA is again offer ‘half-year’ membership this
season that will be valid from 1st December 2017 through to 15th
June 2018 (prices: Full £40, Concessions £30, Partners £25, Juniors
£10). Full details can be found on the membership section of
the SDAA website. Half year books are now available from all
our usual outlets, except Shaden Fishing Tackle in Luton who will
have them available the week commencing 11th December
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Week ending 19th Nov 2017 As autumn draws to an end the more hardy
Shefford & District AA members are preparing for their winter
campaigns. The key to success during the colder months will be
being in the right place at the right time to locate the fish that
are willing to feed. Danny Wright has been squeezing in short
two hour trips to Broom Lake after work. Danny’s latest trip
produced common carp of 23lb and 12lb 8oz, whilst his previous
session resulted in a 21lb 8oz common.
The silver fish are now tightly shoaled on many venues and bumper
catches will still be possible throughout the winter if the feeding
shoals are located. Where there are shoals of silver fish the
predators will not be far away. To prove this point Kevin
Wilkins had a bumper catch of twelve pike from a small area of an
undisclosed SDAA venue on Sunday.
Shefford & District AA is again offer ‘half-year’ membership this
season that will be valid from 1st December 2017 through to 15th
June 2018 (prices: Full £40, Concessions £30, Partners £25, Juniors
£10). Full details can be found on the membership section of
the SDAA website.
Recently a SDAA bailiff summoned the police to deal with individuals
who were found on a club water without membership books. The
police escorted them off the fishery for fishing without permission,
which is a criminal offence under the Theft Act. The club is
working with local police forces under ‘Operation Traverse’ to deal
with illegal fishing and fish theft across both Bedfordshire and
Cambridgeshire.
Members should also be aware that Environment Agency enforcement
officers actively visit our waters and unfortunately several members
have been prosecuted by the EA in recent years and received hefty
fines. The most common offences have been fishing with 3 rods
with a rod licence that only covers the use of 2 rods and fishing
with multiple rods where the butts of the outer rods were more than
3m apart. Please make sure you are familiar with all the EA
bylaws and a link to these can be found on the SDAA website.
Finally, the Angling Trust have asked us to make it clear that the
club’s public liability insurance only covers SDAA members when they
are engaged in activities connected with the club. Therefore,
members are usually only covered whilst fishing or carrying out
volunteer work on SDAA and IPA waters. The policy wording also
states members are also only covered whilst conforming to the club’s
rules and by-laws. Individual membership of the Angling Trust
can provide public liability insurance for all your other angling
activities worldwide.
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Week ending 12th Nov 2017
The Shefford & District AA committee have agreed to again offer
‘half-year’ membership this season that will be valid from 1st
December 2017 through to 15th June 2018 (prices: Full £40,
Concessions £30, Partners £25, Juniors £10). ‘Half-year’
membership books will be available from our usual outlets towards
the end of November. The membership section of the SDAA
website will also be updated with details of the ‘half-year’
membership fees and a ‘half-year’ application form for those wanting
to submit a postal application. Please note that night fishing
at The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington Lake requires optional
Night Permits (there is no part year discount on these Night
Permits).
Following work done by IPA appointed contractors, the Sandy New Road
fisheries on the River Ivel are again accessible and fishable. The
paths have been strimmed and some 25 swim access points created.
Some of the swims still have marginal reeds and weed in front of
them, so an extending landing net handle would be useful.
Historically these stretches produced fine chub catches as well as
other species during the winter months. We encourage members
to go and try this welcome return to the fishable river portfolio
and look forward to receiving reports from those who do.
More locally the EA will be carrying out maintenance on Broom sluice
(Jordans Mill) for up to 8 weeks from late November and the club has
been assured these works will have no significant impact on the
water levels on Broom River.
Please note the highly invasive Floating Pennywort is present on
most sections of the Great Ouse downstream of Bedford. The
river at Willington is currently the worst affected SDAA water but
is also present at Little Barford and Little Paxton. Members
should adhere to the ‘Check, Clean and Dry’ procedures for all
tackle, nets, boots, etc to ensure this non-native species is not
spread to other rivers or stillwaters.
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Week ending 5th Nov 2017 The second leg of the Shefford & District
AA Ltd pike series attracted 9 members to Willington Lake and 14
pike were caught in total. Tony Archer landed five pike to 8lb
3oz for a total weight of 25lb 14oz to win the match. Alex
Mortimer was second with three pike for 14lb 3oz and junior member
Alfie Archer third with 3 pike for 10lb 9oz. Jack Lancaster
had two pike for 4lb 3oz and Hos Graham a single pike of 4lb 2oz.
The third match in the series will be held on Saturday 25th November
at The Airman and further details can be obtained from Bryan
Lancaster (07810 454819).
Michael Webb managed to net three good perch from an undisclosed
club venue with perch of 2lb 9oz, 2lb 14oz and a cracking 3lb 11oz
specimen.
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Week ending 22nd Oct 2017 Firstly, a reminder about Shefford &
District AA Ltd matches for the rest of the season. The
standard monthly matches usually held on the last Sunday of the
month have been cancelled for the rest of the season; therefore, the
match planned for 29th October at Willington Lake will not take
place and the whole venue is available for members. The pike
series will continue as advertised in the membership with the next
round being held on Sunday 5th November at Willington Lake and
further details can be obtained from Bryan Lancaster (07810 454819).
The path leading from the designated car park and along the
allotment bank at Little Paxton has been recently strimmed to allow
members easier access to the swims in the weir pool.
Similarly, the brambles have been cut back along the footpath
leading off Alington Road to the club’s new stretch at Little
Barford. Please note the Environment Agency have been informed
of the highly invasive non-native Floating Pennywort that is present
at both of these venues, in common with many parts of the Ouse in
this area. If any member spots Floating Pennywort at any other
club venue please inform a member of the committee immediately.
Broom Lake has continued to fish well for carp during the week with
Jay Plume managing to tempt a 21lb 8oz common carp on his latest
session. There are plans to install an additional gate at the
bottom of the access track leading to both Broom Lake and the
adjacent syndicate lake in order to deter members of the public
straying off the new public footpath. Existing keys will fit
the SDAA lock and the syndicate will have their own lock.
Several work parties are being planned at Broom Lake and advanced
notice will be given as they will involve closure of the lake.
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Week ending 15th Oct 2017 The first round of the Shefford &
District AA Ltd pike series was fished in unseasonably warm and
bright conditions at Broom Lake. Although none of the larger
pike put in an appearance, several anglers managed to catch.
First place was taken by junior member Alfie Archer with pike of 3lb
2oz and 5lb 5oz for a total weight of 8lb 7oz. Second
place was taken by Bryan Lancaster with pike of 3lb 10oz and 3lb 5oz
for a total weight of 6lb 15oz. Third place was taken by Tony
Archer with pike of 3lb 2oz and 3lb 3oz for a total weight of 6lb
5oz. The next round of the pike series will be held on Sunday
5th November at Willington Lake, a venue that has produced some
excellent pike catches in recent seasons (further details can be
obtained from Bryan Lancaster 07810 454819). Due to poor
attendances the standard monthly matches have been cancelled for the
rest of the season and therefore the match planned for 29th October
at Willington Lake will not now take place.
Darren Brown fished a recent 24h session at The Airman and was
rewarded with a single run just before he packed up that
resulted in a 25lb 4oz mirror carp, one of the older residents of
the lake. Broom Lake has seen plenty of carp being caught and
Jay Plume tempted an 18lb common carp from only a few rod lengths
out as darkness fell and the high winds caused by Hurricane Ophelia
began to abate. Earlier in the week David Hawkes was pleased
to catch a mid double common carp on his ‘sleeper rod’ whilst
concentrating on fishing for silver fish on his other rod.
Venue regular Andy Richwood landed several carp in a single session
choosing to fish on the windward bank, which is often the most
productive area on a windy day. Although the grapevine is full
of tales of good captures from both lake and river venues it would
appear there is a growing trend amongst members who are unwilling to
publicise their catches.
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Week ending 8th Oct 2017 It is worth reminding Shefford & District
AA Ltd members that there are only 5 months to go until the end of
the river season. The weed on most river venues has now
started to die back giving members the opportunity to explore the
many miles of the club’s flowing water fisheries. Mick Burr
has kicked off his annual campaign on Broom River with a 3lb 3oz
perch, a venue where Mick has an excellent record of perch over 4lb
in recent seasons. Other anglers have also reported some good
roach turning up in catches along this length.
The first pike match of the season will be held at Broom Lake on
Saturday 14th October with the lake closed to anglers not taking
part in the pike match (further details can be obtained from Bryan
Lancaster 07810 454819). Broom Lake has continued to
produce a number of carp to just over 20lb, with several anglers
enjoying multiple catches when fishing in open water, rather than
tight to the islands. Please note that the use of bait boats
is banned on all club waters.
Although The Airman is often associated with larger species, several
members have been enjoying good catches of roach on both float and
ledger tactics. With little or no colour in the water the
roach tend to be tightly shoaled. Catches regularly feature
redfins over the pound mark and there is always the chance of
catching one of the sought after 2lb specimens.
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Week ending 24th Sept 2017 With water temperatures dropping,
autumn is often the most productive time of the year for many
species on Shefford & District AA Ltd waters. Regular carp
anglers at Willington Lake are often reluctant to share information
about their captures, so we thank Richard Hodges for reporting his
28lb 4oz mirror caught on a recent trip to the venue. Pleasure
anglers are still enjoying good mixed nets of roach, rudd and bream
on both float and feeder tactics.
Sport on river venues should start to improve once some colour gets
back into the water and the weed starts to die off. Our new
venue at Little Barford has already produced some good mixed bags of
predominantly roach with dace, chub, perch, bream and tench also
featuring in catches. Large carp have been spotted over the
summer months, but there are no reports of any being caught.
Like all SDAA waters, this venue is strictly members only and day
tickets are not available.
Many traditionalists view 1st October as the start of the pike
fishing and SDAA offer plenty of suitable waters for pike anglers to
target. Despite their ferocious appearance, pike are very
fragile fish and need to be handled with great care and anyone
fishing for this species should do so with appropriate tackle.
The Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain website provides some
excellent advice about how to fish for pike. Please note that
at The Airman the use of double and treble hooks is banned until the
end of October as the catfish are still active. The club runs
a series of pike matches from October through to March. The
first pike match is being held at Broom Lake on 14th October and
further details can be obtained from Bryan Lancaster (07810 454819).
Members wanting to fish for zander will find this species in our
Great Ouse venues at Little Barford and Little Paxton.
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Week ending 3rd Sept 2017 One of our club members enjoyed a very
productive few hours fishing on the river Ouse behind Willington
Lake and managed a great mixed bag of half a dozen chub and perch
and a small Ruffe on the float. This club member reported his
success through the clubs facebook page. This is a good medium for
other club members who can appreciate where the fishing is best and
is encouraged for and by all. It doesn’t matter if you catch a
specimen or a narly old tiddler,report it in and let club members
enjoy your success.
The dive planned for the 16th September has been cancelled therefore
the Airman will not be closed on that day. The cancellation is
unavoidable, due to illness, however Bedford Sub-aqua are still keen
to re-visit the Airman and assist with the removal of the
obstructions when they are in a position to do so. The committee
will advise when re arranged.
Anyone visiting the Airman and seeing the dive notice still
displayed on the gate please feel free to remove it, thanks.
It was pleasing to see 15 anglers turn up to the cat match. what a
shame the fish didn’t show up in numbers ! However those that
caught,caught!!
1st Richard Mcglory. 1 cat of 44lb 6oz
2nd James "jammy" Turvey. 1 cat of 16lb 13oz.
Ron Holmes & Mark Elek Palmer had a kitten each but did not get them
witnessed so one of them missed out on 40 pounds for second in the
pool that meant Richard walked away with all the prizes.
Lez Reed managed a carp, 8 bream & a Tench. Most of the anglers, as
expected had tales of lost fish & dropped runs and what might have
happened if…
The committee and particularly, the Match Secretary Nigel gilbert
would like to congratulate James as his second place wins him the
night series. This was a hard fought series which did come down to
the last match where Nigel had to finish (at worst) 2 places behind
James to win but with so much pressure on the last match could only
manage to blank.
On other matters looking after the husbandry of the club several of
the committee members have been out in recent days clearing up
various venues. Thanks to Nigel for strimming some of the swims at
the Airman to reduce the encroachment of nettles. Many thanks to
club member, Martin Sharpe for being Banksman.
New speed limit signs have been placed around Broom Lake and the
deeper holes around the track have been filled.Memebers are
requested to keep to the speed limits and keep to the track to avoid
new holes appearing and the edges of the track becomes a mud bath.
Again a thanks to a new member Dave ? who handed a reel he had found
in peg 2. To one of our Bailiffs. It is a Shakespeare xk 3000.
if anyone reports it missing please get in touch with a member of
the committee
Unfortunately some club members continue to infringe the rules and
make life difficult for others and I would like to bring to
everyone’s attention two incidents:
A club member left a carrier bag full of rubbish in “the bay”. It
contained 3 large empty pellet bags, pizza boxes, coke bottles a
hemp tin & an empty packet of b&h dual. Can club members remember to
take their rubbish home with them and leave the swim clear for the
next occupants use. Every page in your membership book states
“Strictly no alcohol OR LITTER
I have reported on incidents such as this before however another
“death rig” was found as Andrew Riley was clearing lost tackle from
the islands at Broom Lake.The line was an excessive breaking strain
around 50lb I have mentioned the clubs coaching team and all members
have access to them and they will be delighted to show any club
member how to fix competent rigs which are fish friendly. Details of
who to contact are at the back of your membership books.
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Week ending 27th August 2017 Good conditions saw our anglers
returning to the waters in numbers and one, James Turvey was
rewarded with a specimen bream of9lb 1oz a weight some of our carp
anglers would be proud of which he took from Willington.
I have attached a picture of the 9lb 1oz Bream that he caught from
Willington on the 19th August 2017.
Willington also proved fruitful for last week's match with all
anglers catching mixed bags of silverfish. Pike were problematic
nipping off the smaller fish (one being feisty enough to nip at
Nigel's hand and draw blood! One up to the fish I think) Nigel if
you need any help with handling Pike the club has a full coaching
team who would be delighted to help)
Results were;
1st david baker 5lb 6oz mixed silvers on the waggler
2nd john salmon 5lb 2oz mixed silvers on the pole
3rd nigel gilbert 4oz on the waggler. (2 roach in the last 5
minutes)
A reminder for the next catfish match to be held at the Airman,
whilst you can turn up on the day the pegs are limited to 18 and 12
anglers have already subscribed. If you are looking to take part it
is recommended you apply through the club website or speak directly
to the match organiser, Nigel whose telephone number is on your club
books. You can text or e mail him.
