NEWS & EVENTS

FISHERIES MANAGEMENT NEWS

NEW RDAA BROCHURE AVAILABLE

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Our new promotional brochure is now available and should be appearing in local tackle shops this month. We are keen to use this to recruit new members and would be grateful if existing members could pass copies on to their fishing friends and get them signed up to RDAA. The more members we have the more we can do to deliver better fishing opportunities for all at an affordable price. The brochure is also available online and can be downloaded from our
website at www.rdaa.co.uk.

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WORKING PARTIES START THIS MONTH

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The new Fisheries Management Committee has prepared a programme of work to improve our venues but it will only happen if enough members roll up their sleeves and get involved. We aim to make the sessions both productive and enjoyable. Please drop a line to info@rdaa.co.uk if you are planning to come along or would like to help out in the future.

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- The Drop In Friday Club starts Feb 7th 10-2pm (and every Friday thereafter) Meet at Farnham Flint hut for Shrub and Swim clearance and to construct 3 fish refuges. Refreshments provided.

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- First Work Party 15/16th Feb 10-2pm – Meet Moatlands (next to our Kennet stretch at Calcot) for 10am. Shrub and tree clearance in order to create pathways/ swim clearing. We will also be doing some work on the river.

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The weekend work party will qualify you for one stamp on your RDAA fishing tackle loyalty card per day worked. Please bring your own refreshments.

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- All equipment supplied. However, appropriate footwear should be worn.

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Future Work Parties

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Plans are being drawn up for a full programme of new work on our waters including on the Kennet at Ufton, Lower Benyons, Wylies and Cottage Lane.  However, how much we can do depends on how many members decide to get involved.

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RDAA INFORMATION SHEET FEBRUARY 2020

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

FLINT MATCH HUT

We held our first EC meeting in the Match Hut in January so we can now look forward to removing another significant cost from our expenditure on the future.

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AGM

I have emailed all of our members asking them if they wish to attend the AGM and any questions they want answered. We will not take questions on the night but we will give answers to the questions tabled. Once I know the numbers attending then IO will book a relevant venue.

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FISHERIS OFFICERS REPORT

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LONGWATER LAKE

I was invited to Green Parkin late December to meet with and advise their landscaping department on the subject of Pennywort removal. There has been a change of management over the last year and they have been struggling to grasp the realities of dealing with it. This has caused RDAA problems further downstream in this last year They are now in a much better place to try and help us eradicate the problem.

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VEGETATION

With the rivers (particularly the Kennet) having very high water levels I fully expect that .
once the river returns to something like normal there will be some sort of bank damage in a
few places. These will be assessed so if you see damage please let us know.

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CORMORANTS

Because the rivers are currently not ideal hunting grounds for cormorants they have been visiting Callows and Willmott waters. I have put measures in place to try and limit their success but it is a “cat and mouse affair”. They seem to adapt and overcome any new “scare” or “fish protection” that I put in place extremely quickly. Short of being on site 24 hours a day to physically scare them off there then there will be an impact. I do have a few potential untried solutions that I hope to trial soon, let’s hope they work.

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WORKING PARTIES START NEXT WEEK

The new Fisheries Management Committee has prepared a programme of work to improve our venues but it will only happen if enough members roll up their sleeves and get involved. We aim to make the sessions both productive and enjoyable. Please drop a line to info@rdaa.co.uk if you are planning to come along or would like to help out in the future.

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- The Drop In Friday Club starts Feb 7th 10-2pm (and every Friday thereafter) Meet at Farnham Flint hut for Shrub and Swim clearance and to construct 3 fish refuges. Refreshments provided.

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- First Work Party 15/16th Feb 10-2pm – Meet Moatlands for 10am. Shrub and tree clearance in order to create pathways/ swim clearing. This work party will qualify you for one stamp on your RDAA fishing tackle loyalty card per day worked. Please bring your own refreshments.

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- All equipment supplied. However, appropriate footwear should be worn.

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See you there
Del & Martin

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Promoting Fishing on Old Father Thames

Two long established angling clubs in the Oxford and Reading areas have decided to enter into a new water sharing agreement with aim of encouraging more anglers to experience some of the great fishing that the River Thames has to offer.

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Reading & District Angling Association (RDAA) have offered Oxford based Littlemore Angling Society (LAS) members free access to over two miles of the Thames at Northmoor and Sandford weir stream in return with help with bailiffing and maintenance. Littlemore are offering RDAA members fishing on their waters at Sandford Meadows and Kennington below Oxford. The arrangements exclude match days but both clubs are in discussions about the possibility of holding joint matches on the river.

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Both these stretches of the Thames produce excellent bags of roach, big catches of bream in certain areas as well as chub, barbel, pike and perch to specimen sizes.

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Angling Trust Policy Chief and RDAA President Martin Salter said:

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“The middle Thames is full of fish these days and some of the recent match weights have been nothing short of spectacular yet outside of competitions it is rare to see more than a handful of people fishing this wonderful river. I’m delighted that we’ve been able to open up more fishing for members of both clubs and we hope our partnership will encourage other angling associations to enter into similar arrangements. After all, why compete when you can cooperate.”

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Alan Campbell, Secretary of Littlemore Angling Society added:

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“ We already have the fishing on some of the bank opposite the RDAA waters at Sandford Weir and I know our barbel anglers in particular will welcome the opportunity to have full access to the weirpool. The RDAA stretch at Northmoor, above Oxford, has a good pedigree but has been underfished fished for years. It will certainly be another good option for our members and we know that the Reading anglers will enjoy some of the great roach and chub fishing that we have to offer below the weir stream at Sandford Meadows and for the bream up at Kennington. This arrangement is a ‘win win’ for both clubs.”

