British Canoe Union Campaign for open access on all rivers and streams for non-
Voters in the City of Durham Constituency should be aware that their elected Parliamentary
M.P. Roberta Blackman-
The full text, together with it’s supporters, can be found here
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?ED MID= 35572&SESSION=891
The ‘increased chances of future Olympic success’ is nothing but hogwash and the
B.C.U. know this. On white-
I did contact Roberta (as my M.P.) to ask that she re consider her support for this
badly thought out motion and support instead the amendment put forward by Martin
Slater M.P. (Angling's Parliamentary Spokesman) the Pro-
Local angling clubs are already paying up to £4000 p.a. to fish just one mile of the river Wear!
To date all I have received is an acknowledgement from her parliamentary aid saying that Roberta is very very busy!!!!
Given the result of the next General Election (in Durham at least) could be very close, to ignore this request is very foolish.
This site has had almost 200,000 visits in a little under two years....the General Election has to be called within about the same time span! How many more potential Labour voters will visit this site before the final vote??
As a relative junior member of the House, Roberta would have been wiser to have consulted and discussed the issue with more senior and experienced colleagues rather than blindly supporting something she obviously knows little about. Martin Salter did not get to be the Parliamentary Spokesperson for Angling on his rugged good looks alone.
This item will be kept at the top for the foreseeable future.
E-
TOOMERR@parliament.uk
Telephone: 0207 219 4258
On a similar issue, but more specific to the Wear, e-
Encouragingly Dafydd has replied (1-
Watch this space.....
...........................................................................
Thursday, 3rd July 2008
Wear Barbel:
Young Nick Jose with a Wear 12lb-
......................................................................
Sunday, 22nd June 2008
Wear Chub:
Club member Paul Leigh with a 6llb-
...and barbel:
Nigel Collins with an open day 10lb-
..........................................................................
Sunday, 15th June 2008
The Weirs and Fish Passes, River Wear Durham City: (A World Heritage Site!!!)
Not exactly Club news but...
The photographs below show what a disgusting state the City Centre weirs are now in. The EA has refused to clear the accumulated debris rubbish away and the City Council say it’s not their responsibility.
As can be seen from the photographs, the washed down broken trees/branches have now started to grow fresh foliage and have taken root in the weir structure. If this is not cleared there is a very real chance that the roots could start to destroy the very structure of the weirs. (some parts are already in need of repair)
What is now probably only a days work for two or three workmen could eventually become a major rebuild.
God only knows what the new owners/tenants of the very expensive riverside apartments think when they look out over their new front gardens.
Any offers of help from ‘the authorities’ ?????
There is little wonder some of our citizens have little or no regard for our beautiful city when those charged with looking after it behave so badly.
..........................................................................
Sunday, 8th June 2008
New Water, River Wear:
From 16th June Club members will have access to all of the water on the south bank of the Wear opposite Maiden Castle.
Although the Club already have the fishing rights on two small sections, Club Officials have recently negotiated for members to have access to the whole of the river downstream from the A 177 (Rose Tree) road bridge to below Durham Beck. The newly installed footbridge across the beck at the confluence with the Wear now gives Club members unbroken fishing on both banks together with easier access. The Maiden Castle (north bank) ends at the old railway crossing and on the south bank downstream to the high wall opposite the rowing club.
With this new agreement members will also have access to Durham Beck which can, so we are told, provide good fishing when the Wear is running high.
As with all other Club waters in this area please only park in the areas either side of the road bridge.
Please DO NOT fish this water BEFORE June 16th
Brasside, Civil Service Match:
Will members please note that the Canal water will be closed from 12-
A notice has been posted on the Brasside notice board.
Please try to avoid using this water before 12-
Tuesday, 3rd June 2008
Forum Boards Update:
Several new ’open’ boards have been added to the DCAC forum. These are open to all;
members and non members of DCAC. Follow the links from the top menu, register and
wait for the confirmation e-
..........................................................................
Sunday, 1st June 2008
Dunelm AA water: R Wear, Chester Moor.
Contrary to information being put out on some club web sites the Dunelm AA water at Chester Moor can now only be fished by members of Durham City AC and Hartlepool & DAC.
This water used to be sub let to the Ferryham AA but as the Association has now folded all previous agreements are now ended. Members are asked to check the membership documents of all found fishing this water.
Members of Ferryhill, Big Waters, ROF/Birtley, Wansbeck & Cramlington, Aycliffe, Sunderland and Easington clubs no longer have any rights to fish this water
..........................................................................
Monday, 12th May 2008
Club Forum Boards -
After registering with the forum, Club members must e-
.........................................................................
After receiving several e-
The forum boards should be fully working by Sunday evening, Monday at the latest.
Could we please have members views as to whether to have an open forum or one for members only. Originally the previous forum was ‘open‘ to all, and we had some real idiots (to be polite) posting all sorts of nonsense and eventually it was made available to members only Please give their opinions HERE
..........................................................................
Wednesday, 23rd April 2008
Unauthorised cutting down of riverside trees.
It has been reported to Committee that willow’s have been cut down on the Shincliffe Hall section of the river Wear. This is not acceptable and anyone found to be carrying out this practice could have their membership withdrawn. Any felling of trees has to be done with permission from the riparian owners
Bankside trees/vegetation serve a useful purpose, not only by attracting fish but also by creating a source of food for the fish. The waters are for ALL members to enjoy, not just one single discipline .
.........................................................................
Sunday, 20th April 2008
Membership Applications and Renewals.
