Plough Angling Club Minutes

Meeting: 17^th June 2025

In Attendance and Apologies

Present: L Teale; J Blackwell; D Dance; T Warncken; J Pike; R Stone; C Judkins; J Rolf.

Apologies:  A Earl; B Sutton; N Ponting

Minutes:  L Teale

Actions from Previous Meeting

• The Club Secretary position remains vacant. This leaves the Club in a precarious position, with the Chairman undertaking the duties of both Club Officers. If any Member wishes to be considered for this position, then please contact the Chairman. Duties involve attendance at our monthly meetings and the production of meeting minutes.
• The Work Party at Newbridge held on Thursday 5^th June was well supported with 8 Members attending. The Pegs were strimmed in readiness for the new Season. Pegs in Field 3 were made fishable (except for Pegs 32 and 38, which need more work). A multi-lingual sign was positioned at the entrance to our fishery as part of the Angling Trust’s Building Bridges campaign.
• Further repairs were carried out to our lawnmower, with the replacement of the magneto. Thanks to Jim Pike for carrying out this work.
• The fallen tree adjacent to Peg 4 at the Pond was removed by Jim Pike and Leslie Teale. Thanks to both.
• The BBQ and Presentation Evening will take place at the RBL Sports & Social Club 19 July 2025. The cost is the same as last year at £10.00 per head. An email will be sent to Members soon.

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.

Sea Secretary’s Report

• The Sea Fishing Group had another enjoyable sailing from Weymouth on 15^th June. 18 Conger Eels were caught, some of which were over 30lbs, with Terry Warncken taking a 22lb fish on his first outing. 2 Tope were caught by Barry, and a 20lb Blonde Ray by Bob. A small Turbot was also caught and released. Photographs and a report of the day will appear on our website.
• The next trip will sail from Weymouth on 6^th July 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 will be published on our website.
• A Pools Match took place at Plough Pond on Sunday 25^th May, with 11 Members attending. The match was won by Bill Hayden with 14lb 8oz of skimmer bream (12 fish) from Peg 10.
• The first leg of the Plough Angler of the Year Trophy took place at Buscot Park on Sunday 8^th June, with 14 Members attending. The match was won by Matt Cramp with 15lb 0oz of bream (4 fish) from Peg 12. In second place was Terry Warncken with a mirror carp of 9lb 10oz.
• The first leg of the Jon Blackwell Twilight Trophy took place at Plough Pond on Friday 13^th June, with 7 Members attending. The match was won (again) by Bill Hayden with 9lb 11oz of skimmer bream from Peg 15.
• The next match is a Pools Match on The Thames at Newbridge Farm on Sunday 22^nd June. The draw will take place at 07:00, fish 08:15 – 13:15.

Treasurer’s Report

• Refer to printed minutes.

Vice Chairman’s Report

• Plough Pond: The pond is looking very healthy, with weights of 10lb or more of new bream being caught from pegs 10 and 15. Three chub have been spotted cruising, along with the large bream, and multiple shoals of smaller fish. Many small fry have also been spotted along the margins. Carp have been spotted feeding in the silt in peg 1. Growth of the “Duck Weed” is being closely monitored. It is expected that no further excess growth of weed will be seen due to the now limited number of nitrates in the water. The weed is also likely to make Cormorant predation more difficult. The small fry are undoubtedly enjoying the protection it offers. A single Cormorant has been spotted on the lake at least twice by the VC but has been scared away both times. Subsequent visits and observations have revealed that the fish remain active and are still high in the water. The numbers of visible fish from the new bream stocking also look to be healthy. The POC (proof of concept) coir rolls, native Iris, and donated plants by Danny are all doing well. Thanks to all club members who have helped feed the pond using the new pellets. With the lease agreement still outstanding, should we invest in more bare-root plants and trial planting them in the margins of the island? This would be another POC to see how well they take and how difficult it would be to grow.
• Pond stocking: Need to confirm a budget and fish requirement for the next round of stocking. I want to place our order with Priory Fishery before August. More Bream, some Carp and maybe some Golden Rudd. Chris Judkins wishes to invest some money in new fish stock in a similar staggered approach to the one the club is taking.
• Work party: There is still more tree clearing to do to make more of the pegs fishable. In particular, from pegs 2 and 19 up to the top of the pond, where the Norfolk Reeds cap the edge. Removing these trees will also allow more light into the most densely silted area of the pond. Once these trees are removed, agitation and breakdown of the silt can be undertaken. Would anyone be interested in attending a weekday work party to tackle some of this work?Website: New events (work parties and river closures for match bookings) are being added to the events page regularly, so please check so you are kept up to date. Sea fishing reports are now being added to the website. Peg locations and parking details have been drafted for addition to the website. Please see the draft image.
• WhatsApp Group: A WhatsApp group for the Club has been created. Catches and other issues or changes to matches can be communicated quickly and efficiently. If anyone is interested in joining, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me (Terry Warncken, 07590 190655).

Chairman’s Report

• I would like to thank Terry Warncken for all his work and his vision for Plough Pond. I would like to encourage all Members to at least visit the Pond, even if you do not fish. The track is drivable. Many large fish are visible in the clear water.
• The Angling Trust’s AIF – Predation Fund opened on 17^th March 2025. The Club has completed the first stage of the application process by submitting an Expression of Interest form. We are awaiting the signed Lease Agreement.
• A draft Lease Agreement for Plough Pond has been prepared by the Chairman. A hard copy was hand delivered to the Landlord’s residence on 20^th May by N Ponting. The Lease Agreement is essential for us to progress our AIF grant application. We are currently awaiting a response from our Landlord.
• Water quality testing at Newbridge is continuing as part of our role in the national study of rivers by the Angling Trust (WQMN). The 2^nd Annual Report has been published by the Angling Trust and is available on their website. Our measurements taken on 5^th June 2025 gave a reportable level of Phosphate at 0.69 ppm. This was duly reported to the EA. A response was received from the EA, firstly to thank the Club for its continuing support, and secondly to confirm that our results are in line with those taken by them at Farmoor. Apparently, under the Environment Act, water companies are obliged to deliver an 80% reduction in phosphate discharges by 2037! (using a 2020 baseline). In the meantime, we should be seeing phosphate reductions from ongoing improvements to sewage treatment works upstream of our stretch of The Thames.
• Water quality testing at Plough Pond confirmed that nitrate remains low at 5 ppm. All other contaminants were undetected (nitrite, ammonia, and phosphate).
• Volunteer Bailiff Service: Plough Angling Club would benefit from having 2 or 3 of our Members trained as Volunteer Bailiffs to help Adam at Newbridge Two members have commenced their online training (T Warncken, L Teale). Further information from the Angling Trust can be found here: Volunteer Bailiff Service Application.

New Actions

• Crayfish Traps at Plough Pond:since 13^th June, 18 crayfish have been removed.
• Iris plants have been planted by Danny at Plough Pond.
• The trophy engraving machine has been delivered to Jim Pike by Marcus. Steve Ferris has kindly offered to provide training to Jim to engrave our trophies. This represents a considerable saving to the Club, and in particular, the Match Fund.
• The Sea Fishing dates for next year are still awaited from the boat Skipper.

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 15^h June 2025. All welcome.