NEWS UPDATE 17/03/2025
Chairman's End Of season Report
The 2024/25 season has now ended and has been a mixed bag. We have had our high points notably the Charity Match at Littlestoke which raised much needed funds for CRUK and a big thank you to all those that organised the event, took part and donated to a well deserved charity. It is cause dear to many of us and, to bring it into focus, we lost one of our most popular members Tom Harvey to cancer this year. It brings us to the fact that we are an ageing club with more and more of our members reaching pensionable age and in many cases in their 70's. It is a subject that we all need to think about going forward.
On the match front the season ended in a whimper rather than a bang. The reasons are highlighted in Chris's end of season report below. On a brighter note it is congratulations to Gary Wood on becoming Club Champion again but it was a close run thing winning on aggregate weight from Trevor Rowe with both anglers level on 98.5 Pts. Gary was also the winner of the Summer Cup, Winter Cup and StillwaterCup. He also won the Knockout and to top it all he had the Best Specimen as well. As well as being Individual Runner-Up Trevor also won the River Cup and had the Best Specimen at Littlestoke. Tim Watts won the Canal Cup and my Chairmans Award went to Phil Rogers for his 48-8-0 bag on the first match at Littlestoke, a far cry from our last match on the venue. This was the 4th highest bag at the venue since digital records started over 30 years ago. For a detailed look at all the trophys go to the Trophy Section . As part of our CRUK fundraising we ran a Fantasy League competition based on the Winter Matches. The £5.00 entry fee's paid by all those that took part all went into the CRUK Fundraising. It proved an exciting event going down to the last match before we had a winner and congratulations to Pete Finch who snatched the title from Trevor Rowe at the death. Go to the Fantasy Page in the Members Area to see the full result. I think the consensus amongst the members is we run it again next winter.
I would also like to say a big thank you to our Secretary, Chris Peel for all the sterling work he does in his role keeping the club running. Also to our Treasurer, Gary Wood for keeping the finances in good order producing the Expense Report ready for the AGM and also to our Match Secretary, Pete Finch for his thankless task of booking the matches that give us our varied match programme each season sorting the match day pools. Without people like this the club would cease to function in its present state.
SECRETARY'S CLOSED SEASON UPDATE
The season ended not with a bang but a wimper as 13 anglers could not muster even 3lb between them in the last 6 hour match at Little Stoke. The reason for the lack of bites and fish is not certain but I can now reveal that a sewage treatment works at South Moreton which discharges from the other bank upstream at Wallingford had been discharging continuously for the previous 35 days and as I write today 16 March it has totalled over 950 hours of continuous discharge. In 2024 it discharged for 2568 hours; the equivalent of 107 days.
We have no proof these events are linked but I would suggest it is highly suggestive. Thames Water will be carrying out an upgrade to what it calls a ‘pipe maintenance issue’ and the work should be complete by the end of 2026. Thames Water tell us that the site ‘is expected to meet all government targets by 2040-45’ so that’s OK then……….. Honestly you couldn’t make it up.
Congratulations to Gary Wood as Club Champion, he finished level on points with Trevor Rowe but having a bigger aggregate weight over the season was enough for him to retain the trophy. A full list of trophy winners is to be found on the match section.
The fantasy league also had a final twist with Peter Finch’s team coming up on the rails at the final match to steal the league from Trevor who might be forgiven for feeling like the bridesmaid this season. Apart from a bit of winter fun Fantasy league entries contributed over £100 to our charity find raising last season.
Thoughts now turn to next season. It begins for us on 11 May and our fist match on the river at Little Stoke is 22 June. All 25-26 members will have access to the full activity programme via the members only section of the website once they have renewed.
Renewal Notices will go out to all via email on 25 April. We hope to do this online only, removing the need for paper, duplication and postage and thereby saving the club money. Postal charges are due to increase again before renewals and have doubled in past 4 years. If possible we ask for payments to be made by transfer which saves a 14 mile round trip to the bank. Exceptionally we will accept cheques but if it can possibly be avoided, please not cash. We are now charged by the bank if we deposit cash.