ALL applications for membership MUST be by using the official application form/s (download from the Join Us page) and via the PO box Number. Applications will no longer be accepted at tackle shops
Please post to:-
DCAC Membership Secretary
PO Box 508
Durham
DH1 9BP
..........................................................................
Sunday, April 6th 2008
Ferryham A.A. Water, River Wear, Croxdale
Will members please note, from the end of April 2008 Ferryham A.A. will no longer have the fishing rights to these waters.
The riparian owner, Mr Harl, was looking for a substantial increase in the rent for this water and given that the membership of Ferryham A.A. is now down to two clubs (BWAC had previously given notice of their intention to leave) the cost to the two remaining clubs made the renewal unrealistic.
Any/all other Ferryham/Dunelm A.A. Waters remain available to DCAC members
..........................................................................
Thursday, March 13th 2008
Membership Books:
The new Membership/Rule books have now been printed and are in the process of being posted out to members by the Secretary. Again apologies for the delay. Yours truly is just out of hospital and my wife is recovering from a recent heart attack. I would appreciate if members could refrain from telephoning at this time, the books will be arriving (assuming Royal Mail delivered the application to us in the first instance) Some have been undelivered because of underpaid postage. See note at the foot of ‘Join us page’ also bottom of the application form.
..........................................................................
Wednesday, February 27th 2008
Brasside Litter:
Once again the litter situation at Brasside is becoming unacceptable, sadly those responsible appear to be the long stay anglers who fish the west specimen water. AND it’s not only litter/rubbish but also human excrement. Do you behave like this in your own home/garden????
Unless the situation improves, and very quickly, ALL NIGHT FISHING WILL STOP. Those found to be responsible will have their membership terminated.
..........................................................................
Monday, February 25th 2008
Big Wear Chub:
Paul Leigh and his Chester Moor chub of 6lb-
..........................................................................
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Late Membership Renewals:
The membership renewal forms have now been posted out to members.
Apologies to those members who have already sent in their renewals and you receive a 2nd form in the post.
The new membership/rule books have not yet been delivered but all outstanding applications will be cleared as soon as the books have been received.
Due to the delay of membership renewals, the Brasside access gate combination number will be changed some time after 1st February. Notification will be given on this page
..........................................................................
Sunday, January 27th, 2008
Club Forum Boards Closure:
Please note that the Club Forum is closed as from to day 27-
All club news and information will continue to be posted on this web site. Please
e-
Intermediate Membership:
A new Intermediate membership category has recently been introduced, read more on the MEMBERSHIP page.
Unfortunately there has been a delay in getting the new membership books and renewal forms printed.
New books will be posted out just as soon as they are available.
Apologies to those members still waiting
..........................................................................
For further information of the 2008 match events please contact Tony Watson, D.C.A.C. Match Secretary, on 077761235
To date no information has been made available for the D.C.A.C. River sections.
Apologies to all members who have used the match list in previous years to avoid match dates when arranging pleasure sessions on Club waters, I know I found it very useful, but no match list has been provided for 2008.
John Hepworth
D.C.A.C. Web Site Editor & Membership Secretary
.........................................................................
Renewal forms will shortly be posted out to current members.(Can also be printed off from the Membership Page) Will all members please enclose an A 5 size. SAE for the return of new Club membership/Rule book.
D.C.A.C. has no Joining Fee nor does the Club charge for 2nd/3rd rod on the Brasside Specimen water.
.........................................................
Roach Stocking At Maiden Castle
Approximately 5000 4”-
EA Fisheries Specialist Phil Rippon showing the stamp of fish stocked (better photos to come hopefully)
These fish, from the EA’s Leyland Lancashire fish farm, were in superb condition and should in time add to the sport enjoyed by Club members
.........................................................................
TAA/EA Tyne Championships
Fished Sunday 19-
Overall the match went well. It was attended by 81 anglers plus the Juniors. £50 was raised for the TRT.
1. Steve Guy, Washington 29-
2. Brian Havelock, RSPS 27-
3. Graheme Hutchinson, Richmond AS 26-
4. John Bainbridge, Darlington AC 20-
5. Andrew Herbert, RSPS 20-
6. John Burns, E/A 20-
Winning team BWAC ID Tackle 62-
The top twenty anglers all broke double figures. However, all the weights were confined to the Corbridge and Hexham areas. The North Tyne performed noticeably poorer than last year. This was put this down to the release from Kielder, which incidentally was unavoidable, which put an extra foot of water in the river and made actual fishing conditions difficult. There were a number of blanks.
The Hexham sections fished exceptionally well with only four of the twenty anglers pegged there failing to record double figures.
There were masses of dace caught, plenty of chublets, some larger chub, encouraging numbers of roach (down to recent EA stockings ?) the odd perch and gudgeon. Chollerford section won with 10 pounds of eels. Also a pound roach caught there!
.........................................................................
Club Committee member and bailiff Paul Hutchinson with a new Wear P.B. Chub of 6-
.......Closely followed by a 9-
...almost a smile there Paul
Environment Agency crackdown on close season fishing
Environment Agency enforcement officers this week carried out a boat patrol along River Tees in a bid to catch anglers illegally fishing during the coarse fish close season.
The River Tees has become a highly valued coarse fishery since the Tees barrage was erected 12 years ago, but the Environment Agency had received complaints that anglers were fishing illegally on the river, between the Tees Barrage and Yarm.
Officers found eight of the eleven people checked on this stretch of river were fishing illegally on Tuesday June 5th and they will now be reported for prosecution. This included people fishing without rod licences and those using maggots in the close season for coarse fish.
