Park Members Eve of Season Note

New fishing stations, funding award, peg work & rule reminder : email to Park Members 15/06.

Dear Park Member,

This email is to remind you of an important rule & to inform you of some ongoing work on the river bank.

I am sure you are all eager for the start of the season on the 16th June.

We have been out on the river bank many times during the close season & have sprayed the Giant Hog Weed, Japanese Knotweed & removed several Willow tree branches that have fallen over known fishing pegs. In the last few days we have been out with brushcutters & opened up 8 known fishing pegs & access to them. These pegs are on the right bank downstream from Lumley bridge.

We take this opportunity to remind you that no member is allowed to dig out the bankside to make fishing pegs. Invariably, unauthorised digging results in excessive bankside erosion. To prevent this unauthorised digging we applied for grant money from the FIP’s fund, (Fishery Improvement Plan). We were successful with our application & will use the money, along with a very generous donation bequeathed to the Club after the passing of one of its original members, Mr. William Thwaites, to fund the initial installation of 6 ‘fishing stations’.

As per EA Regulations, we are not allowed to install platforms as nothing is allowed to protrude out from the riverbank. We also needed to obtain permission from our Riparian of this beat in order to carry out the work. That is why members must not dig out the river bank nor cut down trees without prior permission.

Members will be informed when we are about to install the fishing stations. These will be a simple affair with the design specified by the EA. Treated wooden posts will be put into the river bank near to water level then a low kick board will be fastened to it, to create a level area. It has yet to be decided if this area will have hardcore or just left with soil to grass over.

All of the bankside work is done on a voluntary basis. We need you, the members, to help us carry out bankside works & maintenance. If we don’t get volunteers, the work won’t get done. On a lighter note, in the past we have had to tell members who have complained about many things not being done, that we are not psychic! If you see things that might need doing to improve the access to fishing, things that might need repairing, have ideas to improve the facilities etc, or maybe have thoughts on new sites for fishing access areas, please inform the Committee via email cdacemail@gmail.com

Finally, we would like to ask all members to keep a catch return record & to make these available at the end of each season. The records can be used to keep an eye on the health of the river & the fish stock levels. They can also be useful if we need to request fish to be stocked into the river. Should a fishkill / pollution incident ever occur they will also be useful in providing evidence of former fish stocks. We hope to get some kind of catch return book made to hand out to members in the very near future or if any of you already use one, please let us know so we can copy it & distribute it to others.

Regards

The Committee