Before renewals can happen we hold our AGM, where reports from officers give a comprehensive overview of the last 12 months, accounts are presented, subs levels for 25-26 decided and officers are elected. ‘borin ol’ admin’ will no doubt be the reaction, and yes it is admin, but without an AGM where the business of the club is properly carried out we have no legitimacy as a club and if we are unable to function legitimately under the rules, the rules determine the club’s fate. It’s important we achieve a quorum (enough members as constitutionally determined) to allow us to continue into 25 and beyond.
AGM Date 24 April. 8pm YWDCC in person or via Microsoft Teams. If you have an issue you want to raise or stand for election please send an email via the website or direct to me and I will pass on details but the deadline for the inclusion of items for the AGM is 10 April. All 24-25 members will receive the AGM agenda by email on 11 April. Above all please make every effort to attend.
Match, Trophy and Fantasy Update 10/03/2025
Our final match took place at Littlestoke took place on the 9th March and was not the finale we would have liked. Go to the Match Section to see the results. You can see the impications of the result in the Trophy Section. The Fantasy League reached its conclusion on Sunday. Go to the Fantasy League page in the Members Section to see the full table and the updates from the Littlestoke match which resulted in an exciting finale.
Club Member Help Required with Illegal fishing
I would ask all members, particularly those that fish Littlestoke, to read the above from Chris which outlines the problems illegal trolling on the Thames by boats launched from one of two slipways which adjoin our Littlestoke stretch. As members we can participate in trying to eradicate the problem that Chris has highlighted. Whilst I do not advocate anybody putting themselves at risk we can all make a difference. If you see any issues just use the information on Chris's memo to highlight the problem to the relevant authority.
Sewage and Fishing
I would urge all members to read the above article from Chris which highlights the hidden dangers ever present in our waterways. The press reports on many incidents where river users, particularly swimmers, have fallen ill when using the rivers recreationally. We fisherman are not immune to these problems as highlighted by Chris in his article. It is imperative that we take this issue seriously as some of these bugs can be quite nasty. Taking sensible precautions particularly when it comes to putting line in your mouth and eating could prevent you catching bugs like e-coli. I would urge all members to carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer in their tackle box
WQMN and General Update 06/11/24
Chris has now collated the last 6 months of water testing data. This can be viewed on the WQMN Details page in the Littlestoke section
He also put up 2 notices yesterday – weatherproofed - (1 by slipway and the other by the gate to the first meadow) which thanks local residents and footway users for their contributions to our CRUK fundraising and gives the final total. It also gives news of our promotional offer for new members from 1 November and details of our website where people can find out we are not just a fishing club but take our environmental responsibilities seriously; with regular water quality testing and a suggestion that swimmers are aware that the tested water quality verges on the unsafe (elevated nitrate and excessive phosphate levels) for swimming and that they can check the current position re sewage discharges by consulting the Thames discharge map https://www.thameswater.co.uk/edm-map that gives real-time data and have listed the 8 upstream discharge points.
Useful Information For fishing Littlestoke (Updated 24/12/2024)
Below are two links to the two Thames level measuring stations nearest to Littlestoke at Benson Lock (Above) and Cleeve Lock (Below) our stretch. Although there is some distance between them they still give a good indication of the current river levels if you are thinking of fishing our water. Let me know if it is of some help. If you want more detailed information on these levels go to the Shoothill RiverGauge Map site which gives information on all of the rivers in the Country.
Those members who want to fish Littlestoke or wonder why we have to cancel scheduled matches should click on the link below to read an article written by Chris. This is very informative and highlights the issues we have to face. So thanks to Chris for taking the time to compile this insight. The link shown in Chris's article is shown below at the bottom of the page.
An alternative guide, and in some ways an easier one to interpret is the one to be found on the Environment Agency website at https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/station/7099/downstream. This particular one links to the page showing the downstream levels at Benson Lock but enables you to link to any of the stations on the Thames.