Letchworth Garden City Angling Association

The annual Christmas Fayre attracted 27 anglers on a pleasant winter solstice day.

Plenty of small roach fed despite the winter conditions where the air temperature peaked at just 4 degrees centigrade.

Low water and air temperatures signalled harsh winter conditions which were mirrored in the fishing for most of the 17 club match anglers.

This years Pike Match sees a change in venue to the Green Lagoon.

Top weights for the match held on the Ivel at Biggleswade Common owed much to the draw as they came from noted chub pegs.

The River Great Ouse was about 8 inches above normal winter levels but that was not the biggest problem faced by the match men.

The Cam looked in good nick for this match although a cold down stream wind gave some discomfort to the dozen taking part.

Results of the club match held on the Canal at Poppy Hill

Following on from the weekend workparty in September to remove weed from Lake 2, the FMC are planning on having another bash at it this Sunday 5th October

Host for this event were the Shefford Club who for a few years had struggled to keep an active match section going.

The Great Ouse river at Willington was still carrying some extra water but the colour promised some good fishing.

For the second match on the first lake catches were mostly of small fish taken by float fishing.

A flooded Ouse at Felmersham led to a switch to Lake 1 at Henlow.

Members should be aware that the following fixtures marked in their club book as TBA have now been confirmed.

This year’s pole trophy winner is veteran angler Dennis Holliday who topped the 16 strong field on the canal lake.

The previous weeks rainfall was running through the Great Ouse making some tricky fishing conditions, extra water but very clear. 

A turn out of 16 anglers found lake 2 something of a struggle although the top three all managed to better 10lbs.

As most of our members will probably be aware the FMC has been battling with a problem of floating weed on Lake 2 for quite some time now.

The Great Ouse river as expected was in a difficult mood as hot sun baked contestants and frazelled bait.

The draw bag was again a decisive factor in the result of the last of this years evening matches.

Combine a very skilled angler and lake 1 peg 15 then you have a recipe for a bag of bream.

End peg, 26, was expected to produce well so when the accomplished Alec Davis drew there it was a matter of how much would he net.

Another pleasing turn out of 23 fished the league event at Poppy Hill lake 2.

For most of the 22 taking part it was a night best forgotten as few sizeable fish were tempted to feed!

There was some superb canal fishing on offer at Fenny Stratford but only seven anglers turned out.

A turn out of 23 anglers was a most pleasing aspect of the evening league event at Poppy Hill last night. 

With many of the swims under several inches of the choice of which pegs to use had a new dimension - how wet. As a result some of the usual favourite spots were not fished..

The 2008 evening matches began last night on the canal lake.

Yes, unfortunatley that time of year is fast aproaching again!

The last of this season’s points matches was never going to be easy fishing on the first lake at Poppy Hill since bites had been hard to come by on the water over recent weeks.

As most members will be aware, the Fisheries Management team have been battling for the past couple of season against the increased weed growth in Lake 2 at Poppy Hill.

The result list with 7 blanks shows how dire the river Cam was on a gloriously sunny day with no wind to ruffle the water.

Roach made up most of the weights with two of the weir pool pegs dominating the result.

A flooded Great Ouse led to this match being transferred from Felmersham to the first lake at Poppy Hill.

Twenty two members turned out for the annual Christmas match but, following a week of low temperatures, only those who opted for the river had a real chance of winning.

Difficult conditions again faced those who turned out for the latest club match.

Lucky day ticket angler Liam Pearce had the fight of his life when a monster Pike picked up his bait.

Decembers pairs Pike match has been confirmed to take place on Sunday 9th December.

Difficult conditions faced the hardy bunch who turned out at Felmersham yesterday.

A new best match weight for the river Ivel at Poppy Hill was set by Denis Smith as he landed 15 chub for 35lbs 14oz.

The river was moderately coloured and running a little faster than at a normal autumn rates suggesting that some of the venues big bream might feed.

The canal lake at Poppy Hill fished far below its potential as very few of the carp were fed. 

