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FISHERY MANAGER'S MONTHLY REPORTS + MESSAGES

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Ockley Angling Society Newsletter 2010

Ockley angling society strives for club mark status!
From this autumn, Ockley Angling Society will be undergoing positive changes, to try and gain Sport England’s club mark status.
This is Angling Development Board’s accreditation scheme for clubs.
From this we will gain recognition of being a quality club. The award shows us as working towards providing a safe, effective and child friendly angling environment and will be acknowledged by County Sports Partnerships, Local Authorities and the Environment Agency as clubs with which to work with and support.
We will also be able to gain more access to additional funding opportunities, and the award sends a clear message to parents that the needs of children have been thoroughly considered and addressed.

Keep nets
Due to dropped water levels and low oxygen, the committee has decided to ban keep nets for the foreseeable future. This hopefully will only be for a short time.

Rules
The committee have noticed club rules are being broken from time to time. There will be checks so please make sure you abide by the club rules. You have been warned.

Island Lake Expansion Plans Approved
Works on the island lake have been approved subject to conditions and once met; we hope to commence work sometime during the winter months.
Work parties

In the latest work parties new racking was built within the compound. Peg 11 on the new lake was rebuilt and weed raking was carried out in many swims. The island lake swims were also trimmed.  We’d like to give many thanks to those who participated; your help was much appreciated.

Juniors

This season our coach will be trialling his new idea of junior angling fishing awards.
You will be able to gain awards at three different disciplines; pole, waggler and ledger/feeder, at the three different levels; bronze, silver and gold.

We would also like to give a big thanks to Apollo Angling and the owner Steve Moore for now sponsoring our junior matches, providing small goodie bags.
Apollo has two shops that supply your fishing needs, one at Marsh Farm Fisheries ( Tel: 01483 428 885) and the other in Byfleet ( Tel: 01932 355 100).

REPORT July 23rd 2010

Dear members, new and old,

A warm welcome to you all. A new season is well into its second month. The lakes are fishing very well with pleasure anglers having catches of up to 100lbs per session. Fish are being caught on all baits.

The New Lake is now producing good bags of silvers also bream up to 2.5 lbs, roach to 1.5 lbs, lots of carp in the 10-12 lb bracket plus larger fish up to 28lbs. The Island Lake is producing good bags of fish of all varieties being caught on all baits. Weavers fishing well in its nine fishable swims.

Once again I wish to thank everyone who attended work parties. I think you did a wonderful job and the lakes look spectacular.

Message from your Fisheries Manager 2009 - Glynn Reeves

Once again a New Season is upon us. A very warm welcome to all Members old & new and your guests.  Yet again the Membership Fees have not altered “What great value for a Great Venue” A note of caution that all Members are responsible for their guests, may I suggest that you ask them to spend a few minutes before fishing to read the Rules which are posted on the notice boards at the top of the car park, anyone found breaking these rules will have their membership card taken away and dismissed from the club waters straight away, there will be no second chances, also all Guest Tickets must be got before fishing.

This year we have rebuilt 2 disabled swims on the New Lake, pegs 33 & 34 and on the Island Lake pegs 4 &19. If you are fishing these please give the swim up for the disabled member, all these swims are wheelchair accessable, if you are disabled and you need help or find you cannot make it to another swim please ask someone to help you.

This season I would like your co-operation, we have built and erected a large cage holding net in between swims 1 & 34, this is for any fish with bad mouths. Please keep these fish in your keep net until the end of your session (nets will be provided if you do not have one). All fish will then be sorted and some will go into the stock pond to breed and the remainder taken to another pond where we hope they will recover and breed. Fish taken out will be replaced with new stock in Oct/Nov. Also dip tanks will be in every swim, this take contains a solution of special salt, please dip the fish for 20 seconds, this is for the benefit of the fishery and welfare of the fish. This year to try and minimise the bad mouth situation all fish over half a pound must be landed by net, no hauling them out the water, if in doubt just net it!
This must also be adhered to for all matches as well!
Matches this year will look quite interesting with 7 new venues to fish at, so please book early for these matches. The Junior matches this year are on Saturdays with 5 in total medals and cups to be won, so come along you Juniors and show us your skills. OAP’s matches are on Wednesdays from 1st Oct – 31st Mar.

Now on to the work parties, once again the numbers of members turning up to give the club 3hrs of their time, once a year, to help maintain the fishery is disgusting. I know a lot of you think “ Oh its not worth it, I will pay the tenner”, well if everyone thought like that the fishery would go to rack and ruin. Our Fishery is one of the best and cleanest water around and the Committee has put in hours and hours of hard work to keep this in top condition, more help is needed on these work parties to make it even better. But owing to poor support to work parties this year work will be ongoing during the season and parts of the lakes will be closed off . Mid season work will start during Aug/Sept, please see the notice boards and web site for details.
I hope you have a very pleasant year and catch plenty of fish, have a nice season and tight lines.

