Plough Angling Club Minutes

Meeting: 15^th July 2025

In Attendance and Apologies

Present: L Teale; J Blackwell; D Dance; T Warncken; J Pike; C Judkins; J Rolf; B Sutton; N Ponting; I Frank; V D’Souza

Apologies:  A Earl; R Stone

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.
• This year’s trophy engraving has been carried out by Jim Pike. The Club would like to thank Jim. This represents a considerable saving to the Club, and in particular, the Match Fund.
• The BBQ and Presentation Evening will take place at the RBL Sports & Social Club 19 July 2025. A raffle will be held to benefit the Club’s funds and raffle prizes would be appreciated.
• The Sea Fishing dates for next year have been provided by the boat Skipper and the details will be available on our website (under the Events Page).

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 trip sailing from Weymouth on 6^th July 2025 was unfortunately cancelled by the boat skipper.
• The next trip will be the annual 3 Day Festival, sailing from Weymouth on 15^th September 2025.
• Contact Chris Judkins if you would like to be involved in the Sea Fishing Group.

Match Secretary’s Report

• Five matches have been fished since the last meeting. Full results are published on our website.
• A Pools Match took place at Newbridge on Sunday 22^nd June, with 8 Members attending. The match was won by Leslie Teale with 3lb 4oz of roach from Peg 9.
• The second leg of the Jon Blackwell Twilight Trophy took place at Newbridge on Friday 27^th June, with 9 Members attending. The match was won by Nick Ponting with 2lb 2oz of roach, dace and rudd from Peg 5.
• The second leg of the Plough Angler of the Year Trophy took place at New Barlows on Sunday 9^th July, with 11 Members attending. The match was won by Matt Cramp with 21lb 14oz of bream (7 fish) and a 8lb 12oz carp. In second place was Gary Cramp with 17lb 9oz, and third place was Chris Judkins with 17lb 1oz.
• The third leg of the Jon Blackwell Twilight Trophy took place at Plough Pond on Friday 11^th July, with 7 Members attending. The match was won by Jon Blackwell with 13lb 5oz of skimmer bream from Peg 11. In second place was Jim Pike with 5lb 13oz of skimmer bream from Peg 13, and third place was Leslie Teale with 3lb 9oz (38 fish – perch and rudd) from Peg 9. The overall trophy winner was Jon Blackwell.
• The third leg of the Plough Angler of the Year Trophy took place at Newbridge on Sunday 13^th July, with 11 Members attending. The match was won by Matt Cramp with 4lb 4oz of roach from Peg 24. In second place was Leslie Teale with 3lb 9oz of roach from Peg 4, and third place was Adrian Gosbell with 2lb 12oz of roach from Peg 26.
• The Club would like to welcome our new members Andy Earl and Adrian Gosbell to the match fishing group.
• The next match is a PAY 6 hour match at Buscot Park on Sunday 3^rd August. The draw will take place at 07:00, fish 08:00 – 14:00. This match will be subsidised by our match fund.

Treasurer’s Report

• Refer to the printed Minutes.

Vice Chairman’s Report

• Plough Pond: The pond continues to thrive, with a healthy ecosystem and plenty of visible fish activity. Recent observations have noted shoals of perch and roach, large chub, and both new and established bream populations. Recent matches have seen every angler catching, with notable appearances of quality perch, rudd, and hybrids. In an exciting development, club member Des has landed the pond’s first-ever Crucian carp—a surprise, as these were not expected to appear for several years, if at all. A breeding pair of herons has been regularly spotted, making good use of the abundant fish. Encouragingly, there have been no recent reports of cormorants. Unfortunately, the gamekeeper has reported the carcass of a large carp found upstream of the pond, near what appears to be an otter den. The Vice Chairman will investigate this further. All pegs have now been strimmed. Surface growth of duckweed has receded, though submerged columns remain. These are currently supporting a thriving population of fry and juvenile fish. Some pegs are being affected by overhead tree growth, which is limiting rod-and-line fishing. These trees will be pruned back or removed to improve access and visibility. In particular, trees around pegs 1 and 20 will be taken down to allow more light into the water, helping to break down silt. This work is scheduled for early in the new year once the pond has reopened and the trees are bare of leaves. While there is no update on the lease agreement yet, the planted coir rolls are thriving. The delay, although not ideal, has provided confidence in both the planting approach and the club’s installation efforts during the proof-of-concept phase.
• Pond stocking: I’ve spoken to Tom at Priory Fishery. Currently, there are no large Tench available for sale. However, we have received a quote for delivery in late February 2026.
• The initial stocking of larger bream appears to have been a success. The pond still has plenty of capacity, so further introductions pose no risk of overcrowding. It remains to be seen whether the newly introduced bream will shoal with existing ones or form separate groups. The carp being considered are third-year fish grown slowly in an overstocked environment to produce strong, slow-growing specimens between 2–5lbs. These will help diversify the species mix, in line with the pond’s mission as a mixed fishery.
• 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

• A draft Lease Agreement for Plough Pond has been prepared by the Chairman. This Agreement is essential for us to progress our AIF grant application. Subsequent to this meeting, Nick informed me that the landowner has looked at our document and asked for some changes to the wording. This is progress.
• Water quality testing at Newbridge is continuing as part of our role in the national study of rivers by the Angling Trust (WQMN). Our measurements taken on 13^th July 2025 gave a reportable level of Phosphate at 0.91 ppm. This was duly reported to the EA.
• Water quality testing at Plough Pond on 11^th July 2025 confirmed that nitrate remains low at 5 ppm.
• 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 are in training (T Warncken, L Teale). Further information from the Angling Trust can be found here: Volunteer Bailiff Service Application.

New Actions

• The Club would like to thank Jackie at the Black Horse in Hanney for welcoming us for this meeting at very short notice (10 minutes!) as the RBL was booked by Thames Water for the reservoir consultation.
• 39 crayfish have been removed from Plough Pond this season.
• Match Draw Times are to be strictly adhered to.
• Our Chairman has offered some tuition at Newbridge: ‘My Way with Hemp’. If there is sufficient interest, this will be sometime in September. Email the Chairman if you would be interested.

The meeting ended at 9:15pm.

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