COMMENTS PAGE with LOST & FOUND at the bottom of the page
This page is for Members comments, if you wish to have your comments viewed publicly then write to the General Secretary (address to be found in your members hand book) or email: malcolmmilfordscott@hotmail.com - The CALPAC Committee reserve the right to edit all missives
This Article has been circulated to CALPAC for us to try and reach as many anglers as possible that hit our website it is in your long term interest to read and show other anglers the problems that lie ahead if we (the angling community) don’t back our one and only ANGLING BODY the ANGLING TRUST.
Subject: Another View of Angling Trust.
This from the Ribble Fisheries Conservation Group.
What do ostriches and anglers have in common? They both have a
reputation for sticking their heads in the sand while a 40-ton
juggernaught comes up the rear end.
Let me mention just three 40 tonners that we as anglers are struggling
with at the moment both nationally and locally. As always pollution
is a problem in all its forms and coping with it takes manpower and
money, which is in short supply. Next, we have small-scale hydro
projects, which are springing up everywhere, including on the River
Thames. Thirdly, we have the problem of canoes and their push for
unrestricted access to our rivers at no cost.
What do anglers do in the face of these problems? They stick their
heads in the sand and of course they whinge.
Does anyone think if faced with such threats the RSPB would stick
their head in the sand? No, they would mobilise their one million
members and bring concerted pressure to bear on politicians.
There are 1.86 million active anglers and we should be the most
powerful lobby group but instead politicians and polluters rely on
angler apathy and ignore us. At long last anglers had a chance of
fighting their weight with the introduction of one angling body in the
Angling Trust. Here was an organisation that could represent all of
us and speak with real authority and Government would have to listen.
What do anglers do, nothing? Less than 1% of the 1.86 million anglers
have joined the Angling Trust so already the AT has to lay people off
and scale back its activities.
What a message to send to Government, the polluters, the hydro
developers, the canoeists. It?s all right chaps, we can do what we
want since the anglers won?t do anything, they are just ostriches.
What?s wrong with you anglers, for the price of a few pints of maggots
or a fly box you could join an organisation, which is willing to fight
for you and protect what we want to do. By the way they give you free
liability insurance too - all for £20. It?s not to late, join the
Angling Trust and do something to lose the ostrich and whinging tag.
IT IS UP TO YOU!
You can sign up at http://anglingtrust.net and encourage all the anglers you know to do the same.
Michael Heylin
Secretary
Colne Valley Anglers Consultative
Working for fisheries and anglers in the River Colne Catchment
http://anglingtrust.net
Hi Malcolm (25/07/09)
I thought it might be wise for you to put a message on the website about people being wary of leaving tackle unattended at Padworth. Whilst I was there on thursday someone stole my Drennan Super specialist Barbel rod and Okuma Sheffield centrepin reel.
This happened whilst myself and my cousin wandered downstream to watch my son trotting for silverfish. I spoke to Rob the bailiff who was there fishing with a friend and they had seen the culprit with the rod and reel but obviously did not realise that he had just stolen it. They described him as aged between 40 - 50 and bald which at least makes the youth of today feel better as they cannot be tarnished by this despicable act.
I know this is totally out of character for Padworth because it is normally such a safe environment, but people need to be aware now that if this man has done it once he will possibly return for some more easy pickings.
On a lighter note, both my cousin and I landed Barbel, one for myself and 2 for him, and my son had some roach and chub trotting and using the block end feeder.
kind regards
Dean
Message from head bailiff Padworth (01/07/09)
Just thought i would inform u of yesterday
was fishin last night and had some good fishin however 1 barb of 12lb that i had took me over 2 hours to get him back this is clearly due to the heat and low oxygen in the water i think u should put this on the website to worn people to be very aware of the issue otherwise we could result in fish deaths.
Hi Malcolm (30/06/09)
I forgot to say in my last email that I found a pair of sunglasses in the Alders Swim at Padworth on saturday, I have attached a photo for you to add to the lost and found section. I am happy to post them to whoever has lost them.
regards Dean: contact dean at Dean Hawkins (zapparelli@hotmail.co.uk)
Hi Malcolm
Thought you may like to add this to the site.
My First Work Party
We all accept that old cliche 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' well having joined CALPAC last season, I thought it was my chance to offer something back for all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes of our wonderful fishing club. Imagine my surprise and delight when I turned up for the River Mole work party to be confronfronted by some very friendly people and one of the most glorious stretches of river I have had the good fortune to come across.
Yes the work was quite hard given the combination of very hot weather and a rather overgrown riverbank, but to get a chance to share in the shaping of a fishery, something of which very few of us are ever going to manage to own ourselves, was a very fulfilling experience. I am most certainly looking forward to fishing both the stretch of the Mole and other CALPAC fisheries this year, and also I can say without fear of hesitation my chance to share in the refurbishment of another fishery next year.
Tight Lines
Dean Hawkins (Member)
Central Association of London and Provincial Angling Clubs
AFFILIATED TO A.C.A. & B.C.A.A. ESTABLISHED 1879
Web site: www.calpac.info
NEWS LETTER
April 2009
Hello to ALL Members.
This News Letter will be going out with your books to all members who have renewed and to all new members.
Do not forget that your renewal form will be found on page 51 of season 09/10 book – please use this form to renew for season 2010/2011.
