Killers, the angling report for October 2011 and more!

 Photo 01 - Club Treasurer John Wright presents Piotr with the hip flask engraved with the club logo in recognition of his sterling service given to the club.

Pike Killers!

A rather disturbing find by two of our members John and Gary Conway our father and son team had alarm bells ringing yesterday!  Two fairly recently severed heads of jack Pike estimated to be 4-5lbs in weight were found near Summerhope! The only reason we can think of for such a find is that the Pike were taken for the pot. How else two heads would be found in close proximity to each other. Both of them looking to have been decapitated at the same time by the degree of decay noted. The following message is not for the majority of our visitors rather the minute faction that carries out illegal activities such as this.

If you are detected killing our Pike or taking fish out of season, be under no illusions, not only will you be barred from EVER fishing our lochs again. We will use EVERY resource at our disposal to have you prosecuted under criminal law for fish theft and anything else our lawyer can cobble together! Like Mr Kens and Dangerman you will also be subject to mass publicity so that as many fisheries as possible will be able to identify and repulse you!

Thankfully incidents like this are very uncommon, thanks to John and Gary for reporting this.  

All anglers should report to Ian our loch keeper or any committee member any instances of perceived or actual misdeeds!

 Photo 02 - Close up of the flask.

A Small Thank You!

After the good work carried out by our outgoing loch keeper Piotr we decided to mark the occasion of his departure by the presentation of a small gift. John Wright our treasurer had come up with the idea of an attractive hip flask engraved with our clubs logo and very nice it is too! An inscription of thanks was penned on the rear and to top it all John filled it with vodka to keep out Jack Frost on the winter days ahead. Just a small tribute to one who has served us well! 

Remember our new loch keeper Ian has commenced his duties and his contact details are as follows – 01750 42255, Mobile 07724523777 and e mail lochkeeper@stmarysanglingclub.org.uk

 Photo 03 - The cameras filming on regulator one.

Filming begins!

Much sooner than we had expected the video cameras have been installed on No 1 regulator at the foot of St Mary’s loch. Yes Dr Ronald Campbell of the Tweed Foundation e mailed me on Thursday to say that the event was taking place. The money for the study has been given by Scottish Water and the study is being conducted by Durham University with whom we will establish contact.

Two cameras are installed giving complete coverage of the regulator channel so anything entering /leaving the loch will be recorded. This is great news for us as now we will have access to information about fish movements.

Many of the clubs elder statesmen have maintained that many of the lochs Brown Trout population leave the loch and travel a short distance down the river Yarrow and head up the Douglas burn to spawn.

Electro fishing results certainly show the Douglas burn to be a prolific spawning burn with much greater numbers of fish when compared to the Kirkstead our most prolific spawning burn!

Now instead of relying on conjecture we will be able to move forward on a factual basis! We will also have information as to the numbers of migratory fish entering and leaving the loch. Yes it looks like at long last we will gain some invaluable knowledge from this study. Credit must go to Scottish Water for being so quick off the mark in getting the study up and running! We are a little late this year for Trout spawning information but should still get some invaluable information as to the movements into and out of the loch!

Angling Report October 2011

Again catch returns submitted are still low compared to the numbers of anglers fishing! No Trout Perch or Eels were recorded. Eight returns were received for Pike caught with the breakdown thus – 4 Pike between 10 – 14lbs and 4 Pike between 6 – 10lbs three nil returns were recorded.

It was pleasing to note that already this month 6 returns have been received, and of course all these are automatically entered into our draw for the £100.00 prize in early October 2012. It is envisaged that we will ask a member of the local community to make the draw for the eventual winner.

Photo 04 - A view up the loch from regulator one. 

Tree Planting/Kirkstead bank improvement.

We have received notification from the Woodland Trust that our batch of 105 mixed variety trees will arrive on the 7^th or 8^th of this month. We would have preferred to have had them around a month ago but this was out with our control. We will schedule our planting session for Saturday the 18^th of November. Following on from the planting we will require a few bodies to assist in coppicing a significant number of willow trees to give us the raw material required for natural bank stabilisation works. If time permits we will carry out some of this work on the planting day. Waders pruning shears machettes or loppers would be beneficial.

Movember

No it’s not a misspelling of November but an engineered variation which heralds the arrival of a month long campaign to increase awareness of the all too common disease of prostate and testicular cancer.

 It's Movember, the month formerly known as November, now dedicated to growing moustaches and raising awareness and funds for men's health; specifically prostate and testicular cancer. I'm donating my top lip to the cause for 30 days in an effort to help change the face of men's health. My Mo will spark conversations, and no doubt generate some laughs; all in the name of raising vital awareness and funds for cancers affecting men.