Bites were hard to come by on a gently flowing river Cam at Clayhythe with roach only showing in the pegs at the bridge end.

The blue sky and bright sun were off set by a strong down stream wind in Pylon meadow at Tempsford giving good but not outstanding fishing conditions.

The anticipated roach catches failed to materialize for many of the field at Willington.

Experience of competing on commercial match waters was rewarded for the top anglers in this season’s pole match held on the canal lake at Poppy Hill.

Roach catches made some good top weights on a sunny day with little wind for the club match fished on the Great Ouse at Felmersham. The river was at healthy level, had minimal weed growth and was running with a gentle spring like flow.

Saturday 18th - Sunday 19th August saw Letchworth Garden City Angling Association hold a sponsored 24hr fish at Poppy Hill Lakes Henlow  all members were invited to come along and raise a bit of money for two local charities, the Garden House Hospice and Keech Cottage children's hospice.

Top weight, on a sunny day when the lake produced some good weights, went to Alec Davis who made the most of fancied peg 21.

Club member Chris Harrison has submitted a claim for the long standing club Eel record.

After recent flood conditions the river Great Ouse was still running faster than normal with some colour.

The annual night match was held on the second lake from 9.00p.m. on Friday 27th.July to 8.00a.m. on Saturday.

The final in the evening series matche was fished on the Canal, pole fishing for carp on the far shelf proved the best method.

A tench, six bream and three skimmers all taken on large expander pellet made up my winning return of 24lbs 15oz.

Chopped worm attracted perch and eels to Russ Hill's swim on a sluggish river Cam. His best fish in the winning 6lb weight was a perch estimated at over a pound and a half.

In keeping with association policy of providing you with quality fishing in beautiful surroundings, your Fisheries Management Committee have planned a few mid-season workparties. Volunteers are urgently needed!

Winner Mark Summerfield netted two good fish, a tench and a bream, both tempted by waggler and maggot tactics in 2nd. lake corner peg 35.

Match Sec Mike Clarke used a long pole to present pellet on the hook - his winning weight was mainly made up with carp and small chub.

Tuesday saw the return of the ever popular evening series of matches. The evening matches are fished over 6 rounds every Tuesday at Poppy Hill during June and July. Draw is at 17:45 and the matches start at 18:30.

The Committee Cup brought together GPC members and Baliffs at the Poppy Hill complex. A walk off match saw anglers choose different lakes.
 

The canal and lake 1 at Poppy Hill were used for the annual pairs match which was decided on points with each duo being represented on both part of the venue.

Local newsgroup website, Herts24, is about to start running a competition on their website for the best local website.

Sunday morning was the 8th time this season that a club match has coincided with a river in flood. However instead of cancelling or attempting to fish near impossible conditions the points match was transferred to lake 1 at Poppy Hill.

After losing 6 consecutive points matches to flooded rivers the 8 stalwarts who made the journey to Clayhythe were determined to fish this time even though conditions were far from encouraging.

The canal was in dour mood for the pole trophy match held on a normally prolific pound at Simpsons. 

Next Sunday (14/01/07) we had planned a points match on the river there but as plenty of rain is forecast

Fished on all of the complex at Poppy Hill with a walk off so that each man chose his own swim, the annual Christmas event attracted only twenty two anglers competing for some 36 prizes.

The FMC and the EA have been  planning to install a 3rd riffel and the de silting of a section of the river behind the 1st lake.

The Canal lake at Poppy Hill has just recieved another substantial boost to its fish stocks.

Once again the River Ivel at Henlow gets top marks in the Temporal survey carried out by the Environment Agency.

Fished on the river Ivel at Biggleswade, the IPA team event attracted only three teams so a greater emphasis was put on the individual aspect of the match.

Following last week’s near flood conditions the river was fining down - extra pace and some residual colour suggested advantageous fishing conditions.

The river in pylon meadow carried extra water, was running faster than of late but still very clear. The best of the action was at the upstream end (about 120 metres below the A1 road bridge.)

The river Cam water level, topped by recent rains, was higher than through out the summer but flow was only slightly above normal with just a hint of colour.