One suspected offender tried to escape from enforcement officers and was captured and arrested until his identity could be verified.
Environment Agency fisheries officer David Bamford said: “It is important to enforce the coarse fish closed season as fish need to be allowed to spawn successfully without being targeted by anglers. Fish become vulnerable to handling damage at spawning time and can fall victim to disease if handled.”
Those caught without a rod licence will be prosecuted and could be liable to a fine of up to £2500, and anyone fishing the River Tees using maggots before the 16th of June is committing an offence and will be prosecuted.
David continued: “People must realise that they should not be fishing in the River Tees for coarse fish during the close season for coarse fish 15th March to 15th June inclusive. If they are we will catch them and they will face prosecution.”
Money from rod licences is used to fund improvements to river habitats, surveys which can highlight a need for improvement work, and events to encourage more people to take up the sport.
For 2007/2008 a full season coarse and trout fishing licence costs just £24.50 and
a salmon and sea trout licence costs £66.50. There is also a range of concessionary,
junior, eight-
Buying a new licence couldn’t be easier -
Make sure you have a valid rod licence before heading back to the river
June 8th, 2007
Anglers eagerly anticipating the opening of the coarse fishing season on June 16 should make sure they have a valid rod licence before heading for the river.
The reminder comes as 270 anglers were prosecuted by the Environment Agency in May, resulting in more than £38,000 in fines and costs. In addition three anglers received cautions.
Fishing for salmon, trout, freshwater fish and eels in England and Wales and the Border Esk in Scotland requires a licence from the Environment Agency. Failure to have a licence is an offence. Those caught fishing illegally face tough penalties, including fines of up to £2,500 and a ban from fishing.
A small number of anglers believe a licence is valid for 12 months from the date of purchase. This is not case. All rod licences expire on March 31.
For 2007/2008 a full season coarse and trout fishing licence costs just £24.50 and
a salmon and sea trout licence costs £66.50. There is also a range of concessionary,
junior, eight-
The protection of vulnerable fish stocks and increasing fishing participation are among the Environment Agency’s key environmental objectives. The money raised through rod licence sales; some £19m, is invested directly in fisheries work that benefits all anglers.
Buying a new licence couldn’t be easier – around 15,000 Post Offices and other outlets
sell them; a direct debit can be set up, and they can be purchased over the phone
(0870 1662662) or on-
In 2006 more than £600,000 was paid in fines and costs by more than 4,400 illegal anglers for fishing without a rod licence. In addition 40 anglers received cautions from the courts.
Coarse Anglers Logbook Scheme: 2006 Report Summary.
Unfortunately the graphics from the e-
Introduction.
In June 2006 we produced the coarse anglers logbook and distributed it throughout the North East through outlets such as tackle shops and private fisheries. The scheme was promoted via press releases and with the help of a number of local angling organisations including the Tyne Anglers Alliance and Durham City Angling Club. The logbook is intended for use by all coarse anglers, whether matchmen, stillwater or river fishers as the information will be equally important. The aims of the logbook scheme are many but include specifically.
- Looking at where coarse anglers are fishing to help us target project work.
- Identifying issues and possible improvements to coarse angling in the area.
- Raising awareness of coarse angling in the area and promoting river fishing.
- Obtaining information on coarse fish stocks, including which species are present, are they breeding successfully, and how common they are.
All completed logbooks are entered into prize draw which has been sponsored by a number of tackle manufacturers including Fox and Shakespeare as well as local tackle shops. All anglers entering the scheme will also receive a copy of the report summary and will have their books returned together with a new book for the forthcoming season.
The logbooks are designed to provide an easy method for anglers to record their catches. Each species likely to be caught is shown with a range of sizes in which to record the number caught. It is not expected that each fish is individually measured, an estimate of numbers in each size category will give acceptable results. Likewise the total weight of each days catch can be estimated when pleasure rather than match fishing. The size categories were chosen to represent age classes of the respective species so the some assessment of annual breeding success could be estimated. For example, dace caught between 4 and 8 cm are representing the 1 year old fish, I.e. for the 2006 logbooks this would be dace that hatched in April/May 2005. It is unlikely that fish of less than one year old would feature in anglers catches as they would be generally too small to be caught on rod and line. For the Tyne and the Wear, we have divided the river into zones so that coarse angling activity and catches could be compared within each catchment: see Table 1.
The logbook also gives the angler the opportunity to record how enjoyable the days fishing was and what improvements could be made to improve that experience. Five main categories of improvement are suggested and anglers are given the opportunity to say how important each is to them. These categories were as follows.
- Access to other waters
- Paths / parking etc
- Disabled access
- More/ better stocking
- Habitat improvements
Each issue was ranked according to importance with 1 being the least important and 5 being very important.
Results -
To date 22 logbooks have been returned, representing 318 individual fishing trips within the North East. Of the 318 trips, 230 were recorded from rivers in Northumbria, 47 came from other rivers, including the Tees and Swale. 41 trips were recorded from stillwaters. 96 and 132 trips were recorded on the Tyne and Wear respectively and made up the majority of recorded river trips.
Figures 1 and 2 show the relative catches of species from the rivers and stillwaters by logbook anglers.
Figure 1 – River catches recorded by logbook anglers
Figure 2 – Stillwater catches recorded by logbook anglers
Table 1 – Zones used to characterise angling on the Tyne and Wear.
