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Godalming
Angling Society
Marsh
Farm,
Johnsons, Busbridge & Broadwater Fisheries
Landing Nets and
Keepnets
Following the
recent outbreaks of KHV in the surrounding area and
to protect our fishery, new rules regarding keepnets
and landing-nets have been approved by G.A.S.
General Committee.
We do not have KHV
and we want to keep it that way
Day ticket anglers may NOT use Keepnets at Marsh Farm
All day ticket anglers must obtain a
day ticket from the on-site shop Apollo before
commencing fishing.
When visiting anglers purchase their
day-ticket, they must show their landing-net head to
the Apollo shop staff
If approved as DRY,
then they may use it, and fish to normal closing
time.
If the net is not considered as dry enough, then
they must use a landing-net head supplied by the
shop.
A £10
deposit will be required for the landing net head,
which will be refunded only upon its return. The
shop will open at 7.30a.m. and close at 5.30 p.m.
daily.
Landing-net heads must be returned during these
hours, and hence the angler having returned the net
head can no longer continue to fish that day
Landing net heads
G.A.S. Members may use their own landing nets - but
they must be DRY
£10 deposit will be charged per shop issued
landing-net head to day ticket anglers. (see above)
This will include all non-G.A.S. Matches.
A limited number of free landing nets will be
available for use of juniors only
Keepnets
G.A.S. Members only are allowed to use the
Marsh Farm keepnets if they wish to. The nets are to
be logged out by the shop and signed for, collected
and returned within shop opening hours 7.30a.m.
–5.30p.m.
(There is a 4 hour limit on fish held in keepnets.
See General Byelaw 22C)
Anglers may NOT use keepnets (
Members or Guests ) on the following waters,
Johnsons, Busbridge, & Broadwater. ( except in
G.A.S. authorised listed matches )
Matches
All
matches are to use GAS landing nets and keepnets
Other than for
G.A.S. & Apollo matches, a £50 deposit will be
required against all nets being returned
Posted 22-03-2013
Some details about the catch:
Angler's
Mail Magazine
(17th
April) as one of the Top 50 National Fishery Clubs
to join in 2012!
Broadwater Work Parties
Begin
Quality
Fish stocked into Bramley Park Lake
140lb of Roach and
100lb of Bream were released into Bramley Lake on
Sunday 8th April 2012. The Bream being of a size
that should avoid cormorant predation, see attached
pictures.
Roach and Perch stocked
into Richardson Lake at Marsh Farm
On Saturday 31st March
2012 approximately 300 pounds of fish were released
into Richardson Lake at Marsh Farm, comprising of
small Roach and Perch. This stocking amounted to
well over a 1,000 fish with some Roach to 6 ounces,
see the attached pics.
"The Big
One", Fishing Show at Farnborough
As those of you that
attended the Show at Farnborough last weekend will
know, we were represented on Stand No.49.
Thanks also go to Dave
Woolgar who was on stand duty for the two full days
( Sat & Sun ), to Peter Dawson for his part in the
organisation plus stand duty on the Saturday, and to
Debs Wiltshire for her support throughout the busy
Saturday. Finally, my thanks to my Granddaughter,
Chloe, and to Bill's Granddaughter, Jordan, for
their art-work in designing the superb Display
Panels for our Stand.
Roger Howe had a couple of good chub sessions with a
05.4.0 caught on a single red maggot and 20 hook
from the "Doctors swim" in upper common
New local radio fishing programme.
13-Jan-2012
More Chub in Marsh Farm
On a bitterly cold
Monday 19th December we took delivery of some superb
Chub for the Marsh Farm lakes.
It's official - WE
(Godalming AS) AND APOLLO ARE THE BEST!
Broadwater
Carp Population Survey 2011
New Club Record Carp
A bridge too far?
Dear Andrew/ staff at Apollo angling
centre.
Just wanted to thank you for your
hospitality and interest shown in my
daughter who was dead made up when catching
her first Crucian carp today on a £10
fishing pole that the angling trust gave her
at a fish for free event. As I tried to
explain to her, it's not all about the fancy
gear.
Best regards,
Neal Long
Bernard Miles. GAS Membership
Secretary.
For those of you who do not already know,
sadly Bernard died at home on the 14th
May 2011. He was 82. He had been ill for
several years with extreme breathing
difficulties (COPD) meaning he was
increasingly dependent upon oxygen in daily
life, but despite this he still managed to
deal with the membership applications and
queries for the Society up until late April.
In the last year or so he was also diagnosed
with a brain tumour for which he had
undergone surgery twice earlier this year.
As he died during the GAS membership renewal
period prompt decisions needed to be made
and Dora, his wife, who has been undertaking
more and more of the membership duties
herself in recent years was keen not to
allow this to affect the membership renewal
procedure. As Bernard (my father in law)
became the Membership Secretary at the same
time I was appointed Treasurer the
memberships have become a family affair with
the Harris and Miles families and
particularly my wife Bernice, all helping
out. Dora and the family felt that it would
possibly lead to confusion about the
membership procedure this year to publish
this on the GAS website at the time.
It is largely thanks to Dora that the
memberships continued to be dealt with this
year without undue delay. It was her
decision that she would continue to deal
with the applications this year as she and
Bernard had done for the last 18 years. We
all should be extremely grateful to her for
what she has done this year and for the way
that even while she was having to nurse
Bernard at home she was still dealing with
the membership applications and the
enquiries that go with it.
Bernard started as GAS membership secretary
at a time when we had a very limited
database of members and no records at all of
our junior membership. He created the first
junior databases and developed the senior
membership database from a simple list of
names and addresses.
Bernard’s name must be one of the best known
amongst the GAS 1600 or so members and it is
touching to hear so many kind words about
him from the members when they have been
told of his passing.
When Bernard was a younger and fitter man he
was also a keen friend of Alf Johnson being
a regular on Society nettings as our safety
man and also putting his electrical skills
to good use for the Society in the FMC and
in undertaking maintenance and wiring.
In recognition of Bernard’s work for the
Society he was awarded the Thomas De La Rue
Shield “For outstanding contribution to the
Society” - not once - but twice and was
recently made a Life Vice President of the
Society.
A huge number of GAS members joined many
other friends from the local bowling and
walking groups that Bernard and Dora were
involved with for many years to show their
respects at an absolutely packed Guildford
Crematorium. This underlined the important
part that Bernard played, not just for GAS,
but also within other fields. We will all
miss him enormously.
Graham Harris - GAS Hon Treasurer.
(Bernard’s Son in Law)
Bernard was perhaps too obliging in allowing
people to call at his home to pay for and
pick up their membership books. Whilst Dora
is continuing to be the first person to call
for membership issues please do not call at
her home to do anything other than to put
applications through the letterbox. She is
under strict instructions that memberships
are no longer available on demand.
We can still however turn around membership
applications within a few days and inside 12
hours in cases of particular need by making
the memberships available for collection at
Apollo at Marsh Farm. With a little
forethought there should not be any need for
visits to Blackburn Way other than to post
things through the letterbox, so please try
to help on this.
