Originally we had planned to hold a friendly fish-in against our neighbours from PAC's South Lancs. Region at Tatton Park two days after Christmas. However,the ice and snow put paid to the plan and so we re-scheduled the event to take place at Wyreside Lakes a month later.
Unfortunately the Cheshire Region fielded only 3 anglers; Roy Garton and Andy and Carol Bates. I had planned to spend the day lure fishing but decided not to bother because the fishery wanted to charge me £14 for two rods when only had one in my possession. Not only did the magnificent 3 fail to catch, I spent the day feeling very cold and fed up indeed.
The South Lancs. Region fared better with 8 anglers turning up to fish and several pike caught (biggest a 16 pounder). The R.A.9/R.A.31 Challenge Cup was therefore won by the South Lancs. Region. Next year we will have to do better !
On my arrival home I wrote to the fishery manager and complained that it was unfair to charge pike anglers for a minimum of two rods as this discriminates against lure anglers (similarly the same tariff for carp anglers discriminates against anyone wishing to stalk fish with 1 rod). I received a nice reply informing me that the fishery has now restored the opportunity for pike and carp anglers to buy a single rod ticket for £7. I'm pleased some good has come of my letter.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
2010 Looking ahead
The big freeze put pike fishing on hold for everyone throughout early January but now we are free of ice once again we can begin to look forward to the year ahead.
Unfortunately our January meeting had to be cancelled because the roads were so trecherous but Gary Knowles has kindly offered to come and present his slide show in the autumn. Steve Ormrod has also provisionally agreed to come and talk to us later in the year.
PAC Secretary Graham Slater will be our guest speaker at the February meeting (Thursday 11th) with John Milford to follow in March (Thursday 11th). Our final slide show for this season is in April when we have a mystery guest speaker. I don't want to give away too much information about this as this involves a personal friend who rarely gives talks these days and doesn't want to be swamped with requests from elsewhere. All I will say is that that none of our remaining meetings should be missed.
I plan to organize some more fish-ins for members but, with only 3 turning up to the last one I have to ask myself if it's all worthwhile ? It's very disappointing to have around 80 PAC members living in the Cheshire area but less than a dozen turning up to meetings; with even fewer attending fish-ins. Perhaps members would like to give me some feedback and let me know why they aren't supporting their Regional Association ?
Unfortunately our January meeting had to be cancelled because the roads were so trecherous but Gary Knowles has kindly offered to come and present his slide show in the autumn. Steve Ormrod has also provisionally agreed to come and talk to us later in the year.
PAC Secretary Graham Slater will be our guest speaker at the February meeting (Thursday 11th) with John Milford to follow in March (Thursday 11th). Our final slide show for this season is in April when we have a mystery guest speaker. I don't want to give away too much information about this as this involves a personal friend who rarely gives talks these days and doesn't want to be swamped with requests from elsewhere. All I will say is that that none of our remaining meetings should be missed.
I plan to organize some more fish-ins for members but, with only 3 turning up to the last one I have to ask myself if it's all worthwhile ? It's very disappointing to have around 80 PAC members living in the Cheshire area but less than a dozen turning up to meetings; with even fewer attending fish-ins. Perhaps members would like to give me some feedback and let me know why they aren't supporting their Regional Association ?
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Bridgewater Canal fish-in 15/11/09.
For several years now Geoff Gauton has arranged an annual 'Pike Fishing for Beginners' event in conjunction with Warrington Anglers Association. This provides an opportunity for those who are new to the sport to spend some time fishing with our members. We take the view that pike conservation is far better served by helping beginners ensure that they are using safe rigs and have the means to unhook and return pike safely, than it would be to leave them to their own devices.
This season's event on the Bridgewater Canal was a great success, with nine PAC members and eleven Warrington AA members taking part. There were two pike of 13 lbs. caught, along with three more fish around the 7 lb. mark; all taken on deadbaits. Yours truly weighed in with another three jacks, all taken on Salmo Slider jerkbaits.
The real success of the event is perhaps best measured by the extent to which it helped those who were new to pike angling. Warrington AA member Gary Poulter brought his sons Chris and Tim to the fish-in and, a week later, I was delighted to receive an e-mail from him reporting that Tim had now caught his first pike. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words and the smile on Tim's face really says it all. Very well done Tim.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Canal specimen for Peter
Canals can often be a daunting prospect, with mile after mile of murky water and relatively little in the way of features. However, the rewards are there if you are prepared to make the effort, as Peter Mancey shows with this well deserved specimen from a canal in the Cheshire area. Well done Peter.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Fish-ins 2009 / 10 Season (update)
The season's first fish-in on the River Weaver produced 2 pike for Dan Crowe (caught on popped up dead roach) and 1 for Mark Leathwood who also caught a nice bonus perch (both fish on livebaits). None of the pike were monsters unfortunately. Andy Bates, Neil Shortland and Mark Johnson also fished but the conditions on the day were pretty bad with a strong south easterly wind howling downstream. The river never seems to fish well when this happens. Excuses, excuses ...