Overhead thunder & lightening led to this match being stopped, in the interests of safety, one and a quarter hours early. Pylon meadow with a carbon rod while forked lightening is all around was a bit scary.

The river Great Ouse carried some fresh water and the flow increased in pace as a result of rain over the past couple of days.

Please be aware that due to river  and bank conditions, this Sundays match will not be held on the River Ouse at Ely as advertised. The next match will now be held on the River Cam at Clayhithe.

The river Great Ouse was running clear and a little low for this match fished on the upstream reaches of the venue.

Fished in very warm temperatures for September but with a strong and blustery down stream wind.

Please be advised that as of today the current keepnet ban being enforced accross all lakes at Poppy Hill has now been relaxed.

Fished on the Grand Union Canal at Mill Road, Water Eaton, Milton Keynes. All of the pegs were on the wides section south of bridge 98.

With no carp, tench or big bream weighed in it was skimmer bream, roach, rudd and perch which made up the returns.

The dates for this years Pike matches has been anounced.

Today the second of a series of matches hosted by Blunham took place on The Great Ouse at Willington.

In pleasant summer conditions the river Cam provided reasonable sport with various methods bringing fish.

For the last of this years evening match series the canal carp were reluctant to feed to the extent that most of the leading weights consisted of rudd, chublets, roach and skimmer bream.

Please be advised that due to this extraordinary hot weather we have been experiencing, the keepnet ban being enforced on the Canal and Jubilee lake has been extended.

A first Letchworth match win for Barney Warner came from worms fished on a size 14 hook under a waggler.

The only sizeable fish landed in this round of the evening league came from three pegs at the far end of the lake.

A ‘magic hour’ at first light saw Steve Mayes land five bream which swung the result in his favour.

Many of the canal's carp were reluctant to feed resulting in below par returns -

On a very hot day, a rock hard water ended with many leaving early hence the did not weigh -(dnw) returns.

Please be aware from immediate effect, a total keepnet ban has been placed on the Canal and Jubilee lakes.

Drawn at peg 13 and being next to my winning peg on Sunday, I was confident that I would catch bream if they wanted to play ball.

The 23 who lined up for this first club match on lake one would all have haboured thoughts of a good net of bream and/or tench but most of the quality fish were not interested in feeding.

Each of the top three weights owed much to the power of pellets. Evan John may have been a little late arriving for the draw but he wasted no time in getting a substantial bed of pellet into his swim.

This years series of Tuesday Evening Matches begin this week on 20th.June. It will mean missing England v Sweeden in the World Cup but everyone is welcome.

It looks like this season is off to another cracking start for the 43 members who qualified to fish from the 1st of June by attending the workparties in April/May. All others will have to wait till June the 16th.

After over 5 years at the helm as Fisheries Manager, Jim Cox has taken the decision to step down.

The final club match of the 2005-2006 season was held on the canal lake at Poppy Hill. The choice to use mostly the even numbered pegs gave almost all competitors some holding feature that could be reached with a pole.

The toughest match of the season took place on the Ivel at Sandy New Road today. A grey day with a bitingly cold East wind in to the faces of those taking part was the back drop for a bite less session for all but two.

A gathering of only 9 anglers contested the club match held on the river at Poppy Hill. Match secretary, Dennis Smith, was a clear winner with 18lbs 12ozs from peg 3, the scout hut.

A crisp cold morning on the Cam called for knowledge and experience to get the best from the river at our match on Sunday 22nd.January.

Sunday's club match held on the river Ivel at Poppy Hill showed again that the feeding fish are not moving far from their homes. The top three returns came from the swims that proved best in the Christmas match.

A reduced turn out compared to recent years saw 21 club men brave the elements for the annual Doug Cooper memorial Christmas match. With most areas of the lakes freezing over it was no surprise that of the 14 who caught fish half chose to fish the river.

The Great Ouse benefited from the recent rains with levels high and having a tinge of colour. For the Felmersham club match some swims had to be left out as water was about a foot above the bank side vegetation.