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Week ending 20th August 2017 As the summer weather remains
temperate the fish are continuing to feed and from reports being
received of good catches across all our fisheries it seems dads are
heading back to the waters after a long summer break to get some
down time away from the kids!! Dads ;the club encourages our next
generation of members and with the fisheries being so productive at
the moment now is a great opportunity to get your kids back to
nature, bond with them and set them up with a fulfilling lifelong
hobby. The likely hood is they will catch a whacker and be hooked
for life like the rest of us. We would expect reports of large perch
being caught from the Broom river and from behind Jordan's mill as
the summer fades and there is nothing simpler than a bit of stalking
fish with a link ledger set up and a lobworm on a size ten. There
has been a 4pounder out of those rivers in the past, imagine a young
anglers face if they caught one like that!One angler reported a good
mixed bag from Willington earlier in the week on the float. He
fed positively to retain the fish in his swim. His catch
consisted mainly of roach up to a pound with a few bream and a
decent perch. He bumped off a couple of larger fish that were
probably tench. Asking for further information , the angler, who
doesn’t use a keepnet said he had over 30lb of fish. The
bream were in the 2lb bracket so relatively young fish. He
only joined this year but is a very experienced ex-match angler.
He has had a number of good catches, but believes he is still only
scratching the surface of what the lake is capable of producing.
One of our lakes gave up a lovely 20plus ghostie to one of our
members, Tony who does not wish to disclose where he caught such a
prize specimen, the capture was witnessed by one of the committee.
The exploratory dive which was scheduled for the 19th August was
postponed due to ill health of one of the divers but this does give
members the opportunity to report any snags at the Airman which may
need to be removed so that , when the dive is rearranged we can send
them down to see if such snags can be removed.
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Week ending 13th August 2017 Broom lake proved just how well it
has been fishing recently at last weekend’s 24 hour match which was
attended by 7 anglers in a keenly fought competition, all anglers
caught fish in a variety of species:
1st nigel gilbert 53lb 1 1/2 oz made up of 10 bream bream to 6lb
3oz & a few silvers.
2nd james turvey 44lb 4oz. 4 bream to 4lb 4oz, 2 carp at 15lb 2oz &
11lb 3oz & some silvers.
3rd alan harrison 35 lb 14oz. 2 carp at 17b 12oz & 12lb 4oz, a 3lb
14oz tench & some silvers
4th andy riley 29lb 4oz. 2 carp at 19lb 10oz & 9lb 10oz.
5th matt simcock 24lb 15oz. a 9lb 10oz carp & beautiful looking
ghostie of 15lb 5oz.
6th barry cook with a single 14lb common.
7th kevin wilkins 13lb 2oz. 4 bream with the biggest at 5lb 12oz.
The next match is scheduled for 27th August at Willington with the
draw commencing at 08.30 a.m, details in the club book and on the
websiteSheffordDAA.org.uk
Meanwhile one of the clubs respected specimen hunters, Alan Lawrence
found himself at Willington Lake where he had an exceptionally
productive session on block end feeder and two maggots on the hook.
Alan took a haul of 8 quality fish being. 4 tench from 5lb 11oz to a
classic looking tench of 8lb 5oz and 3 good roach about the 1lb
mark.
The club is looking to recruit bailiffs to join an already
established team, any club member wishing to learn more about the
role and responsibilities please contact Kevin Williams on 07921
517683 who will be delighted to talk you through.
After several months of negotiations, Tarmac have agreed to put a
gate on the car park by Jordans mill. Whilst no date has been
finalised this will be a welcome to anglers using the river by the
disused lock and behind the Jordans factory.
It has been highlighted that divers have been invited to the Airman
to conduct searches for snags which will be subsequently removed. If
any club member has knowledge of swims which may contain substantial
snags then the committee would appreciate you making us aware so
that the divers can be directed to them.
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Week ending 6th August 2017 The rivers are now beginning to show
their true summer colours with reports of barbel being regular
visitors to the bank at Little Paxton together with the attendant
chub. The smaller shoal fish such as roach and dace are featuring
regularly so for those hardy enough to be caught by the rivers in
between showers there is a good chance of a high quality mixed bag
with the opportunity of a specimen. Earlier in the year a plus 13lb
barbel was taken so the chances are high.
Those fishing broom Lake are saying that the bream are on the feed
and it is likely those taking the more relaxed approach can bag up
on skimmers to slabs, method or feeder being the chosen approach.
The recent 24 hour match at the Airman last weekend confirms that
fish from all species are feeding well
1st Nigel Gilbert 63 lb 10 oz consisting of 8 bream from 4lb 1oz-5lb
15oz. 2 cats 5lb 4oz & 14lb 6oz & 4lb 4 1/2 oz of silvers.
Nigel also lost 3 other cats through the course of the match.
2nd James Turvey 20lb 14 oz. a cat of 18lb 4oz & a tench of 2lb
10oz.
3rd David Baker 4lb 7oz of silvers
4th Kevin Wilkins 2lb 10oz silvers but would have had more if it
wasn’t for pike taking many of his roach.
Things are certainly looking promising for the 24 hour catfish match
scheduled for 1st September.
The next match is to be held at Broom Lake and this is another 24
hour event 12 and 13th August. Details are in your club books or on
the website.
A reminder to members is that work is to commence shortly at the
Airman to clear some of the snags which have been causing problems
with lost tackle and this will commence with a test dive which will
show exactly what can be removed. After discussions with Bedford
Sub-Aqua club the test dive has been scheduled for Saturday 19th
August. This will not involve closure of the lake however swims at
the far end of the lake will not be available during the dive. It is
hoped the test dive will identify snags in the lake and enable plans
to be made for their removal during the 16th September dive.
Finally whilst the waters are being so productive there is always
the opportunity to land a specimen and win one of the annual club
trophies. Several entries have been received and claims remain open
until the 18th of March 2018 when they must be in the hands of the
club secretary.
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Week ending 30th July 2017 There was a disappointing turnout for
the latest Shefford & District AA Ltd monthly match fished at The
Airman. Dave Baker won the match with a repectable 8lb 6oz net
of roach caught on waggler and maggot, second was Nigel Gilbert with
6lb of roach and a single skimmer bream using waggler and sweetcorn,
with John Harrison third with 9oz of roach. The next two
matches form part of the 24 h series contested at The Airman on
5th/6th August and Broom Lake on 12th/13th August. Night
permits are not required to fish these overnight matches and the
venue will be closed to anglers not fishing the 24h matches from
midnight on the evening prior to the match, please contact
Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only) for further
details.
SDAA are pleased to welcome back Bedford Sub-Aqua Club to The Airman
to investigate the removal of snags from within the water. They will
be attending on Saturday 19th August to carry out test dives to
identify areas requiring attention. This will not require closure of
the lake but will restrict swim availability and cause some
disruption during the test dives, especially at the northern end of
the water. They will then return on Saturday 16th September to try
and remove some of the snags, during which time no angling will be
permitted. Further information will follow and notices will be
posted at the venue.
Contractors have started cropping the cricket bat willows behind
Broom Lake and this work could take several weeks. Please take
extra care when driving around the lake and respect all notices, as
the contractors will be using the track for access and removing the
timbers and some of the trees being cropped are close to the track
and the path leading up to the river.
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Week ending 23rd July 2017 There are plenty of catch reports
from Shefford & District AA Ltd waters this week from both river and
Stillwater venues. On the rivers Julian Peacock tackled the
river Flit after some recent rain and landed a new PB dace of 11oz
8dr, not the biggest fish reported this week but a very notable dace
and this species appears to be flourishing in several sections of
this tiny river. Come the back end of the river season the Flit
could produce a dace over a pound, which is a very rare sight on any
river. Alan Lawrence paid a visit to the Ouse at Pavenham were
he tempted 4 chub of 3lb 9oz, 4lb 11oz, 5lb 14oz
and a pristine looking specimen of 6lb 2oz, all taken using a one
swan shot link ledger with a paste bait wrapped around a 14mm cork
ball.
Prior to his river trip, Alan Lawrence had visited The Airman where
he had no fewer than 10 tench during a day session, the best going
8lb 1oz taken just on dark, plus two bream around 6lb each.
All Alan’s fish were caught using maggots as bait in
conjunction with a block end feeder. Jay Plume also reported a nice
tench on ‘the method’ feeder with a cut down boilie as bait.
Other anglers have enjoyed good nets of roach with an abundance of
redfins in the 4-6oz bracket, these fish often being caught
relatively close in on the pole. Carp and catfish are being
caught but the captors are reluctant to publicise their details.
A reminder that cropping of the cricket bat willows behind Broom
Lake was due to start on 24th July. Last Thursday a committee
member reported tench up to 4.5lb were being caught along the
farmer’s field side. One of the captors, Michael Ward,
commented he had been enjoying some good night sessions, including
one catch of 9 bream, 2 carp and a tench. Thomas Parker had
caught a 19lb common and an 8lb mirror and reported that,
apart from the previous couple of weeks, he been catching regularly
with his best fish a common carp over 25lb. Sandie Cornell had
only one bream to report on the day, but she had recently landed her
PB carp of 23lb 3oz, which was a common. She had also enjoyed
5 fish and 6 fish carp hauls recently during her regular day
sessions. Martin Reynolds was catching bream, perch and a
crucian over 3lb, whilst venue regular John Wigg was catching plenty
of roach up to 8oz. Jay Plume fished the pole with 6mm pellets
and included a 3lb 8oz tench. Ian Palmer landed 4 carp in two
hours on Friday night, between 10pm and midnight, comprising of
commons of 11lb, 17lb and 22lb, and a mirror of 12lb. Ian
reported that the smallest common was trailing another rig in its
mouth with poorly tied knots and the hook length attached to a
length of line in excess of 20lb breaking strain, also as the bait
was a fake pellet bait it would be a permanently fishing rig that
could be repeatedly picked up by other fish. Fortunately Ian
was able to remove the offending rig and the fish swam away
strongly. Unfortunately we have also had reports of several
vehicles speeding along the track around the lake. Not only is
this potentially dangerous to other anglers present it also causes
damage to the track, especially when the track is damp, which will
ultimately lead to the track being closed.
Anglers are still enjoying good catches of silver fish from
Willington Lake on a variety of tactics, although sport is often
interrupted when pike are attracted to the feeding activity.
Andy Garner managed to tempt pike using lures, but members should
remember that despite their fearsome reputation pike need to be
handled with great care, especially during the summer months, and
may need to be held in the water for several minutes before release
to ensure the pike has fully recovered.
A number of matches are coming up in the next few weeks and all
matches are free for members to enter with an optional pools, please
contact Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only)
for further details. The Airman will host the next monthly
match on Sunday 30th July with pegs 2-12 reserved for the match.
The 24 h series is then contested at The Airman on 5th/6th August
and Broom Lake on 12th/13th August, please note night permits are
not required to fish these overnight matches and the lake will be
closed to anglers not fishing the 24h matches
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Week ending 16th July 2017 Catch reports from SDAA waters are few
and far between this week, but The Airman produced a 49lb 12oz
catfish for Martin Sharpe whilst peter Gill tempted a 26lb 8oz carp
on a surface bait. Some members have again commented that
anglers appear to arrive at The Airman with the intent of using it
as a land fill site and proceed to fire out several kilos of bait
irrespective of whether the fish are feeding or not. The
committee would recommend that anglers feed in moderation and not
attempt to feed every fish in the lake. The Airman is only 4
acres in size and there is a finite limit to how much bait the fish
can feed on.
Despite a lack of reports on carp captures, Willington Lake
continues to produce some excellent nets of silver fish. Nigel
Gilbert targeted one of the swims along the track and took a
procession of roach to just over the pound mark using sweetcorn as
bait on float tactics. Most fish were in the 4-6oz rand and a
switch to method feeder resulted in a similar stamp of fish.
The club held a fishing tackle auction and sold several items which
had been collected by the club and held in a library raising £172
that has been donated back to Club Funds. SDAA has also
supported the Leiston Youth and Community Angling Society, a small
fishing club in Suffolk, by donating a range of tackle to support
their efforts to support juniors taking up angling. Leiston
Youth & Community Angling Society (LYCAS) are currently teaching 32
children between the ages of 6 and 14 how to fish, which is a really
worthwhile venture, especially as there has been a dramatic fall in
national junior rod licence sales in recent years.
With the continued hot and dry weather it has been decided, that for
the benefit of the fish in Stanford Pit, that fishing be suspended
with immediate effect until further notice. Water levels
continue to fall and any members walking past the pit who see fish
in distress are asked to contact any of the committee so that the
committee can decide upon next actions.
Whilst on the subject of fish welfare, several dead fish have been
reported across SDAA waters. Dead carp may be the result of
stress due to spawning whilst dead pike may simply be due to the
stress of being caught and hand handled during hot weather.
The SDAA committee recommend that all fish are returned to the water
as quickly as possible during the summer months. This
includes those targeting smaller species and anglers are asked to
consider whether they need to retain fish in keepnets. This is
entirely voluntary and if keepnets are used can members ensure they
are pegged out fully and not overfilled.
We have a team of bailiffs who regularly patrol our waters, their
main objective is to ensure that members enjoy the
facilities of the club and the rules are respected. Another part of
the role is to report back to the committee the health of our
fisheries and to do this they are charged with speaking to anglers
about catches made and obtain a general picture of how productive
our waters are. There is no compulsion on any club member to give
specific details of the swim occupied, the baits or tactics used but
the club would appreciate direct feedback from members either via
the bailiff team , directly through Facebook or to the club
publicity officer, so that members can keep updated with the quality
of the fish being caught across all our waters.
Specimen trophies including The Tookey Trophy, for best overall
capture are still up for grabs and several entries have been
received. The overall winner also receives free SDAA membership for
next season. Details of how to claim a specimen capture are in your
club book.
We have been given notice that tree work is scheduled at Broom Lake
during the period 24th July to 30th September as some of the cricket
bat willows will be felled. Whilst it is understood that there will
be some disruption to anglers it is not expected that the lake will
have to close. Please respect any notices posted at the fishery.
Also a reminder that only 2 rods can be used at Broom Lake by all
members until 1st October .
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Week ending 9th July 2017 Sparkling sunshine, sparkling waters and
great fish to the Bank.
Best of the bunch this week being to Colin Pirie who had a
25lb 10oz common visit him when he had an overnighter on Broom lake.
The beauty raised him from sleep at 1.30 in the morning by rudely
setting both his alarms and reels screaming. She was safely in the
net after a short sharp tussle.
Our rivers are now picking up the pace with good tench still
predominating in the Barford Area with fish being landed in the 5 to
7 lb stamp.