Broadwater to close for 2 days in November and
December
Ally Wood caught this beauty from Broadwater on the
11/08/2011 it weighed 15lbs 8oz it wasn't the
biggest fish of the day but most certainly the
prettiest looking
2011 Junior Multi Species Charity
Challenge.
Saturday Fishing For Fun - Still a hot favourite!
Numbers again this year have been excellent with a total of 305
children fishing with us across the
summer.
Finally it is a farewell to Graham & Bernice (Chief cooks and
bottle washers) who are "retiring" after
several years FFF service. Thanks so
much to you both you'll be sorely missed
and hard to replace too!
"Roger bags a record snotty!"
Godalming teams
of four 2011
This years Teams
of Four starts in October
Venues and dates
below.
If you wish to
enter a team please contact Roger Howe on Mob
07530379671.
Maximum 12 teams
Sun 2nd
Oct Harris Lake.
Sun 16th
Oct R Wey Lower common / Firs.
Sun 30th
Oct Richardson Lake.
Sun 13th
Nov Basi Ash Wharf / Heathvale.
Sun 27th
Nov Basi Fox & Hounds / Glen Rd.
Sun 11th
Dec Wey Nav White Hart.
Godalming Midweekers captained by Dave Woolgar
finished 10th with285 points gaining promotion
to Division 1.
Well done to the team Dave Woolgar, Deb
Wiltshire, Phil Morris, Clare Hollis, Richard Mc
Guinn, Kieth Jefferies, Bill Harris, Mark
Cane,Ken Cardwell and Jim Findlay.
Godalming AS finished 40th after a very poor
draw however Colin Underwood did finish 9th
overall with a weight of 3.950 kg, receiving a
winners medal.
Marsh Farm & Johnsons are closed
on Tuesday 19th July from 5pm until 10pm for
urgent maintenance works.
New Busbridge Record Tench.
Big Grassie
caught at Bramley:
Ade lands a monster Tench @ 9lbs 3oz. Wed 27th April
2011 on Johnsons
TROUT INTO JOHNSONS LAKE ON APRIL
22nd 2011
In an attempt to reduce the vast
numbers of fry produced by the ever successful
spawning in this lake every spring and summer,
Posted
21-04-2011
Special short session at Johnsons
BROADWATER TO REMAIN OPEN ALL YEAR WITH IMMEDIATE
EFFECT.
Tale
of Two Bridges by David Wood
(as
printed in Angling Magazine in 1981)
NEW CRUCIAN RECORD AT JOHNSONS
It is obviously an "Old warrior" and will certainly weigh in a
fair bit heavier in the next few weeks. This amazing
catch follows on from Ian Morleys equally impressive
4lbs 3oz crucian some ten days earlier. We have no
doubt that the British record will fall to a
Johnsons Crucian (source of the Marsh Farm stocking)
in the very near future.
Congratulations to both Brian and Ian.
IMPORTANT
NOTICE TO DAY TICKETERS RE 29TH & 30TH APRIL 2011
Nettings on 12th March 2011
Hill Pond
Johnsons Stockpond
Little Enton ( Mr. Grant's Lake )
Busbridge Lake
Mike Holcombe
Monster Crucian caught from Johnsons.
Netting of Barnett
Pond, Shamley Green. On
Saturday 19th February a G.A.S. netting party went
to Barnett Pond at the request of Shamley Green
Angling Society
Alan Millington and I thank those hardy anglers
who turned up, assisting with the preparation (
cleaning boat and inflating tyres ),
All of these small fish were safely released into
our Bramley Park Lake.
BROADWATER BARLEY
BAGS COMING OUT!
Bream for Busbridge and
Bramley Park Lakes - February 2011
Quality Bream were released into both Busbridge Lake
and Bramley Park Lake on Monday evening ( Feb 7th ).
Our supplier delivered the fish in the evening
following a days netting, and our thanks to Alan
Millington who had
More Barbel into
Eashing :
The EA supplied us with a further consignment of
small Barbel today ; these having been bred at their
Calverton facility.
Mike -- 26th January 2011
Xmas match rearranged.
AGM
date is Saturday 9th April 2011 at Broadwater School
start 10am prompt.
Club
Secretary given coveted local award for services to
Godalming Angling Society.
New British
record Albino Carp?
MATCH
BOOKINGS .. Dec 2010
Unfortunately Roger Howe
has been unwell for a while and been in the Royal
Surrey Hospital for a few days.
Dave Woolgar has kindly
volunteered to manage the Matches during Roger's
absence ( don't forget Xmas Match is next week )
So for
Match Bookings please call Dave on 07958557402
Posted 08-12-2010
Notice of Work at
Broadwater Lake
Waverley Borough
Council have instructed a Contractor to commence
work on the reconstruction of the "Dam Spillway".
This being commonly referred to as the lake outlet,
where the water then flows thro' a culvert under the
main road ( A3100 )
Mike Holcombe
Posted 03-12-2010
Posted 03-11-2010
At the risk of
encouraging loads of people to fish what is normally
a very peaceful spot, I thought you’d like to know
that I’ve recently had a couple of nice chub from
Trunley Heath, including one of just over 4lb
(rather poor picture attached). Earlier in the
summer it seemed to be full of dace, with the odd
brown trout for good measure. Lots of snags though!
Posted
01-11-2010
Posted
12-09-2010
All,
So if you consider that quite a lot of the juniors
had more than one parent or family member with them
and there were people there who did not take part in
the coaching it is likely there were between 180 -
200 visitors at least.
We got through 96 burgers, 96 sausages, 12 very
large onions (kindly chopped by my lovely assistant
Dave Carter),144 baps (cut and filled by Eilleeen
and Dora), 2 punnets of strawberries, 2off
blueberries, 2off raspberries and 1off tomatoes.
We signed up 1 senior member 13 new juniors in the
Pavilion and Apollo estimated they did 3-4 as well.
I showed 2 more Seniors around MFarm and Johnsons
who said they were amazed at what we had to offer
and would definately be joining.
The feed back from the visitors was very
complimentary with many saying they were keen to
return next week for the FFF.
So well done and thanks to Peter, Andrew, Coaches,
Demonstrators and all who took part. A great day all
round.
Posted 21-07-2010
Posted 24-06-2010
Posted 24-06-2010
Posted 26-05-2010
Where GAS had a small stand with posters and
Brochures, together with Apollo exhibiting
equipment plus a casting competition.
Two more join The Mermaid Club!
Posted 04-03-2010
Posted 10-02-2010
Posted 25-01-2010
All Waters take a battering
Beautiful Busbridge in the snow. Wednesday 13th
January 2010
Busbridge takes a battering
A check inside the lake grounds showed a number of
trees down mainly on the right hand side blocking
both top and bottom paths. Progress round the lake
was fairly slow as the virgin snow was at least a
foot deep and carrying the chainsaws etc was hard
going. Two trees have fallen into or currently
because of the ice I should say onto the lake! I am
hoping to get them off the ice on Friday before they
sink; another has fallen down the bank but is in a
safe position away from swims and need not be
removed. Those blocking the paths have been cut
through allowing access and will be cleared up once
the weather improves. Many trees have suffered
broken branches and a safety check is being
undertaken this Friday. Members are asked to take
great care and to report any dangerous trees at any
of our waters.