Tyne Stretch Number of records
1 Newburn to Ovingham 62
2 Ovingham to Corbridge 19
3 Corbridge to Watersmeet 12
4 North Tyne (incl Tribs) 3
Wear Stretch Number of records
7 Chester-
8 Durham to Sunderland Bridge 12
9 Sunderland Bridge to Bishop Auckland 19
Table 1 shows where the majority of angling activity takes place on the Area's larger rivers i.e. the Tyne and Wear. Zone 1 and zone 7 being the downstream sections on the Tyne and Wear respectively.
Figure 3 -
Zones 1 and 7 (the lower Tyne and Wear) produce the majority of coarse fish catches. Zone 1 on the Tyne recorded the largest numbers at 1579 coarse fish in 62 visits (average 25 per trip). Zone 7 (lower Wear) recorded 1398 individuals at an average of 14 fish per trip. The most productive zone was zone 2 (Ovingham to Corbridge) where 19 trips recorded 515 individual coarse fish at an average of 27 fish per trip. The largest numbers of dace, chub and roach were recorded on the lower Tyne (Zone 1). Only 16 eels were recorded by logbook anglers.
Figures 4 and 5 show the size distributions of the major coarse fish species caught by logbook anglers on the Tyne and Wear. It is apparent that the smaller size categories make up the majority of catches on the Tyne whereas relatively larger fish tend to dominate anglers catches on the River Wear.
Figure 4 River Tyne coarse fish size distributions.
Figure 5 River Wear coarse fish size distributions.
Results – Angler Survey
Of the 22 logbook returns all of the anglers where white males, with the majority being over 40 years of age.
Figure 6 shows angler enjoyment of the trips, 290 out of the 318 trips were recorded.
NR = not recorded.
Figure 6
A positive response was received (Ok and above), for 81% of the angling trips. Over 50% of the trips were rated very highly however 11% of the sessions were rated very poorly by anglers.
Figure 7, highlights where anglers considered their trips could be improved. Each bar represents a sum of ratings of 4 and 5 I.e. issues deemed important and very important.
Figure 7
The distance that coarse fisherman travel to enjoy their sport is shown in figure 8.
Only 7% of anglers are fishing within 5 miles of where they live with 39% making trips of greater than 20 miles.
Figure 8
An analyses of where anglers were spending money on tackle and bait showed that 42% of anglers were travelling more than 20 miles to collect bait and tackle and that only 11% of anglers could collect bait and tackle within 5 miles of their homes.
Discussion
The results presented above are from a limited number of logbooks and we will encourage more anglers to become involved in the scheme helping to create more robust data. However information from 318 separate fishing trips has helped to build a comprehensive database, to which increasing amounts of information will be added in the future. This report only summarises some key information from the logbooks. The data has the potential to be used for more detailed biological analyses of local fish stocks. It is clear that the majority of returns have come from river trips and more data from stillwaters is required. Likewise all of the returns have come from similar groups of anglers ie white males and over 40. Obtaining information from junior anglers will be a priority for 2007/8.
The logbook results are split into two sections to reflect the differing aims of the scheme. The biological information from the fisheries provides important information on species composition and breeding success of the major coarse species in the area, while the angler survey data provides information in helping to understand where angling could be improved in the future.
For river fishing in the area it is clear that dace, chub, roach and gudgeon are providing the majority of coarse fishing sport on rivers. Whereas Carp and Roach dominate the stillwater catches.
For river fishing, angling activity is centred around the lower reaches of the Tyne and Wear (Zones 1 and 7). This may be due to the increased numbers of coarse fish, and hence anglers in these areas or simply a result of coarse angling being restricted to certain parts of the river systems.
Both of these zones are producing reasonable numbers of coarse fish with trips averaging at around 25 fish per session on the lower Tyne and 14 fish per session on the lower Wear. This perhaps suggests that the Tyne offers better coarse fishing, however many of the Tyne fish caught by logbook anglers are juvenile fish whereas the fish caught in the Wear are considerably larger specimens. For example 28 dace larger than 20cm in length were caught on the Tyne compared with 413 individuals greater than 20cm on the Wear. A similar pattern is seen for chub and roach with substantially larger specimens being recorded in the Wear (see figures 4 and 5).
It is unclear whether this is a biological difference between the two rivers or a function of where angling activity is taking place. The presence of large dace on the Tyne during open competitions on more upstream sections would suggest that the larger fish on the Tyne inhabit areas not usually fished by coarse anglers.
Encouraging numbers of juvenile roach are now being recorded in the lower Tyne as
it was suspected that species was in serious decline. It is likely that a number
of warm springs combined with low flows and a recent stocking programme have helped
to re-
From the survey of angling enjoyment it is clear that the majority of logbook anglers are enjoying the trips that they are making, with 81% rating the angling experience as ok or above. It may be that logbook anglers are more dedicated fishermen and more likely to enjoy the sport, however their experience and knowledge of past catches would have an influence on their enjoyment of a particular trip.
Most anglers have to travel more than 5 miles to go fishing with 39% travelling more than 20 miles. This points to a lack of local facilities, although with the majority of returns coming from river anglers these results may be biased as these anglers may be preferring to travel to rivers rather than fish more local stillwaters.
The biggest issues anglers have identified relate to access, both to existing fishing locations ie parking and footpaths, and to access to new waters. The latter, being particularly the case on the Tyne and Wear. Disabled access was not rated as an issue by logbook anglers. However the fact that parking, and footpaths in general was a highlighted issue implies that disabled access would also be a major issue.