Our first points match for five weeks saw a hardy bunch of 14 assemble in freezing conditions at Biggleswade. When I drew peg 9, three below the raised walkway, and thought it was the same shallow swim that I had match fished without a bite a couple of years ago, I was ready to go elsewhere.

The 3-way interclub match between Letchworth, Ampthill and Tring Angling was decided at the pegs close to the marina entrance near the old A5 bridge. At peg 4 Ampthill’s John Harris recorded a comfortable victory by netting 10 bream for 31lbs 7oz.

15 of the club's match anglers made the journey to Clayhythe and witnessed something of the river Cam's potential - a considerable improvement over previous club matches when the fish appeared in numbers only in the lee of the boats close to the bridge.

The last of this season's interclub matches with the Biggleswade & Hitchin club took place on the Great Ouse in pylon meadow at Tempsford. All of the top weights employed the venue method of waggler and maggot to return catches of roach up to 12oz, perch, chublets and/or bleak.

The match against Ampthill brought 30 rods to the banks of the Great Ouse at Felmersham. As often on this reach, the fish were confined to favourable areas:- the faster water pegs 1 to 5 and around the island ( 19 to 25 ) where both weed and oxygen rich water is found.

Sunday 18th.September, an interclub match at our lakes, the first Senior visiting opponents in my memory, took place on lake 2. The four visiting anglers from Biggleswade & Hitchin A.A. took the accolades as they won the team event and filled the first two individual places.

A turn out approaching 30 clubmen fished the pairs event held on the first and canal lakes at Poppy Hill, Henlow. For the first time in my memory, the field chose their own partners with one angler to fish each of the lakes.

There were plenty of fish in the Great Ouse at Tempsford for the interclub match with Biggleswade but catching them was quite a challenge.

Most people will remember Sunday 7th.August for the super sunny weather conditions but for baliff Nigel White a 9lb common carp might well figure in his memory.

Victory in the final match of this years evening league was claimed by Nigel Smith with 10lb 13oz. From canal peg 17 Nigel employed pole, pellet and pot to take Carp and skimmers. Feeding heavily by potting in pellets close to the ornamental lily which dominates the swim he found the fish preferred a single small pellet on a 16 hook.

Wind and rain may have been uncomfortable for the few anglers who turned out at Felmersham for the club match against Biggleswade but the catches were a little better than the previous week when the sun dominated weather conditions.

Last night's match on the first lake saw a clear victory for Peter (Tommo) Thompson who landed 4 tench and a few perch for 15lbs. Waggler fished triple maggot on a size 14 hook was Tommo's winning method from one of his favourite pegs - no.17.

The second lake proved quite difficult for most on Tuesday 12 July. Winner from peg 3 was Tony Pearce. Pole fished maggot gave Tony 6lb14oz of roach.

From early light three anglers were thought to be in contention for the top spot. Rod Russell and Dennis Smith had each landed 3 tench while I had 2 bream and a tench.

The 3rd. evening match, held on the first lake last night, was another Daniel Theakstone master class in catching tench. Despite a late start he pole fished worm on the hook over cupped in chopped worm and caster feed for a 14lb 1oz total.

The second of this season’s points matches was held on lake one with fishing from 4.00p.m. to 9.00p.m. Not for the first time Daniel Theakstone demonstrated just how good a match angler he has become.

A disappointing 3 teams turned out for this annual match held on Biggleswade Common. Paul Mason and I paired up to claim the trophy with the top two individual weights.

For the second week a sizeable turn out of 23 contested the evening match which this week was held on the second lake. The oppressive cloud, thunder and lightening led to a shortening of the event duration with a 9.00p.m. finish in near darkness - what happened to that longest day!

A high turn out of 22 anglers fished the first of this seasons evening matches on the canal lake at Poppy Hill. Whilst everyone caught, weights were not as heavy as many of us had anticipated.

The seasons matches began today at Felmersham where weather conditions and a low water level made for very difficult fishing. The heat wave, touching 32 degrees C, cloudless sky for much of the day and little breeze to create a light refracting ripple led to few fish feeding.