Waterfront News

The long hot dry summer is now coming to an end and the golden days of September are with us. Hopefully, there will be steady and sufficient rain to replace the water levels in our lakes as we seem to be see-sawing through the seasons of late, with feast and famine as far as rain is concerned. Our hedgerows seem to have done well, despite the low rainfall, with an abundance of blackberries and rose hips. Nothing beats a Blackberry and Apple Crumble to get you through the winter months ahead.

The August matches have been fished with mixed results. The 4 Lake Challenge, fished on Worcester Lake, was one in question with bites proving hard to come by, but John Popkin came out on top. The OAP match fished on Alresford Lake was won by Ged Spurgin with a nice bag of Bream, but the Wigley match fished on Worcester proved hard going with F1's noticeable by their absence. Fortunately,Graham Pinnock managed to find them and won by a clear margin. The Ron Tickner Float match was the first fished in memory of Ron and was held on Cox Lake. Andy Leroy won this match quite comfortably even though the island pegs were taken out of the draw. At the moment of going to print,the final OAP match was fished on Worcester Lake with Steve Sibbons coming out on top. The final match of the month will be a pole only competition on Bramley Lake in memory of Adrian Robbins.

Can all members please refer to the match list or look for the notices on the respective gates as there are still peop[le fishing on lakes prior to the start of matches. There will be a match fished on Bramley Lake between a team from AAA and the Police on the 19th October and an away match on the 23rd October. This was a regular match until the Police lost their home water, hence the gap in contests and hopefully will once again be an annual event.

This next part affects all our Juniors and under 12's. An e-mail was sent to you all stating that sadly David Thorn, a keen angler, has had to stop fishing due to illness and has graciously donated all his rod's reel's etc. to any young member who would could make good use of them. Apologies for the timing, as school holidays are nearly ended but if you are starting out this will give you a boost with items that are expensive to buy. Attached below is a list of items still availabe and they are free to you,all that is asked is that you e-mail or write to David with a notice of thanks. This is not something David has asked for, but we feel would be a mark of appreciation. The items of tackle would suit anyone wishing to start match fishing or pleasure fishing for Silver fish. Unfortunately, David was not a Carp angler, as can be seen by the items listed.

1. LEEDA 12.5m Pole

2. 2 x Keepnets (9' and 12') plus bag

3. 1x 13' Carbon fibre float rod

4 1 x Shakespeare fixed spool reel

All these items can be collected from Mike Day.

Address : 6, Drakes Approach, Clacton-on-Sea,CO15 2PX.

Phone :- 07896 938533 E-mail :- mickandpenny@hotmail.co.uk

Now for a bit of bad news, litter still remains a problem around our lakes. Drinks cans, discarded bits of tackle, polythene etc. Please, if you brought it with you, take it home. The maintenance gang have enough to do without picking up behind people.

At present, water levels still remain a problem. Please be careful when netting fish. There are several swimms that have dry land between the swim edge and the water. Please utilise a bit of common sense in picking your swims.

Problems never become apparent until they become a problem, which is the case of weed around Cox Lake. The plan to add Lime to selected affected areas as a means of killing of Weed and algae has proved to have limited results. Alternative methods are under revue, but will not be instant. Hopefully by treating the weed this year will discourage growth for next season.

As the days are getting shorter, the need for repair and restoration through the winter months draws near. If you have a few hours to spare Wednesdays or Thursdays, your help would be greatl appreciated. Any tasks undertaken will be well within your ability, after all, you are not being paid!

And finally,this month in 1752 the government stopped the use of the Julian calendar and went over to the Gregorian calendar. This major adjustment resulted in Wednesday 2nd Sepember being followed by Thursday 14th September and there were riots in the streets demanding the 11 days back.

In 1848, Chewing-gum was produced commercially, enabling you to chew and ponder about the missing days.

As always,stay safe,look after one anothe and enjoy your fishing.

Tight lines