December 2022 News

It is amazing to see the amount of fish still being caught even though we are now in December. Over 270lb of fish were caught by just 12 anglers in a match at Decoy on 27 November. However it has turned a bit chilly !!!!  in the last couple of weeks  so things will change and it will be time to visit the rivers.

Christmas Competition

Like a lot of the local ponds More House Farm was frozen solid after the recent icy spell and despite the best efforts of a number of our members the ice could not be broken and the Christmas Competition had to be called off. 

As if that wasn’t bad enough the venue for the after match meal and trophy presentation had a burst pipe so they also contacted us to cancel our booking. The trophies which would have been presented at the post match meal have all been engraved so as it may be difficult to reschedule the Christmas Match, if you want your trophy please contact Steve Pead to arrange collection from him. 

The only plus about the severe conditions is that the fish have had a bit of a breather from the winter cormorants.

Fish Stocking update

A question was raised at the AGM which suggested that we should consider stocking some alternative species of fish in order to improve the winter fishing on some of our still waters. In particular we were asked if either ide or bream could be put into Decoy lake as it was a bit difficult to catch in winter   (really? …….see above ).

In order to stock fish into any of our waters we must ensure that we have the necessary paperwork and specifically we can only stock fish which are stated on the “site permit”. Every one of our waters has one of these which lists the fish which can be stocked. As neither bream or ide were on the existing site permit for Decoy we contacted the Environment Agency to have both species added along with a couple of other updates.

It is good news and bad news. Ide are not viewed as a native species so in order for us to stock them we would have to put in fish screens at the inlet and outlet of Decoy. We met with a representative of the Environment Agency on site, who confirmed that we did not have screens in place. It is not practical to put these in as they would be blocked with debris on a regular basis. The bottom line is that we will not be stocking ide into Decoy. On the plus side they were happy to add bream to the site permit. 

We must follow the set procedures,(1) to preserve our excellent ongoing relationship  with the Environment Agency and (2) there are severe fines for illegal stocking of fish. Plus we must ensure we obtain any fish form reputable sources to avoid the introduction of disease.

As a result of all this, after making enquiries to local fish farms, we have ordered 500 small bream to go into Decoy and as the crucians are getting on a bit we have also ordered 500 crucian carp to introduce fresh stock. These are in addition to the 500 crucian carp donated by the Environment Agency which went into George Cragg and Badgers Wood  – see November news for full details. The new fish will be delivered in the New Year.

100 Club

As mentioned in last month’s news the December draw was won by Stuart Williamson.

It just remains to say, on behalf of the Committee have a good Christmas and New Year and hope you get everything you want for Christmas.