Welcoming anglers since...1948

September 2023 Newsletter

Another summer passes us by and hopefully you have enjoyed some good sessions at the waters you have fished and will continue to do so as the weather cools down now. Many of you will be thinking of changing tactics as you try for the Perch and Pike and so just a reminder that we now have access to over twice the length of the Royal Military Canal that we used to have and this water is one of the few where you can catch Pike on our ticket but you must have an RFA sticker on your handbook/card.
If you know of anyone who might be thinking of joining us then now is a good time as we are currently offering our mid-season ticket so they can have the rest of the season at half price. See the website for details.

At the end of July, we held our 75th Celebration event at Pennybridge and it was very successful despite a few of the promised stall holders not showing on the day probably due to the unpredictable weather.
Dave Stanbridge was the main organiser of the day and writes:
“At one of the committee meetings in late 2022 it was noticed that 2023 would be the 75th Anniversary of the formation of CDAA. We decided that we could not let this pass without some form of celebration. This was not to be a fund-raising event but a family affair. In January 2023 the organisation began and the 29th of July was picked being the first Saturday after the summer break for schools began.  Pennybridge was the obvious choice, local, good lake and a field where we could hold a function. Peter Gottelier, the landlord was in favour so we began to sort things in earnest. The immediate reaction from the people we spoke to was that they could not believe that a local organisation could have lasted for that amount of time! This is a credit to the many members and workers who made this possible over the past 75 years. A budget was set and all the committee "volunteered" to carry out various tasks. We wanted to give anybody the chance to try fishing who wanted to and provide some entertainment for everyone to enjoy. Our first result was the local Council giving us a grant to pay for the three coaches from the Angling Trust. We were able to source various food and drink suppliers and some very helpful ladies baked cakes and provided other refreshments. A Bouncy Castle and a Tombola was arranged and a couple of local charities attended. Approximately 250 people attended the event and 59 of those had a go at fishing for the first time! We signed up some new members and showed people what we are all about. On the day we were well within our budget, and the feedback we received from people as they left, and have been sent to us since, suggest that a good day was had by all. Thanks to everybody who helped and we made small donations to the following who helped make the event a success, Forest Fold Baptist Chapel (parking & tables), Fireman’s Benevolent Fund (East Sussex Fire & Rescue provided a fire engine), Aspens, Red Cross. Also special mention must go to Crowborough Women’s Institute who provided tables & chairs, Janet Funnell, Janna Cottington & Leslie Harris who provided cakes & filled rolls along with tea & coffee, John Manktelow who organised and ran the tombola, Helen Smith who took the details required for everyone that had a go at fishing, Kris Smith of KJB Inflatables who provided the bouncy castle free of charge and finally Peter & Joanna Gottelier for allowing us to use their lake and field for this event.”
Could we ask, as we seem to have taken very few ourselves, if anyone has any photos of the day could you send them to email@crowboroughanglers.org.uk we would be very grateful.

Unfortunately, we have an invasive species that has been spotted in our area which poses a very real threat to our honey bees and other pollinators. If you spot one, please do not kill it, but if possible get a photo and use this website https://www.bbka.org.uk/identify-asian-hornet to identify it and report your sighting so that it can be logged and dealt with.

We are sorry to report that we have had issues with litter this summer which has caused a few comments from a couple of our riparian owners. This is particularly upsetting when the culprits have been seen and asked to remove the offending items but reply with “I didn’t leave it there so why should I pick it up”. Well firstly, yes, it is annoying if you didn’t drop it but secondly club rule number 5 states “No litter of any kind (including unused bait, drinks containers, cigarette     ends, discarded tackle and anything else that could contaminate the environment) must be left behind on any water. All members are to be     responsible for any litter found within 15 feet (3.8m) of all sides of his or her fishing position, whether the litter was left by him/her or not”.
Please do abide by this rule as we really do not want to be losing any water due to the owners getting fed up with our members attitudes. We know this is a very small minority of members and we would like to thank the majority who take their responsibilities seriously and do their bit.