Why am I so passionate about men's health?
* 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
* This year 37,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed
* 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime
* 26% of men are less likely to go the doctor compared to women

I'm asking you to support my Movember campaign by making a donation by either:
*Donating online at: http://mobro.co/johnwright
*If you want to go old school you can write a cheque payable to 'Movember', reference my name and Registration Number 1420002 and send it to: Movember Europe, PO Box 68600, London, EC1P 1EF

If you'd like to find out more about the type of work you'd be helping to fund by supporting Movember, take a look at the Programmes We Fund section on the Movember website: http://uk.movember.com/about

Thank you in advance for supporting my efforts to change the face of men's health.

John Wright

So there you go a worthy cause indeed, my fiver is on its way John, so please support John in his campaign. Have a close look at John in the photo and you will see the beginnings of a mouser!

Who I met yesterday

Members John and son Gary Conway arrived down at the lochs for a spell of fishing yesterday. It’s always good to meet seasoned modest anglers such as them! We recounted the season thus far and I was eventually able to coax out of them that they had caught a good number of Ferox further north. One which Gary had featured in the Daily Records fish of the week was I think it was a seventeen pounder which took a great deal of effort to coax in! 

Yes another pair of unassuming respectful anglers we are proud to count among our number! I will try and prise a couple of photos out of them in the next few weeks. They were keen to enquire about our tree planting so they could attend if possible! Just great to have this level of enthusiasm for the betterment of the lochs!

Gordon and Mike arrived at mid day for a mini session and the first thing to leave their mouths was “anything we can help with?” A sea change in the culture of the members of St Mary’s Angling Club! Mike also brought with him another of our engines which he has comprehensively serviced. It’s now not only work on the day but homework as well! 

This is now a club of significantly different character compared to the “black days” when the defenestration of some undesirables and know all experts marked the upturn in our outlook!

Cormorant watch

Following on from our AGM we would like anglers to record any predatory birds noted whilst fishing. The species we are interested in recording are Cormorant, Goosander and Merganser. Anglers need only add the species and numbers spotted on their catch returns and we will add the results to the Angling Trusts website recording service. Alternatively anglers could go direct to the site and record their findings.  

The importance of reporting sightings of these creatures cannot be overemphasised their potential for destruction of our fish stocks is immense!

Our Autumn Days Salmon Fishing!

We are provisionally booked in for the 17^th to see what we can do on the Queen of Salmon Rivers the River Tweed! Of late on the beat there have been two peers of the realm fishing, two knights of the empire and Jeremy Paxman. Yes the scourge of all manner of politicians was fishing last week and unfortunately caught nothing! 

Disappointed? Not a chance, like the real angler that he is, he said a day’s fishing is always a pleasure, to get a fish is just an added bonus! Yet another who understands what it is to be a real angler in the footsteps of old Izaak. Absolutely solid gold!

A Fine Day

Loch keeper Ian and I took Esox Lucius down to the bottom of the loch to reposition our spinning marker posts as they had fallen over. Moving at a leisurely pace we traversed the “silent loch” conversing on a myriad of subjects. Then some digging and some castle building and then back into trusty Esox to meander back. 

Yes it was a very fine day weather wise, but good company makes it just that little better. I already knew this, but I am now certain that Ian who is absolutely passionate about the area and has impeccable standards of decorum will be a most excellent ambassador for the club. Yes the tradition continues!

Weather change imminent!

Farmers often use the behaviour of their stock to predict a change in weather. Your average man in the street places his faith in the good old BBC or ITV weather forecasts. Some don’t even bother and just take each day as it comes! A core group of our anglers however have come to rely on Gordon McClurg and when he packs his monster Yamaha away for the winter to maintain the pristine condition it always appears to be in whenever spotted. Well yesterday he announced to a group of eager listeners that for him the 2011 bike season is over!

Don’t expect a drastic change in the weather tomorrow but watch over the next couple of weeks and see if the weather deteriorates! He is not often wrong so look out the thermals and waterproofs!

 Wear your poppy with pride!

Remembrance day 11/11/11

On Friday the nation will stand in remembrance of those who have given their lives in the two world wars and conflicts since. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them!

 Photo 05 - Chantrelles a true delight!

Culinary heaven!

Couldn’t believe my luck today, I stumbled upon a group of Chanterelle mushrooms. These delicious mushrooms are the pinnacle of edible mushrooms with the exception of Truffles and a kilo would set you back over 120.00GBP! Being sautéed in fresh butter tonight! Once savoured the only thing you will use supermaket rubber mushrooms for are door stops!

Moron of the week!

 The award this week must go to Lord Hamilton Scotland’s most senior judge who publicly stated to his eternal shame that 172.000GBP P/A was too small a salary to attract the correct calibre of candidate for positions in the judiciary! He has no cognizance of just how insulting that statement is to the majority of the population!

Like rich boys Cameron and Osborne this fool is completely out of touch with the vast majority of the country’s population. They pontificate about what’s good for us, and we suffer! There’s something a little Victorian about that! I am beginning to feel more than a little empathy with these anti capitalist people!

Till the next time - Tight Lines!