Posted
08-01-10
Posted 06-01-2010
Roy's latest Bramley update
Introduction of a new strain of carp to Johnson’s
Picture 1
above shows one of the fish that was introduced. The weight of
this specimen is 13lb 4 ozs
Picture 2
above shows the opposite flank of the same fish.
This introduction is first part
of an annual stocking of C5 grade specimens. A further
Dated
07/11/09
Posted 29-10-09 A young Nick
Barrass (sorry Nick I couldn't resist it!) landed a cracker of a
Pike from Busbridge a few years ago now. The question is, has anyone
bettered it recently?
OUCH -
WHO'S A LUCKY LAD THEN!?
New sluice for borehole.
Bramley fishing well.
Friday 11th October 2009.
Is this Johnsons prettiest fish?
Passing
of a friend. Farewell John.
Sadly, a great friend and
stalwart of the club Johnny Milligan passed away at midnight
on Friday 21st August 2009 in bed at home. John had been diagnosed
with cancer just a couple of weeks earlier. Johns funeral will be held at Guildford
Crematorium on Friday 4th September 2009 @ 1pm. John asked that
there be no flowers but would appreciate donations to either Witley
Surgery or Macmillan Cancer Fund.
Tina
Taylor, (well know catcher of all
the big fish on GAS and other waters) has broken the
club record with a stunning Barbel of 13lbs 10oz
shortly before the end of the river season.
Congratulations Tina.
Junior Fish For
Fun match
result:
This Saturday
18th August saw
7 juniors fish
the Richardson
match between 10
& 12 midday
whilst another
25+ preferred to
stay on Hill
Pond
practising their
skills.
Conditions were
not ideal in
full sun and the
temperature
closing in on
30C. However,
there were good
catches for all
despite
the weather and
the results were
as follows:
1st Daniel
Norris 3lbs 7oz
on peg 1
2nd Spencer
Parrot 3lbs 5oz
on peg 2
3rd Brandon
Brown 2lbs 13oz
on peg 9
4th Jack
Harman-Reffold
2lbs 6oz on peg
4
5th Rees Brown
2lbs 5oz on peg
11
6th Dan de
Caestecker 1lbs
11oz on peg 5
7th Lewis Parrot
1lbs 6oz on peg
10
Well done to all
the boys and we
look forward to
seeing you all
again on the 1st
September for
the Multi
Species
competition
starting at
Broadwater Lake
Young Reuben bags the Clubs biggest common!
His father tells the story
This is one Junior
Record that will take some beating.
Congratulations!
We had the first work-party of the year at
Broadwater on Sunday 15th April 2012, much good work
was achieved by all that turned up for the morning.
Only one reported mishap, with Sara in helping with
the Crayfish-traps managing to trap herself by
reaching into one of the traps ! After a little
concern, and much laughter,
we released her from her new bracelet !! ( see pic
)
Mike
My thanks to Dave Barnard and Richard McGuinn for
man-handling the bins of fish ( & water ) from
weighing across to the lake.
Mike.
Mike
This extremely popular annual event drew huge
numbers of anglers from all around the UK.
Our thanks to Bill Harris for his efforts in
organising our entry to the show, for all of his
work in setting up on the Friday, full time
attendance over the two show days, then dismantling
the equipment and transporting back to base.
Many thanks Bill.
Mike.
Also a 04.2.0 from Broadford Bridge a few days
later.
5.4.0 Chub from Doctors Swim
04.2.0
Chub
from
Broadford Bridge
Starting on the 18th January, weds nights at 9-11pm
I (Russ Evans) will be having my own angling radio
show on a local community station called Ridge Radio
www.ridgeradio.co.uk
it will be called The Obsessed Angler show it will
go out on the Internet worldwide and I am looking
for angling news and content to talk about in the
shows over the weeks. I am sure you will have some
news regarding Godalming AS, like catches and
reports etc so by all means email me with the news
and I can add into chat :-).
The
Pretty one and Pinch Scale put in an appearance.
Last weekend both fish were on the bank weighing in
at 33lbs 9oz and 29lbs 3oz.
for more details contact the Lead Bailiff Graham
Wilson.
Before they arrived we had the most difficult of
jobs, to net and remove the small carp from Johnsons
Stock-pond,with the surface totally covered by a
significant layer of ice ! The carp being required
as the exchange for the Chub.
Anyway, Alan and Ben determined that netting beneath
this ice layer was possible, and with assistance
from Ian they succeeded. I managed to stay dry on
the bank ! These three guys worked in extremely cold
water, and Ian even selected a pair of waders with a
hole in !!
They managed a good haul of Carp and Hybrids, which
were transferred to the Chub suppliers tanks for
transfer to Lincolnshire. We then took possession of
some prime Chub, weighing between 2lb and 3lb.8oz.,
which have been released into Richardson and Harris
Lakes.
All credit to Alan Millington and Ben Carter for
working in these conditions, and my thanks to both
Ian and Gareth for their considerable help on the
day.
Mike.
Reproduced
by kind permission of the Angler's Mail
In order that we may determine the numbers, size
range, and health of the carp in Broadwater Lake,we
enlisted the services of Sparsholt College to net
and then provide a report on the carp population.
On Wednesday 30th November, Sparsholt Tutor, Neil
Crooks, and a team of 13 Students arrived at
Broadwater ;
then supported by our G.A.S. support crew commenced
netting. Only one sweep of their 200 metre net was
necessary to catch sufficient carp for the days
work.This work comprised of weighing, measuring, and
pan-jetting ( small dye mark ) every carp netted.
The details of a total of 451 carp were recorded ; a
total weight of over 2 tons. Hard work in cold
conditions !As time ran out we released the fish
that remained in the net un-checked.
The following Wednesday the netting operation was
repeated, this time with two Tutors, Neil & Dan,
with 25 students.
Conditions were awful, with low temperature and a
very strong cold biting wind ; as such the fish were
harder to find.
A total of 70 carp for nearly 800 pounds weight were
netted and details recorded.
The data from both days will now be assessed by
Neil, with a report issued early in the new year.
Alan Millington and I wish to thank those G.A.S.
stalwarts that turned out and worked so hard,
getting wet and cold.
So thanks Geoff, Bill, Ross, Kevin, Big Dave,
Patrick, Lee, Derek, Gareth, and Dave. With
particular thanks to our BW Bailiffs, Dave & Gary,
not only for their work on these days, but also for
all of their time and effort in assisting Alan in
the preparation work ( in and out of the lake ).
Finally, and most importantly thanks to my wife,
Lin, for all of the catering. Serving lunches of hot
pasties and beans, and keeping the urn on for hot
drinks throughout both days. Then to Rosie & Chloe
for helping her on the first day.