I can now confirm that the joint fish-in with R.A.31 will be at Tatton Park on Sunday 27th December 2009. There is a peg fee of £5.00 per angler and places are limited. Please contact me a.s.a.p. to reserve your peg.
According to Gary Knowles these events were "never much of a match" as the old St. Helens Region always used to kick our behinds. Come on Cheshire Region members, that sounds like a challenge ...
I can now confirm that the joint fish-in with R.A.31 will be at Tatton Park on Sunday 27th December 2009. There is a peg fee of £5.00 per angler and places are limited. Please contact me a.s.a.p. to reserve your peg.
According to Gary Knowles these events were "never much of a match" as the old St. Helens Region always used to kick our behinds. Come on Cheshire Region members, that sounds like a challenge ...
Sunday, September 27, 2009
More details for this season now confirmed
I can now confirm that the fish-in for members on Petty Pool will take place on Sunday 29th November 2009. Please contact me to reserve your place as pegs are limited.
I am also delighted to report that Gary Knowles and John Milford have agreed to do talks and slideshows for us. Gary is a very accomplished all round specimen angler, based in the North West. He will be giving us a valuable insight into how he targets big pike, perch and eels. John is a past chairman of both PAC and the Lure Anglers Society, now based in Derbyshire. He has been at the forefront of lure angling in the UK for more than 25 years and has enjoyed great success in targeting a variety of species.
Finally, the joint fish-in with our friends from PAC's South Lancs. Region looks set to take place at Tatton Park sometime between Christmas and New Year. I will post the exact date as soon as this is confirmed.
I am also delighted to report that Gary Knowles and John Milford have agreed to do talks and slideshows for us. Gary is a very accomplished all round specimen angler, based in the North West. He will be giving us a valuable insight into how he targets big pike, perch and eels. John is a past chairman of both PAC and the Lure Anglers Society, now based in Derbyshire. He has been at the forefront of lure angling in the UK for more than 25 years and has enjoyed great success in targeting a variety of species.
Finally, the joint fish-in with our friends from PAC's South Lancs. Region looks set to take place at Tatton Park sometime between Christmas and New Year. I will post the exact date as soon as this is confirmed.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Melchett Mere
For a number of years I have been aware that The Builder’s Arms Angling Club, based in Knutsford, holds a couple of pike fishing matches annually on Melchett Mere which is a small water on the Tatton Park Estate.
During the summer I decided to contact the Tatton Park Estate with a view to trying to gain an additional day’s pike fishing on Melchett Mere for members of PAC's Cheshire Region.
Initially I made contact by telephone and was advised that the venue was a S.S.S.I. and that limited pike fishing was only allowed as a means of gauging the overall health and population of the fish stocks; pike being an ‘indicator species’ because of their role within the overall ecology of the Mere.
On August 17th 2009 I wrote to Simon Jones, the ranger at Tatton Park, acknowledging the conditions which I had been advised of, and requesting consideration be given to allowing a single day’s fishing for our members on Melchett Mere.
In his reply, dated August 28th, Simon stated:
“Unfortunately it is impossible, due to the constraints laid down by English Nature, to allow more than two matches per year on the water”.
He went on to add:
“The matches that are held are only allowed as they are open qualifying matches for the British Pike Fishing Championships, and this is the only reason they have taken place for the last twenty years plus”. Simon suggested that I “contact Mr. S. Buckley at The Builder’s Arms to gain places on these qualifying matches”.
I was rather surprised by this response because, to the best of my knowledge, open qualifying events for the British Pike Championships are always advertised in the angling press and I had never seen Melchett Mere listed as one of the venues.
The British Pike Championships are now run under the auspices of the Angling Trust, and so I checked the full list of qualifying matches on their website. The Builder’s Arms’ matches were simply not listed.
I contacted Sandra Drew, the Events and Competitions Manager at the Angling Trust, who said
"I do not know of any qualifiers that are held on that particular venue unless it is coming under a different venue name that we hold or are aware of.
... (the) Angling Trust must know about (qualifiers) as they are managed by us and any funds raised have to be returned to AT by the local organizers, who we have details of".
I replied to Simon on September 21st, pointing out my suspicions and questioning how The Builder’s Arms’ matches could possibly be “open qualifiers” if they were not advertised as such, along with all the similar events which were taking place around the country.
I suggested that, if only two days pike fishing were allowed on the venue, then a compromise might be reached by allowing Cheshire Region PAC one day and The Builder's Arms the other.
Simon’s response to this, in a letter dated 6th October, has been to put a stop to all pike fishing on Melchett Mere whilst the situation is reviewed.