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Thames specialist and angling journalist Keith Arthur said:

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“How refreshing to see clubs who could easily be rivals collaborating to achieve the best outcomes for their members and, especially, the future of some brilliant wild fishing on the River Thames. In most walks of life there’s no doubt teamwork has enormous benefits and this is a fine example.”

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The new arrangements come into force from June 16th 2020 

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Notes:

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Littlemore AS - http://www.littlemoreanglingsociety.co.uk/

RDAA - https://www.rdaa.co.uk

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RDAA INFORMATION SHEET JANUARY 2020

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

E.C. MEETING VENUE

Tonight’s meeting is the last E.C. booking we have for TRBL. As the match hut has now been updated to include heating and toilets etc should we move the meetings to there at no cost to the Association.. Agreed to move to Flint.

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BRACKNELL AVOCETS

The Club has informed me that they will not require any match bookings for the new season. They appear to have a problem with appointment of Officers which seems to be a major problem with most Clubs including the Association.

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GREEN PARK RAILWAY STATION

The new station is progressing rapidly especially on the Green Park side of the railway line. I understand that work on our side of the line is due to start early in the new year.

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FISHERIES OFFICERS REPORT

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FISHERIES & MARKETING

The fisheries forum which we held in mid November was a relative success and it was good to see some different faces. The feed back we received was pretty positive and hopefully when we host the next one, we’ll see some more new faces. Two members from the audience expressed an interest in helping out and have now joined the Fisheries Management Committee. Last week we had a meeting where plans were put in place to drive this forward.

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Subjects discussed were….
The reward scheme for volunteers This will consist of tackle shop vouchers in multiples of £10 per attendance. These will be issued by way of a ‘loyalty’ card type system. Work programme . One of the agreed actions was to put some work into Moatlands, this will not only open up a much-underused venue, but will also benefit anglers wishing to fish Calcot river as one of the plans is opening up a larger parking area.

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Work parties….
It was agreed there will be two different types of work party, one will be a fairly relaxed affair, doing light work to the new Callows/ Wilmotts/ Brown-Lee ponds and surrounding areas. They will be held weekly on a Friday starting on the 7th of February 2020. These work parties will not qualify for the reward scheme, but attendees will receive free tea/coffee and a bacon butty! The second type will take a much more physical form of formal work party and will be
held monthly, starting on the weekend of 15/16th Feb 2020. These will qualify for the
reward scheme.

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SHARED VENUE

The negotiations with Littlemore Angling club are nearing a conclusion, subject to a meeting on site with their Chairman. They have offered us complete access to waters under their control (on non match days) in exchange for access to our bank at Sandford and our Northmoor fishery. This is a win, win for us as part of the deal is they will maintain and bailiff Sandford for us. We are still perusing a similar deal with the Jolly Anglers on the Wallingford waters.

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TROUT VENUE

The new out of (coarse) season Trout syndicate on Upper Benyons has proved to be a success with the 20 tickets being snapped up within days. We are currently over subscribed with a reserves list. There are roughly two thirds new members out of the 20 committed.

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CALLOWS & WILLMOTTS

Callows Pool will have received a further stocking of 800 tench and 800 crucian Carp in time for Christmas, these are fish from the E.A.’s Calverton fish farm. At some point over the winter I will be netting/electrofishing Callows in order to remove many of the small rudd.

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Willmotts Pool will also receive an additional 1000 carp.

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RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET DECEMBER 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

COACHING COURSES

Following a weekend recently our two applicants passed their level 1 course so we are now in the position of having four Level 1 coaches and one Level 2 . We will be looking for two of these to complete a Level 2 course in the Spring. We also have another two applicants for Level 1 courses and are waiting for dates of these courses.

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JUNIORS

As the number of coaches grow I am hoping that we will be offering a fairly expansive junior and beginner programme commencing on the Callow Lake and extending on tp Willmotts Match Lake. We now have the facilities with the Match hut and also toilet facilities to host these lessons.

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FISHERIES OFFICERS REPORT

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FUTURE

As was the case last month the work toward planning and attempting to change the way we do things around our fisheries has continued. This has taken up a lot of my time this last month. Hopefully the ‘Forum’ meeting planned for the 13 th with be a success and it will have been worth it.

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FARNHAM FLINT

The Flint project has now been finished. Callows Pool (silver fish only) and Willmotts Pool (match style carp pool) are now open to members. We will hold off an official opening until the spring when they will become available for day ticket anglers also. There may be occasion to close parts of the ponds for the small odd jobs still to complete, so please obey any temporary onsite signs.
 

Callows Pool has seen crucian carp, tench, roach and rudd stocked and can be quite literally a fish a chuck. Willmotts, has had over 1000 10ozs to 1lb 8ozs carp stocked (around 1200 fish) stocked and some good bag weights caught by the odd angler fishing it so far. We will probably stock a further 1000 fish in the near future, depending on availability.
Piers Kernoghan is opening the match hut on Friday, Saturday & Sunday throughout the
winter supplying hot food and drink along with a small range of bait and tackle.
The projects on the river, I mentioned last month have now been completed and signed off.
I expect to see the continued improvement within the Kennet as a result of these projects.