The clubs largest known carp the "Big Frame" was
caught on Sunday & independently weighed &
photographed for me.
It weighed 36lb:14oz and I caught it from Busbridge
on Sunday the 4th December 2011.
Tony said "I still cant believe I caught it - what
an amazing fish from such a fabulous water!!"
Congratulations Tony - Christmas has come early for
you..jpg)
click on fish for large view
I decided to try out having a scaffold bridge across
to one of the islands on a temporary basis. This
was to help my team get easier access rather than
boating back and forth several times a day lugging
equipment both ways. It has certainly been a great
improvement for us; so easy to get things across and
pop back for anything extra that we need. We will
discuss the way forward at a forthcoming mtg. Now
that that island has been "pruned" we are back to
boating to and from the remaining islands - more
"exciting" but not so secure!
Pictures below show the work in constructing the
bridge by members Gary & Phil plus their scaffolding
team. Many thanks G & P!
Thanks for your tips about toffee 4mm
pellets, ironically the fish came to a
single red maggot on a 1lb hook link in peg
two.
Marsh farm is a fantastic fishery, so clean
and well run.
Look forward to stepping it up some more on
the Crucian and Tench front in the future.
Note
The GAS
Gen Committee has recently appointed Geoff
Fisher as the new GAS Membership Secretary
to supersede Bernard but as Dora is happy to
remain as the first point of contact it is
fine to continue to send application forms
to her at 7 Blackburn Way and call Dora
01483 423205 with membership queries as you
have done for the last 18years.
A
population survey is being carried out for us by
Sparsholt College on Wednesdays 30th November and
7th December. The lake will be closed to angling on
both these days. Notices will also be posted around
the lake and the bailiffs will make a point of
advising members in the lead up to these days. A
team from GAS has already been put together so we
are not looking for any further assistance on the
days.
This is the 9th time we have run this
event which was fished by 16 children at
our three regular venues of Broadwater
(9 - 11am), Busbridge (11.30 - 1.30) and
Marsh Farm from 2pm to 4pm. The weather
was very kind to us again this year
being pleasantly warm and dry all day.
Everyone caught fish but it was harder
this year than last.
The competition awards each child with
one point per species per venue so once
they have had a perch at Busbridge they
don't want another until they are at
Marsh Farm.
Hot favourites this year were brothers
Alex & Oliver who were seen researching
venues a few days before and sorting out
their tactics! Their efforts paid off as
they came in a comfortable first with an
impressive 31 points. Well done guys!
In second place were Charlotte & Emily
29points, 3rd Harriet & Ben 23 taking
3rd place by superior sponsorship monies
from 4th placed Tom & Bradley. 5th
Charley-Jane & Anna 22points, 6th
Brandon & Reece 21 points, 7th India &
Matt 16 points and 8th Hatdon & Daniel
13 points.
The most sponsorship trophy was won this
year running by Charlie-Jane with a
tremendous £141. The children (with lots
of help from mums & dads raised a superb
total of £516.50 which as always goes
towards our School Charity in The
Gambia.
A BIG thank you to all the coaches and
helpers who along with the children made
it a day to remember. Lots of burgers
and sausages consumed at the end which
was the final BBQ of the year for the
Junior Fish For Fun team who will all
now spend the next few months recovering
before we start all over again next
year.
They (plus mums, dads and helpers)
managed to consume 672 roll 480 burgers
200 sausages, 54 onions, 5 bottles of
ketchup, 3 brown sauce and 1 mustard!
Donations were £316.97.
The top attendence was 63 children and
the lowest was 43.
As always a big big thank you to all the
coaches and helpers who give up their
time every Saturday.
Roger Howe landed a 5lbs 6oz bream from
Marsh Farm after dark. It was witnessed and
weighed by David Wood & Derek Marshall.
Congratulations Roger. The bream stocking of a
few years ago has proven to be a good intro and
with steady (healthy) growth rates too.
Sat 20th August saw the Division 2 National
Championships on the Basingstoke Canal Godalming
entered two teams with very different results.
All anglers MUST leave these
venues by 5pm.
Ben Holt caught a tench of 9lbs 2oz on 26th May 2011
at Busbridge. Witnessed by Oscar Owen.
Photo passed around at committee meeting Wed 1st
June
I thought you may be interested in the Grass Carp I
caught at Bramley on Thursday 28th April. I was
fishing the far bank as a work party was rebuilding
the near bank and I wanted to get away from the
noise. I was aiming for the Bream and Tench on a
waggler using small cubes of luncheon meat when the
float lifted then sailed away. I struck and the
clutch on the reel payed out and just kept going. I
thought I was into a good tench as I have fished
here ever since the club gained access and the
larger Tench have some fight in them. I was somewhat
shocked to see the beast as I brought it towards the
bank, bearing in mind I was using 4lb line and a 16
hook. Lots of scary moments as the fish headed
towards the submerged oak tree branches to my left
and the fish refuges mid water. 30 minutes later it
was on the bank. The clutch on my reel was warm to
the touch and the line had stretchd and become
spring like. I could not weigh it as I was not set
up to sling a 3'6" fish. In the photo you can see my
foot which in the trainer is 11 1/2" inches. I would
be interested in your guestimate of the weight. The
fish was in beautiful condition and was back in the
water within 5 minutes. First session of the year
and will be hard to beat. Perhaps sledge hammers and
diggers are conducive to big fish feeding!
we have introduced a number of 'predators'.
As other species would create their own problems ;
such as pike eating our larger specimen fish, and
perch
multiplying to generate even more fry, we have
selected Trout as a safe and inexpensive option.
290 Brown Trout weighing between 1lb.4oz. and
2lb.4oz were released into the lake today ( see pics
below ).
Important
: In the event that you hook and land any of these
trout, please release immediately, preferably
unhooking
the trout in the water avoiding undue contact in a
landing-net. On no account must these fish be
retained in nets.
Posted 23-04-2011
Ross bags a couple of PB's from Broadwater &
Johnsons
(in his own words)
I could see silt being kicked up no more than a
couple of inches of my bank I kept feeing small bits
of boilies then I lowered my bait . once in I was
told it was split tail . happy days . mister
Harmen's son helped with the weighing sorry mate
forgot Ya name
4lbs 2oz Crucian at Johnsons Lake
Big Crucian from Johnson’s caught by that lucky lady
Tina. Weighed on different sets of scales and well
witnessed.
Scale count 33 – so a genuine Crucian.
I thought that I would let you know of my last
evenings (11/4/2011) fishing trip to Johnsons for
the Tench & Crucians only a quick 3 hour session, I
had already had 4 Tench up 7lb 04oz and 3 Crucian up
to 3lb, then what happened next, well quite breath
taking really, even for me! I landed a 26lb 04oz
common carp
on
8lb mainline, 6lb hook link, size 10 barbless hook,
1lb 3/4 tc rods and 2 grains of sweet corn, what a
fantastic fight and 25 minutes later, it was being
weighed and photographed ( Photo's to follow, once
my brother in-law has e-mailed them to me) What
makes this capture a little bit special more than
any thing else (besides the light tackle being used)
is the swim that I was fishing, The Pin, with all
those tree snags on the far bank, and yes it nearly
made them 3 to 4 times, in open water it is possible
to land fish of that size, but you still need skill
and a bit of luck ! any way I thought it might be of
interest for the news page.