Relatively few returns from the regions stillwaters have made any analysis difficult as most of the information on stillwaters have come for relatively few venues (mostly Brasside Pond and Whittle Dene). However angler enjoyment at these venues and catch rates are encouraging. It is expected that more information from the regions stillwaters will be available in 2007/8.
Recommendations
- Increase the participation in the scheme. We will encourage more anglers to participate in 2007/8 so that more data will be available to inform future project development work and local fishery management.
- Target junior anglers where possible.
- Work closely with local clubs and organisations to try to improve access to coarse fishing on both rivers and stillwaters.
- Use data from the logbooks to inform any future stocking programmes and habitat improvements.
Use data from the logbooks to inform riverside development activities, water flow regulation, abstraction and discharge consenting.
New Brasside ‘Canal Water’ match record.
In the final fixture of the Canal series, Tony Watson set a new record for the water
with a catch of 41lb-
Match Result
1st Tony Watson 41lb-
2nd Andy Sinclair 22 lb-
3rd Kevin Fox 20 lb-
Final Series Placing's
1st Tony Watson
2nd David Wood
.............
Sunday, 8th June 2008
New Water, River Wear:
From 16th June Club members will have access to all of the water on the south bank of the Wear opposite Maiden Castle.
Although the Club already have the fishing rights on two small sections, Club Officials have recently negotiated for members to have access to the whole of the river downstream from the A 177 (Rose Tree) road bridge to below Durham Beck. The newly installed footbridge across the beck at the confluence with the Wear now gives Club members unbroken fishing on both banks together with easier access. The Maiden Castle (north bank) ends at the old railway crossing and on the south bank downstream to the high wall opposite the rowing club.
With this new agreement members will also have access to Durham Beck which can, so we are told, provide good fishing when the Wear is running high.
As with all other Club waters in this area please only park in the areas either side of the road bridge.
Please DO NOT fish this water BEFORE June 16th
Brasside, Civil Service Match:
Will members please note that the Canal water will be closed from 12-
A notice has been posted on the Brasside notice board.
Please try to avoid using this water before 12-
Tuesday, 3rd June 2008
Forum Boards Update:
Several new ’open’ boards have been added to the DCAC forum. These are open to all;
members and non members of DCAC. Follow the links from the top menu, register and
wait for the confirmation e-
..........................................................................
Sunday, 1st June 2008
Dunelm AA water: R Wear, Chester Moor.
Contrary to information being put out on some club web sites the Dunelm AA water at Chester Moor can now only be fished by members of Durham City AC and Hartlepool & DAC.
This water used to be sub let to the Ferryham AA but as the Association has now folded all previous agreements are now ended. Members are asked to check the membership documents of all found fishing this water.
Members of Ferryhill, Big Waters, ROF/Birtley, Wansbeck & Cramlington, Aycliffe, Sunderland and Easington clubs no longer have any rights to fish this water
..........................................................................
Monday, 12th May 2008
Club Forum Boards -
After registering with the forum, Club members must e-
.........................................................................
After receiving several e-
The forum boards should be fully working by Sunday evening, Monday at the latest.
Could we please have members views as to whether to have an open forum or one for members only. Originally the previous forum was ‘open‘ to all, and we had some real idiots (to be polite) posting all sorts of nonsense and eventually it was made available to members only Please give their opinions HERE
..........................................................................
Wednesday, 23rd April 2008
Unauthorised cutting down of riverside trees.
It has been reported to Committee that willow’s have been cut down on the Shincliffe Hall section of the river Wear. This is not acceptable and anyone found to be carrying out this practice could have their membership withdrawn. Any felling of trees has to be done with permission from the riparian owners
Bankside trees/vegetation serve a useful purpose, not only by attracting fish but also by creating a source of food for the fish. The waters are for ALL members to enjoy, not just one single discipline .
.........................................................................
Sunday, 20th April 2008
Membership Applications and Renewals.
ALL applications for membership MUST be by using the official application form/s (download from the Join Us page) and via the PO box Number. Applications will no longer be accepted at tackle shops
Please post to:-
DCAC Membership Secretary
PO Box 508
Durham
DH1 9BP
..........................................................................
Sunday, April 6th 2008
Ferryham A.A. Water, River Wear, Croxdale
Will members please note, from the end of April 2008 Ferryham A.A. will no longer have the fishing rights to these waters.
The riparian owner, Mr Harl, was looking for a substantial increase in the rent for this water and given that the membership of Ferryham A.A. is now down to two clubs (BWAC had previously given notice of their intention to leave) the cost to the two remaining clubs made the renewal unrealistic.
Any/all other Ferryham/Dunelm A.A. Waters remain available to DCAC members
..........................................................................
Thursday, March 13th 2008
Membership Books:
The new Membership/Rule books have now been printed and are in the process of being posted out to members by the Secretary. Again apologies for the delay. Yours truly is just out of hospital and my wife is recovering from a recent heart attack. I would appreciate if members could refrain from telephoning at this time, the books will be arriving (assuming Royal Mail delivered the application to us in the first instance) Some have been undelivered because of underpaid postage. See note at the foot of ‘Join us page’ also bottom of the application form.
..........................................................................
Wednesday, February 27th 2008
Brasside Litter:
Once again the litter situation at Brasside is becoming unacceptable, sadly those responsible appear to be the long stay anglers who fish the west specimen water. AND it’s not only litter/rubbish but also human excrement. Do you behave like this in your own home/garden????
Unless the situation improves, and very quickly, ALL NIGHT FISHING WILL STOP. Those found to be responsible will have their membership terminated.
..........................................................................
