Maldon Angling Society

There was an incident reported to the police on the Chelmer & Blackwater canal in the early hours of Friday 30th to Saturday 31st July 2010.   If you were in the vicinity of Springfield Lock on these dates, and saw anyone acting suspiciously, please contact police officer Adrian Sharpe on 01277 262220.

We have received several reports from bailiffs at Howells over the school holidays of anglers using inadequately small unhooking mats and landing nets.  Please ensure if you are visiting any of our waters with fish into double figures that your kit is up to the task and can cope with a twenty pounder should you be fortunate enough to hook one.

Using a small unhooking mat on top of a larger one gives twice the protection to our valuable carp stocks, as demonstrated with this low double from Howells.

Mark Baldwin, with a catch of a 13lb common carp, could be seeing his last carp from Howells as we could lose this fishery due to litter louts.  Head Bailiff Kim Naish, before taking a photo of Mark’s carp, collected seven, yes SEVEN bags of rubbish left by anglers.

 He was disgusted:

“This is the quickest way to lose a fishery; would you put up with people putting rubbish in your garden or house I do not think so, you would soon stop them. Moreover the best way for a farmer to stop people leaving rubbish on their land is to stop them coming on it in the first place. If I had my way I would stop everyone fishing Howells for a month but that would penalise the vast majority of anglers who act responsibly and ensure that they do take their rubbish home with them.

Take your rubbish home with you or lose Howells.  If you see people leave rubbish report them or lose Howells.  It is up to all of us to make sure that the waters we have are kept litter free or we will lose them all and it’s no good moaning after they are gone.

Take action now to stop the litter louts and get rid of them from the club.  Sorry for the rant”

Please note: Since this item was first posted the committee are strongly recommending that an age restriction be applied to Howells if the litter problem returns during future school holidays.

Essex and Suffolk Water are hosting an Any Method Trout Fishing Competition at Hanningfield Reservoir on the 22nd August 2010 and would love to see Maldon AS members there.  You can support the work of The Prince’s Trust youth charity by entering a team into The Trust’s Million Makers 2010 challenge. The Million Makers challenge involves teams from various clubs and companies nationwide competing against one another to raise the most money for The Prince’s Trust. All of the funds raised will go towards supporting disadvantaged young people, helping them to develop the skills and confidence to find a job.  For more info click this Any Method Trout Fishing Competition Poster and this Million Makers Statement

Members will notice combination locks appearing on some of our waters where there were previously key locks.  This is because the key locks now cost us a staggering £108 each and combination locks only cost £13.  The latest venue to fall foul of lock vandalism is Bog Grove so this now has a combination lock.  The number for all of these combination locks (except on the river section at Ashmans Farm Braxted – see below) is shown on page 15 of the current red rule book.  To activate once this number is entered please press down on the shackle and the lock will spring open.

Bog Grove – one of our venues that now has a combination lock.

We are pleased to announce that Brick Kiln Pond at Inworth is now open to members.  This small fishery is located close to the A12 at Inworth.  Please click on this Brick Kiln Pond Information Sheet for directions and info.

Brick Kiln Pond – open to members from 5 Jul 2010 onwards.