News from the Chairman: September 2018
What a contrast between our two main reservoirs in August. Both suffered from extremely low water levels as could be expected given the hot dry summer we have experienced, but whereas Churnclough fished very well (considering), with anglers averaging almost 4 fish apiece, Laneshaw was more “challenging”, although more fished here.
Water levels have come up a bit at Laneshaw and the cooler weather should lead to an improvement in sport. Churnclough remains very low with the exposed mud beds making things tricky but, as mentioned above, for those who persevere good catches can be made.
Stocking this summer has been curtailed on the advice of our fish suppliers at Dunsop Bridge but there are already plans to compensate for this next season, so for those of you who have been experiencing difficult times recently…please bear with us.
However, there are still a lot of trout in our reservoirs. Returns at Laneshaw for the first week of September show much improvement over last month. On a recent visit in calm conditions there were fish rising everywhere but proving very elusive (no change there for me!). Eventually I tempted two off the top on a small midge and then a medium sized sedge and missed a few more (no change there again!).
Both fish were in excellent condition and had obviously been feeding well on something! In spite of the water and weather conditions I have only had a few reports of dead fish in the margins. There may be more but given the surface activity I witnessed at Laneshaw I think our fish stocks have fared better than could have been expected. If you see any dead fish then please report them either direct to Club officials or make a note on your returns
The Club again took a stand at the Trawden Show in August and a number of information packs and membership application forms were handed out. Since the ending of the Broughton Game Show this is the only annual “event” the Club attends, but I feel it is worthwhile as it is local to our waters and helps promote the fishing we have.
If any of you have ideas of what else we could do to promote the Club or can think of other worthwhile events for next year then please let me know. As ever my email is paul.ffly@gmail.com Also, if there is anything you would want the Club to do for you (for example we have previously looked at holding matches, trips to other waters etc) then tell us!
It is pleasing to report that our membership is slightly up on last year and I hope our new members will have enjoyed their fishing. It’s been a difficult year but hopefully the reservoirs will fill up over winter and we will see an improvement in sport next year.
That’s all for now.
Paul West
Chairman, Colne Water Angling Club