Regards
Mick ( Flappers )
Today's
AGM (Saturday 9th April 2011) the motion to keep
Broadwater open all year round was passed by a
massive majority.
When Work Parties are undertaken, the swims affected
will be roped off whilst the remainder of the lake
stays open.
Changes to Closed dates for both Busbridge and
Johnsons will be detailed in the new permit as they
do not come into effect until season 2012
Monday 28th March a
4lbs 8oz Crucian
landed at Johnsons by Brian Calicott and witnessed
by two other members.
At approximately 2.30pm whilst fishing sweetcorn and
a feeder on the Railway Bank, Brian hooked into this
monster of a crucian eclipsing the club all waters
record by 2oz.
Marsh Farm Richardson & Harris Lakes are
both closed
for a two day match
on Friday 29th & Saturday 30th April 2011 from 8am -
4pm both days.
Only Hill Pond will be open on these two days.
MEMBERS CAN OF COURSE FISH AT ANY OF OUR OTHER
WATERS ON THESE TWO DATES APART FROM BUSBRIDGE WHICH
IS BEING "RESTED" UNDER OUR CLOSED SEASON
Three netting operations were carried out on
Saturday morning, thanks to our usual volunteers
turning out,
plus Ben Carter's crew of two down from
Lincolnshire. The operations were organised
primarily to remove the carp
from Hill Pond at Marsh Farm and from the Stockpond
at Johnsons.
In addition we were asked by our neighbour, Mr.Grant,
if we could remove some carp from his water, Little
Enton.
For this work Mr.Grant allowed us to remove Roach to
stock into Busbridge.
We removed a total of 107 Carp from this pond, plus
6 Bream that were returned to Richardsons Lake.
A total of 202 Carp were netted from the stockpond,
together with 38 small Tench weighing less than a
pound apiece.
22 Carp were removed together with approximately
2,000 small Roach.
Approximately 2,000 small Roach were released into
this lake, courtesy of Mr.Grant.
The carp have been taken by Ben Carter's crew, with
the agreed value to be 'paid' by the supply of
selected stock fish.
My thanks to all those guys for turning up to help
on yet another Saturday, the third in the last four
!
Alan Millington and I much appreciate your support,
as without you this work could not be done.
Saturday night 12th March 2011 at 11pm Ian Morley
landed this excellent specimen which he weighed in
at 4lbs 3oz.
It was caught on quiver tip maggot feeder with 2 red
and 1 white on the hook.
As most members know Johnsons holds an even bigger
head of monster Crucians than Marsh Farm but is only
available to members to fish.
Many of us are convinced that the next British
record will come from Johnsons.
to remove the small fish from their 'over-stocked'
water. We suffered a cold wet morning for this
exercise, but managed to
remove over 250 small Roach and Perch.
loading up the gear, then hauling the nets in
horrible conditions, and finally hanging the wet 80
and 100 metre nets in the Barn.
Thank you to Ade O., Clive L., Dave M., Dave P.,
Derek M., John D., Lee D., Mark, and Ross.
Mike.
Friday 25th February the barley bags will be removed
from Broadwater.
THERE WILL BE TWO MEN IN THE WATER ROWING A SMALL
BOAT OUT TO THE ISLAND.
THEY WILL BE WORKING AROUND THE ISLAND MOST OF THE
MORNING SO PLEASE BE PATIENT.
THE BROADWATER BAILIFFS WILL BE TELLING MEMBERS
ABOUT THIS AS THEY DO THEIR ROUNDS THIS WEEK AND
NEXT.
They had a high average weight of 2.5lb., in an
attempt to minimise predation from pike and
cormorant.
With approx 80 going into Busbridge, and about 70
into Bramley.
Fisheries Officer, Ade Bicknell, was once again the
man who delivered them, having driven down from
Calverton this morning.
We released the eighty Barbel into the main river at
Eashing, all of which swam away strongly into their
new home.
Xmas match will now be fished on Sunday 20th
February on the river at Salgasson, Upper Common and
Lower Common Meadows and Firs Bridge. Draw will be
at 8.30 am in The Leathern Bottle Fish 10 -3pm.
Contact Dave Woolgar.
Malcolm Richardson, club Secretary for well over 30
years had his hard work and dedication recognised
recently at the Annual Sports Awards ceremony.
Congratulations Malcolm.
Brian Eades had this magnificent specimen on
his unhooking mat and claimed it came in at 40lbs on
the nose!
No one from the British records committee was
available to comment on whether it is a new record
but Brian didn't care.
Details of his catch by the captor:
I had to share the news of my latest session with
you, taken mid morning in dreadful conditions it has
quite simply blown me away.
Caught from in front of the conifers using trigga
ice, it's not one of the known biggies but at 40 lbs
I'm well chuffed.
It just goes to show what's possible if you make the
effort.
Blanking is not always certain..............unless
you stay indoors.
Best fishes, Brian
He is now being transferred to St.Georges Hospital,
Tooting for further tests and treatment.
We all wish him well and a speedy recovery.
The spillway requires urgent attention as there are
major leaks around and beneath it, causing
significant lake water loss.
Initial works will probably commence on Thursday 9th
December ; this is likely to be setting up a
"compound" in the car-park, and closure of the
footpath / bridge over the existing spillway.
There will be some small inconvenience to anglers
during this work, with a loss of car parking area, a
loss of some of the road-bank swims, and maybe the
need to walk a bit further.
But please bear with it, as this is essential work
for the security of the lake.
The lake is at present unfishable of course, due
to the thick "lid" of ice covering it !
SALGASSON RAMBLINGS
Variously described as challenging, devoid of fish,
underrated and occasionally prolific, this
picturesque wooded stretch of the River Wey,
immediately upstream of Godalming Town is the only
stretch of the river owned by Godalming Angling
Society together with adjoining land, and the
network of streams forming the northwestern reaches
of Hell Ditch.
I have fished Salgasson and Hell Ditch for over 50
years and needless to say, these decades have
produced many memorable visits worthy of anecdotes!
As boys we fished Hell Ditch with tank aerial rods,
mostly legering with small pieces of strip lead
pinched direct to the line (we didn’t know about
running leads in those days and couldn’t afford much
in the way of tackle anyway). Nevertheless, we did
catch fish, mostly perch, roach and dace, with the
occasional bream, tench and jack pike, and most of
the small pools on Hell Ditch we named “The Perch
Pool” and “The Tench Pool” etc.
Our forays as teenagers onto the main river
sometimes involved roving from Eashing all the way
through to Salgasson, usually float fishing minnow
in all the slacks and eddies, and catches of half a
dozen or so perch was the norm.