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FISHERIES MANAGEMENT FORUM

Thanks to everyone who braved the weather to come along to our first RDAA Fisheries Management Forum last night, in particular to Del Shackleford and Martin Kent for their excellent presentations, it was great to hear so many positive contributions and offers of help. We will begin the job of turning these into a fisheries action plan and get back to you in the New Year. Look out for two more forums on our Lakes and on our River fisheries where we want to engage members further in looking after and improving their favourite waters.

RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET NOVEMBER 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

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LEVEL 1 COACHING COURSE
We have recruited Lionel Cook, Nigel Sharp, Geoff Cousins and Nathan Clark who will be attending Level 1 courses in November. I am still waiting for dates for Simon East to attend but it looks like being the new year for this. Thank you to this five for helping us with this. This would give us a total of eight coaches which will greatly help with the running of Angling Tuition days. We will still need two more Level 2 coaches and we hope to have these in place for events commencing next Spring.

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MAPLEDURHAM
The island will be off limits whilst repairs are carried out to the watermill. It is expected to reopen mid November.

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WHISTLEY MILL
This venue will be our target for this Autumn as it has been somewhat neglected over the years. It is nearly 20 years since we bought this venue and a spruce up will be warmly received. We will be looking for help with this and have already received an offer, lets hope many more follow.

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PADWORTH MILL
We are still working our way through the legal side of the Fishing Rights and access on this venue. There are other issues regarding water levels that Del will probably talk about but I don’t expect these issues to be resolved quickly.

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ANGLING TRUST
Jamie Cook has been appointed as the new CEO for the Trust. Some of you may know him as he cut his teeth fishing RDAA waters as a boy. We wish him well and look forward to meeting up sometime in the future.

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DISCIPLINARY
The disciplinary meeting was held prior to this meeting where the offender was given his permit back commencing the19th October.

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FISHERIES OFFICERS REPORT

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UPPER BENYONS
We recently carried out some gravel cleaning below the weir on Lower Benyons. We have been doing this now for around 10 years in various places. I believe it to be a very useful tool in promoting juvenile recruitment and something I feel we are now seeing a benefit from. I’d like to thank Linda Nemeth of Action for the River Kennet (ARK) and their volunteers for helping me out on the day.

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WILLMOTTS & CALLOW POOL
These should be opening this month.

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WHISTLEY MILL
I have been receiving a lot of reports of the misuse of baitboats on our Whistley Mill venue. It would be easy to put a blanket ban on them, however in a last ditch attempt to control their use for the benefit of most members, I have spent some time dividing a map of the lake into different coloured zones. These zones will be assigned corresponding coloured swims, indicated by coloured pegs in the swims. These maps will be made available on our website along with a sign in the venue car park and also, from our Whistley bailiffs. Anyone caught with their ‘boat’ outside of their zone will have their permit endorsed in the first incidence and removed pending a disciplinary meeting if caught again.

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RIVER KENNET LEVELS
I’ve been getting a lot of questions and reports of the fluctuating levels of the Kennet. We are aware of this and commissioned a report on it last winter, which we subsequently sent to the Environment Agency. They confirmed our findings and have been collecting data ever since recommendations to the owners and are awaiting a time frame for the remedy works to be carried out (the EA do not own the sluices).

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HABITAT IMPROVEMENTS
There are several habitat improvement works being carried out locally at present that we have had a hand in. One is on the ‘southerchannel’ below our Padworth River section. This is a fairly large project to narrow the channel in places, re-place previously washed awagravels, the placement of some ‘woody debris’ flow deflectors and washing of existing gravels.
Another is the re-connection of the ‘old’ river course at Theale. This will create a huge juvenile shelter, something that is essential in times of flood. There is also a much smaller but, no less important juvenile shelter being opened up along the Holybrook.

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FISHERY MANAGEMENT & MARKETING REPORT

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RDAA FISHERIES FORUM 
7.30pm Wednesday 13th November,  Tilehurst British Legion, Downing Rd. RG31 5BB.

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ALL WELCOME - COME AND HAVE YOUR SAY AND GET INVOLVED. 
We have recently agreed to establish a new Fisheries Management Committee (FMC) under the chairmanship of our President, Martin Salter. The FMC is tasked with developing strategies and plans to increase volunteer engagement from the wider membership in support of the Fisheries Officer in the management, maintenance, care and promotion of the RDAA fisheries and to look for new opportunities and collaborations as a means of improving the quality of fishing available to members. They will be announcing some exciting new developments at the meeting.  They want hear members’ views on how our fisheries can be improved and developed. Please come along and do spread the word to others.

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RDAA WILD TROUT FISHING

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The RDAA Upper Benyon’s stretch of Middle Kennet at Padworth has seen a noticeable increase in the population of sizeable wild trout. These fish have filled the gap left by declining numbers of chub and barbel on the river, although it has been pleasing to see evidence of some successful recruitment of these two species in recent years.

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Whilst signal crayfish have caused big problems for the spring spawning fish trout, as winter spawners, have not been so badly impacted and have prospered.

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Our colleagues at the Wild Trout Trust believe that Upper Benyon’s has the best potential to deliver quality spring fly fishing for large wild trout, particularly in the Mayfly Season. A view confirmed by trout fishing legend Charles Jardine on a recent visit.

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The venue has produced fish to five pounds to both fly and coarse anglers and the lower river has thrown up specimens over ten pounds.

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We have agreed to establish a specific 20 RDAA member trout section for a trial period of three years and are inviting applications from new and existing members. The annual cost is an extra £50 for existing members and £70 for new recruits plus, of course the usual annual subscription. Half of all places are to be reserved initially for existing RDAA members.

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This will be some of the most affordable chalkstream wild trout fishing in the country and we are expecting demand to be high.