Some quality roach are being reported from the Flit behind Shefford
where it was good to see 3 roach around the 10 to 14oz mark being
taken on caster over hemp underneath the swing bridge then later
upon meeting the same angler again a large roach of just under a Lb
on the same tactics where the river bends.
For up to date pictures take a look on our Facebook site,
which continues to be developed and is a great place to see the
quality of the fish regularly caught from across our waters.
As a reminder Books are still for sale and a membership runs all the
way until 15/06/18 a full membership being £70.00. Optional night
permits are available to fish overnight on the Airman, Broom and
Willington Lakes.
On a social matter, the club were delighted to host a fund
raising event. On Saturday 8th July the club gave the Royal British
Legion use of Broom Lake for a fund raising event that raised £262
for the RBL. Some 25 people took part in the event with half
the attendees being angling novices who received tuition organised
by Head Coach David Baker, assisted by other members of the
committee. The warm and sunny conditions meant the carp were
unwilling to feed and spent the day slowly cruising in the surface
layers. However, simple float tactics using 4m whips and
maggot as bait saw all the novices steadily catch roach, rudd and
perch throughout the day. The photo shows Andy Fievez (Chairman,
Stotfold and Arlesey RBL Branch) thanking Richard Bell (SDAA Ltd)
for hosting the event.The committee would like to take this
opportunity to thank Paul Brogden for organising the RBL event and
Paul Watts for providing a constant stream of burgers throughout the
day..
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Week ending 2nd July 2017 Both Shefford & District AA stillwaters and
rivers have been producing some good fish in recent weeks.
Relatively few anglers fish the rivers during the summer months and
Peter Gill found he had Little Paxton to himself when he was
delighted to land a 13lb 5oz barbel. A little further
upstream a few members have now tried the new stretch of the Ouse
next to the power station at Little Barford with the most notable
fish reported so far being river tench to over 5lb, including a 6lb
tench landed by Paul Summers. The narrow sections of the River
Flit around Shefford continue to produce some good roach and dace
with the odd small barbel also showing up in catches. Members
should note that the EA have started their weed cutting campaign
along the Ivel and Broom River appears to have been one of the
first stretches to be cut.
The first match of the season saw a disappointing turn out of only
four anglers turn up at Willington Lake. Alan Andrews fished
pellet and method feeder to lead the field with 20lb 10oz of mainly
roach and skimmer bream and also a tench of 6lb 10oz, plus a carp
estimated at 10lb; however, carp over 2lb only count as 2lb in the
monthly match series. Nigel Gilbert was second with 6lb 10oz
of roach on waggler and sweetcorn, Malcolm Gibbs used similar
tactics for third with 3lb 10oz whilst Alan Harrison weighed in 1lb
14oz of roach, rudd and perch taken on maggot. The next match
is part of the 24h series being fished at Willington Lake on
15th/16th July. Night permits are not required to take part in
the 24h matches and further details can be obtained from Nigel
Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings & weekends only). Members
should note that Broom Lake will be closed to members from
08.00-18.00 on Saturday 8th July as the venue will be hosting a
charity event in support of the Royal British Legion.
Alan Lawrence had an excellent tench session on an undisclosed SDAA
water in recent weeks. Alan used flavoured bread paste float
fished in the margins over a sprinkling of ground bait to tempt a
total of nine tench to 7lb 7oz. Fortunately Alan’s tackle was
sufficiently robust to land a 28lb 5oz mirror carp that decided to
gate crashed the party.
Broom Lake is a popular venue thanks to being able to park behind
your peg at the moment. However, swim choice and time of day
are critical for those targeting the carp. Andy Richwood
recently landed carp of 23lb and 18lb within 30 minutes of setting
up but then the action stopped and remained biteless for the rest of
the day. Other anglers have been enjoying plenty of carp
action as the light fades and during the first few hours of darkness
with Andy Riley managing 6 carp during a recent overnight trip.
Bream and tench have been accounting for most activity on carp rods
during the day with the carp cruising in the upper layers during the
heat of the day.
Some of the smaller The Airman catfish have been feeding, but none
of the larger fish have been reported in recent weeks. Carp
fishing has been a little hit and miss recently and it is the bream
and tench that again have been the most reliable feeders.
Unfortunately a few dead fish have been found in recent weeks, which
is likely to be caused by the stress of spawning. However, it
is worth reminding members to handle all fish with great care and
return them to the water as quickly and safely as possible.
Carp anglers are still reluctant to talk about their endeavours at
Willington Lake, but those targeting tench and other smaller species
are enjoying success. Some areas of the lake are proving more
productive than others and those choosing the right areas are again
finding a bold approach to feeding and bait selection are reaping
the biggest rewards. Whilst maggots might produce bites all
day long in some swims it also tends to draw in the smaller fish,
whereas baits such as sweetcorn and pellet mean fewer bites but a
much better stamp of fish.
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Week ending 18th June 2017 Well the anticipated start of the
season sparkled into life with all our river venues reporting good
captures of barbel,chub on method and pellet and bream on cage
feeder and chopped worm together with the occasional specimen perch.
The waters were running clean and clear and with the bright sun and
high temperatures not the ideal fishing conditions.
Even the Flit behind Shefford showed its value with a haul of 3
pristine roach coming in at between 10Oz and a pound on trotted red
maggot with a bonus 3lb chub reaching the net in a short 2 hour
session of river roving.
Just when you think everyone has turned their back on the
stillwaters, the catch of the week is special.
it's a 3lb 5oz crucian from Broom Lake caught by Sandie Cornell on a
boilie.
PS - lateral line count of 32, anal ray count of 6 and classic
crucian dorsal. An oldish looking fish which was impressive in the
flesh!
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Week ending 11th June 2017 IPA Blunham
water
The IPA do not currently have an agreement
in place for the fishing rights on this water (IPA water 13,
p37 of the SDAA membership book 2017-18).
In light of this and with the river
fishing season due to start on Friday, June 16th, SDAA members MUST
NOT fish or access this water until further notice. We will
update these instructions as soon as the situation changes.
The Airman once again shows its nature as a premium fishery with
Edward Allen and his son netting a Moggie caught on a single
halibut pellet over a golf ball bag of mixed goodies in a PVA
Colin Pirie, in a two night session bagged himself carp to 26lb and
his first cat of 28lb.
There have been reports of cats up to 40lb during the week and a7
fish haul of bream in the 6 to 9lb range together with a tench all
on the slider method again.
The slider has been highly effective in the past few weeks, if you
fancy giving it a go and you are not sure how to set up an effective
rig why not speak to a member of our coaching team.
Meanwhile at Willington, hair rigged double corn provided good sport
for a new member targeting tench but ending up with 10 pristine
quality large roach.
The pike are certainly on the move with all venues reporting
interruptions due to their being attracted to the-feeding shoals.
The river season opens later this week and it will be very
interesting to see chub and barbel , monster perch and dace gracing
the banks once more. The club would appreciate reports and pictures
of the first captures from all our rivers but in particular Little
Barford.
Members and non members should be aware the club does not operate
any day tickets on any of its waters. Members must be in possession
of their club book and valid ea licence. Guests can accompany
members and tickets cost £10. If a guest subsequently becomes a
member of the club within the same season then the £10 is discounted
against the cost of membership.On another note great to see the
response from the members to the "great bait debate" thanks for your
input, vital for the good health of the club.
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Week ending 4th June 2017 Once again the Airman Pit, our flagship
venue shows itself to be a prolific water for quality fish.
In a 12 hour Sunday session, one of our members(not wishing to be
named) had a fantastic days sport. Fishing from peg 3, just over the
ledge alternating float and maggot feeder, using only red maggot
caught 6 quality tench ranging from 2lb 7oz to just over 5 and a
half pound.
Members are gearing up for the river season and anticipating good
fishing on all our stretches of water as large shoals of dace,
roach, chub and bream have been seen patrolling.
Our barbel anglers are gearing up ready to move onto the Ivel on the
lookout for a double.
Whilst we are all able to enjoy our sport at a time and date of our
choosing, others seek to take away our way of life and our hearts go
out to all those touched and affected by both the Manchester and
London atrocities. The committee sincerely hope none of our members
were caught up in either event.
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Week ending 28th May 2017 Not much fishing action to report on
this week more a message to keep vigilant:
No major captures to report this week although all waters were
fishing well for the major species, Carp, Tench and bream.
The club has been advised by our colleagues from one of the local
angling clubs, Ampthill of illegal activity concerning the removal
of 5 dead carp by 2 men who both had valid club books. A reminder
to all our members and anyone who has an interest in angling that
removal of fish is theft and any such activity should be reported to
a member of the committee immediately.
The rivers open soon and we are looking forward to reports of
catches from the clubs latest acquisition, a 350 yard stretch of the
River Ouse at Little Barford. Details can be found on the club
website
www.SheffordDAA.org.uk and new membership books which are on
sale now. Can our members note that the closed season does not end
until the 16th of June and you should not use the rivers until such
date. Unfortunately we have had reports of anglers (not club
members) fishing on the river Flit in Shefford during last week.
There has been EA activity on our waters recently so to use the
rivers before the opening day of the season could lead to fines and
bringing your club into disrepute.
Hopefully we will be back into the big fish reporting next week.
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Week ending 21st May 2017 Without doubt there is one story
dominating the headlines of this week’s captures. I have been
mentioning the clubs traditional tench waters, Willington and Broom
Lakes only to be astonished by a capture of an 11lb 9oz monster from
the Airman Pit by Peter Swallow. Peter was not lying in wait behind
three rods for any of the many specimen carp known to inhabit the
Airman, instead he chose to use a traditional method on a sliding
float. Having rung the angling press Peter was delighted to be told
that this fish is one of the largest ever caught by this method. The
club are delighted for Peter.
Anyone capturing a specimen fish, whether gudgeon or carp, may have
chance to win one of the clubs awards and to be eligible is
asked to have their book signed by a witness who must be a club
member and if possible provide a picture including details of where
caught and weight upon capture. All entries to Steve baker,
publicity officer please.
Also the committee would like to mention the honest fisherman who
found an item of angling tackle and had it returned to its owner.
Many thanks.
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Week ending 14th May 2017 There is still a month to go before the
16th June when anglers can return to fish the rivers. Shefford &
District AA Ltd are pleased to confirm that they have now secured
the fishing rights for a 400m stretch of the Ouse next to the power
station at Little Barford. Details of the venue can be found
in the new club books for the 2017/18 season. This stretch is
noted for many species including good numbers of carp and tench on
top of the more usual river species of bream, chub, pike, perch,
roach and dace. Access is via a footpath running from the end
of Alington Road and the stretch overlooks the golf course on the
opposite bank. Like all SDAA waters this will be for members
only and day tickets will not be available. Members should
also note that they should not try to access the stretch at Little
Paxton during the close season as keys do not currently open the
club lock at the entrance to the allotments. The Head Bailiff
is looking to expand the bailiff team next season and anyone
interested in becoming a bailiff can contact Kevin Williams on 07921
517683. Kevin is particularly looking to strengthen our
bailiff team in the St Neots area to help patrol these two waters.
The Airman catfish, carp, bream and tench have been feeding in
numbers although precise details of catches have been hard to track
down. Dennis Thompson managed a 14lb 4oz mirror and then
landed a 6lb 2oz bream on his carp gear. However, the bream
was trailing a rig comprising of 3 feet of leadcore that still had a
2oz lead attached. All members should note that leadcore has
been banned on all SDAA waters following a vote by members at an
AGM. The 2oz lead was still attached as the ‘tail rubber’ had been
jammed on so tightly it would not budge. Unfortunately this
was not a one off incident and James Turvey recovered another rig
from a catfish which comprised of 6 feet of leadcore and again the
2.5oz lead was still attached. The relevant rule states: “All
terminal rigs must be constructed so as to prevent leads and
excessive lengths of line remaining attached to fish in the event of
a line breakage. The use of leadcore is not permitted”.
Fortunately these fish survived towing around a potential ‘death
rig’, other fish have not been so fortunate in the past.
Carp continue to feature in catches at Broom Lake along with good
numbers of bream, with tench also finally putting in an appearance.
Several anglers have enjoyed multiple bags of carp and increasingly
more now top the 20lb mark, with Mervyn Saville managed to with a
hard fighting 20lb 3oz common and Jake Kitching landing a 20lb
common during an overnight session.
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Week ending 23rd April 2017 Club members faced difficult
conditions last week demanding a level of skill and tenacity.
Several concurrent cold nights with temperatures hovering just above
freezing being followed by bright sunny days do not make for easy
fishing. For those who ventured out onto any of the 40 acres of
stillwater under the clubs control the efforts were worthwhile with
good catches being reported across all waters.
Silver fish predominated, roach, rudd and even a bleak turning up at
Willington!
A weekend session at Broom lake for Dave Baker provided the
highlight of catches reported with 6 bream over 4lb and the largest
a hefty lump of 7lb. Dave went on to bank 6 carp including
commons of 11-4, 15-7, 17-6 & 19-7 and a pristine mirror of 22-8.
With little rain falling in the past month Stanford Pit water levels
have dropped around an inch this last week and it is recommended
that, to reduce stress on the fish they are not held in keep nets
for the present. There is still plenty of activity from the local
carp and they are concentrating on the northern (Green Man PH) side
of the pit in the relatively shallow water there. Shoals of small
rudd have been seen breaking the surface of the water.
Members are being asked to keep their eyes open eyes open for
Floating Pennywort as things warm up. It was spotted by
members on our stretches at Willington and Little Paxton last year
before dying back for the winter. No doubt it will reappear
this summer. The EA will try and deal with any lying in the
main channel, but it is likely the club will have to deal with any
infestation in a lake. As such it is important that any sightings
should be reported to any member of the committee. Photos and
precise locations are invaluable. Useful information has been
posted on the website so members can identify this very invasive
weed.
Finally, new membership books will be distributed to tackle shops
next week and now is a good time to introduce fellow anglers to our
waters. Remember day tickets are available to anglers accompanying
club members and the price of the ticket is discounted from the
subsequent purchase of a book.
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Week ending 16th April 2017 SDAA membership cards for the 2017/18
season will be available from early May and will be valid from date
of purchase through to 15th June 2018. All prices will be the
same as last season. Full details about membership, night
permits and application forms will appear on the membership section
of the SDAA website towards the end of April
Membership of the SDAA provides you with quality fishing with
exclusive access to several excellent lakes and premier stretches of
the rivers Great Ouse, Ivel and its tributaries in and around
Bedfordshire. SDAA membership also gains access to all Ivel
Protection Association (IPA) waters.
Whether you are a specimen hunter or pleasure angler, SDAA waters
can cater for virtually all your angling needs with all major
species available.
The club has an active match programme with around 30 events already
scheduled covering all aspects of fishing including specialist pike
matches.
Around the Fisheries
Broom Lake
The carp certainly came awake in style on Broom lake last week.
