Plough Angling Club Minutes

Meeting: 16^th September 2025

In Attendance and Apologies

Present: L Teale; J Blackwell; D Dance; T Warncken; C Judkins; J Rolf; N Ponting; B Sutton; J Pike

Apologies:  R Stone

Minutes:  L Teale

Actions from Previous Meeting

• Pegs 15 and 19 at Plough Pond require further tree pruning to make them fishable by rod and line.
• The possibility of a feeder only match at Newbridge was discussed and will be looked at.
• A proposal will be presented by the Chairman at the AGM to enable Members to bring a guest to Plough Pond to fish free of charge. A seconder will be required to progress.

Club Welfare Officer’s Report

• Our Club Welfare Officer is Richard Stone (mob. 07551 031857; rstone0311@yahoo.com.)
• The Club’s welfare policy is available on our website (www.ploughangling.org.uk/safeguarding/)
• No issues were reported this past month.
• Refresher training is currently being offered by the Angling Trust.

Sea Secretary’s Report

• The scheduled trip, sailing from Weymouth on 15^th September 2025, was cancelled owing to high winds.
• This year’s Sea Group programme concludes with a sailing from Weymouth on 19^th October 2025.
• Contact Chris Judkins if you would like to be involved in the Sea Fishing Group.

Match Secretary’s Report

• Three matches have been fished since the last meeting. Full results are published on our website.
• The second leg of the Sedgewick Memorial Trophy took place at Plough Pond on Sunday 31^st August, with 9 Members attending. The match was won by Ray Rolfe with 12lb 4oz, including a 5lb 8oz bream. In second place was Barry Sutton with 3lb 2oz, and third place was Chris Judkins with 1lb 7½oz.
• The fifth leg of the Plough Angler of the Year Trophy was fished at Newbridge on Sunday 7^th September, with 9 Members attending. The match was won by Matt Cramp with 9lb 6oz of roach, all on hemp. In second place was Nick Ponting with 7lb 10oz, and third place was Barry Sutton with 4lb 0oz.
• The sixth leg of the Plough Angler of the Year Trophy was fished at Plough Pond on Sunday 14^th September, with 9 Members attending. The match was won by Nick Ponting with 2lb 13oz, including a 2lb+ bream. In second place was Terry Warncken with 2lb 6oz of perch, and third place was Jim Pike with 1lb 14oz of perch.
• The next match is the seventh leg of the PAY trophy at Newbridge on Sunday 12^th October. The draw will take place at 07:00, fish 08:15 – 13:15.The Match Fund currently stands at £282.00.
• Current Plough Angler of the Year standings (see printed minutes).
• This season’s match standings to date (see printed minutes).

Treasurer’s Report

• Refer to printed minutes.

Vice Chairman’s Report

• Plough Pond Update: Feeding is continuing. The feeding pattern will be modified for the colder months.
• Plough Pond Stocking: The Club intends to stock the following in late February 2026: 60 Bream (14”+, avg. 1.5lb); 32 Carp (C3 Grade A, 2–5lbs avg. 4lbs)
• WhatsApp Group: A new WhatsApp group has been created for the Club. This will enable quicker and more efficient communication regarding catches, match updates, and any other matters of interest. If you would like to join, please contact the Vice Chairman at the number shown on your permit.

Chairman’s Report

• The Club’s proposed application for a grant from the Angling Improvement Fund (Predation Prevention) has progressed this month. This fund is administered by the Angling Trust on behalf of the Environment Agency. Following a telephone meeting with Jake Davoile, Fisheries Management Advisor and an email exchange with Andy Petch, Angling Improvement Fund Manager, we were given the go ahead to submit our application. Our deadline for submission is 23^rd September 2025. After this meeting, our application was submitted electronically on 17^th September 2025. If successful, the project would start on 1^st March 2026 and will follow our Plough Pond Fishery Development Plan, headed by Terry Warncken.
• Water quality testing at Newbridge is continuing as part of our role in the national study of rivers by the Angling Trust (WQMN). The Club has been asked to share our data with River Action. Their campaign aims to persuade Local Authorities to issue abatement notices to Thames Water – legal orders that require the water company to stop causing a statutory nuisance. It was agreed that we share our data with them.
• Water quality testing at Plough Pond on 26^th August 2025 gave nitrate at 5ppm. Nitrite; phosphate and ammonia were undetected (0 ppm). Dissolved oxygen was found to be in the range 50 to 102%.

New Actions

• The Christmas Meal will take place on Sunday 7^th December 2025 at the RBL Sports & Social Club, Hanney at 15:00.
• Newbridge Fields 1 and 2 have been booked by Coldstone AC on Saturday 27^th September 2025.
• A possible fuel leak on our mower at Plough Pond needs to be investigated.
• 72 crayfish have been removed from Plough Pond this season. Few have been trapped recently.
• A trophy for the largest fish caught in our matches will be looked into by Danny.
• A Work Party at Plough Pond will take place on Saturday 25^th October 2025, starting at 09:00. The work will focus on installing more cormorant tapes and strimming the island.

The meeting ended at 9:00pm.

The next meeting will take place at the RBL Sports & Social Club in Hanney at 19:30 on Tuesday 21^st October 2025. All welcome.