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Trout Section members will be entitled to:

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• Exclusive fishing on from April 15th each year until June 16 thereafter shared with thecoarse fishery

• Fly fishing on nearly a mile of river on Upper Benyons North (bank only but carefulwading allowed)

• Fish with any single fly on floating line

• Fly fish any other RDAA water from June 16 to March 14

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All fish are to be logged and returned and barbless/debarbed hooks are compulsory.
Applications are now open and members should drop a line to rdaatrout@gmail.com to
register an interest and explain why you’d like to be considered for membership

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RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET OCTOBER 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

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COACHING COURSE

There are at present spaces available on a level 1 course in November. If anyone is interested please email us at info@rdaa.co.uk . or ring or text on 07786 936794. I have advertised this on Facebook today and received four enquiries so far.

JUNIOR TRAINING

Thank you to all of this EC who took part and John Ambrose for their assistance at the most recent Angling Tuition day. These events have been slow to get going but it looks like we are beginning to get them right but unfortunately are running out of summer temperatures to keep them going. We will get more events running in the Spring of next year and we will be looking for more Level 1 & 2 coaches to be trained. We may run a couple of the early events next year in conjunction with Let’s Fish and then do our own after these.

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VOLUNTEERS

Whist Martin Salter is compiling his approach to gaining volunteers we are still actively seeking members who can help us with a multitude of tasks including work parties on the venues, assisting with coaching and assistance at Farnham Flint with the two new lakes could you please contact us at info@rdaa.co.uk .or ring or text on 07786 936794.

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WATER BOOKINGS

The Water Booking form for 2020-21 season has been sent out to Clubs that have had bookings this season. Any of our affiliated Clubs can apply by dropping an email to info@rdaa.co.uk.

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FISHERIES OFFICER REPORT

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WILLMOTTS MATCH LAKE

We have now stocked 1000 pounds in weight of 10oz-1lb carp into the match lake. Although the pool is not been officially opened yet a few people have fished it and early indications are good.

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UPPER BENYONS

I have met with Action for the River Kennet regarding them using Upper Benyons as the focal point for volunteer activities on the lower river. This went well and they are keen to make a start once a new lower river officer is in place.

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LOWER BENYONS

I have had a meeting with Englefield Estate on site at Lower Benyons were we discussed the access problems we are having from Tyle Mill and the bank collapses we have been experiencing just upstream from the footpath at Wigmore lane. It was agreed that the Estate would apply for a ‘felling’ licence to coppice all the trees along ‘Red’ section. This will greatly improve the access and the availability of swims. It will be a joint effort, where they will
remove trees to the field and we will then log and deal with any brash. Due to having to gain a licence this is unlikely to happen this side of winter. The same goes for the bank collapses, due to us having to gain a permit from the Environment Agency. both of these tasks will be aided by many hands and hopefully our volunteer scheme will be in full flow by then. Martin Salter and myself have had the first of many meetings in order to try and get this off the ground. So far we have a plan but it’s early days so not too much to report back as yet.

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TROUT FISHERY

One thing I can report back on is us formalising the out of (coarse) season trout fishing at Upper Benyons. This will take place next year in the closed season.

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VENUE MAINTENANCE

I started the second cut on some of our venues last week and will continue over the next few weeks. Please, if you have a match coming up on a particular venue and you think it needs some attention, let me know and I’ll do my best to get it sorted….provided I get plenty of notice.

RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET SEPTEMBER 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

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PERMIT SALES

We, surprisingly have sold more permits than at the same stage last year. Day Ticket sales since May 1 st have nearly doubled and I am sure this is because of the simpleness of the transaction. I wonder if we shoot ourselves in the foot with sales of Junior permits. The fact we allow juniors to fish free of charge up to the age of 14 gives a false indication of how many Junior members we actually have. It may be an idea for next season to introduce a token charge.

JUNIOR TRAINING

After a slow start applications are picking up and our next event is on Saturday 7th September which is beginning to fill up. We need more coaches and volunteers to run these events successfully and I will be progressing with Angling Trust the training for more coaches in the future. At present we are at the bare minimum for assistance on these
events and I would like to see some help from within the E.C. to start with.

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VOLUNTEERS

Our President has stated his case of how he sees the future regarding volunteers and I thank him for taking on this challenge. We as an EC have to support him in any way we can.

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FISHERIES OFFICER REPORT

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WILLMOTTS MATCH LAKE

The Flint project is all but finished with just a little ‘on going’ work to complete. I have ordered the first batch of fish, which should arrive this week (last week in Auigust). I’m going to start with a stocking of 1000lb’s worth of fish between 1 and 1.08lb. This stocking will be closely monitored and more fish stocked if necessary. The shop will open in line with this but will initially just be for a few days a week.

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LOWER KENNET PROJECT OFFICER

Unfortunately, Martin Kent our lower fisheries representative for ARK has decided to step down from his role due to family commitments.This, although totally understandable, is a great shame. Martin has been a true breath of fresh air at this end of the river and has helped to deliver some outstanding work below Newbury. I would like to wish him well for the future and thank him on behalf of RDAA.

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Because of Martins success we cannot allow the position of lower fisheries project officer not to be filled. At a recent meeting with the ‘Environment undertakings group’ our collective opinions were heard by ARK and I then had a subsequent meeting with ARK’s director. We discussed the successes / failings of ARK’s presence downstream of Newbury and it was felt a focal point would be of great use in trying to engage interest in improving habitat and water quality within the river. I made the suggestion that RDAA allow one of it’s true river sections to become one such thing. ARK and myself will walk potential venues and will select the most appropriate one. Work to be carried out would be bank repairs, channel narrowing, aquatic planting and gravel cleaning. At the above mentioned EU meeting we discussed the Pennywort situation within the Kennet and the Foudry brook and I’m pleased to report we’re winning the battle.