The Fisheries Officer Mark Andrews is in the process of negotiating a stillwater with the Spelthorne Council near Staines. Spelthorne Council look like that they are ready to give up the ghost because of all the various bodies that are lobbying with their particular gripe. – CALPAC are fighting hard with the EA to stave off these groups but it is an uphill struggle. The stupid thing is that Spelthorne Council approached CALPAC with the suggestion that CALPAC control the pond from the angling side as they had had good reports from Epsom Ewell Council that CALPAC were doing a good job with the Stew Pond!!
The General Secretary is putting out feelers in the Elmbridge Council looking for stretches of the Mole. As of yet no reply. – Will have to go knocking on someone’s door during the close season.
We have had reports that there has been a bailiff at Balls Green selling day tickets – these waters are for members only and therefore no day tickets are required. If you are fishing at this venue and are approached by a “Bailiff” who is selling day tickets, demand to see his warrant card and take a note of his name and / or confiscate the card and send to me the General Secretary, address to be found inside the front cover of your book. This goes for ALL Members Only Venues – Also demand to see the Bailiffs ID on Day Ticket Waters – If in doubt report immediately.
I would like to thank ALL the members who replied to my whinge about reports of our venues and I am unashamedly repeating it again as there were not enough responses. – There is a report page on our web site www.calpac.info which tends to work with only certain browsers – I’m looking for a fix so if the report page does not seem to work for you then can you send it in by normal email.
>>Unfortunately our Members / Officers seem very reticent in reporting their captures on their days outings, so we are not able to advertise how well our waters are performing, and because of this we do not get the new members we should. Existing members don’t try different CALPAC venues because they don’t want a wasted journey, if they don’t know how a water is fishing because no one is reporting their catches, CALPAC then can’t advertise to the members how well their waters are performing, so they do not renew their membership and CALPAC gets considerably less revenue and may have to give up good waters because CALPAC can’t afford the increased rentals. So it is up to you the MEMBER to assist CALPAC by reporting your catches on the various venues so CALPAC can entice new members. To report you can call John Bygrave 020 8777 9489 or Malcolm Milford-Scott 020 8645 6820 or email malcolmmilfordscott@hotmail.com You can visit our web site at www.calpac.info and on the contacts page you will find all the necessary contact names and numbers.<<
During the ‘Close’ season there will be various work parties on all our waters ALL help will be most appreciated and to find the nearest water to your address and the dates for the work parties call the Fisheries Officers Mark Andrews on 07740986464. Most major clubs make doing a work party a part of the membership agreement but we at CALPAC think that 1 volunteer is worth 10 pressed men. So please volunteer, there is a light hearted attitude and nearly always some form of refreshment to be found at the work parties.
The Stew Pond – De-Silting News.
The EA sent in a team of surveyors during January and they were hampered in more ways than one by the pond being frozen over to a depth of 5 cm which made it impossible to do the underwater part of the survey. The banks and margins were finally surveyed and the team gave up as it was too impracticable to break the ice and guide the boat in a straight line so that the depths could be obtained in an exact grid pattern. After a few days of thawing the pond was ready to be surveyed by boat this was finally accomplished by 20th Jan and all the data collected (by a super duper GPS theodolite) was downloaded to the engineers department and with this information will be able to determine how much silt can be removed and where it can be moved to, to make new islands for the fish to have refuge and to break up the direct line of casting to the other side of the pond.
CALPAC with the EA had a meeting with Epsom – Ewell Council and the Rangers with a Rep from Natural England, in February, a wish list was drawn up and the EA took away the wish list and have started to act on it in a most positive way, it was mainly de-silting, restoring the reedbed island with anti cormorant refuges, re-sculpturing the banks and pollarding the trees to help eliminate the detritus that is deposited in the pond by the autumn leaves, the overflow from the Great Pond will have to be modified to make it into a working silt trap and the old drainage trench from the Great Pond will be planted with reeds after examination by the boffins to find out why there is a ferrite (rust) deposit.
We have had some notable catches at the end of the 2008 / 2009 season one a 18lb 4oz Pike caught by Terry Edmeades at Skeynes Farm a member of the Edmeades clan, father Dave sent in the details.
Padworth is reported as being busy at the end of the season, so looks like it will be most productive at the start of the new one – don’t forget night permits are available for Padworth still only £35 for the season, or you can get one for Stew Pond + Manor Pond for £35 or ALL THREE for £50 – First come first served!!! So don’t be at the back of the queue. Apply via the Members Secretary Denise Wheeler, address can be found inside the front cover of your book
We also had a nice Barbel 12lb 8oz landed by Trevor Spindler at Padworth on a forage with a couple of his mates who also landed Barbel and Chub at the end of February.
(8/3/09)Just to let you know 2 of us had a good day at Padworth today, 6 Barbel between us. I had a 5lb, 6lb08oz and 6lb02oz and lost 2 to hook pulls, the friend I was with had a 3lb, 5lb and 6lb Barbel plus a Dace of about 8oz. Best regards Trevor.
I will have to eventually cull some of the fish photos on the web site as they are taking up a lot of space (memory wise) to make room for the new photos that you good members will be sending me!!
By sending photos of your catches you must send details of the venue, date, time and membership number you can opt out of having your name accredited to the photo by just requesting that you remain ANON. You can even have you face pixilated out if you so wish!
EA Rod Licences run from 1st April to 31st March Note! You must have one to fish any CALPAC waters.
CALPAC Permits also run from 1st April to 31st March.