One of my rare match sessions involved minnows. The
permit at the time, rather than ignoring the
subject, actually stated that minnows could be used
as bait in matches, but no one took advantage of
this privilege! When I booked in at the start of the
match, equipped with my bucket of minnows,
objections were raised, but reference to the match
rules confirmed that my approach, if novel, was
legitimate. The question was raised about the
potential for me to put the minnows in the keep net
and include them in my match haul, which I countered
by saying that I would have to be desperate to
resort to weighing in minnows. In the event I
managed to catch a few small to medium perch, and
was placed 4th. Illicitly including the bait minnows
would not have improved my placing even had I been
minded to do so.
I fished another match at Salgasson in almost flood
conditions with fast, coloured flow. Most
competitors float fished, but I used legered lobworm
on old cane rod and managed to bank 3 reasonable
chub and some dace to finish 2nd. Rather
magnanimously, one of the old fishermen, rather
miffed that someone who uses old tackle and rarely
match fishes, should be in the frame, said “Oh well
I suppose Mickey Mouse tactics can work sometimes in
poor conditions”.
The only other match I fished at Salgasson was the
first Memorial Match for Ray Tansley who sadly died
in his mid-twenties. I was there to honour his
memory, not to win prizes, so I did not enter the
pool, much to the disdain of the organiser. I
managed quite a reasonable haul and had the second
largest weight. When the results were announced
after the weigh-in, my catch was ignored. My mild
protestation was countered with the statement that
as I wasn’t “in the money”, I didn’t figure in the
results. My retort that surely a fishing match was a
contest to catch the biggest weight of fish. This
resulted in smirks of incredulity, and a begrudging
acknowledgment that I had caught the second largest
basket of fish. Happy days.
So, my three matches over some 30 years at Salgasson
have each provided amusing elements. If I fish
another match there in the next few years, I will
expect some sort of complication or controversy –
Perhaps it’s just me…!
The river meanders back and forth under the lee of
Westbrook Hill, bordering the public footpath for a
distance and this straight is affectionately known
as “Cyanide Alley”, as it is generally thought to be
extremely unproductive. Ironically, a recent match
was won from here with 3 chub for 10lbs! The “Sand
Bar” is another favourite spot for chub, as is “The
Bamboos”. “The Cabbages” (dense underwater lilies)
is the haunt of good mirror and common carp. “The
Bathing Place” takes its name from its history of
being used as a two-sided fresh water Swimming Pool
for Charterhouse School. It is in a 90-degree bend
at the top of the stretch and hidden in the
undergrowth, there used to be (and maybe still is)
the frame of the diving springboard.
This part of Salgasson is an area where we targeted
carp specifically back in the 1980’s and 90’s,
sometimes landing 3 or 4 fish up to 12lbs or so.
Barbel have occasionally been caught here, and did
show up when electro fishing took place. Talking of
which, many years ago, it was thought there were too
many pike in the stretch, and Fishery Management
conducted an electro fishing exercise by boat from
Salgasson up to Eashing. Remarkably few pike were
found, but one fish of 15lbs or so was netted in
Salgasson and placed in the holding tank on board
the boat. No more esox were encountered, and upon
reaching the Eashing Meadow straight, the up ‘til
now docile pike became agitated and leapt from the
tank straight over the side of the boat back into
the river! The exercise, instead of being “pike
removal”, was hastily re-named “pike re-location”.
Other interesting captures include a 6lb grass carp,
roach/bream hybrids, tench and strongly rumoured
catfish. Recent capture of 2 small eels was
something of a surprise, although one member on
hearing about this said he wasn’t surprised, and
would have expected a lot more to be caught because
he had heard that all eels migrate to Salgasson to
spawn!
In recent years, the angler is unlikely to spend an
afternoon/evening session on Salgasson without the
chance of seeing that alien predator, the mink. Many
years ago, fishing the Peper Harow Road end of the
stretch in early season, soon after starting to
fish, it became apparent that there was a mink’s
holt under the bank close to the downstream peg my
pal was fishing. To cut a long story short, over the
course of the next four or five hours, a mink,
obviously preoccupied with finding food for its
young, hunted upstream, and passed through my swim,
firstly with a rabbit in its month, and a few
minutes later carrying an adult moorhen. After a
lull of an hour or so, the mink passed by with a
chub (1lb) in its mouth. Its final foray resulted in
the mink passing through carefully carrying in its
month, what looked like a moorhen’s egg. I think
that if we’d seen this in a BBC2 wildlife
documentary, we’d have thought it must have taken
weeks to film the sequence. We had witnessed it in a
matter of hours – a clear illustration of the mayhem
and devastation these uninvited guests can cause on
our waters. If only we could educate mink to predate
solely on signal grayfish, we could kill two birds
with one stone, as it were.
Talking of birds, one of the joys of fishing,
particularly on a wooded stretch like Salgasson, is
the diversity of wildlife that gives so much
pleasure in addition to the joy of “The Angle”. Roe
deer are frequently seen here, the dawn chorus is
almost deafening in June, and the turquoise flash of
the Kingfisher is a joy to behold. The call of the
Buzzard and its inspiring soaring over the valley is
a common sight to the Salgasson fisherman.
Finally, here are some statistics of recent visits
to the stretch. A mild October afternoon, with the
river fining down and slightly coloured, found me
fishing near the Bamboos, light link legering crust
(1/3 oz bomb, 3 inch link, 2 foot tail, size 10
barbless hook, 1970’s Hardy fibreglass light Avon
rod). Result – 14 roach to ¾ lb, I mirror carp of
9/12, 2 chub (3/4 and 3/14). Almost non-stop
activity, with a bite of some sort on every cast!.
Late November this year I fished at the very top end
on a cold afternoon with NE wind, and intermittent
showers. Same rod as before, but I used a mini
feeder with gentles on a size 12 barbless hook. This
approach produced a knock on every cast bar one, and
I landed 16 roach to ½ lb, 5 dace, 1 perch and 3 big
gugeon.
Salgasson can be hard fishing and over the years I
have struggled on many occasions, but it can be
rewarding and after half a century, casting a line
upon its gentle waters, it still has a certain
allure and charm.
T N P Tonkin
Trunley is fishing well
- report from Clive Cousins.
New stocking takes place at Johnsons.
This years selected introduction of a new strain of
carp for Johnsons went in this Saturday afternoon
(October 30th 2010). They are 4 year year old VS (Viv
Shear) specially bred fish for both pattern and
growth rates with expected top weights in excess of
40lbs in a few years time. The fish were hand picked
by us as were last years introduction. These new
fish weighed between 7 and 11 lbs.
VSF Johnson's stocking
2010.xls
2010 Junior Multi Species Charity Challenge.
Click here for
details
Posted 28-07-2010
Open day a great success.
Saturday 17th July 200.
The weather was excellent and the preparations
proved to be excellent too as the regulars plus a
few new faces all pulled together to create a great
event.
Everyone who wanted to "have a go" was given a 30
minute slot of fishing with a qualified coach and
they all caught fish! There was a casting
competition on the big filed along with fly casting
coaching.