Anglers enjoying the sunny weather took advantage with Mick Burr,
12lb carp; Daniel Howett, carp of 20lbs and 15lbs as well as 3 bream
up to 6lbs; Mark Brigginshaw, carp of 13lbs; Andy Richwood, carp of
18lbs 3ozs.
Jack Lancaster who was on a day session carping had a brace of
commons of 17lb 8oz and a stunning looking 23lb 12oz fish.
The Airman
Anglers are reporting good bags of silver fish including roach ,
skimmers and rudd and perch. The pike are very active at the moment
and anglers targeting these fish are seeing good sport.
Stanford Pit
Recently re opened and producing numbers of tench with the
occasional bonus carp. This is an ideal fishery for beginners to
practice their skills before heading to the larger waters.
Willington Lake
Whilst there are no reports this week, The lake is well known for
producing carp to over 40Lbs. It boasts a large population of tench,
making multiple bags possible throughout the summer. Bream into
double figures feature regularly and there are significant numbers
of silver fish so a good mixed bag is only a rod length away.
The club would be delighted to hear about your success and you can
report your catches and upload pictures to our facebook page.
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Week ending 9th April 2017 The recent mild spell has seen water
temperatures rise across Shefford & District AA Ltd stillwaters and
members can expect to see many species spawning earlier than usual
this year. This was illustrated by the carp spawning at
Stanford Pit following the warm weekend weather. Water levels
have risen slightly at Stanford Pit during the spring and the
committee have decided to reopen the venue for fishing, but all fish
must be returned immediately to the water to avoid unnecessary
stress and the use of keepnets at this venue is banned. The
committee will continue to monitor the venue and may well have to
reintroduce a fishing ban if water levels start to drop later in the
year.
The Airman catfish have been quite active and the biggest specimen
caught last week was a 47lb 5oz catfish caught by Dave Hedges.
The carp have often been seen basking in small gaps in the emerging
reed beds as the water temperatures rise, but we urge anglers not to
try and catch carp from the reeds as it is almost impossible to land
fish from these areas without causing damage to the fish or leaving
them tethered. Members are also reminded that fishing is from
the marked swims only at both The Airman and Broom Lake.
The track at Broom Lake has been repaired and is now open to cars
and small vans. Large vans, heavy vehicles and any vehicle
over 2m tall must be left in the car park and not driven around the
lake. Please take care driving round and ensure you stay on
the Type 1 and not drive on the grass, which is the main reason for
causing the damage that leads to the track’s closure.
Two members were recently banned from the club for night fishing
without a night permit. Members are reminded to carry their
documents at all times whilst on club waters and they can expect to
be bailiffed at any time of the day or night. The Head Bailiff
is looking to expand the bailiff team next season and anyone
interested in becoming a bailiff can contact Kevin Williams on 07921
517683. Kevin is particularly looking to strengthen our
bailiff team in the St Neots area.
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Week ending 2nd April 2017 The Shefford & District AA Ltd AGM was
held last week and members were kept informed of key developments
within the club as well as voting to adopt two special resolutions
proposed by the committee. The club has invested in major
improvements at The Airman and the finances remain in good shape,
meaning there will be no increase in subscriptions for the 2017/18
season. Membership books for next season will be available
from local tackle dealers in early May and will be valid through to
15th June 2018. Please check the club’s website towards the
end of April for full details about membership for next season.
Following the formal AGM, trophies were presented by life member
Pete Allen to the winners of the specimen and match competitions.
John Dickman secured the Tookey Trophy for the best overall specimen
for his 60lb 13oz catfish. Malcolm Gibbs was the winner of the
monthly match series trophy and James Turvey winner of the pike
series shield. David Hawkes was awarded the Centenary Cup for
his wide ranging and major contributions to the management of the
Club since joining the Committee in 2008. David's influence
has extended well beyond his roles as Club Secretary and Membership
Secretary.
The Airman has been a popular venue for members in recent weeks, but
members are reminded to ensure the gate is left closed and locked
after entering or exiting the venue. A number of catfish have
been caught during the last week including a 35lb 2oz specimen
reported by Martin Sharpe, which is a sure sign that water
temperatures have been rising. Bream and tench have also
started to show in catches.
Members have also been enjoying more success at Broom Lake.
Mick Baldwin enjoyed a great catch of ten bream to 7lb during a day
session. On the same day Barry Cook landed carp of 23lb and
19lb, plus two bream of 7lb and 6lb whilst Andy Richwood managed a
15lb carp. Students from Shuttleworth college have repaired several
swims and will hopefully return in May/June to carry out further
maintenance work.
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Week ending 26th March 2017 Shefford & District AA river venues
are now subject to the close season and cannot be fished until 16th
June. A few days before the close season came into force James
Turvey visited the Ouse at Pavenham and adopted a roving style
fishing several swims during the day. James was rewarded with
two magnificent chub of 6lb and 7lb caught within an hour of each
other.
With water temperatures rising the catfish at The Airman have
started to become more active and at least one 40lber was caught
during the last week. Carp are also featuring in catches with
Peter Thurgood landing a 25lb 12oz mirror.
Carp have also started to feed at Broom Lake with several doubles
caught during the week, with several large bream also picking up
baits intended for the carp. Winter tree work at the venue is
now complete, but students from Shuttleworth college will be
visiting the lake on some Fridays to carry out swim repairs and
other maintenance work, and members must take heed of any notices
regarding swim closures and access restrictions during their visits.
The track around the lake will remain closed until the damaged areas
have dried out sufficiently so that they can be repaired.
Plenty of anglers have been visiting Willington Lake but catches
usually go unreported, other than the odd VS Fisheries stockie carp
from last year have been landed. Members visiting Willington
Lake should note that Barford Road is still closed through to 7th
April. Access to the fishery is still available from the Great
Barford end of the road. Although there are signs
indicating the road is closed at the Great Barford bridge traffic
lights, the actual road closure is well after the entrance to the
lake further towards Willington village.
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Week ending 19th March 2017 Michael Webb was one of several
Shefford & District AA members who headed for the river venues on
the 14th March, which was the last day of the river season with
rivers now closed to fishing until 16th June. Michael chose
the narrow river Flit (also known as the Ivel Navigation) and landed
chub of 3lb 12oz and 4lb 3oz, as well as a brown trout around the
5lb mark. Further upstream in Shefford, anglers have been
enjoying some good catches of roach and dace during the last few
weeks of the season, with some of the roach well over the pound
mark. Anyone found fishing the river venues during the close
season will face prosecution by the Environment Agency, as well as
disciplinary action from the club. Anglers aged 12 and over
will also need to renew their Environment Agency rod licences that
expire at the end of March. The junior rod licence will be
free from 1st April, but junior anglers are still required to obtain
one. A new 3 rod licence is also available from 1st April,
which will be 50% dearer than the standard 2 rod licence.
A work party is being held at Broom Lake on Saturday 25th March and
volunteers are welcome to attend, during the work party the track
and swims 1-19 will be closed. Students from Shuttleworth college
will be visiting the lake on Fridays for the next few weeks to carry
out swim repairs and other maintenance work, and members must take
heed of any notices regarding swim closures and access restrictions
during their visits.
The Shefford & District AA AGM is being held at 8pm on Wednesday
29th March 2017 at Shefford Town Memorial Association Hall, 10
Hitchin Road, Shefford SG17 5JA. The bar will be open from
7.30pm. Further details of the AGM are available on the home
page of the club’s website. Entry and voting will be by card
only so please remember to bring your membership book.
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Week ending 12th March 2017 With the close season on rivers in
force from 15th March through to 15th June, Shefford & District AA
members are now restricted to the club’s stillwater venues.
Milder conditions have seen a distinct increase in fish activity
with both pike and perch likely to go through spawning in the next
few weeks. Members have also reported bream already sporting
their spawning tubercles, which is a sure sign that water
temperatures have risen and that other species may well spawn
earlier than usual this season. Willington Lake continues to
fish well for silver fish and pike, with young 6 year old Aiden
Graham setting another PB with a pike of 13lb 4oz. Carp, tench
and bream can now be expected to feature in catches. Please
note that due to planned road closures until the end of March,
access to Willington Lake is limited to the Great Barford end of
Barford Road.
The Airman continues to fish well for roach with plenty of skimmer
bream also showing up in catches. Colin Smith managed a short
session using swimfeeder tactics and landed four roach and
three skimmers all over a pound, with his best roach weighing 1lb
5oz. With roach to just under 2lb and plenty of fish over the
pound mark some anglers have been putting together roach catches to
well over 20lb.
Tree work on the islands at Broom Lake has been completed.
The track around the lake has now been closed to prevent further
damage and will reopen when the ground has dried out and damaged
areas have been repaired. A work party is being held on
Saturday 25th March and volunteers are welcome to attend, during the
work party the track and swims 1-19 will be closed. Students from
Shuttleworth college will be visiting the lake on Fridays for the
next few weeks to carry out swim repairs and other maintenance work,
and members must take heed of any notices regarding swim closures
and access restrictions during their visits.
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Week ending 5th March 2017 The final round of the Shefford &
District AA pike series produced another good result at Willington
Lake with several members enjoying multiple pike captures. The
wet and windy conditions appeared to put some members off as only
four entered the match, but despite the conditions the pike were on
the feed. Pike match organiser Bryan Lancaster won the match
with five pike to 10lb 13oz for a total weight of 34lb 8oz.
Kevin Wilkins landed 8 pike to 4lb 7oz totalling 19lb for second
place, with Tony Archer’s 4 pike to 8lb 12oz totalling 17lb 1oz in
third. James Turvey had a single pike of 12lb 12oz, which was
the biggest caught on the day. The pike series has been a
resounding success this year with some excellent catches.
James Turvey was the overall series winner with 11 points with Kevin
Wilkins second on 6 points. James also landed the biggest pike
of the series with a fish of 13lb 12oz, which was part of his
amazing 24 pike haul during the February match.
Continuing on the pike theme, Richard Crockford landed a fine
specimen pike at The Airman just as the light was fading, which
tipped the scales round to 25lb 4oz. Young Dexter Allen was
reeling in a small roach when a decent pike grabbed hold and despite
only fishing with a size 20 hook Dexter was able to safely land the
pike. Carp have also been more active with Andy Furr catching
mirrors of 20lb 10oz and 19lb 2oz during his latest session.
Neil Bygrave and Nigel Gilbert had set off on Sunday morning with
the intention of fishing the river Ouse at Pavenham but found the
river high and coloured and after a biteless hour decided a move was
required. The river at Willington was also unfishable, so they
finally ended up at The Airman after lunch.
Adopting simple maggot feeder approach Neil had his first bite after
an hour that resulted in a 1lb 14oz roach. Three more roach
followed in successive casts, the first two over the 1lb mark with
the third was again similar to his first at just under 2lb. Then all
went quiet for a couple of hours before they started to feed again
as dusk approached and Neil landed a further two 1lb+ roach, along
with a skimmer bream and a couple of smaller roach. Nigel also
managed a couple of 1lb+ roach later in the session along with some
smaller roach.
There will be a number of closures at Broom Lake in the next few
weeks whilst tree surgeons are working. The whole lake will be
closed on Friday 10th March & Saturday 11th March. A work
party is also being held on Saturday 25th March and volunteers are
welcome to attend, during the work party the track and swims 1-19
will be closed. Members will still be able to access the river
on these dates but must be mindful of any tree works. The track
around the lake has now been closed to prevent further damage and
will reopen when the ground has dried out and damaged areas have
been repaired.
A reminder that the river close season starts after 14th March and
the closing date for specimen fish claims is 16th March so that
trophies can be engraved ahead of the AGM on 29th March.
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Week ending 26th Feb 2017 The changeable weather offered some
extra challenges for Shefford & District AA members during the last
week, especially for those who chose to try and fish during the gale
force winds. The final round of the match series was fished under
blustery conditions at Willington Lake with a disappointing turnout
of only three anglers. Despite the wind causing problems with
presentation, John Salmon put together a very respectable 10lb 10oz
of roach, bleak and rudd on the pole to secure first place. Malcolm
Gibbs opted to fish the waggler and weighed in 4lb 14oz for second
place. Nigel Gilbert went all out for the bream on the feeder but
only managed a few roach. Malcolm Gibbs had already secured overall
victory in the match series that has been fished across the club's
stillwaters. The final round in the pike series will take place on
Sunday 5th March at Willington Lake (contact Bryan Lancaster
on 07810 454819 for further details).
David Hawkes returned to Broom River and managed to land another
good perch of 3lb 4oz perch on lobworm and also lost good pike that
snapped up his lobworm bait. David fished double red maggot and a
small feeder on his second rod and managed to catch 15 good sized
roach, several being 'netters'.
There will be a number of closures at Broom Lake in the next few
weeks whilst tree surgeons are working. The whole lake will be
closed on Friday 3rd March & Saturday 4th March and again on Friday
10th March & Saturday 11th March. A work party is also being held
on Saturday 25th March and volunteers are welcome to attend, during
the work party the track and swims 1-19 will be closed. Members
will still be able to access the river on these dates but must park
in the car park and be mindful of any tree works. Apologies for the
relatively short notice for these closures, but the dates were
dependent upon the tree surgeons availability and no more tree works
are planned until next winter.
The Shefford & District AA AGM is being held on Wednesday 29th March
2017 and members should keep an eye on the club's website for
further details of the AGM that will appear in the next two weeks.
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Week ending 19th Feb 2017 The latest round of
the Shefford & District AA pike series saw James Turvey enjoy
a truly magnificent catch at Willington Lake. James was one of
ten anglers taking part in the pike match and managed to land an
amazing 24 (yes twenty four!) pike ranging from 1lb 7oz to 13lb 2oz
for an incredible total weight of 100lb 8oz. James’s catch of
24 pike in a single session is one that few anglers will ever
achieve and with one match still remaining this latest win has given
him unassailable lead in the pike series. Second place was
taken by Kevin Wilkins with 3 fish up to 10lb 9oz for a total weight
of 18lb 12oz and third place taken by Dennis Thompson with 3 fish
for a total weight of 10lb 13oz. Nine anglers weighed in a
total of 38 pike for a total weight of 157lb 12oz. The final
round in the pike series will take place on Sunday 5th
March at Willington Lake (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810
454819 for further details). The final monthly match will be
held at Willington Lake on Sunday 26th February (contact
Nigel Gilbert 07931 215778 evenings & weekends only for further
details). The river close season starts after 14th March
and once again several members have been out on the rivers.
David Hawkes went in pursuit of the big perch from Broom River and
was delighted to land a 3lb 5oz perch on double red maggot and then
lost a large pike that also took a liking to red maggots.
Further upstream John Hollands landed a 4lb 5oz chub from the
Langford area.