I understand The Builders Arms A.C. have been advised of this and, subsequently I have been on the receiving end of some fairly hostile criticism. Let me make a few things clear:
My only agenda has been to try and secure Cheshire Region PAC one day’s fishing on Melchett Mere in future years. I have no interest in the British Pike Championships, or in pike matches in general.
The decision to stop pike fishing on Melchett Mere seems to have been made because the management of the Tatton Estate were under the impression that the matches which were being run were open qualifiers for the British Pike Championships. Clearly there is now a question mark over that.
I have now been told that the Builders Arms A.C. didn't advertise their matches for the following reasons:
The pike fishing has now been stopped, not because of anything that I have said or done, but because the Builders Arms A.C. clearly wasn't running the matches in accordance with the wishes of the Tatton Park Estate management. That is the Builders Arms A.C.'s fault, not mine !
In his letter Simon Jones did say that the situation would be reviewed, and I would suggest that the way forward is to negotiate some kind of compromise which allows fairer access to Melchett Mere for all pike anglers.
Membership of PAC is open to everyone, including members of the Builders Arms A.C. and I sincerely hope that, in due course, everyone will have an equal opportunity to enjoy a day’s pike fishing at Melchett Mere.
During the summer I decided to contact the Tatton Park Estate with a view to trying to gain an additional day’s pike fishing on Melchett Mere for members of PAC's Cheshire Region.
Initially I made contact by telephone and was advised that the venue was a S.S.S.I. and that limited pike fishing was only allowed as a means of gauging the overall health and population of the fish stocks; pike being an ‘indicator species’ because of their role within the overall ecology of the Mere.
On August 17th 2009 I wrote to Simon Jones, the ranger at Tatton Park, acknowledging the conditions which I had been advised of, and requesting consideration be given to allowing a single day’s fishing for our members on Melchett Mere.
In his reply, dated August 28th, Simon stated:
“Unfortunately it is impossible, due to the constraints laid down by English Nature, to allow more than two matches per year on the water”.
He went on to add:
“The matches that are held are only allowed as they are open qualifying matches for the British Pike Fishing Championships, and this is the only reason they have taken place for the last twenty years plus”. Simon suggested that I “contact Mr. S. Buckley at The Builder’s Arms to gain places on these qualifying matches”.
I was rather surprised by this response because, to the best of my knowledge, open qualifying events for the British Pike Championships are always advertised in the angling press and I had never seen Melchett Mere listed as one of the venues.
The British Pike Championships are now run under the auspices of the Angling Trust, and so I checked the full list of qualifying matches on their website. The Builder’s Arms’ matches were simply not listed.
I contacted Sandra Drew, the Events and Competitions Manager at the Angling Trust, who said
"I do not know of any qualifiers that are held on that particular venue unless it is coming under a different venue name that we hold or are aware of.
... (the) Angling Trust must know about (qualifiers) as they are managed by us and any funds raised have to be returned to AT by the local organizers, who we have details of".
I replied to Simon on September 21st, pointing out my suspicions and questioning how The Builder’s Arms’ matches could possibly be “open qualifiers” if they were not advertised as such, along with all the similar events which were taking place around the country.
I suggested that, if only two days pike fishing were allowed on the venue, then a compromise might be reached by allowing Cheshire Region PAC one day and The Builder's Arms the other.
Simon’s response to this, in a letter dated 6th October, has been to put a stop to all pike fishing on Melchett Mere whilst the situation is reviewed.
I understand The Builders Arms A.C. have been advised of this and, subsequently I have been on the receiving end of some fairly hostile criticism. Let me make a few things clear:
My only agenda has been to try and secure Cheshire Region PAC one day’s fishing on Melchett Mere in future years. I have no interest in the British Pike Championships, or in pike matches in general.
The decision to stop pike fishing on Melchett Mere seems to have been made because the management of the Tatton Estate were under the impression that the matches which were being run were open qualifiers for the British Pike Championships. Clearly there is now a question mark over that.
I have now been told that the Builders Arms A.C. didn't advertise their matches for the following reasons:
- Advertising produces too many applications.
- The venue is subject to a publicity ban.
The pike fishing has now been stopped, not because of anything that I have said or done, but because the Builders Arms A.C. clearly wasn't running the matches in accordance with the wishes of the Tatton Park Estate management. That is the Builders Arms A.C.'s fault, not mine !
In his letter Simon Jones did say that the situation would be reviewed, and I would suggest that the way forward is to negotiate some kind of compromise which allows fairer access to Melchett Mere for all pike anglers.
Membership of PAC is open to everyone, including members of the Builders Arms A.C. and I sincerely hope that, in due course, everyone will have an equal opportunity to enjoy a day’s pike fishing at Melchett Mere.
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