A great favourite on the day was the Pond Dipping -
it is amazing how many different creepy crawlies we
have in our lakes! There were rig tying and
elasticating demos. We had demos on pole fishing,
waggler fishing feeder fishing and guided tours
around Marsh Farm. This was all topped off with the
obligatory BBQ.
Copied below is the summary of the facts and figures
which make great reading.
Just to let you know that now Bernice has had a
chance to process, collate and file all the forms
from the open day she has reported :-
99 juniors mentioned on consent forms and 60 adults
signed the consent forms (under the direction of
Marion and Bernice) therefore around 160 visitors
minimum can be accounted for plus those from Chase
who did not book in.
Chief Cook.
£3K match series Fish to Win
click here for more
details
Broadwater
Anglers can purchase their Guest Tickets, from 16th
July, from R & V Newsagents on Meadrow, Godalming.
For 'non-locals', the shop is on the main road that
passes Broadwater Lake, on the same side, going
towards Godalming. Just before the first roundabout,
next door to the Wey Inn, with limited parking in
front of the shop.
Bramley far bank strimming
The far bank was due to be given a serious strim
this Friday (25th June 2010) but unfortunately it
has to be deferred until next Friday. The nearside
bank is easily accessible should you want to fish
there
Posted 03-06-2010
Bill bags Record monster Crucian!
Late afternoon (Tuesday 1st June 2010) Bill Rushmer landed a new PB and Lake record Crucian
weighing in at 4lbs 6oz.
Pictures to follow on catch Report page as soon as
possible. He caught the magnificent specimen on
paste in the margin of peg 7 on Harris Lake.
The Crucians have yet to spawn and there may just be
a larger one lurking nearby.
'Sports
for all'
Organised by SPORTGODALMING , Promoting Local Sport.
on Sunday 23rd May 2010 at Broadwater Park.
Regular work party volunteers John and Colin had a
slight mishap with the boat on Busbridge this
Saturday whilst clearing swims from the water
side. Colin didn't see any fish on the move whilst
he was swimming under water & nor did John.
Apparently the water is still rather cold and this
could be the reason they both thought. An attempt to
recover the section of ladder they left on the lake
bed will be made shortly.
Other members of the elete "Mermaids Club" include
Barrie Stephens (various qualifications but mainly
at Marsh Farm), Steve Clutterbuck (Busbridge) and
Graham Wilson.
2010 AGM is on Saturday 10th April.
Venue Broadwater School, Summers Road, Farncombe.
Notification will be posted out shortly and will
include your renewal application form.
Closed Season dates
for our waters are as follows:
Bramley - Open all year.
Broadwater - Closed May 1st - June 15 inclusive.
Busbridge - Closed March 15 - April 30th inclusive.
Johnsons - Closed May 1st to June 15th inclusive.
Marsh Farm - Open all year.
River Wey - Closed 15th March to 15th June
inclusive.
River at Eashing tree damage.
Thanks to Adie I was made aware of trees down at
Easing and following two days of visits that stretch
is in a far better state now. There were trees
across paths in a number of places and a lot willows
in a bad way hanging across paths just waiting to
fall. Most of these have been dealt with as far as
Miltons Wood and the resulting logs and
brash cleared well back from the path. There are a
couple of large willow clumps just past the "Cattle
drink" swim that need work by a climber fairly
quickly and I will be arranging that in the next
week or so.
I took a number of "Before" snaps whilst down there
and will take some "After" pictures when I next take
a walk down there.
If you are fishing down that far and see anything I
have missed please give me a call. I will be sorting
out the dead & overhanging trees at The Stag Pool
shortly too.
Lost glasses found a year later!
Last spring a member on a work party in the Marsh
Farm Open Barn lost his glasses whilst filling bags
with barley straw. Amazingly the Treasurers wife
spotted them this weekend in a barley bag at
Busbridge! If they are yours please ring Graham
Harris on 01483 424796 to arrange collection.
The heavy snow and ice have taken their toll on all
our waters causing some severe tree damage as some
of my earlier reports with photos have shown. I have
been out most days clearing paths of fallen trees
and felling dangerous ones in an attempt to make
things as safe as possible but there is still a lot
to do and no doubt dangerous trees still to be
discovered.
Lead Bailiff (Will) has walked round Johnsons and
informs me that it got away fairly unscathed and he
and Ian dealt with a couple of small trees there.
I'll carry out a second walk round to see if
anything else has appeared now that the snow and ice
have gone from the ground at least.
Busbridge took a real hammering and whilst paths are
now on the whole cleared for access it requires a
lot of tidying & trees removed from the lake once
the 3" thick ice melts to release them. Logs need
moving to Bob's woodpile and smaller branches etc
need burning up. For those of you who do not know
Bob Wakeling he is the 85 years young woodsman that
harvests the hazel each year at Busbridge which
helps improve the light levels there. The general
tidying up will be carried out by the A-Z's from mid
March onwards on the club work parties whilst any
urgent works will be dealt with by my regular team.
In short we will have to wait a couple of months
before we carry out a full tidying up there.
Busbridge fences were also hit by a few of the trees
that came down - again see earlier pics. Our regular
fencing guys came out yesterday to assess the work
and hopefully they will be able to repair the
affected sections next week.
Salgasson was hit hard too as advised to me by
Bailiff Peter Gains. Yesterday (Thursday 21st
Jan) Alex & I spent a few hours clearing fallen
trees from the paths and dragging them from the
river. Several hanging branches and small leaning
trees were also taken down for safety reasons as
this footpath is in regular use. I have asked Peter
to let me know of any more that need work. We also
now have a tree survey carried out by Ian Baldwin
for Salgasson and it has identified a large number
of trees in urgent need of work. We will start on
them as soon as possible.
I have yet to get to Bramley but I am hopeful that
the pre Christmas works there will have pre-empted
the weather.
Marsh Farm has escaped mainly due to the few trees
there but the guttering round the barns has been
battered and we will start repair works shortly.
I've had no reports back regarding Broadwater but as
that is owned by Waverley BC, responsibility for
tree works and public safety falls to them.
I will take a walk through Eashing some time next
week to see if we have any problems there.
In the meantime if you find any problems please ring
me with the details. I need to have an accurate
location such as "one swim above the cattle drink at
Eashing" for example please. Not "There's a tree
down in Eashing". Ideally, I need an idea of its
height, its girth, is it lying flat on the ground or
hung up in another tree etc. Your help will be
appreciated. Please be patient whilst we work
through the problems.
Many thanks,
Andrew Mackenzie. (Mobile 07952 429071)
The heavy snows have brought down many trees in and
around Busbridge Lake in the last few days. The
worst actually blocked the whole of Tuesley Lane
stopping all but the most determined of walkers
who climbed over to continue on their way. That tree
clump was cleared over two days and the final clear
up will take place once the snow has gone. The fence
needs repairing too.