The Shefford & District AA AGM is being held on Wednesday 29th
March 2017. If you want to take a more active role in running the
club there are vacancies for both committee and officer positions,
and nominations for these positions must be received by 28th
February. Members must also advise the Club Secretary in writing of
any business to be moved at the AGM before 28th February.
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Week ending 12th Feb 2017 Shefford & District AA are pleased to
report that work to upgrade the entrance and car park at The Airman
is now complete and the venue is again open to members.
Vehicles must not exceed 5mph whilst on site, must not be parked
anywhere on the tarmac entrance and must not be driven over the
kerbs (including the dropped kerbs behind pegs 1-4).
Despite flurries of snow at the weekend, anglers were catching
plenty of roach and a few small pike.
With the river venues facing the close season after 14th March,
several members are concentrating on our flowing waters. Mick
Burr has a knack of catching big perch from the Ivel but his latest
visit produced a pike of over 15lb that took a liking to a lobworm
intended for the perch. Fortunately the pike was hooked in the
lip in front of its sharp teeth and it tested Mick’s tackle to the
full before being safely landed. Michael Webb did manage a
decent perch from the Ivel and followed this up with a trout just
under 3lb on his next visit to one the tributaries.
The track around Broom Lake is starting to cut up due to vehicles
being driven at speed and/or veering off the solid MOT Type 1
surface. The state of the track is being closely monitored and
will be closed without notice if the damage gets any worse.
Anglers targeting the silver fish have been enjoying some good
catches, but with the fish tightly shoaled it pays to look for signs
of fish activity before choosing where to fish.
Members visiting Willington Lake should note that Barford Road is
closed for several weeks through to early April. Access to the
fishery will still be available during any road closures from the
Great Barford end of the road. Although there are likely to
be signs indicating the road is closed at the Great Barford bridge
traffic lights, the actual road closure is well after the entrance
to the lake further towards Willington village. Anglers
fishing the river behind the lake have been enjoying some good nets
of silver fish with roach making up the bulk of catches. The
penultimate round in the pike series takes place on Saturday 18th
February at Willington Lake (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810
454819 for further details). The final monthly match will be
held at Willington Lake on Sunday 26th February (contact Nigel
Gilbert 07931 215778 evenings & weekends only for further details).
The Shefford & District AA AGM is being held on Wednesday 29th March
2017. There are vacancies for both committee and officer
positions and nominations for these positions must be received by
28th February. Members must also advise the Club Secretary in
writing of any business to be moved at the AGM before 28th February.
The committee has banned the use of drones on all club waters.
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Week ending 29th Jan 2017 Even though ice was covering the lakes
for most of the week some hardy Shefford & District AA members
managed to track down a few fish, despite having to break through
the ice. John Wigg fished Broom Lake during the week and
having first cleared a gap in the ice John went on to catch roach up
to 8oz fishing the pole. The track around the lake is
still useable but members are asked to only drive around at walking
pace and carefully stick to the line of the track in order to avoid
further damage to the adjacent soft ground.
The latest monthly match was fished at The Airman with the five
contestants having to break the ice to fish. Malcolm Gibbs was the
runaway winner with 5lb 7oz of roach on the long whip from peg 2,
whilst John Wigg managed 12oz on the pole from peg 3 for second
place, with both anglers plagued by the attention of pike. No
one else weighed, but John Salmon did hook a decent fish on his only
bite of the day, but John’s tackle was totally under gunned for the
suspected tench, which he failed to land. With the best eight
results from the series counting, Malcolm Gibbs on 29 points cannot
be overhauled, with John Wigg, John Salmon and Nigel Gilbert all
tied for second with 23 points. The final monthly match will
be held at Willington Lake on Sunday 26th January (contact
Nigel Gilbert 07931 215778 evenings & weekends only for further
details). The penultimate round in the pike series takes place
on Saturday 18th February at Willington Lake (contact Bryan
Lancaster on 07810 454819 for further details).
Work is now underway to upgrading the entrance and car park at The
Airman. The Airman will remain closed until the work has
been completed and this is likely to take until Monday 13th February
at the earliest. Bad weather may cause some delays in the work
schedule, so we will provide updates on progress as they become
available.
Members visiting Willington Lake should note that Barford Road is
due to close for several weeks from the end of January through to
the end of March. We have been assured that access to the
fishery will still be available during any road closures from the
Great Barford end of the road. Although there are likely to
be signs indicating the road is closed at the Great Barford bridge
traffic lights, the actual road closure is well after the entrance
to the lake further towards Willington village.
Finally, an early reminder that the Shefford & District AA AGM will
be held on Wednesday 29th March 2017. There are vacancies for
both committee and officer positions for any member wanting to take
an active role in managing the club, with committee meetings taking
place on the second Tuesday evening of each month. Nomination
for these positions must be received by 28th February and seconded
by another member. Members must also advise the Club Secretary
in writing of any business to be moved at the AGM before 28th
February.
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Week ending 22nd Jan 2017 The winter weather certainly took hold
across Shefford & District AA waters during the last week.
Members arriving at the lakes found them frozen over after several
hard overnight frosts, which also led to the cancellation of the
latest pike match. The Ouse was also running high and coloured
for much of the week as rain water from the previous weekend slowly
passed through the system. The Ivel system remained fishable
through most of the week as levels quickly started to drop back to
normal, but relatively few members were tempted to wet a line
although some were rewarded with the odd chub that were still
willing to feed despite the cold conditions.
Provided the lakes thaw, the next monthly match is scheduled for The
Airman on Sunday 29th January (contact Nigel Gilbert 07931
215778 evenings & weekends only for further details). The
penultimate round in the pike series takes place on Saturday 18th
February at Willington Lake (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810
454819 for further details).
Shefford & District AA is about to start work on upgrading the
entrance and car park at The Airman. These works will require the
complete closure of The Airman to all members from 17.15 on Sunday
29th January and it is hoped that work will be completed by Monday
13th February. Obviously any bad weather may cause some delays in
the work schedule, so we will provide updates on progress as they
become available. There will be no access at all for members during
the works. Broom Lake, Willington Lake and all our river venues
will remain open during this time.
Another reminder that members visiting Willington Lake should note
that Barford Road will be closed for several weeks from January
through to the end of March to replace a bridge towards the
Willington end of the road. We have been assured that access
to the fishery will still be available during any road closures from
the Great Barford end of the road. Although there are likely
to be signs indicating the road is closed at the Great Barford
bridge traffic lights the actual closure is well after the entrance
to the lake.
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Week ending 15th Jan 2017 With the first real taste of winter only
a few hardy Shefford & District AA members have been visiting the
waters during the last week. Although no large carp have been
reported, a few double figure carp have been caught by determined
anglers. Pike and roach are currently the most reliable
feeders on the lakes, but with the water now gin clear the fish are
tightly shoaled and are often only inclined to feed in short bursts.
Richard Knight elected to fish a session after carp at The Airman
where the lake appeared lifeless and ice had started to form in the
margins before his alarm finally sounded. After a brief tussle
with the line cutting through the thin ice, Richard landed a 12lb
4oz mirror carp. At Broom Lake odd carp are still being caught
with late afternoon often being the best time to coincide with the
carp’s feeding spells. Colin Smith witnessed a beautifully
scaled mirror carp being caught in mid afternoon on a bottom bait.
Chris Donovan also had recent success catching a common carp on a
zig-rig in late afternoon, after several hours of fishing bottom
baits with no success.
The club would like to thank the 18 students from Shuttleworth
College who carried out an afternoon of work experience at The
Airman during the week cutting back vegetation and applying wood
chip to the swims. A work party is being held at The Airman
from 9am on Saturday 21st January. The work will involve finishing
tidying up the car park and applying wood chip to swims. All
volunteers are welcome to attend. The lake will be closed to
fishing whilst the work party is in progress and anyone already
fishing will be expected to reel in their rods to help with the work
party. Members should keep an eye out for notices regarding
closures of The Airman for further work parties and maintenance
work.
The next round in the pike series takes place on Sunday 22nd January
at The Airman (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810 454819 for
further details), and the next monthly match will also be fished at
The Airman on Sunday 29th January (contact Nigel Gilbert 07931
215778 evenings & weekends only for further details).
Members visiting Willington Lake or the adjacent stretch of river
should note that Barford Road will be closed for several weeks from
January through to the end of March to replace a bridge towards the
Willington end of the road. We have been assured that access
to the fishery will still be available during any road closures from
the Great Barford end of the road. Although there are likely
to be signs indicating the road is closed at the Great Barford
bridge traffic lights the actual closure is well after the entrance
to the lake.
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Week ending 8th Jan 2017 With the lakes now gin clear Shefford &
District AA members are finding the larger species are often lying
dormant and reluctant to feed, with the exception of the pike.
However, the rivers are still producing some good catches as the
fish still have to burn up energy by swimming. Alan Lawrence
has recently enjoyed some excellent chub catches from two separate
SDAA waters. A trip to the Ivel resulted in three chub of 4lb
9oz, 5lb 11oz and 6lb 13oz, with the largest fish taken just on
dusk. Alan followed this up with an even more productive
session on the Ouse with four chub of 5lb 5oz, 5lb 9oz, 6lb 1oz and
a pristine looking specimen of 7lb 3oz. All the fish were taken
using a light link ledger, and homemade paste as bait.
Elsewhere most river sections have been producing catches of roach
and dace on float tactics although it is best to adopt a mobile
approach to locate the fish that are often tightly shoaled at this
time of year.
The next round in the pike series takes place on Sunday 22nd January
at The Airman (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810 454819 for
further details), and the next monthly match will also be fished at
The Airman on Sunday 29th January (contact Nigel Gilbert 07931
215778 evenings & weekends only for further details). Members
should keep an eye out for notices regarding closures of The Airman
for work parties and maintenance work. Members planning a trip
to Willington should note that Barford Road will be closed for
several weeks from January through to the end of March apparently to
replace a bridge. We anticipate that access to the fishery
should still be available during any road closures via the Great
Barford end of the road.
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Week ending 1st Jan 2017 With a period of cold weather putting
many species off the feed, Shefford & District AA members have found
pike and chub the most reliable feeders. Mick Burr visited the
River Ivel after a heavy overnight frost along with a few other
hardy members. Whilst the others gave up after a few hours
without a bite, Mick decided to stick it out until darkness fell as
this is often the most productive time of the day. Mick’s
persistence was rewarded with a single bite that resulted in a
beautifully conditioned chub of 6lb 12oz, which was also a new PB.
Peter Biernis also tackled the River Ivel on a couple of occasions
and managed chub to just under 5lb.
Young Associate Junior member Aidan Graham returned to Willington
Lake hoping to catch more pike and was rewarded with a new PB of
10lb 12oz. Peter Biernis visited the same venue in pursuit of
pike and managed to land three pike and lose another two during a
hectic morning session.
The next round in the pike series takes place on Sunday 22nd January
at The Airman (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810 454819 for
further details), and the next monthly match will also be fished at
The Airman on Sunday 29th January (contact Nigel Gilbert 07931
215778 evenings & weekends only for further details). Members
should keep an eye out for notices regarding closures of The Airman
for maintenance work. There will be at least two work parties
during January to cut back vegetation and finish applying wood chip
to the swims.
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Week ending 18th Dec 2016 Silver fish and predators have been
giving the most consistent sport for Shefford & District AA members
on both stillwater and river venues. Local rivers have been
receiving more attention in recent weeks with Michael Webb making a
return visit to the Ivel Navigation where he recently caught a
decent brown trout and proved this was no fluke by landing another
two brown trout of 4lb and 6lb. Peter Biernis visited the
Broom River section of the Ivel and fished a small maggot feeder
with two red maggots on a size 16 hook to land 15-20 roach up to the
pound mark, with most in the 6-10oz bracket. Michael Webb also
found this section to be very productive landing 30-40 roach and
dace on his first visit, and returning later in the week with Barry
Goode they enjoyed another productive session with ‘umpteen’ roach
and dace, and a pair of 3lb perch.
The latest monthly match was held at Broom Lake with all anglers
catching small roach and even smaller perch. None of the
bigger roach put in an appearance, but the top two anglers had their
weights boosted by a few skimmer bream up to 6oz. Nigel
Gilbert weighed in 4lb 14oz taken on the pole for first place with
Alex Davies securing second spot with 4lb 6oz caught on the whip.
Malcolm Gibbs weighed 2lb 15oz for third, John Wigg 2lb 4oz for
fourth and John Salmon 1lb 10oz for fifth. With three matches
left, the competition to be overall series champion is extremely
tight with Malcolm Gibbs and Nigel Gilbert currently tied on 24
points, John Wigg on 23 points and John Salmon on 20 points.
The next monthly match will be fished at The Airman on Sunday 29th
January (contact Nigel Gilbert 07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only for further details).
Young Associate Junior member Aidan Graham managed to land a nice
pike who during a trip to Willington Lake. Associate Junior
membership of SDAA is FREE for any child under the age of 17, but
they must be supervised by a member aged 18 or over in the same swim
whilst fishing. From April 2017 junior EA rod licences will also be
FREE, so members should make full use of Associate Junior membership
to help encourage youngsters to take up angling. Nationally
junior EA rod licence sales have halved in the last seven years.
The next round in the pike series takes place on Sunday 22nd January
at The Airman (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810 454819 for
further details). There will be at least two work parties at
The Airman during January to cut back vegetation and finish applying
wood chip to the swims, and the dates will be advertised in the near
future.
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Weekending 11th Dec 2016 As we have now moved into winter, the
Shefford & District AA members who are enjoying most success are
those choosing to target the fish that are reliable feeders during
the colder months. The latest round of the pike series fished
at Willington Lake attracted eight anglers and each angler caught at
least two pike, with a total of 27 pike landed for a total weight of
129lb 4oz. First place was taken by James Turvey with 4 pike
to 8lb 5oz for a total weight of 23lb 3oz, just a few ounces ahead
of Bryan Lancaster with 4 pike to 8lb 12oz for 22lb 8oz. Third
place was taken by Kevin Wilkins with 4 pike to 8lb 8oz for 21lb
14oz. Tony Archer caught 3 pike for 19lb 6oz, Jack
Lancaster 4 pike for 11lb 7oz, Dave Baker 3 pike for 10lb 14oz,
Alfie Archer 2 pike for 10lb 5oz and Dennis Thompson 3 pike for 9lb
11oz. After 4 matches James Turvey leads the series with 2
wins and a second place for a total of 8 points. The next
round in the pike series takes place on Sunday 22nd January at
Willington Lake (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810 454819 for
further details). The last monthly match of 2016 will be held
on Sunday 18th December at Broom Lake (contact Nigel Gilbert
07931 215778 evenings & weekends only for further details).
