Vauxhall Angling Club

Last Updated Nov 2007


Articles from the Luton News and other local newspapers.

September 2007

 

The rivers are now taking on the late summer appearance being fairly low and clear. Flow is still good however and fishing is good although bleak are a real nuisance and seem to be in plague proportion at the moment. There are good dace on most venues and big roach at Harrold. Kempston is still producing good bags of chub but Radwell and Sharnbrook are only producing odd fish but  these are specimens with many over 6lbs.

 

Radwell and Sharnbrook are however producing good barbel with lots of fish in the 8 to 9lbs class. The better fish are coming after dark with a number of 15lbs plus fish being banked. Best has been Michael Richmond's 18lbs 2ozs specimen caught at Radwell. Michael is claiming the club record for the fish. It is the only one of the real monsters that has ever been put forward for the record.

 

The settled weather has allowed the carp to finish spawning at last and fish are beginning to show on most venues. Weed has become a problem though with even the deep lake at Woburn Sands showing unexpected growth. Sharnbrook Pits are also showing late weed growth but are producing fish. Pit 2 is still best and producing carp and large bream.

 

The club's officers annual outing at Duncote's Lakeside Fishery produced some fantastic weights of small to medium carp. First was Tony Kay with 234lbs on the pole followed by George, his son, with 161lbs on method feeder. Third was Dave Maple with 149lbs on the waggler and fourth was John Wilson with 102lbs on the pole.

 

August 2007

 

With the weather picking up and water levels falling to somewhere near normal, sport has been fair on most venues. The hot weather at the weekend slowed things down though with very little being caught during daylight.

 

Bream at still evident at Sharnbrook pits with Pit 2 by far the best with lots of fish in the 7 to 10lbs class. Carp fishing is still slow at Sharnbrook with Pits 3 and 4 very hard. The smaller pits are better with fair fish on Pit 6. Woburn and Stanton Harcourt are steady with a fair number of twenties over the week. Tingrith is still in outstanding form for small carp but there are a fair number of doubles now showing.

 

All the rivers are still quick but now at a good level and colour. There appears to have been an explosion of bleak which is causing problems for anyone using maggot or caster. Barbel are now only being caught during darkness with good numbers of doubles from Radwell and Sharnbrook. Best reported fish of the week was a 15lbs 3oz specimen landed by Dave Binge on Friday night at Radwell. Dave hooked the fish on a 10mm boilie after failing to get any bites on larger baits. The fish beat Dave's previous best by exactly 5lbs.

 

 

July 2007

 

The River Ouse has been in flood most of the week with water still over Radwell Road midway through the week. It was back in its banks by Sunday but still not giving good sport.

 

The River Ouzel was in much better condition although quick and gave good sport on Sunday. Best bag was Alan Hobbs catch which included bream and chub to 5lbs as well as good quality roach.

 

The pits at Sharnbrook are still very high with pits 3 and 4 almost joined.

Sport has been good for bream however with catches including large specimens. Best on Sunday was Alex Graham's 90lbs bag which consisted of just nine bream and three small tench.

 

Carp are still not showing in any great numbers at Sharnbrook. Sport is better at Woburn Lake where a club bailiff witnessed two 30lbs plus fish on Saturday night. The lake has also produced a number of twenties through the week.

 

 

All the venues were starting to show signs of a return to good form when the rains came again. The rivers were rising from Thursday on and the Ouse ran into Sharnbrook Pits and across the road at Radwell on Sunday afternoon. It caught a few barbel anglers fishing the higher part of the roadside bank unawares when it came over the banks and ran down the road behind them leaving them on an island and their cars with water running into the footwells.

 

Barbel had been showing fairly well with a number of doubles, the best being Martin Gray's 16lbs 5oz fish last week.  The Ouse also produced a 90lbs bag of bream from Kempston top main before the floods.

 

The pits at Sharnbrook have also been producing good bags of bream with numbers of double figure fish from Pit 4. Pit 2 has been best for number where Stan Goodge landed seven between 7 and 8 1/2 lbs from the neck. Carp fishing has still been patchy although it would appear that the larger fish have at least now spawned.

 

Even the lakes and pits that have no running water nearby are at their highest levels for years with platforms under water. The banks are quite slippery and members are advised to take care.

 

The club has a new membership hotline which is 07506378748.

 

 

The rivers have continued to fall over the past week and are now at a good level and carrying plenty of colour. Sport is picking up well with good fish being caught on most of the noted pegs on the Ouse.

 

John Donald followed up last week's catch of twenty pound carp from the river at Sharnbrook with a net of barbel, the best being twelve and a half pounds. He banked the biggest during the hottest part of the day on Sunday.

 

The rivers are carrying a touch too much colour for chub, although a number around the five pounds mark were landed at the bottom end of Radwell wood.

 

Bream continue to dominate catches on the pits at Sharnbrook with the best being a pair of just short of twelve pounds each from pit 4 on Saturday night. Sport for tench and carp has been very patchy on all venues and it appears that the bigger fish have still not spawned yet.

 

Tingrith continues in excellent form for small to medium carp with bags averaging forty pounds. All the pegs on the lake were occupied at the weekend and even the deeper pegs at the dam end produced good bags.

 

 

 

Sport is still hit and miss on most venues, particularly the rivers. While the area has not seen as much rain as other parts of the country, the river levels are still well up but the colour has dropped out.

 

Much of the sport on the rivers has centred on large fish with very few bags of smaller fish. The usual chub and barbel have been caught at Radwell and Sharnbrook with a number of double figure barbel below Radwell bridge and above Radwell viaduct. Large carp have also been caught from the river at Sharnbrook with one angler banking three twenties, best 25lbs, in a single session.

 

Bream are still feeding well on Pits 1 & 2 at Sharnbrook but carp fishing has been somewhat patchy although a number of twenties have been landed during the week. Pit 4 has fished far better this season with good bream, tench and carp being caught. The headland area is best although good carp have been taken on floating biscuit on the shallows on the roadside.

 

Tingrith Lake is still fishing very well for small to medium carp with god bags being taken all round the lake. the club match there on Sunday saw weights averaging 45lbs for the competitors. The winner on the day was Tex Marshall with 119lbs taken on pole fished pellet. Second, using similar tactics, was Paul Caton with 110lbs. Third, fishing the feeder, was George Kay with 79lbs.

 

 

 

June 2007

The first week of the new season has seen sport as variable as the weather.

Some days have seen tremendous bags of fish caught while others have been a real struggle.

 

The rivers, which have mostly been bank high have produced some good specimen fish but small silver fish have been hard to come by. Barbel are coming out everywhere with good fish reported on most venues. Even the roadside at Radwell has produced good double figure fish during the day.

Best reported so far has been just short of 16lbs. Chub are being caught up to 6lbs at Radwell but the coloured water is proving problematic.

 

All the lakes at pits have thrown up specimens as well as large bags. Ray Haywood landed 90lbs of bream and tench from Pit 1 at Sharnbrook, which has seen a dozen or so similar bags already this season. Pit 2 produced 5 bream for 34lbs for Barry Meakins while all the pits have thrown up carp into the twenties. Even Pit 3 has seen carp over 23lbs from the river bank side. Pit 4a has seen some large tench coming out with best at the weekend being a fish of 6lbs 11oz landed by John Maple.

 

Tingrith has been in outstanding form with numbers of 100lbs plus bags of small to medium carp. John Wilson landed 20 between 6 and 9lbs on floating biscuit for a 150lbs bag. Woburn Sands has produced a number of big carp including a 25lbs mirror known as 'Scaley' being banked. 07

 

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