Fishing in Newport Pagnell
The waters of Newport Pagnell have long been favoured by local fishermen.
Indeed Fishermen come some distance to fish its waters. As well as the river Ouse and river Lovat, there are pits in Newport Pagnell and on the road to
Sherington, which provide excellent places to fish. They are also beauty spots with a wealth of wildlife.
People living in Newport Pagnell have grown up
with the rivers, paddling and
fishing with nets
at Brooklands near steps or in the past
at the Bully near Iron Bridge. The keen ones progress to fishing with rods
and this involves obtaining a rod license (needed to
fish anywhere in the United Kingdom) from the post office and also a fishing license available from the Water Bailiff or nominated outlets.
Newport Pagnell has had a Fishing Association since 1887. It has produced many excellent fishermen and specimen fish. Bob Lock , a member of the Fishing Association since 1926, captained a 12-man angling team which won the Bucks Angling association Championship on the Thames at Marlow in 1964.

The Fishing Association arranges matches, restocks waters if necessary and awards various trophies for match wins and specimen fish catches.
Bob Lock , Water Bailiff, awarding a trophy
The waters are watched over by a Water Bailiff, who is unpaid but has many powers. Click here to see the powers of the Water Bailiff
There was a bad period of pollution in the 1950's when neighbouring towns were being built up and this affected Newport's rivers. A pollutions officer was appointed. Fortunately the fish now seem to be thriving. A report from a local newspaper on 2 March 2000, stated that
a record pike weighing 34 pounds had been caught the previous Saturday from a flooded River Ouse in Newport Pagnell. The event was a pike qualifying match to select a British Team to fish in Ireland.