SDAA waters on the Flit/Ivel Navigation received an early Christmas
present in the shape of 1,500 barbel from the Environment Agency’s
Calverton fish farm. Clifton Road Bridge, the Horsebridge and North
Bridge in Shefford all received 500 barbel that are two summers old.
The hope is these fish will spread out along the river and create a
breeding population in the longer term. Previously the EA has
concentrated stocking barbel at the Horsebridge. We urge members to
report any barbel caught between Jordans Mill and Shefford so that
we can help the EA monitor how far the barbel population has spread.
Tony Hickmott recently targeted the Ivel Navigation below Stanford
Lock and although no barbel showed up in his net, he found it was
fishing well for roach and small chub.
‘Half year’ Shefford & District AA books are available from our
usual outlets and remain valid through to 15th June 2017 (prices:
Full £40, Concessions £30, Partners £25, Juniors £10). Please
note that night fishing at The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington
Lake requires optional Night Permits (there is no part year discount
on these Night Permits).
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EA BARBEL STOCKING
SDAA waters on the Flit/Ivel Navigation received an early Christmas
present in the shape of 1,500 barbel from the Environment Agency’s
Calverton fish farm. Clifton Road Bridge, the Horsebridge and
North Bridge in Shefford all received 500 barbel that are two
summers old. The hope is these fish will spread out along the
river and create a breeding population in the longer term.
Previously the EA has concentrated stocking barbel at the
Horsebridge. We urge members to report any barbel caught
between Jordans Mill and Shefford so that we can help the EA monitor
how far the barbel population has spread.
During their visit the EA team also stocked 500 barbel at
Biggleswade, 2,000 chub in Langford and 500 barbel at Henlow along
the Ivel.
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Week ending 4th Dec 2016 The cold and frosty conditions saw sport
on Shefford & District AA stillwaters slow down with river venues
offering the best option to find feeding fish. Whilst the carp
fishing on Willington Lake appeared to have ground to a halt, it was
a very different situation for those who venture onto the short
section of the Ouse behind the lake. Brian Barrett decided to
fish a maggot feeder and started to get plenty of bites from the
off, but became increasingly frustrated as he just could not connect
with any fish despite the maggots on his hook being crushed.
As the bites were usually ‘on the drop’, Brian added a piece of rig
foam on the hooklength to keep the bait suspended off the bottom and
this resulted in a bite virtually every cast and eventually roach
between 4 and 8oz graced his net. Dave Baker visited the
stretch a few days later for a short pike session, casting out a
deadbait on one rod and setting up a small maggot feeder to catch a
live bait. Dave’s problem was he could not catch a fish small
enough to use as live bait as it was a ‘bite a chuck’ on the feeder
landing a succession of good sized roach, dace and small chub.
His deadbait did result in one pike of 8lb, which was attacked by an
even bigger pike on its way to the landing net. All the club’s
stretches of the Ouse have been fishing well this year for silver
fish and are well worth a visit.
The next round in the pike series takes place on Sunday 11th
December at Willington Lake (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810
454819 for further details) an the next monthly match will be held
on Sunday 18th December at Broom Lake (contact Nigel Gilbert
07931 215778 evenings & weekends only for further details).
Last week was a busy week for work parties and it was pleasing to
see a number of new volunteers in attendance. 3 tonnes of
Siltex was applied to The Airman with the aid of a boat, whilst wood
chippings were spread across several swims. A tree surgeon
dealt with a number of dangerous trees around Broom Lake over two
days, whilst volunteers dealt with the fallen timbers. The
track around the lake remains open for the time being, but members
should take extra care to keep to the stone tracks and not stray
onto the grass, which has started to rut in a few places.
‘Half year’ Shefford & District AA books are available from our
usual outlets and remain valid through to 15th June 2017 (prices:
Full £40, Concessions £30, Partners £25, Juniors £10). Please
note that night fishing at The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington
Lake requires optional Night Permits (there is no part year discount
on these Night Permits).
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Week ending 27th Nov 2016 Relatively few Shefford & District AA
members have been seen on the banks this week, but results from the
weekend matches suggest the stillwaters are still fishing well.
The Airman hosted the latest round of the pike series and attracted
10 participants, but as with the roach fishing during the week, the
13 pike caught during the match prove to be very localised.
James Turvey was the runaway winner with no fewer than 7 pike to
10lb 4oz and a total weight of 35lb 10oz. Tony Archer secured
second place with two pike to 9lb 1oz for a total weight of 14lb.
Kevin Wilkins was third with two pike for 11lb 11oz, whilst Dave
Baker’s two pike for 4lb 15oz took fourth place. The remaining
six participants all blanked. The next round in the pike
series takes place on Sunday 11th December at Willington Lake
(contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810 454819 for further
details).
The latest monthly match was fished at Willington Lake and despite
the cold conditions all the participants weighed in good nets of
roach and rudd. Malcolm Gibbs ran out the winner with 10lb 4oz
caught on both long whip and waggler tactics, followed by John
Salmon with 7lb 12oz on long pole. Alec Davies weighed
7lb 1oz on waggler for third, John Wigg 5lb 6oz on pole for fourth
and Nigel Gilbert 3lb 4oz on waggler for fifth. The next
monthly match will be held on Sunday 18th December at Broom Lake
(contact Nigel Gilbert 07931 215778 evenings & weekends only
for further details), where the silver fish are now more tightly
shoaled and good bags of roach are possible if fishing the right
areas of the lake.
A combination of heavy rain and frosts has helped clear the weed
from many river venues, making them easier to fish. Michael
Webb fished one of the smaller local river venues and was rewarded
with a chub around 4lb and a surprise brown trout over 3lb.
‘Half year’ Shefford & District AA books are available from our
usual outlets and remain valid through to 15th June 2017 (prices:
Full £40, Concessions £30, Partners £25, Juniors £10). Please
note that night fishing at The Airman, Broom Lake and Willington
Lake requires optional Night Permits (there is no part year discount
on these Night Permits).
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Week ending 20th Nov 2016 Once again few reports have been
received by Shefford & District AA members but a change to milder,
wetter and windier conditions should hopefully improve catches on
both rivers and stillwaters. Tony Hickmott decided to give The
Airman a try with silver fish being his intended quarry. Tony
was greeted by blue skies in the morning following a mild and wet
conditions the previous day, and from the off carp could be seen
cruising the top layers of the water, and willing to take loose fed
floating casters. Tony fished two maggots (left over from the
previous week’s fishing trip) mounted on a size 16 hook and fished
hard on the bottom. Tony soon saw the first of what turned out
to be four mirror carp come to the net, all weighing between 11lb
and 12lb, and all taken on double maggot, before a very heavy rain
shower started a return to cooler weather. Tony’s only roach
came immediately after changed to a larger size 10 hook, but then no
more carp. The Airman will be closed on Saturday 26th November
for the third round of the pike series (contact Bryan
Lancaster on 07810 454819 for further details). The lake is
closed again on Tuesday 29th November to apply 3 tonnes of Siltex to
the lake and all volunteers are welcome to attend to help move the
Siltex bags to the boat and finish applying wood chip to the swims.
The next monthly match will be held at Willington Lake on Sunday
27th November (contact Nigel Gilbert 07931 215778 evenings &
weekends only for further details). Broom Lake will be closed
on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd December whilst a tree surgeon
carries out tree work around the lake and volunteers will be
required to deal with the felled timbers.
The committee has been made aware of several recent incidents of
rule breaking, which members need to be aware of. Firstly,
several members have failed to produce their rod licences when
requested by bailiffs. It is a club rule that membership cards
and rod licences must be carried at all times whilst fishing, and
must be produced when requested by a bailiff. Members unable
to produce any of these documents to bailiffs will be asked to pack
up and leave, so make sure you have your rod licence with you.
With the undergrowth now dying back, it has revealed a clear problem
with litter at The Airman and most upsetting was the numerous empty
cans and bottles of alcohol found. The top of every page in
the club book carries the wording ‘strictly no alcohol or litter’
and anyone found breaking these rules can expect a ban from the
club.
Most worryingly we have discovered damage to banks on some of our
river venues where people have taken it upon themselves to dig out
sections of bank with a spade to make a flat area to fish from, as
well as damaging and breaking off numerous branches from trees.
This is totally unacceptable behaviour and may result in the club
losing the fishing rights on these venues. Again it is clearly
written in the rules that anyone found causing damage to fisheries
is likely to receive a ban.
‘Half-year’ membership of SDAA will be available again this season
and will be valid from 1st December 2016 through to 15th June 2017.
‘Half-year’ membership books will be available from our usual
outlets towards the end of November. The membership section of
the SDAA website will be updated in the next few days with details
of the ‘half-year’ membership fees and a ‘half-year’ application
form for those wanting to submit a postal application.
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Week ending 13th Nov 2016 A number of Shefford & District AA
members have been out on the bank but no specific catches have been
reported. Anglers fishing The Airman reported catching
catfish, carp and bream ahead of the work party on Sunday. The
club would like to thank Bedford Sub Aqua Club for helping to
identify and remove several snags. Due to the recent heavy rain the
visibility had reduced to only about 3 foot, which made the dive a
bit more difficult than anticipated. Snags identified by the
divers include big water tanks, tyres, broken down metal drums, wire
fencing, metal frames and metal crates that are all now coated in
zebra mussels. These items were probably dumped in the lake well
over 50 years ago when it was used as a tip, and well before it
became a fishery. Some of the smaller snags were removed by
hand, with those that were too bulky/heavy to be removed filmed so
they will be easy to locate in the future. One of the unmovable
square water tanks was home to a catfish which the divers managed to
film before the silt was stirred up. We are hoping to arrange
another day in the spring to try and remove a few more of these
snags. We would also like to thank several volunteers that turned
up and applied wood chip to the swims around the lake whilst the
lake was closed for the divers.
The Airman will be closed on Saturday 26th November for the third
round of the pike series (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810
454819 for further details) and the next monthly match will be held
at Willington Lake on Sunday 27th November (contact Nigel
Gilbert 07931 215778 evenings & weekends only for further details).
The Airman will be closed on Tuesday 29th November to apply 3 tonnes
of Siltex to the lake and all volunteers are welcome to attend to
help move the Siltex bags to the boat and finish applying wood chip
to the swims. Broom Lake will be closed on Friday 2nd and
Saturday 3rd December whilst a tree surgeon carries out tree work
around the lake and volunteers will be required to deal with the
felled timbers.
The SDAA committee have recently agreed to offer ‘half-year’
membership this season. ‘Half-year’ membership will be valid
from 1st December 2016 through to 15th June 2017. ‘Half-year’
membership books will be available from our usual outlets towards
the end of November. The membership section of the SDAA
website will be updated in mid-November with details of the
‘half-year’ membership fees and a ‘half-year’ application form for
those wanting to submit a postal application.
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Week ending 6th Nov 2016
The sudden change to cold weather has seen far fewer Shefford &
District AA members on the bank. The second round of the pike
series held at Willington Lake saw 9 anglers land a total of 19 pike
ranging from a few ounces to double figures, for a total weight in
excess of 77lb. Stuart Lancaster had managed to catch pike on
his two previous trips to the venue and Stuart ran out the winner of
the match with two pike to 13lb 9oz for a total of 18lb 2oz.
James Turvey was just a few ounces behind in second place with three
pike to 9lb 13oz and a total weight of 17lb 13oz. Dave Baker
landed four pike to 8lb 7oz and a total weight of 15lb 3oz to secure
third place with four other anglers weighing in pike.
River anglers have been enjoying some good catches of silver fish
from all the club’s stretches along the Ouse with quality roach
featuring in many catches.
The Airman will be closed on Sunday 13th November from 9am to allow
divers to investigate several underwater snags and a work party will
also be held at the same time to apply woodchip to the swims.
All volunteers are welcome to attend the work party and please bring
a wheelbarrow if you can. The Airman will be closed on Tuesday
29th November to apply 3 tonnes of Siltex to the lake and again
volunteers are welcome to attend. Finally, advanced warning
that Broom Lake will be closed on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd
December whilst a tree surgeon carries out tree work around the lake
and volunteers will be required to deal with the felled timbers.
The Airman will be closed on Saturday 26th November for the third
round of the pike series (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810
454819 for further details) and the next monthly match will be held
at Willington Lake on Sunday 27th November (contact Nigel
Gilbert 07931 215778 evenings & weekends only for further details).
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The islands at Broom Lake have once again been cleared of end
tackle and line. The volunteers removed 2kg of leads all
attached to rigs (some with bait on), 5 spombs, 3 method feeders, 3
surface floats, 1 spod and enough line to fill an 18 litre bucket.
The haul included 3 rigs that included leadcore, the use of which
has banned on all SDAA waters for several years. Most
worrying is the poor design of several rigs with one an outright
‘death rig’ where the components were clearly prevented from sliding
off the leader material (see photos). Fortunately this rig was
found up a tree and not attached to a dead carp.
To avoid leaving tackle up the trees anglers should learn how to use
the line clip on their reels to ensure their tackle stops short of
the islands on the cast and then place a marker on the line.
Unclip after casting to avoid problems when you get a run. It
is then just a case of clipping up to the same mark before
recasting. Make sure you always stand in the same spot when
recasting and cast to the same spot. It is best to practice
without a hooklink attached until you are confident that you can
avoid casting into the trees. A quick search of the internet
will produce plenty of articles and videos explaining how to do
this.

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Week endind 30th Oct 2016 The relatively mild and dry conditions
have seen plenty of Shefford & District AA members visiting the
stillwater venues with most species still on the feed. Dave Hedges
found the catfish in an obliging mood during a recent midweek
session at The Airman managing to land 5 catfish weighing 24lb 12oz,
27 lb, 34lb 4oz, 44lb and 46lb 9oz. Dave’s session also
produced 7 bream, 2 roach and a 21lb 4oz common carp. The
roach fishing has been a little inconsistent in recent weeks, but at
least everyone caught fish in the latest monthly match that was won
by John Salmon with 5lb 11oz of roach using pole tactics.
Malcolm Gibbs opted to fish the waggler and took second spot with
5lb 1oz 8dr of roach, whilst John Wigg secured third place with 4lb
2oz of roach on the pole. The Airman will be closed on Sunday
13th November from 9am to allow divers to investigate several
underwater snags and a work party will also be held to apply
woodchip to the swims. All volunteers are welcome to attend
the work party and please bring a wheelbarrow if you can.
Willington Lake will be closed on Sunday 6th November for the second
round of the pike series (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810
454819 for further details). Carp are still being caught, but
many anglers fishing the lake are targeting the silver fish and
enjoying some bumper catches. Small roach can be caught from
virtually every swim, but the key to big catches is a bold feeding
approach and the use of selective baits to pick out the bigger fish.
One midweek angler reported taking a string of good roach to just
over the pound mark using double sweetcorn as hookbait.