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BAILIFFING

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On the bailiff front our bailiffs have been out and about without to many problems. We are experiencing a healthy increase in anglers particularly on our lake venues due in part to the recent form of Farnham Flint which has produced a number of Carp to very high 40’s. Whistley mill is also fishing well with lots of Carp being caught to low 40’s. We’re even seeing a bit of an upsurge in anglers fishing the Kennet for silver fish which is really good to see.

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FALLEN TREES

With the recent high winds there has been a lot of trees and branches coming down. I cannot get around all of the venues at once so I would appreciate it if when you see any issue you report it via the bailiff line or facebook. I will be out in the next month or so cutting the canal sections ready for the winter and doing a second cut of some of the river sections where needed.

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RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET AUG 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

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PERMIT SALES

The online sales are going well and we are ahead of last year. The Tackle shops appear to be carrying most of the additional permit issue that the majority of Clubs did not want to take on. Angling Direct and Tadley Angling have made significant increases in permit sales.

JUNIOR TRAINING

TThe second of our Let’s Fish dates took place on Saturday 29 th June at Beat 3B. Our two new coaches Paul Mason and John Ambrose along with Dennis Hunt the Level 2 coach from Tring Anglers. The event was a huge success with 32 kids turning up and enjoying themselves and all catching fish. This was despite a very hot day and some mistakes by the event organisers. We will be looking to include more dates in the summer. Hopefully this will increase Junior Permit sales. We need some volunteer help with these events The events will be held on Weds August 7 th (evening), Saturday August10th (daytime), Weds 21 st August (evening) and Saturday, September 7 th (daytime), If you can help us then please contact on info@rdaa.co.uk or ring 07786 936794.

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VOLUNTEERS

We are constantly looking for more volunteers and it appears that other organisations have no problem with this and you only have to look at Action for Kennet (ARK) to see their results. The fact is that if we don’t get volunteers then this will reflect on the permit price for coming seasons and events like Junior Training above will suffer.

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FISHERIES OFFICER REPORT

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VEGETATION

After the usual pre-season strimming and trimming I have made a note of some of our venues needing a little more substantial work particularly with trees. Sonning river is one and to that end we will be looking to the landowner to remedy this. While we do clear wind blown and fallen trees from venues, I do not have the time or expertise to deal with large dangerous trees. The top end of Lower Benyon is another case as is Wallingford A section.

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PADWORTH RIVER

Padworth River is another cause for concern as there are now at least two very large breaches in the bank side on the downstream end. The banks on this venue have deteriorated hugely in the past 5 years and are now at the point of being dangerous. Couple this with the on going problems we're having with access, I feel we need to start challenging the landowner. Agreed to talk to M.S. with view of taking to Fish Legal.

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NEW ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS

The new keyed locks we now have seem to have gone down well and with very few problems.

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VENUE MAINTENANCE

With the Flint project drawing to an end (bar any 'working progress' I will be turning my attention to Whistley Mill River for a much needed tidy up come the autumn.

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PERMIT PHOTO

We had our annual bailiffs meeting just before the season started and the over riding issue for them was the photos on the permit. Many members that are being checked do not have the photo attached as it has fallen off. I have asked our bailiffs to endorse these members as it is their responsibility to ensure a photo is on them.

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RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET JULY 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

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CLUB PERMITS & CONTACTS

Very few Clubs have taken up the opportunity to sell permits but thank you to those that have. Most of these are Clubs remote from Reading and the system seems to have operated quite well. The online sales are going well despite Royal Mail stopping the delivery of some permits on the first issue due to insufficient postage. This matter has been taken up with them and seems to have been resolved as we have received no complaints of non delivery from permit holders since the first delivery. I only have nine Clubs registered as wanting the info Sheet every month, presumably the rest are looking on the website for it. To date we have sold 149 Senior, 92 OAP/RDP, 4 Jun.34 Gold 17 Silver and 8 Bronze permits.which I think is encouraging with a week to go before the season begins. ‘

JUNIOR TRAINING

The first of our Let’s Fish dates took place on Saturday 25 th May at the new Callow Pool. Our two new coaches Paul Mason and John Ambrose along with Dennis Hunt the Level 2 coach from Tring Anglers. The event was a huge success with 27 kids turning up and enjoying themselves and all catching fish. Well done Del you have created a superb fishery for the kids to learn how to fish. There is another event planned for Saturday June 29 th at Beat 3A where three of the half hour slots are already sold out. We will be looking to include more dates in the summer. Hopefully this will increase Junior Permit sales.

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VOLUNTEERS

We are still looking for volunteers to help us with events and numerous other tasks such as above and unless we get them some programmes or venues will suffer from lack of attention. If you want to be involved then let us know at info@rdaa.co.uk or give us a call.

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FISHERIES OFFICER REPORT

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FARNHAM FLINT NEW LAKES

The Crucians and Tench we ordered for the Callow pool arrived and were in good health. These were 4-6 inch fish and from what I can gather are quite hungry and are getting caught. The pathways around the pool are just about complete with just a little landscaping to finish.