Monday, February 25th 2008
Big Wear Chub:
Paul Leigh and his Chester Moor chub of 6lb-
..........................................................................
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Late Membership Renewals:
The membership renewal forms have now been posted out to members.
Apologies to those members who have already sent in their renewals and you receive a 2nd form in the post.
The new membership/rule books have not yet been delivered but all outstanding applications will be cleared as soon as the books have been received.
Due to the delay of membership renewals, the Brasside access gate combination number will be changed some time after 1st February. Notification will be given on this page
..........................................................................
Sunday, January 27th, 2008
Club Forum Boards Closure:
Please note that the Club Forum is closed as from to day 27-
All club news and information will continue to be posted on this web site. Please
e-
Intermediate Membership:
A new Intermediate membership category has recently been introduced, read more on the MEMBERSHIP page.
Membership Renewals:
Unfortunately there has been a delay in getting the new membership books and renewal forms printed.
New books will be posted out just as soon as they are available.
Apologies to those members still waiting
..........................................................................
Wednesday, January 10, 2008
D.C.A.C. Match Fixtures 2008:
For further information of the 2008 match events please contact Tony Watson, D.C.A.C. Match Secretary, on 077761235
To date no information has been made available for the D.C.A.C. River sections.
Apologies to all members who have used the match list in previous years to avoid match dates when arranging pleasure sessions on Club waters, I know I found it very useful, but no match list has been provided for 2008.
John Hepworth
D.C.A.C. Web Site Editor & Membership Secretary
.........................................................................
Sunday, January 6, 2008.
New Membership Year:
The 2008 membership year starts 1st February 2008, the Brasside gate combination number will also be changed on this date. Demand for membership is likely to be high again and early renewal is recommended.
Renewal forms will shortly be posted out to current members.(Can also be printed off from the Membership Page) Will all members please enclose an A 5 size. SAE for the return of new Club membership/Rule book.
Subscriptions remain unchanged from 2007; i.e. Senior:£50. Retired/Disabled/Student
(21 years and over) £35. Intermediate: (17-
D.C.A.C. has no Joining Fee nor does the Club charge for 2nd/3rd rod on the Brasside Specimen water.
All new membership and renewal of membership applications to be sent to: DCAC Membership Secretary. PO Box 508, Durham, DH1 9BP
Please ensure that the correct postage is paid as Royal mail will not deliver and
the Club can’t afford to pay the £1-
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Roach Stocking At Maiden Castle
Approximately 5000 4”-
EA Fisheries Specialist Phil Rippon showing the stamp of fish stocked (better photos to come hopefully)
These fish, from the EA’s Leyland Lancashire fish farm, were in superb condition and should in time add to the sport enjoyed by Club members
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TAA/EA Tyne Championships
Fished Sunday 19-
Overall the match went well. It was attended by 81 anglers plus the Juniors. £50 was raised for the TRT.
1. Steve Guy, Washington 29-
2. Brian Havelock, RSPS 27-
3. Graheme Hutchinson, Richmond AS 26-
4. John Bainbridge, Darlington AC 20-
5. Andrew Herbert, RSPS 20-
6. John Burns, E/A 20-
Winning team BWAC ID Tackle 62-
The top twenty anglers all broke double figures. However, all the weights were confined to the Corbridge and Hexham areas. The North Tyne performed noticeably poorer than last year. This was put this down to the release from Kielder, which incidentally was unavoidable, which put an extra foot of water in the river and made actual fishing conditions difficult. There were a number of blanks.
The Hexham sections fished exceptionally well with only four of the twenty anglers pegged there failing to record double figures.
There were masses of dace caught, plenty of chublets, some larger chub, encouraging numbers of roach (down to recent EA stockings ?) the odd perch and gudgeon. Chollerford section won with 10 pounds of eels. Also a pound roach caught there!
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Club Committee member and bailiff Paul Hutchinson with a new Wear P.B. Chub of 6-
.......Closely followed by a 9-
...almost a smile there Paul
Environment Agency crackdown on close season fishing
Environment Agency enforcement officers this week carried out a boat patrol along River Tees in a bid to catch anglers illegally fishing during the coarse fish close season.
The River Tees has become a highly valued coarse fishery since the Tees barrage was erected 12 years ago, but the Environment Agency had received complaints that anglers were fishing illegally on the river, between the Tees Barrage and Yarm.
Officers found eight of the eleven people checked on this stretch of river were fishing illegally on Tuesday June 5th and they will now be reported for prosecution. This included people fishing without rod licences and those using maggots in the close season for coarse fish.
One suspected offender tried to escape from enforcement officers and was captured and arrested until his identity could be verified.
Environment Agency fisheries officer David Bamford said: “It is important to enforce the coarse fish closed season as fish need to be allowed to spawn successfully without being targeted by anglers. Fish become vulnerable to handling damage at spawning time and can fall victim to disease if handled.”
Those caught without a rod licence will be prosecuted and could be liable to a fine of up to £2500, and anyone fishing the River Tees using maggots before the 16th of June is committing an offence and will be prosecuted.
David continued: “People must realise that they should not be fishing in the River Tees for coarse fish during the close season for coarse fish 15th March to 15th June inclusive. If they are we will catch them and they will face prosecution.”
Money from rod licences is used to fund improvements to river habitats, surveys which can highlight a need for improvement work, and events to encourage more people to take up the sport.
