Shefford DAA Fishing report: Andy returns to The Airman with a vengeance

Although the heat wave is now over, Shefford & District AA members should still carefully return fish to the water ASAP after capture allowing time for them to recover in a landing net in the water before release.

As water temperatures rise the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water decreases. Therefore, members should remain vigilant and contact the EA incident hotline 0800 80 70 60 if fish are seen in distress, as well as contacting the club.

The Airman will host the next club match on Sunday 21st August, which is free to enter with optional pools available. Draw is at 08.30 with fishing from 09.30-15.00. Anyone wanting to fish the match should contact Nigel Gilbert (07931 215778 evenings and weekends only). The Airman must be vacated by 00.01 on the day of the match and will reopen 2h after the match has finished.

Andy Knight has just returned to angling after an eight-year break and his first three short sessions at The Airman each resulted in a carp, which included a common and two mirrors. Andy managed to borrow a set of scales to weigh his largest mirror of 18lb 12oz that was caught just 5 feet from the bank. Andy’s other (unweighed) mirror was identified as a VS Fisheries C4 stocked in 2018.

Mick Baldwin tries to fish several times a week and provided an update on his exploits in recent weeks. Three trips to Willington Lake resulted in a total weight of 64lb 15oz of mainly bream plus a 12lb pike and a tench.

His last 11 trips to Broom Lake have averaged over 40lb of fish with his best session producing 77lb 11oz.

In total Mick has landed 65 bream, 13 carp and a solitary tench from Broom Lake, all taken on ledger tactics using a wide variety of baits.

Broom Lake has remained a popular venue for members targeting the carp. Stuart Bragg’s latest session produced 5 double figure commons up to 16lb. Peter Thompson landed two commons of 18lb 7oz and 18lb 3oz, plus two bream just over 6lb on a recent trip.

Paul Burton fished two short early morning sessions targeting the margins that resulted in commons of 18lb 10oz and 16lb 8oz. Terry Peniston’s latest Saturday trip resulted in a solitary common of 22lb 1oz, but normal service was resumed on his Sunday morning session when Terry landed 8 commons to 22lb 10oz, a mirror of 11lb 8oz and a 5lb 4oz tench.