Windmill Angling Club June 2020 Meeting Report

The Committee met at Hunters on Monday 15th June and, whilst there were just the 5 of us there, we carried out some essential maintenance work. We repositioned the sleeper from the peg nearest the Dam back to the wall of the West Bank. We also further secured the Dam with a considerable amount of clay right at the base and gave the place a general tidy up. Pete Boyce then left so as to ensure the number of bodies did not exceed 6, therefore allowing the new members to meet the rest of the Committee.

During the initial meeting, several things were discussed that we need to inform you all about. These are not official minutes as such, but we wanted to keep you all up to speed with developments. As always, if there is anything you would like to discuss further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

If you have access to the internet, I’ve put this text, in one piece, at: https://windmillanglingclub.org/meetings/

Booking System
The booking system we have in place at Hunters has worked very well and allowed us to manage numbers in the initial stages of the return to fishing, there has actually only been 2 instances we have reached the maximum of 5. The amount of people now wanting slots has reduced to a point we feel that, during the week, we can relax it from Monday onwards, i.e. there is no need to book if you want to fish Monday-Friday. We’ll keep the system in place for the weekends for the time-being. However, if any member is uneasy with this and feels they need to book a limited member day at Hunters, please let me know and we can organise it.

Fish Stocking
We’ve pretty-much agreed to order another £600 or so amount of fish to be introduced early next year. We have decided, however, that this is dependent on us having procedures in place should we need to aerate the water next year due to low water levels and these extra fish, therefore avoiding a crash that no one wants. We intend to build an Aerator – please see https://youtu.be/IZyrL5Ojqpo and purchase a second-hand pump and generator. That way, we can act quickly should we need to.

Water Quality
It was raised that the supply of water to Hunters is not what it used to be. We have approached the Angling Trust and Fish Legal about this. They have advised us to investigate and, if we find that the supply has been diverted etc, they can help us rectify this. So, we’er going to start some detective work and have a good couple of walks around the area – Watch this space for more news.

Trustees
With Adrian Wood’s exit from the club, in accordance with rule 3, his position as a Trustee has been relinquished. There should be 4 Trustees at anytime and, as another Trustee left the club a while ago, we have moved quickly to secure Hunter’s future by filling the vacant positions with myself and Bob Hallworth.

Future Work
We have identified several areas that need considerable work. We would have usually been well on the way to rectifying these by now, but the year seems to have stopped us at every turn! So, we have discussed potentially organising an October Working Party to get Hunters ready for the Winter – and we’ll let you know when and if that can take place nearer the time. But, as we can’t really have an official Working Party in the very near future, we are appealing to any member to do a small bit of work at Hunters whenever the opportunity arises – especially the ones that have shed keys.

The larger projects we have identified are:
West Bank – some hardcore is hopefully being donated, so we can start to build up this bank that consistently floods every winter.

West Bank – We need to repair the overflow. Initial thoughts are to deconstruct it, put a large pipe in the gap and build back around it, so it’s stronger than it previously was.

Sleepers – We need to replace approximately 8 sleepers that are rotten. This will need a considerable amount of effort and an investment from club funds

Organic Silt – after advice from the Angling Trust, we think we should use hydrated lime (Siltex) at Hunters in Winter. We’ll initially put this near the North Bank (the deeper area). The theory is that it will break down the organic silt caused by decaying leaves, twigs, branches and roots etc. We’ve been advised to do it in several stages, but, over the next 5 years or so, we hope to gain back at least a foot of depth across the main pool.

Dredging – At sometime in the future, we acknowledge that the small pool will have to be dredged. This is a large and costly undertaking, so it’s probably a couple of years away, so we’ll as always, keep you informed.

That’s it for now – please, please, if you have any points to make, or concerns, get in touch. In the meantime, stay safe and Tight Lines!.