It’s the time of year when fishing inevitably takes a bit of a back seat. Hopefully the weather will allow us to be back out on the bank as soon as the festivities are over.
In the meantime, a brief round-up of news and some reminders:
Club Membership:
Firstly, something aimed at those of you who are not [yet] members and maybe thinking of joining. From 1st January 2025 we will be offering the remainder of the current year’s membership at HALF PRICE. That is £22-50 for Adults and £7-50 for Students [aged 12 to 18 years]. Register using Clubmate [the link on the ‘About Us – JoinUs’ page will take you there] and then select the relevant ‘Half-year membership’, which will take you through to the 31st May 2025.
Bordeaux Fish Stocking:
As most of you will be aware, we took delivery of a large number of silver fish at Bordeaux recently. We are still due a few more from our supplier. Hopefully fairly soon in the new year we will receive 100 Barbel and 120 Chub of 6 – 8 inches. We’ll let you all know when they arrive.
Predation Prevention:
We recently had a visit from the Angling Trust’s Regional Fishery Management Advisor, Jake Davoile. We were seeking his input primarily on the predation prevention measures we have in place, particularly with regard to Cormorants at Bordeaux. He was satisfied that we are doing pretty much all that we practically can do.
The existing floating cage fish sanctuaries, along with the recently planted water lilies will provide ‘in-water’ cover for fish to hide in, and to spawn in. The static gas gun, whilst a bit loud, is seen as an effective deterrent, along with the flapping hawk- shaped scarers on the poles. We will be adding a further one of these to the high bank at the island end of the lake. We also have a limited license which allows us to cull a small number of the birds. Inevitably, this will be being done when there is no-one about, for safety reasons.
Maintenance and Repairs;
The recent wet weather has once again begun to have an impact on a number of the pegs around the lake. In the coming months, as and when the weather permits, we will be undertaking some heavy-duty maintenance to build up some of the lower pegs and hopefully raise the banks in those areas that were inundated for so long last winter.
This will entail the use of a digger and dumper at times, which inevitably will cause some noise and disturbance. We will of course try to keep this to a minimum and will give you good notice when we are planning the work, as well as trying to keep as much of the lake open as possible. Any help on the days in question will of course be most welcome.
Post Christmas ‘Knock-up’ match:
Just a brief reminder that Fred Hunt has arranged a ‘Knock-up’ match for those of you wishing to take a break from the festivities. It is on SUNDAY 29th DECEMBER at Bordeaux Pit; draw 8-30 am. If interested, please sign up in the usual way on the Facebook post.
It just remains for us to wish all our Members, and those of you who follow our news and events, a very Happy Christmas and to extend our best wishes to you all for a peaceful, healthy and prosperous 2025.
The SWAC Committee
Saffron Walden Angling Club 