As it is that time of year for renewing club membership the committee thought it might be useful to have a brief recap of some of the events and highlights of the last year, to review where we are now and to look ahead to some of the plans for the future.
It has been a busy year for the club and the committee, with the help of several volunteers from the membership has been involved in a number of very visible projects at the club’s main venues.
- Bordeaux Pit Netting
- Tree Reduction Project
- Whittlesford Development
- Water Conditions
- Future Plans
- Members’ Fish Gallery
Bordeaux Pit Netting
To enable Bordeaux Pit to be netted, a significant amount of work was undertaken over several months, to clear away overhanging branches and semi-submersed obstructions to enable the netting to be effective.
On a cold and damp Wednesday in November, it was good to see the enthusiasm of several ordinary members and committee members help out Mainstream Fisheries [the contractor] both in the water and on the bank. Special mention should be made of Dinan Gunawardena and Graham Carter, who spent most of the day in the water, dragging the very heavy net around.
Typically, in most nettings perhaps 15-20% of the lake stock gets caught by the nets. This usually gives a good approximation of the head of carp and other fish in the lake. The netting showed our crucians stocked two years ago had easily doubled in size, and that there was a good mix of other fish including some very nice Perch, a few surprise Pike as well as some good-sized Tench and Bream and plenty of smaller silver fish fry. It was perhaps disappointing not to see more skimmers or decent sized roach, which may well be indicative of cormorant predation.
Twenty-five of the more damaged / stunted Carp [about 97 kilos or 213lbs in old money] were removed [and their value offset against the cost of the netting]. This was estimated to be about 10% of the head of Carp in the lake.
Tree Reduction Project
Shortly after the netting exercise, the club hired a 3.5 tonne ‘cherry picker’ and our in-house arborist used this whizzy machine to remove or ‘high coppice’ several damaged or over-hanging trees around the lake and in the carpark area. This was the culmination of a
long-term project to remove and thin out the excess trees around the lake. This has improved airflow around the lake and also reduced the amount of willow fluff this spring. The exercise entailed a huge amount of work by the whole team on the ground, as well as in the air, to clear and subsequently tidy and dispose of the removed branches and tree trunks. Sam Robinson and Dennis Gowlett coordinated the work and did a fantastic job. The very wet weather has delayed the removal of some of the fallen branches and trunks around pegs 32 and 33. Hopefully as things dry out a bit, this will be finalised.
Whittlesford Development
A huge amount of work has also been undertaken at Whittlesford [Longmoor Lake]. Historically the lake has always been very weedy and over recent summers there has been an on-going exercise to manually remove excess weed.
This year the committee decided to invest a significant amount of the club’s resources in de-silting the lake. The lake was closed for a period to allow for the preparation of the banks and access to allow a ‘digger-boat’, which over a week removed in excess of 150 tonnes of black silt and decaying weeds and deposited it carefully around the prepared banks. Lime was then added to balance the pH level of the water and generally ‘settle’ the lake down. Tony Holmes and his team of volunteers have put in many hours of effort, which already seems to be paying dividends. As with Bordeaux, the wet weather this winter has delayed the final clearing up, but with water levels now dropping, the banks are being firmed up, with a significant amount of new turf being laid.
Water Conditions
The water levels at Bordeaux are currently very high; the highest that many longer-term members can remember seeing. At the time of writing, the level seems to have dropped about four inches from the peak seen in about mid-April. Many of the prepared pegs are submerged and the banks and pathways are very wet. However, whilst a number of areas continue to be inaccessible, by being a bit creative about accessing the water around some pegs, plenty of good-sized carp are being caught if you are prepared to make the effort. In
particular, a number of top quality F1’s have been coming out of Bordeaux, with several over 10lb, with the heaviest tipping the scales at 11lb. The same is the case at Whittlesford, where some good catches of truly specimen quality carp are happening. A number of specimen bream have also been coming out recently. A few pictures of the recent captures are included below.
Future Plans
Looking to the future, the committee is working to develop a predation prevention plan to address the cormorant issue, particularly at Bordeaux. A longer-term project will also be to consider the otter-proofing of Whittlesford, especially given the quality of fish there. We are also looking to draw up a fish / stock management programme to allow for the improvement of silverfish and carp stocks at Bordeaux. It is intended to share details of this with members as these plans take shape.
In addition, some changes have been forced upon the club by the sad demise of a number of the tackle shops that used to sell our club books / memberships. We have decided to move to an on-line solution [Clubmate] for this year’s membership renewal. Details of how to access Clubmate appear in the ‘pinned post’ at the top of this page, as well as on the website.
The committee recognises that not everyone has access to the internet, or use of a Smartphone, so some workarounds have been arranged. Committee members will be at Bordeaux Pit on the 18th and 25th May [Saturdays] from 9.00 to 14-00 to issue club memberships to those that cannot do it online.
Members’ Fish Gallery
Finally, the committee feel it would be a good step in promoting our waters if we regularly post pictures of members’ catches both on Facebook and the club website. Please feel free to send your pictures to us [via Messenger]. Please ensure that any pictures follow good fish care principles. Always use an unhooking mat or cradle, and if holding fish, do not lift them too far above ground level – always keep the mat underneath them.
Committee members are regularly at the venues, either fishing or patrolling. They are always happy to engage with members and to hear your views and ideas. It is your club.
Saffron Walden Angling Club 