VIP Statement

Please bear with us but this is very important considering events over the last 24 hours.

We the club do our very best to run and provide fishing for anglers on 7 waters and 2 stretches of the River Thames. This has always been the case and will always be the case. It takes lots of hard work by a relatively small group of  people who give up their free time to do this for little or no reward. ALL of the waters we run are owned by someone else so the club doesn’t actually own any of the waters at all. If for any reason there are work parties to organise or things to address regarding these waters then largely we have to inform our landlords for either permission or clarification on what we are able to do. As such the working relationships that we have with our landlords are very good and have involved regular meetings to build up trust so we can all work together to provide the fishing that we do.

We strongly urge ALL anglers that any misdemeanour’s of any kind can have huge consequences on the fishing for ALL members. The recent topic of Otters on our newly opened Facebook site is one such situation that could be a Huge  potential  banana skin.

We need to clarify several very important points over this very thorny issue and lay down the facts for people to see. Otters are here to stay and there is NOTHING that anyone can do about it unless the legislation changes in the preceding years. It is commendable that anglers feel so strongly about their quarry and the waters that they are in, BUT  sometimes actions can fall into the over zealous or irrational category.

AT NO TIME NOW OR IN THE FUTURE IS ANY ANGLER TO TAKE ANY ACTION THAT WOULD BRING THE CLUB INTO DISREPUTE OR JEOPARDISE THE FISHING FOR ITS CONTINUED FUTURE.

There is a fine of £5000 and a six month prison term for the killing of Otters as they are a protected species. The EA are more than aware of the issue of Otters and their impact on fishing around the country. ANY talk on social media or forums of ANY kind is open to scrutiny and if ANY evidence of unilateral action is found then the EA WILL make a thorough investigation and prosecute with the power that they have. All the loose talk that goes with any discussion on Otters is up for scrutiny and possible action and should be avoided at ALL costs. Any action taken by an individual that was proven would mean instant expulsion of AKAC from ALL of the Costwold Water Park Trust waters that we run.

Here are some FACTS that have been given to me by Ben Welbourn our contact at the CWPT, who is the Boidiversity Officer there and deals with many issues and topics regarding the Flora and Fauna in the Park. His is an amazing knowledge and should be treated with respect.

A vast majority of the re-introduced Otters were killed on roads in the first 12 months. Otter populations have not reached pre 1960 populations. We as anglers notice them now more because angling is such a massive past time and waters are extremely abundant all over the country whereas in the 60′s there were hardly any fisheries and the fish didn’t reach such huge sizes. Otters are a native species. Carp are an artificially introduced species. Crayfish form a big part of an Otters diet at certain times of the year and spraints are usually a vivid red colour due to the crayfish being eaten. The Otters in the Water park are eating fish as they do and NOT birds or voles as spraints examined show no signs of plumage or fur. Otter populations will not continue to expand infinitely  A biomass will be reached and then the Otters will naturally keep to that level to preserve themselves. All naturally occurring species do the same. Its only the human race that continues to expand unabated.  These are all facts given to me by Ben.

We are in no way defending Otters as obviously they are a huge threat to our assets, but equally we have to respect the law.

To add to this. ANY rule breaking or “stroke pulling” of any kind can cause the angling club problems and distress, possibly undermining work that the club have made pains to undertake to improve and preserve the fishing you all crave.

Potting

We have installed crayfish pots into Thamesmead A in an effort to control the little critters. This is all being done in house with the kind permission of Nick Freeth. Please could you make sure you don’t tamper with any of the pots please so we can be as efficient as possible. Thanks

Club cards

This is just a reminder that last seasons cards have a month left on them. Members must be in possession of a new card for June 16th 2013. They can be bought here from the website or direct from our agents who can be found on this site by clicking on the link for agents.

Dates for the diary.

Dates for events on Large lake have arrived. Waterlands hold several big triathlons over the course of the year and they tend to be extremely busy.  On Sunday the 9th of June there is a womens only triathlon Which starts at 0800. On Sunday the 16th of June there is a major triathlon with all groups and ages. This will be a very busy event and will start at 0600. This has been unfortunately arranged by Waterlands on the opening day of the season for Cokes Pit so i ask anyone going to fish to be patient when parking. The Car Park will be free as Waterlands will have staff directing participants for the race into the camping field from the road and have asked for patience. We ask you to be patient too please. Once fishing on Cokes there should be no problems as there is no event traffic round the lake.

On the 7th of July Waterlands has a big swim which begins at 0700. Please be aware that there will be swimmers in the water that day in numbers.

On Sunday 11th of August there is the Cotswold Classic event which is again a very large event. Starting at 0600. There will be lots of people registering and as a result it will be busy. Waterlands will have staff directing traffic for parking using the gate directly into the camping field. They have asked for patience from their participants and we ask you to do the same please. Once again there should be no parking problems for anglers.

Sunday the 8th of September there is a Sprint triathlon starting at 0755. There will once again be no issues with the parking  as Waterlands are having parking in the camping field. Please be patient on the day during the race. This event will be short finishing around 10ish.

Stockies Captured

Here is Lee Barter with one of the stock fish we put into Thamesmead B in January of 2012. This fish along with another two were captured this spring and in excellent condition with a superb 5lb weight gain. These V S Fisheries supplied fish are doing very well in their new home and look to have settled in well.  The fish Lee is holding was 9lbs plus and in the bottom picture can be seen on the day we stocked it at around 4lbs. We look forward to seeing some more captures of these fish in the coming years. There were also several of the Cokes Pit fish Captured last season but unfortunately no photos were forthcoming although those fish are doing equally as well. barts4 DSCN0778