Chester-le-Street Angling Club

Well it's finally arrived - the Trout season and the Salmon season's started, and already people are catching Salmon or Kelts but there has been one very well mended Kelt or Springer already caught. Please be careful to read both your Club rule book and the E.A. Byelaws before you fish so you don't inadvertantly break any rules.

The Club is still accepting applications for Park membership, which allows anglers to fish for coarse fish only from the Cong Burn to Crichton Avenue on the Riverside park side of the Wear and from opposite the Cong Burn to the end of Target Wood on the Golf Course side.

The Environment Agency is asking Anglers to complete an online questionnaire regarding the Northumbria Salmon action plan review - the shortcut to the site is http://ldsweb02.arup.com/salmonnortheast/
Please use this opportunity to give your views.

Sunday 25th Nov 2007 was the date of this year's AGM. Gary Johnson stood down as Chairman and Derek Miller was elected in his place as Chairman. New committee members also elected were Andy Veitch, Miles Cowell & Lloyd Atkinson. The Club also has a Match Secretary Mr D. Summers offered to stand and was duly voted in.

Other items discussed at the Club's AGM; there is no increase in the Subscription fee, it will remain at £60 for seniors for the 2008/9 season. Also the Club is to re-introduce Park Membership.

Some of the other proposals heard and voted on were:

1) That the restrictions on prawn fishing be rescinded - Motion carried. National regulations still apply - No Prawn fishing before the 16th June in any year!
2) That the price for Day Ticket's be doubled to £20 for the Month of September, also that No Day Tickets be sold in October. These two motions were carried
3) That after killing 2 Salmon you are allowed to fish on "catch and release" This motion was defeated.
4) Part membership be re-introduced for coarse fishing on the Park Water, both banks. Motion carried.
5) That no Angler may reserve a place on the Riverbank for another Angler who is not present at the time.

I've had an email from the Editor of Casagrande Press asking if anyone has any funny stories to tell.
"Do you have a story about the one that got away? Or a story about a fishing related calamity such as: going overboard, sinking your boat, getting attacked by the thing you caught, getting lost or stranded in the water, getting pranked by buddies, having horrid luck, or some other comical or terrible disaster? Casagrande Press wants your story for a new book. The press looks for stories that tell a good tale, develop the depth of the characters involved, and have a tight narrative tension. There is no fee or cost to submit a story. Previously published stories accepted. Author will retain the copyright to their story if we choose it for publication. Writers paid upon publication".
So if you do want your story pubished in "Fishing's Greatest Misadventures, then surf along to www.casagrandepress.comto submit your story online.

Simon Donnelly has provide an updated map of the club's waters showing the boundaries. The upstream boundary at Finchale Priory isn't at the footbridge but is I believe one field after the end the Cocken Wood, if in doubt check your rule book.
I am (still) aware of a large tree in the River at the tail of Bog Wood Pool. It's lying at the island at the bottom of Bog Wood and give the size of it I don't think it'll moving too far even in the spates we had recently. On a recent visit it was still there.

Don't know if anyone has seen the ACA Annual report for 2006, just published but there is an article, accompanied by a good photo in it entitled "Muddy Waters" by Dr Justin Neal, ACA Assistant Solicitor and part of the article is about the problem of sediment pollution from the Red House Gill into the River Wear above Cocken. The ACA are putting pressure on the E.A to do something about the problem, so fingers crossed.

Now all those of you out there who missed out on getting membership of the Chester-le-Street Angling Club this season; we have opened up a waiting list for any prospective members who wish to join the club NEXT season.

There is now a membership form on the website that can be copied & printed off - filled in and post to Stuart Tully with a Stamped Addressed Envelope (That is a Must - no SAE - no Membership).

What happens is you write in or fill the form in, post it to Stuart who will number the Applications as they arrive. Then in early March, in the year you are applying for, we shall know if there are any membership spaces. Stuart will write back to the corresponding number of members, as there are vacancies, inviting them to send in the full membership amount.

Two quick reminders - One, have you remembered to buy your Rod licence as they were due for renewal 1st April, and secondly when did you last have a tetanus injection? or are you due a booster! If you want to know more about tetanus look at www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk and search on tetanus.

There's a new Fishing store open at Woodbine Terrace, Hendon, Sunderland opened on 1st February - it's called the "Fishing Republic" see their website at www.fishingrepublic.net Now they selling Game, Coarse, Sea fishing equipment.

There was a report in the Journal on September the 2nd 2006, that around 3,000 grayling have been released into the River Browney between Lanchester & Durham. The E.A. said that some of these fish will find their way into the Wear as the Browney flows into the Wear. It is part of a three year programme to target rivers and stillwaters that would benefit from restocking.

Well the Club has had a few Anglers commenting on how well the Trout season has been. The club stocked with Triploid's - that's trout that are not just sterile but sexless being neither male nor female. Now apparently there is a belief that triploid trout tend not to go in search of breeding grounds and mates and tend to settle down close to where they were introduced.