For 2007/2008 a full season coarse and trout fishing licence costs just £24.50 and
a salmon and sea trout licence costs £66.50. There is also a range of concessionary,
junior, eight-
Buying a new licence couldn’t be easier -
Top of page
Make sure you have a valid rod licence before heading back to the river
June 8th, 2007
Anglers eagerly anticipating the opening of the coarse fishing season on June 16 should make sure they have a valid rod licence before heading for the river.
The reminder comes as 270 anglers were prosecuted by the Environment Agency in May, resulting in more than £38,000 in fines and costs. In addition three anglers received cautions.
Fishing for salmon, trout, freshwater fish and eels in England and Wales and the Border Esk in Scotland requires a licence from the Environment Agency. Failure to have a licence is an offence. Those caught fishing illegally face tough penalties, including fines of up to £2,500 and a ban from fishing.
A small number of anglers believe a licence is valid for 12 months from the date of purchase. This is not case. All rod licences expire on March 31.
For 2007/2008 a full season coarse and trout fishing licence costs just £24.50 and
a salmon and sea trout licence costs £66.50. There is also a range of concessionary,
junior, eight-
The protection of vulnerable fish stocks and increasing fishing participation are among the Environment Agency’s key environmental objectives. The money raised through rod licence sales; some £19m, is invested directly in fisheries work that benefits all anglers.
Buying a new licence couldn’t be easier – around 15,000 Post Offices and other outlets
sell them; a direct debit can be set up, and they can be purchased over the phone
(0870 1662662) or on-
In 2006 more than £600,000 was paid in fines and costs by more than 4,400 illegal anglers for fishing without a rod licence. In addition 40 anglers received cautions from the courts.
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Coarse Anglers Logbook Scheme: 2006 Report Summary.
Unfortunately the graphics from the e-
Introduction.
In June 2006 we produced the coarse anglers logbook and distributed it throughout the North East through outlets such as tackle shops and private fisheries. The scheme was promoted via press releases and with the help of a number of local angling organisations including the Tyne Anglers Alliance and Durham City Angling Club. The logbook is intended for use by all coarse anglers, whether matchmen, stillwater or river fishers as the information will be equally important. The aims of the logbook scheme are many but include specifically.
- Looking at where coarse anglers are fishing to help us target project work.
- Identifying issues and possible improvements to coarse angling in the area.
- Raising awareness of coarse angling in the area and promoting river fishing.
- Obtaining information on coarse fish stocks, including which species are present, are they breeding successfully, and how common they are.
All completed logbooks are entered into prize draw which has been sponsored by a number of tackle manufacturers including Fox and Shakespeare as well as local tackle shops. All anglers entering the scheme will also receive a copy of the report summary and will have their books returned together with a new book for the forthcoming season.
The logbooks are designed to provide an easy method for anglers to record their catches. Each species likely to be caught is shown with a range of sizes in which to record the number caught. It is not expected that each fish is individually measured, an estimate of numbers in each size category will give acceptable results. Likewise the total weight of each days catch can be estimated when pleasure rather than match fishing. The size categories were chosen to represent age classes of the respective species so the some assessment of annual breeding success could be estimated. For example, dace caught between 4 and 8 cm are representing the 1 year old fish, I.e. for the 2006 logbooks this would be dace that hatched in April/May 2005. It is unlikely that fish of less than one year old would feature in anglers catches as they would be generally too small to be caught on rod and line. For the Tyne and the Wear, we have divided the river into zones so that coarse angling activity and catches could be compared within each catchment: see Table 1.
The logbook also gives the angler the opportunity to record how enjoyable the days fishing was and what improvements could be made to improve that experience. Five main categories of improvement are suggested and anglers are given the opportunity to say how important each is to them. These categories were as follows.
- Access to other waters
- Paths / parking etc
- Disabled access
- More/ better stocking
- Habitat improvements
Each issue was ranked according to importance with 1 being the least important and 5 being very important.
Results -
To date 22 logbooks have been returned, representing 318 individual fishing trips within the North East. Of the 318 trips, 230 were recorded from rivers in Northumbria, 47 came from other rivers, including the Tees and Swale. 41 trips were recorded from stillwaters. 96 and 132 trips were recorded on the Tyne and Wear respectively and made up the majority of recorded river trips.
Figures 1 and 2 show the relative catches of species from the rivers and stillwaters by logbook anglers.
Figure 1 – River catches recorded by logbook anglers
Figure 2 – Stillwater catches recorded by logbook anglers
Table 1 – Zones used to characterise angling on the Tyne and Wear.
Tyne Stretch Number of records
1 Newburn to Ovingham 62
2 Ovingham to Corbridge 19
3 Corbridge to Watersmeet 12
4 North Tyne (incl Tribs) 3
Wear Stretch Number of records
7 Chester-
8 Durham to Sunderland Bridge 12
9 Sunderland Bridge to Bishop Auckland 19
Table 1 shows where the majority of angling activity takes place on the Area's larger rivers i.e. the Tyne and Wear. Zone 1 and zone 7 being the downstream sections on the Tyne and Wear respectively.
Figure 3 -
Zones 1 and 7 (the lower Tyne and Wear) produce the majority of coarse fish catches. Zone 1 on the Tyne recorded the largest numbers at 1579 coarse fish in 62 visits (average 25 per trip). Zone 7 (lower Wear) recorded 1398 individuals at an average of 14 fish per trip. The most productive zone was zone 2 (Ovingham to Corbridge) where 19 trips recorded 515 individual coarse fish at an average of 27 fish per trip. The largest numbers of dace, chub and roach were recorded on the lower Tyne (Zone 1). Only 16 eels were recorded by logbook anglers.
