June 2023 News

Closed Season

As you know the rivers open on 16 June and in anticipation the maintenance team went down to the Cemetery Wood stretch of the Adur to create a number of swims and tidy up the access to the river. We picked the hottest day of the year so far but managed to create 15 swims with clear access from the public footpath.

Although it looks very tempting following our efforts, a word of warning. It was very noticeable that as result of the recent lack of rain and also possibly the removal of boards from the weir downstream the water levels are extremely low. We reckon that it is at least 4 foot down from winter levels which has resulted in large chunks of the bank falling into the river as there is no water pressure to hold them up.

Without coming across “all nanny state” the remaining banks are somewhat  unstable in places so I wouldn’t get too close to the edge of the river and as we have mentioned before would highly recommend the use of an INFLATABLE LIFE JACKET when fishing the rivers. 

As we have done before we will not be strimming Wineham , either side of the bridge, or Hamsey for those of you who like natural/wild fishing.

Decoy pond

We paid a visit to Decoy recently to try and tidy up around the island at the far end of the lake. It seems a number of anglers have been losing tackle around the island. We spent a morning tidying up the overhanging branches but most of the problem are because of submerged tree roots so a word of warning – the edges of the islands look far more accessible following the cutting back of the overhanging branches but I wouldn’t get too close to the islands as the roots are still there.

Ironically we couldn’t get to the area where one angler had lost a number of feeders because the fallen tree which was the culprit was occupied by a number of angry bees. 

Owners’ complaints and Club Rules

Since the start of the season we have had a number of complaints from landowners at Wildings, Masons and Oldmans relating to members’ activities. I will not go over them again as we have sent a number of all-user mails advising members.

We have also had a couple of instances where members have been found in breach of club rules. For example:

1. Dogs are not permitted on club waters (apart from assistance dogs). 
2. Only two rods are permitted between 1 April and 30 September.
3. Rods must not be left unattended.

Whilst we do not expect members to have a photographic memory of all the club rules we would ask that you at least have a quick look through (via the club website) as it will avoid any awkward conversations with the club bailiffs. You will also find details of how to access our club water, parking etc . We do not want to lose any club waters because someone has parked his car in the wrong place (i.e. in front of a farmer’s gate etc) or driven through a muddy field following one of the wettest springs on record.

Having said that we haven’t had any decent rain for at least 4 weeks so if you see any fish in distress please let us know as we have a pump which we can use to aerate the lakes.

Frylands ponds update

The ponds are now open following the upgrade to the track . Many thanks to the owners for carrying this out.

100 Club

The next meeting is in July when we will make the draw for June and July