The Chequers Inn at Lamberhurst hosted this year's AGM yesterday evening, and a handful of hardy souls braved the chill for a warm welcome at the pub, and some good food. The Committee ran through the highs and lows of the budget, recruitment, bailiffing, river maintenance, water quality and the catch statistics.
Everyone had an interesting evening, and learned a lot more about how the club is run and its challenges and successes, and got a chance to ask questions and express opinions about stocking, water quality, catch limits and the development of the reservoir. Some of these points will be discussed by the committee in January, and conclusions will be implemented for the 2025 season.
The Catch Returns produced a lot of food for thought, and here are a few of the trends and highlights:
Only 50% of members submitted any Returns (despite it being a requirement of Membership). Some members perhaps didn't manage to get to the river if they live far away or their diaries just didn't play ball; some members mistakenly believed that they should not submit returns if they don't catch (in fact knowing about blanks is extremely important to stocking and riverwork policies); some members bizarrely think that submitting positive returns will somehow prevent further stocking there !?!). Please do submit a return for every beat you fish, whether successful or not - IT IS IMPORTANT.
Of those Returns, almost a quarter related to a single visit to the river, which is sad, but we still very much appreciate the Returns; 3 members submitted 40% of the Returns which shows dedication, or just not enough to do?
The most popular and successful beats were once again 2a and 3b, but there was a big increase in Reservoir visits, and it really is in good shape just now, though catching is not easy. Returning Trout is now by far the norm, compared with a few years ago, and only about 20% of the Trout are taken, and very few Browns (7.5%). This should mean that there are hundreds of Trout in the river, if they haven't been washed away ....... unless some people are not sending in returns of course ......
Here are the full summary totals and sub-totals by beat, and on sheet 3 of the spreadsheet, you will find some graphs illustrating the trends and contrasts.
Do email me with questions, or add a comment so that we can all share your thoughts.
I'll post some Water Quality figures in the near future.
Cheers
PeterB
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