Trout Section end
another great season
by John Youngs
Notwithstanding some rather poor weather
at the beginning of our season in March,
the VAC Trout Section have completed
another great season which, as
usual, lasts 10 weeks from March to May
each year. We had a record number of
Season Tickets sold, 59 this
year versus 56 last and that that was
itself a record. Including Day Tickets
with season tickets holders that
actually fished, there were 490
rods on the water over the whole season
compared to 471 last year. Can 2009 be
even better?
The fish this year were even larger on
average than last year at about
2.25 pounds, so as we buy by
weight, fish numbers were slightly down
with 1176 fish stocked (versus
1249 in 2007) and 955 taken by the
490 rods mentioned giving an average per
rod of just under 2 fish. Not bad at a
full season ticket cost of just £8/day
for 10 days, £9/day for a half season
ticket for 5 days and only £12 for a Day Ticket to any paid up VAC Member. As
many have said, “it’s the best value in
the County” and they are right!
So, who were our top scorers in terms of fish taken? Well,
according to the returns we had
two results at 100% that were scored by
Mick Copeman who managed to catch his full bag of
three fish every day he fished (31
in total) and David Mason with three
every day bar one and then made up for
that when the limit was increased in the
last week, taking a total of 32 fish in
all over 10 days of fishing. Well done,
Mick and well done David. Other notable returns
were Richard Russell with 29 fish, Peter
Stone coming in with 28, and Fred
Edwards at a very respectable 26 fish excluding additional
Day Tickets purchased. Including these
champion fly fishermen, a total of 17
members broke the 20 plus fish
total that I think is amazing. Are any
of you experts willing to give me
“improver” lessons next year? With 15
fish in total, I think I need them!!
Over and above the good fishing
mentioned above, we have had a great
bunch on the water with terrific craic
(spelt that way I am told,
pronounced crack, with an Irish
accent). We had a great turnout to help
stock the fish on four fun filled
occasions as well as good numbers for the Dave Marlborough
Memorial Match and post season Fun Day
when we had snacks and drinks served at
a BBQ, compliments of Bob and Nick Ring.
Thanks Bob, thanks Nick, you can be in
charge of entertainment next year as
well but do remember the brown sauce!
We have arranged for three further “Away
Days” this year. We have found that
good trout fishing within a reasonable
distance of St Albans is not easy to
find. Our usual agenda is to meet at
the water around 9 o'clock and as a bit
of fun each put £2.00 in a hat and go off to fish, meeting up again at half
past three. Half the money goes to the
one with the heaviest bag and the other
half to the one with the biggest fish.
If you are a
paid up VAC member and interested in
joining us for an Away day, contact Fred
Edwards or Clive Butcher. This year we have arranged to go to:
First trip is to
Eyebrook on 24th May. (
www.eyebrook.com )
Second trip is to
Elinor Fishery on 13th
September
( www.elinortf.co.uk)
Third is to Rib
Valley Fishery, 8th November.
(
www.ribvalleyfishinglakes.com )
To all those that
helped to make 2008 such a special year
for the Trout Section, your Committee’s
thanks and that goes especially to Fred
Edwards who was always at hand to help
out and even cooked at the DMMM.
To you non Trout
Section VAC members
out there why not give it a go next year
and see if fly fishing suits you? We
will have lessons for those VAC Members
that want to try it out and are happy to
lend kit while you decide. Keep us
in mind next January when we are setting up for 2009 and check us out at
the VAC web page under “Trout Fishing”.
Oster Bayne - Trout
Section Chairman
AWAY DAYS
CONTACT DETAILS
Oster Bayne 01582 832916 or email
osterjab@aol.co.uk
Fred Edwards 01727 862329
Clive Butcher 01727 000000
SEASON TICKETS only
contact Neil Roberts email
robertsnm@lycos.co.uk
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