If anyone could email me as to how the coarse fishing is going because the club does have a good number of coarse anglers but unfortunately the website is aimed more at Salmon and Trout Anglers at the moment.

Anyone who is a member and want a map of the Club's water just email me and I'll hopefully be able to get a laminated A4 sized map to them. Could I ask if you do want a double sized map, laminated and posted out to you, could you enclose say £2 to cover my costs. Email me for my address and that will give me enough time to ensure I have a spare ready to post out to you when your address and £2 arrive. Alternatively if you'd like to borrow the disc with the maps on to copy them onto your computer, email me.

One rule introduced at the 2005 AGM was all Anglers must use barbless hooks when intentionally fishing for Brown Trout. This means not only fly fishing but also worm & spinning too. Hooks with the barb or barbs flatted down or filed off will suffice.

Anyone realised the Club is 72 Years old this year? So in 2010 the Club will be 75 Years old, how should we mark this occasion? Start thinking now and answers on a postcard please!!

One or two of you may have noticed the new complex of lakes opposite the Foxpond kennels at Eighton Banks, Birtley. Well they have a website and it's a bit of a mouthful....it's www.angelofthenorthlakes.co.ukthe lakes open soon and will be for coarse fish only. Have a look online or in person.

If anyone has any comments on the fishing email me and I'll post a review.

Can I give a plug for the Wild Trout Trust. I attended their first annual meeting at House of Hardy on Saturday 12th March 2005. A very well attended meeting it was too. Now they are holding their 2008 Annual Meeting again at Hardy's Grey's at Alnwick. The full itinerary is available on the wildtrout trust's website.

Anyone who want to find out more about the WWT click the link www.wildtrout.org and think about joining too.

On this our home page, we'll introduce our club and give some examples of the types of fishing we have to offer.

How do I tell the difference between a Salmon and a Sea-Trout? Well Sea-Trout tails are square and thick at the wrist whilst Salmon tails are concaved and slender at the wrist.

Spots on a sea-Trout continue below the lateral line whilst Salmon have fewer spots below the lateral line. The eyes on a Sea-Trout are further forward in the head than the Salmon. Finally if you're still unsure count the scales between the adipose fin and the lateral line, a count of less than twelve, it is a Salmon, more than twelve and it's a Sea-Trout.

Looking at the yearly fish pass counter results for the past nine years:

1995 figs were 13,543,

1996 figs were 16,356,

1997 figs were 18,639,

1998 figs were 17,540,

1999 figs were 27,658,

2000 figs were 23,011,

2001 figs were 20,441,

2002 figs were 21,963,

2003 figs were 26,910,

So from these figures one can see a rise in the fish counter figures for the Wear at Durham.

The E.A. does point out that the figures are for fish using the pass and cannot distinguish between a Salmon and a Sea-Trout though I understand they are to install a camera to try and distinguish what the fish is. The main increase in the figures will be attributable to more and more Sea-Trout running the Wear and not a huge increase in Salmon.

One good new fishing site you may want to check out is www.netf.fsnet.co.uk home to North-East Trout fishing.

My address is neil.ashforth@ntlworld.com

Remember kill what you can eat - and eat what you kill!! we won't go far wrong if we do that.

There's a proverb that goes "Every day spent fishing is added to your allotted life span".

Anyone read the Article "State of the Nation" in Feb 2004 Trout & Salmon! Some interesting figures for the 2002 season, not unsurprisingly the Tyne had the highest catch of Salmon but it went on to say that the Welsh Rivers Teifi and Towy had the highest Sea-Trout rod catches of 4,851 and 4,554 but that these were followed by the Lune 2,549 then the Wear 2,374 and the Tyne 2,371. So it's neck and neck for the Wear and the Tyne tying for second best English Sea-Trout river! Now that can't be bad.

Day Tickets are, with effect from the 1st April 2004, under the control of Chester-le-Street Council. The Club has agreed with Chester-le-Street Council that they will sell Day Tickets for the Park Stretch and any Club members still have the right to fish the Park Stretch as normal. Only those people who are not Club members will require a day ticket to fish the Park Stretch. Tickets are available from the Riverside Leisure Centre which is located at the far side of the Durham Cricket ground.

Is there anything that members can think of to improve our Club? Extra parking? Recipe page on the Website? Some work done on Bankside clearance this Season? Email me with your idea's.

I added a link to Packlite a firm from California! that saw our website and asked if they could have a link on our site. Packlite offers a software program to help outdoors people plan their trips successfully and also has a collection of delicious recipes. Go check it out. Who knows you may get a good recipe or have a recipe to give them!

Can I recommend a site that sells waterproof bags... its called www.aquapac.net and is well worth a visit. You can buy a waterproof pac for your mobile phone, camera or even your car keys to keep them dry if you take a dip in the River or just get water over the top of your waders!

Another neat site I'd like to give a plug to is www.0spam.com that's "zero" spam not letter O.

It's free and keeps your inbox relatively spam free. Try it it doesn't cost anything and can be cancelled at a stroke.