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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.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!"
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.
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.
Sat 20th August saw the Division 2 National Championships on the Basingstoke Canal Godalming entered two teams with very different results.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.
All anglers MUST leave these venues by 5pm.
New Busbridge Record Tench.
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
Big Grassie
caught at Bramley:
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!
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,
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.
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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
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Posted
21-04-2011
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.
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Special short session at Johnsons
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 )
BROADWATER TO REMAIN OPEN ALL YEAR WITH IMMEDIATE
EFFECT.
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
Tale of Two Bridges by David Wood (as printed in Angling Magazine in 1981)
NEW CRUCIAN RECORD AT JOHNSONS
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.
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.
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IMPORTANT
NOTICE TO DAY TICKETERS RE 29TH & 30TH APRIL 2011
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
Nettings on 12th March 2011
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.
Hill Pond
We removed a total of 107 Carp from this pond, plus
6 Bream that were returned to Richardsons Lake.
Johnsons Stockpond
A total of 202 Carp were netted from the stockpond,
together with 38 small Tench weighing less than a
pound apiece.
Little Enton ( Mr. Grant's Lake )
22 Carp were removed together with approximately
2,000 small Roach.
Busbridge Lake
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.
Mike Holcombe
Monster Crucian caught from Johnsons.
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.
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
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.
Alan Millington and I thank those hardy anglers
who turned up, assisting with the preparation (
cleaning boat and inflating tyres ),
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.
All of these small fish were safely released into
our Bramley Park Lake.
Mike.
BROADWATER BARLEY
BAGS COMING OUT!
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.
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 ).
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.
Our supplier delivered the fish in the evening following a days netting, and our thanks to Alan Millington who had
to open up the fishery gates and oversee the releases after 8pm that day
More Barbel into Eashing :
The EA supplied us with a further consignment of
small Barbel today ; these having been bred at their
Calverton facility.
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.
Mike -- 26th January 2011
Xmas match rearranged.
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.
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.
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.
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New British
record Albino Carp?
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
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MATCH BOOKINGS .. Dec 2010
Unfortunately Roger Howe
has been unwell for a while and been in the Royal
Surrey Hospital for a few days.
He is now being transferred to St.Georges Hospital,
Tooting for further tests and treatment.
We all wish him well and a speedy recovery.
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 )
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 !
Mike Holcombe
Posted 03-12-2010
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
Posted 03-11-2010
Trunley is fishing well
- report from Clive Cousins.
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
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 |
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Posted
12-09-2010
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.
All,
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.
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.
Graham Harris.
Posted 21-07-2010
£3K match series Fish to Win
click here for more
details
Posted 24-06-2010
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.
Posted 24-06-2010
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.
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Posted 26-05-2010
'Sports
for all'
Organised by SPORTGODALMING , Promoting Local Sport.
on Sunday 23rd May 2010 at Broadwater Park.
Where GAS had a small stand with posters and Brochures, together with Apollo exhibiting equipment plus a casting competition.
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Two more join The Mermaid Club!
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.
Posted 04-03-2010
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.
Posted 10-02-2010
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.
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Posted 25-01-2010
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.
All Waters take a battering
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)
Beautiful Busbridge in the snow. Wednesday 13th
January 2010
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Busbridge takes a battering
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.
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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
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.
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Posted 06-01-2010
Pictures taken by Graham Harris of Marsh Farm and
Johnson's on the 3rd Jan 2010
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Roy's latest Bramley update
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.
Introduction of a new strain of carp to Johnson’s
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.
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
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
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www.vsfisheries.co.uk
Dated 07/11/09
Posted 29-10-09
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.
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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?
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OUCH -
WHO'S A LUCKY LAD THEN!?
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.
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New sluice for borehole.
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.
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Bramley fishing well.
Friday 11th October 2009.
Just in from Roy:
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The 1st Polemania qualifier at Marsh Farm was a sell out last Saturday. Whilst it "fished hard" on the day it proved to be a very popular venue and has already been booked up again for next year. A lot of the "big names" in match circles were present and from a club standpoint it was great to see them all comply very happily with our rules and in particular that regarding dry nets.
Is this Johnsons prettiest fish?
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Passing of a friend. Farewell John.
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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.
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.