Another batch of top quality mirror carp from VS Fisheries has been
stocked into both The Airman (10 carp) and Willington Lake (15
carp). These C4 carp (4 summers old) averaged around the 9lb
mark and have a variety of scale patterns and body shapes. We
would appreciate members accurately weighing and sending photos of
any ‘stockies’ so that we can follow their progress in future years.
Some of the VS Fisheries C4 carp from previous stockings into
Willington Lake are now in excess of 30lb, and still growing.
The highly invasive non-native species Floating Pennywort is
now established in several areas of the Ouse downstream of Bedford.
The presence of Floating Pennywort has been confirmed on our
stretches of river at both Willington and Little Paxton, so anglers
must take great care to follow the Check, Clean, Dry biosecurity
procedures to prevent accidentally transferring this invasive
species to other water bodies. If you spot this species on any
club water (other than the Ouse) please report it to a member of the
committee ASAP.
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Week ending 23rd Oct 2016 Once again few reports of catches have
been received from Shefford & District AA members this week. The
carp fishing at Broom Lake has been quite consistent in recent weeks
with several anglers enjoying multiple catches with a number of 20s
being landed. Sandie Cornell enjoyed another successful
daytime session tempting four carp using boilies as bait, topped by
a common carp of 20lb 10oz. With water temperatures cooling
the silver fish are starting to shoal up more tightly so it is worth
moving swims if you are struggling for bites.
Reports on social media suggest both catfish and carp have been
feeding at The Airman during the last week. The venue will
host the next round of the monthly match series on Sunday 30th
October with pegs 2-12 (inclusive) reserved for the match (for
further information contact Nigel Gilbert on 07931 215778 -
evenings & weekends only). The Airman will be closed on Sunday
13th November from 9am to allow divers to investigate several
underwater snags and a work party will also be held to apply
woodchip to the swims. All volunteers are welcome to attend
the work party and please bring a wheelbarrow if you can.
Willington Lake will be closed on Sunday 6th November for the second
round of the pike series (contact Bryan Lancaster on 07810
454819 for further details).
Several fisheries already contain invasive non-native species of
plants (e.g. Himalayan Balsam) and animals (e.g. signal crayfish)
and anglers should make themselves aware of the Check, Clean, Dry
biosecurity procedures to help prevent the spread of non-native
species, as well as reducing the risk of spreading any fish
diseases. Floating Pennywort is now established in several
areas of the Ouse downstream of Bedford through to Brampton, so
anglers need to take care not to accidentally transfer this invasive
species to other water bodies. Floating Pennywort is easily
identified by its shiny, kidney-shaped leaves with crinkled edge,
which are frequently broader than long. Please report to a
member of the committee if you spot this species on any club water
(other than the Ouse).
Check, Clean, Dry
Floating Pennywort
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Week ending 16th Oct 2016 Once again few reports of catches have
been received from Shefford & District AA members this week.
Broom Lake has continued to produce some decent carp catches and
whilst most are carp are mid doubles there a good number of 20s also
showing, exemplified by the 24lb common landed by Tony Parsons
during a recent overnight session. The fist pike match of the
year was held on the venue last weekend and it turned out to be a
very disappointing affair with none of the five participants
managing to catch.
The next round of the monthly match series will be fished at The
Airman on Sunday 30th October with pegs 2-12 (inclusive) reserved
for the match. These matches are also open to all members and
anyone wanting further information can contact Nigel Gilbert
07931 215778 (evenings & weekends only).
Anglers are still enjoying good bags of silver fish at Willington
Lake on both float and feeder tactics although sport can often be
interrupted by the unwanted attentions of pike homing in on the
feeding fish. Willington Lake will be closed on Sunday 6th
November for the second round of the pike series (contact
Bryan Lancaster on 07810 454819 for further details).
Several stillwater venues are currently suffering from low water
levels so it pays to think about how you can safely land and return
large fish to the water before starting to fish. At Willington
Lake anglers will need a decent set of waterproof boots or waders to
land and return fish in areas of the lake where the margins are
currently shallow in several areas. Water levels at Stanford
Pit are still extremely low and the fishery remains closed to
angling.
The Environment Agency have completed their weed cutting campaign on
the River Ivel but our Broom River section has not been cut this
year, so it may take longer than usual for all the weed to die back
and make all swims fishable.
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Week ending 9th Oct 2016 Although the weather has been fairly
settled, few reports of catches have been received from Shefford &
District AA members. Sandie Cornell reported a new PB common
carp from Broom Lake a couple of weeks ago. Sandie returned to
the venue and a boilie fished at 50 yards range resulted in another
PB in the shape of a 22lb 10oz mirror carp. Broom Lake will be
closed on Saturday 15th October for the first round of the pike
matches. These matches are open to all members and anyone
wanting further information regarding the pike matches can contact
Bryan Lancaster on 07810 454819.
Mark Tomlin recently fished the Ouse at Little Paxton and landed a
14lb 7oz barbel. Hopefully the river sections will become even
more productive as flows begin to pick up and the weed starts to die
back.
Finally, advanced warning that pegs 2-12 (inclusive) will be
unavailable at The Airman on Sunday 30th October due to the next
round of the monthly match series. These matches are also open
to all members and anyone wanting further information can contact
Nigel Gilbert 07931 215778 (evenings & weekends only).
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Week ending 2nd Oct 2016 The arrival of autumn has seen fishing
improve across all Shefford & District AA venues with the river
sections also now running into form. Head bailiff Kevin
Williams enjoyed a successful weekend session on the Ouse at
Pavenham landing a range of species. Fishing maggot during the
day saw Kevin land a succession of small fish including a number of
good roach, but a switch to bigger baits as dusk approached and
through the night produced some much bigger fish. Kevin landed
five chub over 4lb topped by a specimen of 7lb 2oz, as well as two
barbel of 9lb and 11lb 3oz.
Dave Hedges continued his run of success at The Airman landing five
catfish during his latest four night session weighing 7lb 2oz, 16lb
6oz, 20lb 6oz, 38lb 2oz and 42lb 4 oz. Carp have also been
feeding with Fred Parker landing one of the lake’s old warriors in
the shape of a 20lb 5oz common. Roach anglers have also been
enjoying success using both float and feeder tactics, but the common
problem is keeping in touch with the roach shoals when they attract
the attentions of the predators. Colin Smith soon had decent
roach feeding on his waggler and pellet approach and it wasn’t long
before he had 20 good redfins in the net, but the unmistakable
strike of a large catfish in the middle of the feeding area soon
dispersed the shoal with Colin left struggling for any bites.
Broom Lake continues to fish well with plenty of carp to low 20s
reported. Robert Symonds landed four common carp during a
recent overnight session topped by a plump 23lb fish. Alec
Davies has been fishing caster using a whip and landed several good
bags of roach and skimmer bream during the week. Broom Lake
will be closed on Saturday 15th October for the first round of the
pike matches. These matches are open to all members and anyone
wanting further information regarding the pike matches can contact
Bryan Lancaster on 07810 454819

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Week ending 25th Sept 2016 There has been plenty of action across
all Shefford & District AA stillwaters as the larger species have
started to pack on extra weight ahead of the winter.
Plenty of catfish and carp have been landed at The Airman in recent
weeks with Dave Hedges managing seven catfish to 42lb 2oz and two
common carp to 19lb 6oz over a four night session. Junior
Dexter Allen has landed a number of different species from the venue
this season and managed to tempt a 14lb 2oz catfish on his latest
trip. Please note The Airman will be closed to fishing for a
work party on Saturday 1st October from 9am through to 5pm.
The work will include improving some of the swims and managing some
of the reed beds, and all members are welcome to attend.
Broom Lake recently hosted an interclub match against Ampthill DAC,
which was won by SDAA member Alec Davies with 13lb 7oz of bream.
Ampthill anglers took the next two positions with Stuart Kitley
putting together a 10lb 6oz mixed bag of skimmers, perch and roach
for second and Martin Ward 5lb 8oz 8dr for third. Carp
anglers have been enjoying plenty of action with plenty of fish to
low 20s reported. Sandie Cornell is a venue regular and she
managed four carp during a day session with all the carp caught on
boilies fished at 40 yards, including a new PB common carp of 20lb
4oz.
Willington Lake has been receiving a lot of attention from carp
anglers in recent weeks but none appear willing to report their
captures. Anglers fishing for the smaller species are still
enjoying good catches from several different areas of the lake and
the abundance of small fish bodes well for the pike fishing over the
winter months. The club will be hosting a series of 7 pike
matches from mid-October through to March with dates and venues
listed in the membership book, but anyone wanting further
information regarding the pike matches can contact Bryan
Lancaster on 07810 454819.

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Week ending 11th Sept 2016 Plenty of Shefford & District AA
members have been enjoying the recent spell of fairly settled
weather with several good catches reported. As the nights draw
in and water temperatures start to drop anglers can expect the
larger species to feed more actively as they pack on extra weight
for the winter. The annual catfish match was held at The
Airman last weekend with eleven anglers taking part hoping the match
coincided with a spell of heavy feeding by the catfish that now run
to over 60lb. Unfortunately the catfish proved somewhat
difficult to tempt with Paul Williams winning the match with a
single catfish of 31lb 2oz. Second place was secured by Edd
Allen with a catfish of 25lb 4oz and Mick Abbot was third with a
fish of 19lb 1oz. Sunday saw young junior Dexter Allen land a
tench of 6lb 6oz on a float ledgered lobworm and Adrian Fehr land a
mirror carp of 28lb 15oz. The lake has also been fishing well
for silver fish in recent weeks with several anglers reporting good
nets of roach.
Broom Lake has been a popular venue but the carp have been feeding
in fits and starts. Andy Riley caught the venue just right
when cooler temperatures switched the carp on the feed and he
managed twelve carp to low 20s in just a few hours on his first
night, before sport slowed down picking up just a few more fish
during his midweek session. Anglers have reported plenty of
commons to low 20s in recent weeks and Matt Rayner tempted a fully
scaled 23lb mirror last weekend. Relatively few anglers have
been fishing for the silver fish recently, but plenty of bream have
been caught on baits intended for the carp. The whole lake is
closed on Sunday 18th September for an interclub match against
Ampthill DAC. All members are welcome to take part in this
match and further details can be obtained from David Baker (07784
537047). The last interclub match fished on the venue against
Letchworth GCAA at the end of August was won with over 12lb of fish,
with two thirds of the contestants weighing in over 4lb.
Carp anglers continue to remain tight lipped about their captures at
Willington Lake. Feedback suggests the larger specimens have
been largely preoccupied on naturals although a few have been
tempted by anglers baits. The more recent ‘stockies’ have
proven far more reliable feeders in recent weeks. The lake has also
seen plenty of anglers targeting other species with tench anglers
reporting a healthy number of smaller tench showing up alongside the
larger specimens. There are plenty of skimmer bream also
showing in catches from certain areas of the lake. Anglers
targeting the better roach, which now run to well over the pound
mark, are currently experiencing large shoals of smaller roach
moving into baited areas requiring the use of larger selective baits
to tempt the larger specimens.
Members should note that Stanford Pit is closed to fishing until
further notice due to low water levels combined with prolific weed
growth resulting in low oxygen levels, especially during periods of
hot weather. The situation will be reviewed once water
temperatures fall and the weed begins to die off.
Many parts of the Ivel and its tributaries are still heavily weeded
and many areas are proving difficult to fish. Weed is less of
a problem on the club’s stretches on the Ouse and members should
note that Pavenham will be closed during the weekend 24th and 25th
September as members of the SDAA bailiff team will be enjoying a
weekend ‘fish in’.

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Week ending 21st August 2016 Recent results on Shefford & District
AA waters have often been governed by the weather with overcast or
windy conditions proving much more productive than calm and sunny
conditions. Whilst most members concentrate on still waters,
Head Bailiff Kevin Williams has been concentrating his efforts on
the rivers and in particular the Ouse at Little Paxton in search of
barbel. Kevin's persistence finally paid off with the capture
of an excellent 14lb 6oz specimen with a smaller barbel of 7lb
during the same session. Members are again reminded that
vehicles must not exceed 5mph whilst travelling through the Little
Paxton allotments and vehicles can only be parked in the designated
car park described in the club book.
Broom Lake has seen several anglers enjoy multiple captures of carp
with most fish being double figure commons. Jake Kitching landed
commons upto 19lb 7oz on his first overnight session on the venue.
Mark Lumley reported catching three commons of 13lb,18lb and 19lb
during a recent daytime session. Pegs 1-5 and 30-42 will be
unavailable on Sunday 28th August for an interclub match against
Letchworth GCAA. Further details about the interclub matches can be
obtained from David Baker (07784 537047).
Willington Lake has continued to fish well for tench, bream and
roach particularly when a strong breeze is blowing. A
significant number of smaller tench up to 4lb have been featuring in
catches as well as the bigger specimens up to 8 lb, which are often
caught on carp tactics.
Plenty of roach to well over the pound mark have been landed, but
more selective baits are often required to avoid the smaller fish in
order to catch the better stamp of roach.
The recent warm weather has seen water levels at Stanford Pit fall
quite rapidly and the fish are now concentrated in the deeper areas
of the lake. With the fish under stress the lake has been closed to
fishing until further notice.
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Week ending 7th August 2016 Plenty of Shefford & District AA
members have been spending time on the banks enjoying the summer
weather and whilst many of the smaller species have been happy to
feed during the heat of the day, those in search of the larger fish
have often found dusk through to early morning to be the most
productive periods. The recent monthly match held at The
Airman again demonstrated that there are plenty of fish to be caught
in addition to the catfish and carp. John Salmon ran out the
clear winner with 22lb 9oz comprising of mainly roach and perch but
boosted by two tench of 5lb and 6lb 9oz all caught on the pole.
Malcolm Gibbs was second with 14lb of mainly roach caught on the
long whip, with Nigel Gilbert third with 7lb 6oz of mainly roach
plus a few skimmers and perch on the pole.
John Wigg was fourth with 6lb 7oz and Neil Bygrave fifth with 4lb
1oz.
Darren Brown found Broom Lake to be unresponsive until the sun
started to set and then went on to catch five bream and three carp
during his overnight session. Darren’s two biggest carp were
commons of 17lb and 18lb 14oz. Mervyn Saville also reported a
nice common of 18lb 1oz. When the carp are reluctant to feed
there are plenty of other species to target with new member Paul
Carr landing a 6lb 6oz bream during his first evening session on the
venue. Members should note that the lake will be closed from
midnight on Friday 19th August through to 11am on Sunday 21st August
for the Dean Johnson memorial match, which is an invitation only
event. Pegs 1-5 and 30-42 will also be unavailable on Sunday
28th August for an interclub match against Letchworth GCAA. An
interclub match is also being held against Ampthill DAC on Sunday
21st August at their Marston Pit. Further details about the
interclub matches can be obtained from David Baker (07784 537047).