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PENNYWORT

Earlier in the month I had a meeting with the Environment agency, Canal and Rivers trust and Green park where we discussed what each of us has been doing to manage the Pennywort problem. As far as the area we cover (Foudry Brook below Green Park/The flood relief channel and the Kennet below Fobney) it appears we are starting to win the battle to manage the problem.

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ARMY ASSISTANCE

We welcomed the Army Infantry Carp fishing team at Junction 12. They had two 48 hour matches spread over a two week period as qualifiers for an inter-forces final later in the year. All had a great time and caught some cracking fish, topped by a new lake record mirror of 45lbs.6ozs.

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VENUE MAINTENANCE

I’m currently busy strimming venues for the start of the river angling season. I hope to get around the vast majority of our venues before the 16 th but some maybe done just after due to delays.

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FLINT LAKE

There has been a slight delay in the opening on the ‘carp puddle’ at Farnham Flint but we hope to be in a position to open in the coming weeks. When open it will be named Willmott Match Pool after Ken Willmott our Match Secretary for many years who recently died.

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RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET JUNE 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

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CLUB PERMITS & CONTACTS

At present I have issued permits to Bracknell Avocets, Adventure, Reading C.S. Sundial, Met. Police and Westward HO!. Well done to Bracknell as they have sold and paid for their quota. Sundial and Westward Ho! Have sent their members details in but no payment as yet. Kennet Ospreys and Courage /SE have enquired but no order as yet Thatcham A.A. have told me they no longer wish to be affiliated to RDAA. This may prove to be a difficult year for us regarding permit sales especially with Clubs not selling them but hopefully the online sales will compensate this.

JUNIOR TRAINING

The first of our Let’s Fish dates will be on Saturday 25 th May at the new Callow Pool. Our two new coaches
Paul Mason and John Ambrose will be in attendance and they will be mentored by Dennis Hunt the Level 2 coach from Tring Anglers. The event will be in the form of 30 minute sessions for each attendee. Our Chairman has volunteered his services for the day to look after the paperwork etc.as I will unfortunately be away.

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VOLUNTEERS

Despite advertising on Facebook and on our website we again received no volunteers and the work party on Saturday at Wallingford was again attended by just four E.C. members. We have to improve the volunteer situation and get more people involved. A recent ARK litter pick on the Kennet in Reading had more than 50 volunteers assisting.

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WORK PARTIES

I would like to thank Andy Chapman, Trevor Slater, Steve O’Keefe and Fred Jones for all of their endeavours in the closed season on the Wallingford B stretch of the Thames. They have managed to create 19 swims despite the fallen trees in some of the old swims. We will need these swims plus the same amount on the A section if we are able to hold our Thames match in November. We may have to limit the numbers fishing this event.

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ANNUAL DINNER

I also want to thank Alby Cohen for the organising of this event. This was probably the best one for a long time with everything going superbly on the night. The food was excellent and the venue was ideal , thanks again Alby.

FISHERIES OFFICER

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FARNHAM FLINT NEW LAKES

Flint/Callows pool – The pathways are just about done, with only a small amount of pathways to complete. I have stocked a further 1000 4-6’’ Crucian carp and 500 4-6’’ Tench into Callows Pool which is fishing well with more and more anglers having a go.

VOLUNTEERS

Unfortunately, I have cancelled 3 out of the 4 volunteer days organised because of a lack of interest. The one that went ahead was building ‘spawning boards’ ready for the Roach spawning. This was a great day attended by two RDAA members (Mick Gough and Peter Schofield) and two members of Action for the river Kennet (ARK)….thank you. The boards were place into the river on the 28th April.

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STOCKING

Upper Benyons has had a stocking of 5000 Grayling from the EA’s fish farm at Calverton. These fish are the spawn of brood fish taken (and then returned) from the Kennet back in February.

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RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET MAY 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

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GREEN PARK STATION

We have now completed the dealings with Reading Borough Council and they are clear to start the work for the new station.

CLUB PERMITS & CONTACTS

At present I have heard from nine of our Affiliated Clubs regarding a contact email and whether they want to sell permits. At present six have asked for permits. I have received no nominations to come on to the E.C. from the Clubs

WEBSITE

I have spent some time with our website advisor and I think we have completed what we needed to do within the new Constitution. All has been swapped over and we are ready for a new season from May 1 st when the permits will go on sale. If anybody sees anything wrong please let me know.

JUNIOR TRAINING

We have agreed two dates for the start of our Canals & rivers Trust Lets Fish events to try and get some youth back into fishing. The dates will be Saturday 25 th May at new lake at Farnham Flint and Saturday 29 th June at East Towney, If these are a success then we will look at further dates in the school holidays.

PADWORTH PLANNING APPLICATION

Although RDAA never formally objected to the planning application due to it being a Civil case I understand the application has been withdrawn for the moment and a remodelled application is coming in the future.

VOLUNTEERS

Despite advertising on Facebook and on our website we received no volunteers and the work party on recently at Wallingford was attended by four E.C. members. We must progress with volunteers and push the numbers up.

FISHERIES OFFICER

ROACH PROJECT

The Roach project is gearing up and we have been given a clean bill of health by CEFAS again this year.

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FARNHAM FLINT NEW LAKES

The new café/tackle shop at Flint should be opening around the end of the month.

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WYLIES LAKE

I have spent a few days at Wylies removing some bankside and fallen trees along the righthand and top bank. Thanks to Alan Cannon and Mick Carwardine for their help.

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K&A CANAL

Last month I attended a meeting called to discuss the K&A canal and its interaction with the river. A number of new ways of approaching the issue of the canal influencing the main river were aired and I'm hopeful that things in the future can be improved.