Our Hon. Secretary recently had a short session at Oast Farm with Dave Wilkins who is the Angling Trust SE Region Enforcement Support Manager. Dave grew up in Uckfield and first found his passion for angling fishing the local waters, he reckoned it was about forty years since he had fished Oast Farm and could remember it getting its original stocking. Dave even used an old split cane rod and set up. They fished using bread flake and sweetcorn, with sweetcorn being the more successful bait on the day, and had a great afternoon-evenings sport with the usual banter and catching approximately 100lb of fish between them. Dave will hopefully be joining us again soon to try some of our other waters that were his old haunts.
Speaking of the Angling Trust, we as a club have benefitted from being members of the AT over the past few years and would encourage you all to look at becoming individual members as the money raised from subscriptions goes towards fighting the cause of anglers wherever needed. One of the biggest issues currently is the dumping of untreated sewage into our rivers and seas and the AT are putting a lot of pressure on both the EA and Government to do something about this so if you could spare £30 take a look at joining here https://anglingtrust.net/memberships/individual/

In the March newsletter we asked you to report your catches due to the improvements in water quality we are trying to make at some of our waters. We seem to have been very successful at Pennybridge but are having less luck at Underhill so we would be very grateful if you could report on any sessions you do have at this water as we continue to try to make it better. We will be clearing some of the lilies and also felling five trees at the far end to allow more wind onto the lake surface and so encouraging better circulation of the water as recent tests have found the water quality to be very patchy. If you fish here, we recommend you fish to the patches of weed and not to the lilies or open water until we can get the water moving about more. As always, we are easy to contact and are happy to receive your reports or comments via email, text, FB message or a good old fashioned phone call.

Claygate Lakes – just a reminder once again that unless you were a member last season you cannot fish this water this season, also when you can fish it you are limited to five visits per season after which you have to pay for a normal day ticket. This is being monitored so please don’t abuse it or we could lose this water.

Wirgol – Stuart, our new Bailiff at this water, has done a lot of work here over the past few months opening up swims and the paths around the two ponds. In between times he has found the time to catch a few cracking fish as well, so if you can manage the hill walk from the car park it is well worth a visit.

Our work parties have started again and we really like to see new faces at these, it’s a chance to meet up have a chat and a laugh plus get some tidying up done. The dates are on the website and a post goes up on our Facebook page a few days before each one, the next is at Underhill on the 8th October.

We need you -
Hi. This is your Treasurer talking!
I will be resigning in March 2024 because I will be moving to a different part of the country.
We need someone with: Financial experience, who can visit Crowborough Tackle once a week from February to August, and once a month from September to January.
Can liaise with the Membership Secretary to exchange memberships received via the shops and via the post. Undertake the banking of funds received. Pay all lease payments as they fall due monthly, plus any other payments that fall due.
Provide monthly accounts to the Committee and produce annual accounts for the Auditor and the AGM.
It takes me about 4 hours a week, more in Feb – Aug, less in Sep to Jan.
If you want to see what is involved, I will be happy for you to come and see first-hand.
Cliff.

Also, we would like someone to take over the running of the Junior matches next season. They run from the beginning of June until the end of September with a match pretty much every other Saturday morning, so 8-9 matches, and all but one is held on our own waters. The main criteria are you’ve got to like kids, be reliable and you will need to hold a basic DBS check certificate, if you do not currently have this then we will pay for you to apply for one. If you might be interested in taking this on, please contact us for more details.

Finally, our Freshwater Match Steward, Dave Cottington was recently invited to take part in Edenbridge Angling Society’s charity match at Hever Castle which he rather cheekily went and won with 150lb 7oz, being a new lake record, and with second place only weighing in 96lb 14oz. Even cheekier he wore his CDAA emblazoned polo shirt whilst fishing and at the prize giving, and reckoned it was the best days fishing he has ever had and can’t wait to return next season to defend his trophy. Well done Dave C.

Best wishes on behalf of the CDAA Committee.