23 May 2019
Important information for all WADAA Members
This update is being sent out to ensure that all our members are up to date with information about the club.
The first part of this email relates to issues that have cropped up since the Chairman’s report at the end of last year.
Please read the content of this letter, as there is something in here that will apply to you all.
https://www.lakedistrictfishing.co.uk/about/club-rules/
https://www.lakedistrictfishing.co.uk/about/club-rules/general-club-rules/
https://www.lakedistrictfishing.co.uk/about/club-rules/fishery-rules/
https://www.lakedistrictfishing.co.uk/game-and-coarse-fisheries-rules/
https://www.lakedistrictfishing.co.uk/fishery-rules-specific-fisheries/
We have enjoyed a successful start to the operation of our latest trout fishery. Around 989 members and visitors have fished Farletonview since it opened 1 March.
Members are taking advantage of the new easy access route to the fishery and for some of our less mobile anglers they are able to fish very close to where they are able to park.
Generally speaking the new route that has been created, which is signed just over the motorway bridge, has been used by our member to access the water. However, a few people have driven down to the cafe and nursery to park and access the water that way. One member even parked there and managed to walk across the owner’s field to reach the fishery. We need to remind all our members that entry to the fishery is only permitted via the signed route, approximately 100m after crossing the bridge. Anyone leaving their car in the cafe car park will be reported to the WADAA Board and also risks having it locked-in behind the barrier overnight.
Finally, we ask the last person to leave the fishery in a car, to close the final gate at least (first gate when entering) to help minimise the prospect of unauthorised visits.
This information is sent to you on behalf of the Directors of WADAA Ltd – any queries please emaillakedistrictfishing@gmail.com
Tight lines!!
Game Fishing Update – from James Atkinson, WADAA board/committee member
WADAA has had one of its most successful seasons to date! With the acquisition of Farletonview, the addition of the River Eden exchange tickets and Stocks Reservoir tickets, the club now offers some of the most diverse fishing in the country!
High Newton, the change to a members-only water has meant a reduction in fishing pressure and the fishing has gone from strength to strength with some members reporting up to 20 fish in a session, all on small dry flies.
Ghyll Head has continued to be our most popular water and has produced some excellent fish to over 10 pounds this year. With the warmer weather the shallow end of the lake has come on strongly with increased fly hatches and the fish being more than happy to take a natural-looking offering.
Bigland’s water quality seems to be on the mend with the new regime of barley straw application, and this has been reflected in the catch returns. Members have also been taking advantage of the float tube option at this fishery and have reported great sport.
Farletonview started the season very well with some huge catches reported. Sport has slowed with the increase in angling pressure, but with the warm evenings the evening rise is not to be missed. Maybe you will be lucky enough to catch one of the 5lb Tiger trout that have been reported.
Finally, High Fairbanks has fished better than we expected, with significant numbers of fish from the Spring 2018 stocking having made it through the winter. Some large fish up to 5lbs have been caught. If you fancy a nice quiet session after some challenging overwintered fish, this is the venue for you!
We will be looking to arrange a working party on Farletonview in the coming weeks, anyone who would be happy to help, please send an email to lakedistrictfishing@gmail.com and we will contact you when we have set up a date, to see if you are available. Please mark the subject Working party Fartletonview.
This year really has been one of the best years for fishing in recent history, due to the small but important changes that have been made. Please can I emphasize that it is vital that all members read the rules before fishing. We have been finding too many anglers who do not appear to have read them, and understood the obligation to obey them. Changes to the rules are discussed at length by the board/ committee, with the good of the club in mind. Please respect them.
Coarse Fishing Update – from Nick Butterfield WADAA board/committee member with special responsibility for coarse fishing.
The development of, and investment in coarse fishing at WADAA continues at a rapid pace. As the weather begins to warm up, we are seeing the benefits of this activity, with great catches on all waters.
Our un-managed waters fished very well throughout the winter with some big pike being reported from Rydal, Grasmere and Blelham. Following member feedback from the survey we carried out, the bailiff patrols on these waters has increased to reduce the levels of illegal fishing and we have paid close attention to the litter situation, particularly at Rydal and Grasmere.
We have recently held discussions with the owners of all of these waters and anticipate having news soon with regard to on-going fishing.
WADAA’s managed waters have taken up a significant amount of our time. It was clear that we needed to improve these fisheries and we have prioritized our efforts accordingly.
As previously reported, an immediate priority was a tidy up of Cleabarrow – however, once we had done more investigative work, the tidy up became a major clean-up!! We extensively cleared the tarn of dead, dying and fallen trees. Where these were in the water, they had created snaggy fishing ‘no-go’ areas – the removed branches were festooned with lost tackle, not good for fish welfare. Additionally, there was significant build-up of silt in these areas where large quantities of hydrogen sulphide gas were being produced – again, poor for fish welfare. We then added 2 small stockings of large carp and bream.
The response from anglers to the work has been fantastic. Not only has the venue been extremely popular, it has also fished fantastically, with good catches of all the dominant species being taken. The eagle-eyed amongst you may have also noticed an increasing presence of small fish. We think they are roach but are not sure, so if you catch some, let us know.
Over the course of the next Bank Holiday weekend, we are running an inaugural 24-hour competition on Cleabarrow. You will be able to follow the progress on the Facebook page.
A tremendous amount of effort has gone into bringing Castlehead back on-line. I have previously given you an update, so I won’t repeat myself. The venue is now fully open to memebrs and day ticket anglers. The facility includes:
We have made an initial stocking of 1100lb of carp between 3 and 6lb of all shapes, sizes and colours and we’ve been really pleased to see some original stock fish still living in the pond.
You can see a tremendous video of the work and the venue here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQX5vo2Rjk8&t=5s
We hope to add a toilet and shelter facilities over the coming months. This will allow us to cater for events and groups of anglers. To support this we have purchased 8 sets of equipment to encourage new anglers into the sport. Please get in-touch if you know of any groups who would like to use the facility.
Having got these venues improved, our attention now will turn to Ratherheath Tarn. We have already implemented some improvements here and the benefits are being seen. Both members and newly available day ticket anglers are taking good catches of bream and carp. On sunny days, lots of carp can be seen cruising, particulary on the sunnier side of the water.
We anticipate more significant improvements taking place towards the back-end of the summer and into autumn. This will inevitably involve some disruption and we’ll give anglers all the details and plenty of warning in the run-ip to the activities.
So, in the last 6 months we have focussed on improving the basic fabric of our fisheries giving us a good foundation for the future. Additionally, in Castlehead we have brought on-board a new venue. It is my intention that each of these new waters will have their own ‘character’ and stocking, and to support this have developed a detailed ‘fishery plan’ for each.
Finally, whilst we all just enjoy being outside, the real reason we go fishing is to catch fish! Clearly, fish stocks are a vitally important ingredient- and also VERY expensive!!
In order to give ourselves a bright future, we have also recently taken on-board a lake which we are using in the short-term as a stock pond to grow fisgh on. We have added 500 small carp to the lake already, plus some tench and crucians and the Environment Agency have committed to supporting further additionas as part of their ‘Crucian Conservation Scheme’.
As ever, the more help we get the more we can do. Please get in-touch if you can help out – evens if it’s only an hour – there’s loads to be done!
I would also encourage you to sign-up for and use the club’s Facebook page. We post updates almost daily and it is a great place to get a feel for what is going on. Alternatively you can contact me directly on n.butterfield@yahoo.co.uk.