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COTTAGE LANE

We have had problems at Cottage Lane with a group of party goers breaking through the barrier and having a 36 hour party on Englefield land.I have since had a meeting with Englefield Estate in order to come up with solutions to the lack of Police interest.

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MAPLEDURHAM

After a walk along the banks of Mapledurham (below the weir) I am looking at the possibility of opening up some additional swims .I hope this will number around 16 -18 pegs.

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The Annual Dinner & Prizegiving is to be held on Friday 10 th May at Calcot Golf Club. Any
members wishing to attend please let us know at info@rdaa.co.uk

RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET APRIL 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

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LONGWATER LAKE

The fishing hours on the venue have been changed to 7am till the end of daylight hours.

JUNIOR TRAINING

We need to start getting a programme in position for Introducing young people into the sport, we have the Level 1 coaches but need someone to drive this forward and volunteers to assist with the coaching. The Canals & Rivers Trust use Social Media to advertise these events and this does seem to get the numbers along.‘

PADWORTH MILL

We have found out that our ownership of the Right of Way on Fishermans Lane has never been registered and as such is holding this matter up. We have applied for registration but not sure how long it will take. This does not affect the planning application objection as the “right of way” is classed as a civil matter and dealt with between the relevant owners.

VOLUNTEERS

Interest has fallen away since the original notices went out. We need to increase the participation on this and hopefully we can increase numbers before the start of the new season. There will be working parties on Wallingford and the Kennet plus lakes please show your interest by replying on info@rdaa.com

FISHERIES OFFICER

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VEGETATION

With the high winds of late I have had to deal with a few fallen trees in various places and no doubt there will be a few that I’m unaware of at present that I will have to sort in the coming weeks. I have recently carried out some much needed tree work to the righthand bank at Wylies.

FARNHAM FLINT NEW LAKES

The Flint project is coming along and at long last I can see an end in sight. Hopefully to open at start of new season.

ROACH PROJECT

The Roach project is about to get into full swing. With new spawning boards to be made and the growing on ponds to grade. I hope to be stocking out a good few thousand fish this year.

BAILiFFING

Bailiffing continues without any major problems bar a group of ‘lads’ who think it a great idea to light large fires on our venues. We have not managed to establish as to whether they are current members as yet and because of this we have passed the matter onto the landowners and the police

RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET MARCH 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

GREEN PARK STATION

Finally, we have agreed with Reading Borough Council regarding the provision of land on the old 4X4 site to provide the replacement floodplain area as requested by the E.A. We will not be selling this land to them but allowing use of it whilst the station is being built to excavate down to the required depth.

RDAA FUTURE

Following the recent meeting the only update I have received is from Twyford stating that they will not be attending the AGM but support us in the change of Constitution.

SPRING PERMITS

The sale of these permits has increased since the cold weather has receeded and we have
received quite a bit of interest in emails to the website

PROPOSED LEVEL1 COACHING COURSE

Our two prospective Level 1 coaches enjoyed their weekend in Warwickshire on their course. I
expect both to pass with flying colours but Angling Trust do not issue the results very promptly.

PADWORTH MILL

A planning application is about to be submitted for the reopening of Fishermans Lane in
Aldermaston. This is by the owners who gave us some grief a couple of years ago and the
application is very vague regarding the reasons. I am waiting for further information from West Berks Council.

VOLUNTEERS

The appeal appears to be bearing some fruit with several inquiries being made. Del has already
made use of some as you will see in his report and the dates listed on the website has yielded some applicants.

AUDITORS REPORT

With our Treasurer away on holiday Alby and myself trawled through the accounts and despite a couple of missing entries we can say the books balance.

FISHERIES OFFICER’S REPORT

PENNYWORT

After the initial mass clearance with the weed boat we have had our contractor visit the affected stretches (Foudry brook, The flood relief channel and the main river Kennet from Fobney to County weir) on a weekly basis. Over the course of the summer we have & 'tweaked' our approach to suit and the signs, although early days, are very encouraging, with the main river more or less clear of Pennywort at the end of the autumn. Foudry Brook and the relief channel showing only small infrequent patches. Due to the way in which we suspect the plant over winters, this coming spring will be a crucial period as to the effectiveness of our efforts.

FARNHAM FLINT NEW LAKES

Once again most of my time has been taken up with the new pond at Flint.Things are moving along nicely. However, the recent weather has been challenging, not to mention extremely muddy! Most of the platforms are now in with only a few left to site once the banks settle a little. A big thanks must go out to Martin Porter/ Alan Cannon and Jim Reid who answered the call for volunteers to help. Hopefully in the next week or so the dividing curtain will go in, which will then leave the outfall to construct and the pathways.

ROACH PROJECT

Currently I have around 15-20 thousand one, two and three year old roach in our growing on
ponds. The three year olds will be stocked out Into the river this coming April and I expect there to be around 4000 fish. I will be keeping some of these three year olds back to use as brood stock. The reason for this in case of spring time floods. Last year was a bit of a disaster with regard to removing spawn from the river (which the whole project relies upon) ...out of the 20 plus spawning boards we put out, not one collected any spawn, this I suspect was due to the mature fish not congregating at their usual spawning locations due to the floodwater. Fortunately, I have had some Kennet brood stock right from the start and if it wasn't for them I wouldn't have any 2018 fish.

BAILIFFING

Bailiffing continues without any major problems.

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RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET FEBRUARY 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

GREEN PARK STATION

Probably due to the Christmas and New Year break we have heard nothing more from the Council.