The smaller carp continue to feature in catches at Willington Lake
with the tench also featuring in daytime catches. The smaller
species continue to be reliable feeders with Paul Carr catching
roach on his first trip to the water. Paul also found that
once the silver fish are feeding the pike are also attracted to the
swim and attempt to intercept hooked fish. A change to a
bigger hook resulted in Paul managing to land one of the culprits in
the shape of a 9lb 2oz pike, but at the expense of a broken landing
net handle.
The Ouse at Little Paxton is proving a popular river venue and
whilst many anglers are targeting the double figure barbel it is
other species that are currently dominating catches. Bream and
eels are falling to ledger tactics, whilst mixed bags of roach,
perch and chub are being caught on the float. This is a members
only water and day tickets are not available. Members parking
vehicles within the allotments are reminded a club key is now
required for access, vehicles must not exceed 5mph and must only be
parked in the designated car park.
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Week ending 31st July 2016 The recent settled weather has seen
increased numbers of Shefford & District AA members on the bank with
some good fish being reported. The catfish at The Airman were
back on the feed with several members landing catfish up to 46lb.
Members should note that this venue contains zebra mussels that can
easily damage main line that lead to unexpected breakages, so it is
worth regularly checking your mainline for any damage.
Anglers fishing for the smaller species have continued to enjoy good
mixed bags of roach, perch and skimmer bream often including roach
to well over the pound mark.
Many carp anglers fishing Willington Lake are reluctant to disclose
their catches, but those who are more open report that the weed is
far less prolific this year allowing baits to be more easily
presented. However, the larger carp appear to be more
preoccupied with abundance of natural food at the moment with the
recent stockies showing most interest in anglers baits. Plenty
of tench are still being caught on both boilies and more traditional
baits. Anglers targeting the smaller species are enjoying
mixed success with catches depending very much on the direction and
strength of the wind with most anglers struggling under flat and
calm conditions.
Plenty of carp continue to be caught at Broom Lake and whilst most
fish reported are mid double commons several of the more recently
stocked mirror carp have been landed, including some fully scaled
mirrors. Tench have been featuring in catches, but the most
notable capture was a 10lb 7oz bream landed by Liam Prout, which was
not only a new PB for Liam but also a new lake record for this
species.
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Week ending 24th July 2016 The recent hot spell has seen many
Shefford & District AA members struggling to catch the larger
species during the heat of the day, whilst those targeting the
smaller fish have carried on catching. One exception was
Richard Draycott who managed to land a large catfish at The Airman
that picked up his bait during a daytime session.
Unfortunately Richard’s scales only went to 40lb, which the fish
bottomed out. Measuring 57 inches from head to tail the
catfish probably weighed somewhere around the 45lb mark.
Anglers fishing for the smaller species have enjoyed good mixed bags
of roach, perch and skimmer bream with the odd bonus tench and
larger bream also featuring in catches. The next monthly match is
being fished at the venue on Sunday 31st July (contact Nigel Gilbert
on 07931 215778 for details). This match will use pegs 2-10,
which need to be vacated by midnight on the eve of the match.
The undergrowth along the track at Willington Lake has been cut down
to allow anglers to park behind most of the pegs along the track.
Anglers targeting the carp are often finding the tench to be more
willing feeders with several tincas in the 7-8lb bracket being
reported. The weed is not as prolific this year and those
targeting the smaller species are usually able to find plenty of
clear spots to fish. When a strong breeze blows anglers are
finding the feeder outscores the float as it allows a static bait to
be presented. Colin Smith decided to feeder fish along the
track and had a nice roach on his first cast using red maggot as
bait. He carried on steadily catching roach and skimmer bream
along with the odd perch and rudd for the next few hours.
The carp at Broom Lake have been very visible on the hottest days
basking in the surface layers with early morning and sunset often
the best feeding times for the carp. Once again it is the
members fishing for the smaller species that have enjoyed most
success during the day. Whilst maggots are almost guaranteed
to bring plenty of bites they often attract a lot of small roach and
perch into the swim. Those anglers who persevere with more
selective baits are enjoying a much better stamp of roach.
Although relatively few reports from the rivers, Kevin Williams
landed a nice chub of exactly 6lb from the Ouse at Little Paxton
during a night time session.
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Week ending 10th July 2016 The reasonably settled conditions
during last week saw Shefford & District AA members enjoying
considerable success. New member Nik Taylor started the week
with an overnight session at The Airman and managed to land three
mirror carp the smallest being 14lb 5oz and a 22lb 13oz common.
Although Nik was targeting the carp he also reported landing a huge
10lb 10oz tench, which was witnessed by another member.
Several decent catfish were also caught during the week including
one caught by Dave Hedges. Anglers targeting the smaller
species continue to enjoy mixed nets of bream, tench, roach and
perch, which bodes well for the next match to be fished at the venue
using pegs 2-10 on Sunday 31st July (contact Nigel Gilbert on 07931
215778 for details). Eight year old Associate Junior member
Allana Fehr accompanied her father Adrian on a recent trip and was
happy catching roach until a pike decided to intercept some of the
fish being landed, but she eventually hooked and landed the pike.
However, Allana’s greatest achievement was to land a 2lb roach, a
target many far more experienced anglers would love to achieve.
The milder weather, added to the ability to park behind your peg,
has seen significantly more anglers fishing Broom Lake. After
success elsewhere early in the week, Nik Taylor paid this venue a
visit towards the end of the week and was not disappointed.
During his session Nik caught a total of 11 carp including a 19lb
11oz mirror and 5 commons over the 20lb mark (20lb 12oz, 24lb, 24lb
4oz, 26lb 8oz and 28lb 1oz). Richard Knight fished an
overnight session and landed 3 carp that included two doubles topped
by a 21lb 8oz mirror, plus a tench and a bream.
A reminder that Mick Parkinson is running some coaching sessions at
Willington Lake as part of the Angling Trust’s ‘Get Back Into
Angling’ initiative. Sessions will run from 09.00-13.00
and 14.00-18.00 on the 24th, 26th and 28th July (to book contact
Mick on 07914 530185). Anglers should take extreme care when
exiting the venue as (in common with many local country roads) the
verges are heavily overgrown and blocking the view of oncoming
traffic.
The interclub match fished on LGCAA waters at Poppy Hill saw the
local anglers making full use of home advantage. Of the 18
anglers taking part, seven weighed in over 10lb with a top weight of
35lb of mainly carp. Dave Baker was the only SDAA angler to
break 10lb, with his 15lb 1oz taking fifth place.

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Week ending 3rd July 2016 With warm and settled conditions
forecast Shefford & District AA members should be prepared to see
some species (especially the carp) go through the spawning process
again. The Airman catfish came back on the feed with Kevin
Payne landing a new PB of 47lb 5oz along with two other catfish of
43lb 7oz and 17lb 8oz during a recent 48h session. Many
anglers still believe catfish are only nocturnal feeders, but Edd
Allen also managed to top the 40lb mark with a catfish of 45lb
caught during daylight hours. Anglers targeting the smaller
species have been enjoying mixed nets of bream, tench, roach and
perch with the shallower margin areas often proving the most
productive.
Mick Parkinson is running some coaching sessions at Willington Lake
as part of the Angling Trust’s ‘Get Back Into Angling’ initiative.
Mick is a qualified Level 2 angling coach and these sessions are
designed to give individuals the skills and confidence to get back
into angling. Sessions will run from 09.00-13.00 and
14.00-18.00 on the 24th, 26th and 28th July. To book a place
please contact Mick on 07914 530185. The venue continues to
fish well for silver fish, with tench and bream also showing up in
catches. On the carp front the more recent stockies are
proving far easier to tempt with anglers baits than the larger
residents.
There have been few reports from the rivers since the start of the
season. Kevin Williams fished the IPA’s Back Meadows stretch
of the Ivel and was delighted to catch a number of decent roach to
1lb 9oz using 8mm pellets on ledger tactics.
A reminder that the next match will be an interclub affair fished on
LGCAA waters at Poppy Hill on Sunday 10th July and members wanting
to take part should contact Dave Baker (07784 537047).
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Week ending 26th June 2016 With changeable conditions throughout
the week Shefford & District AA members have experienced mixed
fortunes, with the larger species often only feeding for short
spells. The Airman has seen only the odd catfish caught
whilst anglers targeting the silver fish have continued to
experience consistent sport. Darren Brown had been struggling
to get anything to show interest in his baits, but following heavy
rain during Saturday night the fish appeared to be triggered into
feeding and Darren went on to land five bream to 8lb and three carp
to 17lb 2oz over the next few hours.
Most anglers have been targeting the carp at Broom Lake in recent
weeks, but the first match of the season confirmed the lake contains
a healthy population of silver fish. The eight anglers taking
part in the match were faced with overcast conditions with a light
breeze and most chose to float fish using either pole or rod and
reel. John Salmon opted to fish the pole and put together a
good net of roach and perch, boosted by a bonus bream of 3lb 8oz, to
return the winning weight of 11lb 12oz. Second place was taken
by Neil Bygrave with 9lb 2oz of mainly roach with a few perch caught
on the waggler followed in third place by Malcolm Gibbs with 8lb 9oz
of roach also on the waggler. Match organiser Nigel Gilbert
used the whip for mainly roach and perch boosted by a bonus 3lb 9oz
tench for a total of 6lb 10oz for fourth place, and John Wigg fished
the pole to finish fifth with a mixed bag weighing 5lb 6oz.
The next match will be an interclub affair fished on LGCAA waters at
Poppy Hill on Sunday 10th July and members wanting to take part
should contact Dave Baker (07784 537047).
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Week ending 19th June 2016 With rivers running high and coloured
at the start of the river season most Shefford & District AA members
elected to fish the stillwaters. One exception was Kevin
Williams who had been prebaiting a swim at Little Paxton ahead of
the river season in the hope of catching an early season barbel.
Kevin cast out on the stroke of midnight and within five minutes he
had a bite resulting in a 5lb bream, another species noted for
feeding well when the rivers are coloured. Kevin’s prebaiting
had clearly attracted a large shoal of bream as he proceeded to land
one bream after another on his pellet bait with his best fish
weighing just over 9lb. Apart from the bream, Kevin also landed a
decent chub of 5lb.
Several anglers have enjoyed multiple captures of carp from Broom
Lake in recent weeks. Andrew Riley managed 10 carp to 18lb 6oz
plus two bream and a small tench during a 48h session, whilst new
member Matt Simcock landed 6 carp to 15lb and two tench. Mat
Rayner managed one of the best fish reported in recent weeks with a
common carp of 22lb 4oz. Dave Hedges had a successful first
session on the lake landing a total of 10 carp during his 3 night
stay, consisting of nine commons to 19lb 10oz and a mirror of 19lb
6oz. Broom Lake will hold the first match of the season on
Sunday 26th June with pegs 1-5 and 30-42 reserved for the match.
The matches are open to all SDAA members with the draw at 8am with
fishing from 9am to 3pm, and further details can be obtained from
Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778).
There have been few reports from The Airman this week with the odd
double figure carp and bream landed during the week. Members
should be aware that there will be some emergency tree work
undertaken during the next week to deal with a dead willow tree by
peg 2 that is in danger of falling into the lake and to pollard some
of the willows along the roadside bank.
Several carp have been landed at Willington Lake where a mobile
approach has often been the key to success. Several carp have
been intercepted whilst patrolling the margins, whilst when
conditions are right a few have been tempted on surface baits.
Several of the most recently stocked carp have been landed and are
showing excellent growth rates thanks to the abundance of natural
food in the lake.
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Week ending 12th June 2016 Recent catches have been as
unpredictable as the weather across Shefford & District AA waters
during the last week, and those members approaching waters with an
open mind about target species have enjoyed most success. Life
member Pete Allen has enjoyed great success with the large roach at
The Airman this year, but with small roach intercepting his float
fished baits Pete adopted a more positive approach fishing over
depth in the margins. These tactics resulted in a string of
good tench and bream, with some of the bream approaching double
figures.
Anglers targeting the carp at Willington Lake are keeping tight
lipped about their captures, although one revealed the accidental
capture of an 8lb 10oz tench. Several anglers have enjoyed
some good bags of roach and skimmers on float tactics. Pete
Biernis fished for the tench but was delighted to catch a roach just
under the 2lb mark. Tony Hickmott was surprised to land a
sizeable terrapin that took a liking to his float fished
maggot-sweet corn cocktail, and anglers should take care to handle
them with extreme care as they carry a very strong bite.
Several anglers have managed to catch double figure carp from Broom
Lake, but with many carp still carrying spawn they should be
returned to the water as quickly as possible. Mat Rayner
landed commons of 14lb and 8lb, plus a 5lb tench. Michael
Webb’s ledger rod had been motionless, so he decided to set up a 4
metre whip with no elastic using 4lb line and a size 16 hook.
In the next two hours, using a single grain of sweetcorn as bait,
Michael had landed a 7lb 1oz tench, 4lb bream and numerous roach
whilst his ledger rod still remained motionless.
The river season restarts on 16th June and the recent rain (with
more unsettled weather forecast) is likely to result in the rivers
being well above normal levels and highly coloured.
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Week ending 5th June 2016 Hopefully the recent spell of warm
weather has finally triggered the carp into spawning across all
Shefford & District AA waters. Members should avoid casting
into any areas where carp (or other species) are obviously spawning
and any carp caught should be handled with extreme care whilst they
recover from the stress of spawning. The Airman has continued
to produce good catches for several anglers with a range of species
reported during the last week. Venue regular John Dickman
spent a fruitless day in pursuit of the catfish, but just as he was
packing up one of his baits was picked up and resulted in a new PB
pike of 26lb. Darren Seeney and Moray McLeod both enjoyed a
very successful overnight session. Moray landed his first ever
catfish of 32lb just after darkness, plus a mirror carp of 15lb and
a common carp of 19lb during the night. Moray also caught over a
dozen roach between 1lb 3oz and 2lb 2oz, with the majority around
the 2lb mark, all falling to 10mm bloodworm boilies. Meanwhile
Darren landed a hard fighting 17lb 2oz mirror carp within 20 minutes
of casting out and then caught a number of tench to 4lb 5oz during
the night. Edd Allen has been teaching his young son Dexter how to
fish the pole. Dexter seemed to master the technique fairly
quickly landing 20 roach, two perch and a small jack pike that took
a liking to a worm.
A reminder that the close season still applies on rivers, which
reopen for fishing on 16th June. A work party is being held at
Little Paxton on Wednesday 15th June to strim the footpath and make
the swims fishable along the allotment bank. All volunteers
are welcome to attend, meeting around 9am in the club car park
within the allotments.


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