Along the public footpath several trees came down
including a large oak that fell from outside the
lake grounds smashing into the fence and blocking
the pathway. Andrew & Alex braved the snows of
Wednesday 13th Jan and an hour or two later had
successfully cut and cleared the offender making the
footpath passable again. Many of the branches are
now lying inside the lake grounds and will be
cleared once the weather and access improves. A
fence repair is needed here and will be looked at in
the next week or so subject to weather.
Trees block Tuesley Lane
Tuesdays heavy snow proved too much for one clump of
trees just inside the front boundary of Busbridge
Lake. It toppled across the fence and totally
blocked the lane. It was spotted by Graham Harris
whilst walking his wife into work at Milford
Hospital. Graham contacted Andrew and the two of
them walked all the gear there and proceeded to
clear a way through.
Pictures below show the clump from each side. To get
an idea of the size of the offender look at the
fence which is 6ft high.
Pictures taken by Graham Harris of Marsh Farm and
Johnson's on the 3rd Jan 2010
I went to Bramley lake on Sunday 15th November and
caught around the 15- 18 lb of Roach, Gudgeon, and
Perch, plus a bonus 3 pound Tench which gave a very
good account of it's self. All the fish were caught
using double red maggot on a size 18 hook to 4lb
line straight through on the waggler.
A decision was taken during the early part of this year to try
and improve the strain of carp in Johnson’s. After very careful
checking, including very stringent health checks, it was decided
to purchase fish from VS Fisheries Limited. The VS Fisheries
strain have a high growth rate with fish of just 8 years old
reaching weights of 30lb plus. They are also very distinctive
because of their beautiful variation scale patterns.
On the 29th October a strain of carp from VS
Fisheries were introduced into into Johnson’s.A total of 12 fish
were introduced with a weight spread of 13 to 15.5lb. These fish
are classed as type C5 – which means they are 5 years old.
Photographic records were taken of each fish introduced.
4 stockings are planned.
It is very important that as much information as possible is fed
back to the FMC group and Johnson’s bailiffs regarding the
weights and condition of these new fish.
Therefore, if you catch one please make a complete record with
weight and photographs and give this information to FMC or the
Johnson’s bailiffs.
For further information please check the VS Fisheries website at
-
www.vsfisheries.co.uk
New sluice constructed on Marsh Farm.
Construction of a new sluice to enable us to control the water
coming from the borehole has been undertaken over the last couple of
weeks. It involved digging out the base and the bank sides,
installing shuttering, tying it in, internal metal reinforcing rods
and a scaffolding platform to allow tipping the concrete from.
On Tuesday morning the Mix a Mate lorry weighing in at a mere 44
tons turned up and kept off the grass! The 2.5 cm of concrete was
moved little by little by power barrow to the site and then tipped
into a wheelbarrow taken across the scaffold platform and tipped
carefully into the shuttering below. Weighing in at 1 ton when
loaded the power barrow was too heavy to run across the platform and
too long to be able to turn and tip. Fortunately we had a fit young
man to do the heavy work - thanks Alex.
Down in the ditch was a concrete splattered Barrie happily
tamping it all down and finally some two hours later trowelling it
off to a smooth finish. Each wing of the sluice now holds something
like 3.5 tons of concrete encased around the reinforcing rods
installed a few days earlier. Later that afternoon, the scaffold
planks were removed, pressure washer cleaned courtesy of Kevins
machine, then returned to Gary who very kindly provided all the
scaffolding free of charge.
By Wednesday morning the concrete was solid, helped no doubt by a
very mild night. Next week we will removed all the shuttering and be
able to view the new sluice in all its glory! My thanks go to
Barrie, Peter, Bob & Alex for helping achieve this new sluice.
Andrew Mackenzie.
Still Water Fishery Maintenance Manager.
Yesterday morning there was potentially a fatal prang at Marsh Farm.
A braking car apparently locked up and resulted in it cutting
diagonally across the entrance and ploughing into the close board
fencing.
Lucky? - well yes very lucky as he just missed hitting the container
and even more lucky; having wiped out the gas main behind the fence,
causing the gas to escape at full velocity it did not ignite and he
managed to reverse out of the fence and back onto the driveway
without a scratch.
Bob Pickett was quickly on the scene to help organise the Gas repair
men, the fire service, police and stopping of the traffic. A great
job Bob for which we all thank you.
We (Godalming AS) have no idea where the fault (if any) lay but
would ask all Members, Visitors and Guests to exit very carefully,
especially when turning right. The most important thing is that no
one was hurt.
We are well under way with the shuttering construction for the new
sluice at the end of The Wildlife Pond. Final support work prior to
filling with concrete will take place over the next few days. My
thanks go to Barrie Stephens, Andy Alderton and Bob Pickett for all
their hard work. Gary is about to run some scaffold across the ditch
for us to make pouring the concrete into the shuttering that much
easier.
All being well the new sluice will be ready to be tested at the same
time as the borehole test pumping takes place.
Just in from Roy:
Hi again Bramley fishing
extremely well I had around 15- 20pound of roach and gudgeon plus to
big crucians and losing three big tench well i just hope it stays
like this for a while another trip is planned for next week only one
other angler on the lake and he did not arrive until 1.00 o clock.
All fish are falling to red maggot fished on the waggler at around
25-30 yards out in about two or three feet of water if people want
to know how to fish it. Also a lot of small Perch 2-6ounces being
caught.
Bramley fishing well.
Friday 3rd October 2009.
Just in from Roy:
There's an author
among us!
Kevin Grozier (brother of Dave who runs the butchers at Milford) has
written a book about his passion for two rivers and the launch is
due shortly with a book signing not too far from here. If you would
like to know a bit more about the rivers (not the Wey) and the book
signing then go to the Links page and click on his link.
The pictures are of catches from the Coloneel grounds in the late
70's and a Broadwater road bank carp around 1964.
The match was won from one of the least fancied pegs; peg 17 on
Richardsons Lake. Having been told that he'd drawn badly the angler
decided to stick it out for the odd bonus big fish and promptly
landed three rogue carp plus some bits for 27lbs and first place!
GAS members faired well with the best performance coming from Perry
Grey in 4th place
John was a great character, larger than life, with a wicked sense of
humour and a twinkle in his eye. Always ready to come along and dig
out stock ponds, trenches and ditches for us whilst Stanley (his
little Jack Russell) spent the days rabbiting close by.
In the last 12 months alone he enlarged the Johnsons stock pond,
cleared and deepened the Wildlife Pond on Marsh Farm, helped repair
swims, levelled areas of the car parks and dug trial pits for the
4th lake amongst other tasks. We always had a lot of fun working
with John and most times something "eventful" would occur all of
which will no doubt be recounted over the occasional coffee in the
shop or beer at the pub for many years to come.
The road at Marsh Farm we named after him will have to make way for
the 4th lake - perhaps we should name it "Milligans Lake" in
recognition of all he has done for the club?
The picture of John was taken earlier this year at the clubs
presentation evening where he was awarded this trophy in recognition
of an accumulation of unusual achievements whilst driving various
diggers for us!
Fridays wont ever be quite the same without John.