Figures 4 and 5 show the size distributions of the major coarse fish species caught by logbook anglers on the Tyne and Wear. It is apparent that the smaller size categories make up the majority of catches on the Tyne whereas relatively larger fish tend to dominate anglers catches on the River Wear.
Figure 4 River Tyne coarse fish size distributions.
Figure 5 River Wear coarse fish size distributions.
Results – Angler Survey
Of the 22 logbook returns all of the anglers where white males, with the majority being over 40 years of age.
Figure 6 shows angler enjoyment of the trips, 290 out of the 318 trips were recorded.
NR = not recorded.
Figure 6
A positive response was received (Ok and above), for 81% of the angling trips. Over 50% of the trips were rated very highly however 11% of the sessions were rated very poorly by anglers.
Figure 7, highlights where anglers considered their trips could be improved. Each bar represents a sum of ratings of 4 and 5 I.e. issues deemed important and very important.
Figure 7
The distance that coarse fisherman travel to enjoy their sport is shown in figure 8.
Only 7% of anglers are fishing within 5 miles of where they live with 39% making trips of greater than 20 miles.
Figure 8
An analyses of where anglers were spending money on tackle and bait showed that 42% of anglers were travelling more than 20 miles to collect bait and tackle and that only 11% of anglers could collect bait and tackle within 5 miles of their homes.
Discussion
The results presented above are from a limited number of logbooks and we will encourage more anglers to become involved in the scheme helping to create more robust data. However information from 318 separate fishing trips has helped to build a comprehensive database, to which increasing amounts of information will be added in the future. This report only summarises some key information from the logbooks. The data has the potential to be used for more detailed biological analyses of local fish stocks. It is clear that the majority of returns have come from river trips and more data from stillwaters is required. Likewise all of the returns have come from similar groups of anglers ie white males and over 40. Obtaining information from junior anglers will be a priority for 2007/8.
The logbook results are split into two sections to reflect the differing aims of the scheme. The biological information from the fisheries provides important information on species composition and breeding success of the major coarse species in the area, while the angler survey data provides information in helping to understand where angling could be improved in the future.
For river fishing in the area it is clear that dace, chub, roach and gudgeon are providing the majority of coarse fishing sport on rivers. Whereas Carp and Roach dominate the stillwater catches.
For river fishing, angling activity is centred around the lower reaches of the Tyne and Wear (Zones 1 and 7). This may be due to the increased numbers of coarse fish, and hence anglers in these areas or simply a result of coarse angling being restricted to certain parts of the river systems.
Both of these zones are producing reasonable numbers of coarse fish with trips averaging at around 25 fish per session on the lower Tyne and 14 fish per session on the lower Wear. This perhaps suggests that the Tyne offers better coarse fishing, however many of the Tyne fish caught by logbook anglers are juvenile fish whereas the fish caught in the Wear are considerably larger specimens. For example 28 dace larger than 20cm in length were caught on the Tyne compared with 413 individuals greater than 20cm on the Wear. A similar pattern is seen for chub and roach with substantially larger specimens being recorded in the Wear (see figures 4 and 5).
It is unclear whether this is a biological difference between the two rivers or a function of where angling activity is taking place. The presence of large dace on the Tyne during open competitions on more upstream sections would suggest that the larger fish on the Tyne inhabit areas not usually fished by coarse anglers.
Encouraging numbers of juvenile roach are now being recorded in the lower Tyne as
it was suspected that species was in serious decline. It is likely that a number
of warm springs combined with low flows and a recent stocking programme have helped
to re-
From the survey of angling enjoyment it is clear that the majority of logbook anglers are enjoying the trips that they are making, with 81% rating the angling experience as ok or above. It may be that logbook anglers are more dedicated fishermen and more likely to enjoy the sport, however their experience and knowledge of past catches would have an influence on their enjoyment of a particular trip.
Most anglers have to travel more than 5 miles to go fishing with 39% travelling more than 20 miles. This points to a lack of local facilities, although with the majority of returns coming from river anglers these results may be biased as these anglers may be preferring to travel to rivers rather than fish more local stillwaters.
The biggest issues anglers have identified relate to access, both to existing fishing locations ie parking and footpaths, and to access to new waters. The latter, being particularly the case on the Tyne and Wear. Disabled access was not rated as an issue by logbook anglers. However the fact that parking, and footpaths in general was a highlighted issue implies that disabled access would also be a major issue.
Relatively few returns from the regions stillwaters have made any analysis difficult as most of the information on stillwaters have come for relatively few venues (mostly Brasside Pond and Whittle Dene). However angler enjoyment at these venues and catch rates are encouraging. It is expected that more information from the regions stillwaters will be available in 2007/8.
Recommendations
- Increase the participation in the scheme. We will encourage more anglers to participate in 2007/8 so that more data will be available to inform future project development work and local fishery management.
- Target junior anglers where possible.
- Work closely with local clubs and organisations to try to improve access to coarse fishing on both rivers and stillwaters.
- Use data from the logbooks to inform any future stocking programmes and habitat improvements.
Use data from the logbooks to inform riverside development activities, water flow regulation, abstraction and discharge consenting.
New Brasside ‘Canal Water’ match record.
In the final fixture of the Canal series, Tony Watson set a new record for the water
with a catch of 41lb-
Match Result
1st Tony Watson 41lb-
2nd Andy Sinclair 22 lb-
3rd Kevin Fox 20 lb-
Final Series Placing's
1st Tony Watson
2nd David Wood