                                            Glyn Reeves. (Fisheries Manager)

REPORT FOR AUGUST 2009 -

Another month gone by. The lakes are still fishing very well. Fishing in New Lake has slowed down a little now that night temperatures are dropping but still plenty of fish being caught on all baits. Last week one of our members had a suberb bag of 25 - 30 lbs of good sized bream - Well Done. (see photo opposite) The Island Lake is still producing good sized tench of up to 4lbs, also, other species being caught.

The mid-season work parties have now finished. Thank you to anyone who gave up their time. All the work which required doing has been completed.

Once again I must remind members who bring guests are to make sure they read the rules and abide by them.

I am pleased that a lot more juniors are coming fishing with Mum, Dad, Grandma and Grandad. More ladies are coming fishing. This club is now becoming a really happy family club and I hope that it will continue to do so.

Tight Lines Glyn Reeves.

REPORT FOR JULY 2009 -

The fishing is still great. New Lake is fishing well on all swims, plenty of carp around 8-10lbs, good bags of silver up to 30lbs of bream, roach and rudd. Fish taken on all baits.

The Island Lake is fishing really well. You can catch on all baits, with light tackle such as 4lb line and 16-14 hooks.

Juniors are doing really well in their matches. The last Junior Match on New Lake was won with a weight of 79lbs, well done Mark Sharpless. So come on you juniors and attend these matches. Medals and prizes are awarded on the day.

Weavers has now got the go ahead to fish. I wish to thank you for the cooperation you have given me regarding fish with bad mouths. So far 70 fish have been taken out, please keep it up.

Mid season working parties will take place every Saturday morning during August ( dates: 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th) This work will be split over the 4 weeks. Swims will be shut down whilst the work is going on.

Any member wishing to attend is always welcome.

Have a nice day and I hope you catch plenty of fish - tight lines.

Glyn Reeves.

Message From The Chairman 2010
Welcome to a new season.
The AGM as usual was attended by the hardy few.  There were a few rule changes so please read your new rule sheet that was sent with your 2010 membership cards.
Mick Sharpless has taken the post of Match Secretary, please support him in this first year. All places on matches must be booked by Friday by calling Mick, details are on your fixture list.
The close season work parties have been very well attended with Glyn delegating members with various tasks. Trees have been topped to reduce water absorption, swims have been rebuilt, paths repaired, Ray Fisher’s memorial bench has been erected, the entrance road repaired, the stock pond emptied ready for redevelopment, a fenced compound erected to keep tools & equipment tidy along with many other jobs. If you have not attended a work party, shame on you. You will not recognise the place.
The fish feeding program through the winter has kept the fish in excellent condition. We will again place the cage in the corner by swim 1. Anyone catching a fish with a bad mouth please place it in here.
We have now signed a lease for Weavers and are waiting on solicitors to finalise the lease on the New Lake. Once we have the lease signed we will start the redevelopment of the Island. The committee are still looking for land or waters to buy or rent without success.
I would like to thank all the committee who have worked tirelessly throughout the year for their dedication to the club. I would also like to thank all the members who participated in the various work parties helping to keep our fishery one of the best & most talked about in the region.
Remember no membership card no fishing. Please obtain an EA rod licence before fishing. The committee recommend using only 1 rod. Please make your guests aware of the club rules before they arrive. Better prepared.
Any member with issues or questions or ideas please ask a committee member or e-mail us & we will do our best to answer your questions.
Finally Glyn will open the gates at 6am on the first day of the new season. No fishing before this time.
Thank you all for supporting the club.
Gone fishing.
Robert Wyatt Chairman.

Web Editor's Report presented at the 2009 AGM

The website has ticked over steadily this year with no dramatic changes but, nevertheless, an up to date presence on the web.
MATCH RESULTS:
These have been regularly up dated and members on the mailing list have been notified.  The reports are merely the statistics.  The occasional written report on a match would add to the interest.  This addition might even encourage more members to have a go.
DESIGN;
Pretty much as before with the addition of an attractive logo.  I am considering tidying up the navigation buttons on the site ( those little tatty fish at the top!)
PHOTOS:
I hope that any photos sent to me have made an appearance in the photo section ( if not please let me know)  Many of the photos are from committee members.  I am sure there are plenty more out there; please send so that the web can make you famous!!  Several people provide a short caption which adds to the interest.  Those that don’t risk my attempts to provide (a sometimes rude) addition.  I have tidied this section up recently and moved the photos of juniors to another section.
NEW JUNIOR SECTION:
At last I have made a start on this area.  It includes old photos of juniors plus several new ones.  This could be a useful area that might attract more juniors into the club.  Any comments or suggestions would be welcome. 
LINKS:
A few have been added.  I have many more which need to be added when I tidy up this section.  From time to time people write to me requesting they add our website link to their websites.
MAILING LIST:
Those on the list are routinely informed of the latest changes.  If you would like to join the list, please email me -  d.towler@blueyonder.co.uk
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS?
I am happy to develop new sections but it will rely on other members providing me with the information.  Don’t worry about your style of writing or anything like this as I will try my best to present it in an acceptable way.  Just notes would be OK.

Finally, above all else, please visit the site at www.ockleyanglingsociety.org.uk  We can have a website which just gives us a presence on the web or we can try to develop a site which informs and encourages members and potential members  to visit for interest and useful information.

Dave Towler – Web Editor