RDAA FUTURE

Following the Discussion night for Delegates it would appear that following the discussions there are no serious matters affecting the Clubs and that those present were not against the change tom the new Constitution. There were Clubs missing from the meeting and three apologies were accepted. Civil Service saying they will not attend the AGM but agree with the change of Constitution proposed. If any Clubs are not attending the AGM then please let me know and also your Clubs proxy vote by email. If the vote goes in RDAA favour then all Affiliated Clubs will retain that affiliation even if they take up no Water Bookings. This will continue unless the Clubs lets RDAA know that they wish to cease.

FROXFIELD ASSOCIATION MATCHES

Due to the permanent pegging not working due to boat moorings the new sections below will be adopted.

No match section - above Lock 68
A1 section - Wides to Power lines on Short Pound.
A2 section - Wires short pound to Road Bridge
B1 section - Road Bridge to first Ash Tree
B2 Section - First Ash tree to Lock 71
C Section - Lock 71 to end of Venue

PROPOSED LEVEL1 COACHING COURSE

We have two members who will be attended a Level 1 course in January. The course is provided by Canals Rivers Trust and Angling Trust, They are Paul Mason and John Ambrose and I hope that they successfully complete the course. One original applicant canceled due to work commitments and the other I have heard nothing back from. Unfortunately, the last one was the one I had hoped would be the prospective Level 2 coach.

FISHERIES OFFICER’S REPORT

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteer days- for the first time I have listed a number of days in which we will be doing work on the rivers and also some of the lake venues. The days involving the river will be carried out in conjunction with Action for the River Kennet (ARK) and will consist of various habitat improvement works. If you wish to help out (dates below) on any of these days please contact me on info@rdaa.co.uk

JUNCTION 12

Junction 12 is proving to be a great success with 2019 fully booked and only 7 (at time of writing) weekends left available in 2020.

FARNHAM FLINT NEW LAKES

Work to the new lakes at Flint is coming along and I hope to be in a position to open fully on or before the start on the new season.

VOLUNTEER DATES FOR LAKES & RIVERS Click here

RDAA TACKLE DEALERS INFORMATION SHEET JANUARY 2019

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT (Alan Hughes 0118 986 7430)

GREEN PARK STATION

Reading Borough Council expects to hear more from the Environment Agency in the new year but I understand they have accepted the area they require. They expect to come back to us early in January.

RDAA FUTURE

I have issued the proposed new Constitution and accompanying letter to all of the Clubs and asked for confirmation of receipt. I have this confirmation from all of the Clubs with the exception of CSAS, Twyford and Thatcham. This is after a second email reminding them. To date have received no questions from the Clubs.

FROXFIELD ASSOCIATION MATCHES

The draws for the forthcoming Association matches and the Open on December 30th will be held at the Borough Arms at 77 High Street Hungerford. Breakfast will be served from 7am and the draw will be at 8am.

KEN WILLMOTT

It is with great regret that RDAA have to report the death of their former Match Secretary Ken Wilmott. Ken served this role magnificently for over 20 years when our match participation was over 400 anglers. Difficult to imagine organising this without all of the modern aids that are available to us now. His funeral will be held on Friday 4 th January at 1.30pm at West Berkshire Crematorium and afterwards at the Civil Service Club, Burghfield. Please let me know if you will attend.

PROPOSED COACHING COURSE

We have four members who will be attending a Level 1 course on January 19 th & 20 th. The course is provided by Canals & Rivers Trust and Angling Trust.

FISHERIES OFFICER’S REPORT

FARNHAM FLINT

Things this month have largely been based around flint and continuing with the planned carp puddle. Despite us installing a security fence around the car park, some kind souls attempted to remove one of the panels in order to gain access. After replacing the damaged panel, have now built an earth mound around the inside, which will now make it impossible to gain any access.

PINGEWOOD LAGOON

Finally after 3 years in the planning we have every thing in place in order to start work on the noise reducing bund along the motorway bank at Pingewood. Work to build the track up on the workings bank has all but been completed and a new set of entrance gates have been installed. Work on the bund itself will start in March.

KENNET FLOW

We have recently sent in a report and complaint about an issue with the erratic flows and levels on the Kennet below Tyle Mill. After investigation it appears that the river is” pulsing’ with levels rising and falling around 4 inches over a 2 hour period local to Tyle Mill. This then is exacerbated as it travels downstream. In turn, this is having a huge impact on the habitat within the Osier Bed Stream and to a lesser extent on the habitat and morphology within the main river. We are currently awaiting a response from the Environment Agency.

STOCKING

A few weeks ago the Kennet received some barbel and chub from the EA’s fish farm at Calverton-500 chub just upstream of Upper Benyons- 1000 barbel and a further 500 chub downstream of Burghfield. All of these fish were between 1/2lb and a 1lb in size. Although they were not stocked into our venues, we will benefit from downstream drift and certainly the river will benefit holistically.

UNSIGNED PERMITS

There has been an issue raised by our bailiffs regarding permits not having photographs attached to the front cover. At the start of the season I instructed the bailiffs to be a little lenient as it was a new initiative, however things have not improved so I have instructed the bailiffs to endorse any permits found without attached photos. A sperate photograph as ID will not be accepted, contrary to mis-information given out by some permit sellers.

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Ken Woodley - Reading District Angling Association for over 50 years

We recently received a sad message regarding a RDAA member Ken Woodley who is receiving palliative care for cancer and will not be renewing his permit this year after 50 years membership. He obviously enjoyed himself on our waters and RDAA thank him for his loyalty.

Images of Ken in gallery view here