Plough Angling Club Minutes

Meeting: 15^th September 2026

In Attendance and Apologies

Present: L Teale; J Blackwell; J Rolf; D Dance; T Warncken; J Pike; N Ponting; R Stone

Apologies:  C Judkins; B Sutton

Minutes:  L Teale

Actions from Previous Meeting

• Our Fisheries Officer at the Environment Agency has suggested that we could apply for a grant from the Fisheries Improvement Fund to have platforms installed at the Pegs currently unfishable by reeds at Newbridge. We will require the Landowner permission before we proceed with the grant application for 2028.
• The Secretary emailed Peter Moss at Coldstone AC to secure a booking at Priory Farm Lake. Booking confirmed for Sunday 30^th May 2027.
• The Secretary has produced a list of the number of matches fished by current members (courtesy of our previous Secretary).
• Our Vice Chair is keen to arrange a match on the Float Lake at Linear Fisheries in 2027. This will likely be a midweek invitational (12 Pegs).
• The Hungerford Canal (Tavern or Church stretch) is available to us for a September 2027 PAY match. This will take the place of the November 2027 booking.
• A team of 4 from The Plough AC fished the Turner 400 competition on The Thames on 6^th September 2026. Thank you to Paul Wilson for organising this.
• The possibility of our Club entering a team for the Thames Championship in 2027 will be looked in to.

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 annual 3-day event sailed from Weymouth and is currently underway.
• The sailings for 2027 will be midweek (apart form one Sunday sailing).
• Contact Chris Judkins if you would like to be involved in the Sea Fishing Group.

Match Secretary’s Report

• Two matches have been fished since the last meeting. Full results are published on our website.
• The second leg of the Sedgewick Memorial Trophy was fished at Plough Pond on Sunday 23^rd August, with 9 Members attending. The match was won by Chris Judkins with 9lb 7oz, which included a 9lb 6oz mirror carp. In second place was Jim Pike with 2lb 12oz, which included a 1lb 12oz tench. In third place was Paul Wilson with 2lb 9oz, The overall trophy winner was Paul Wilson (tied on points with Jim Pike) by 1oz.
• The fifth leg of the Plough Angler of the Year Trophy was fished at Newbridge on Sunday 13^th September, with 9 Members attending. The match was won by Danny Dance with 5lb 8oz od dace. In second place was Nick Ponting with 4lb 4oz. In third place was Steve Ferris with 3lb 8oz.
• The next match is the sixth leg of the Plough Angler of the Year Trophy. This match will be fished at Plough Pond on Sunday 20^th September. The draw will take place at 07:00, fish 08:00 – 13:00.
• The Team Match against Wantage & Grove AC is scheduled to take place on Sunday 15^th November 2026 at Grove Pond.
• If you would like to fish any of the matches, then please book in with Danny. He will not be chasing you in future. If Pegs are limited and you haven’t booked in, then you might be disappointed.

Treasurer’s Report

• Refer to printed minutes.

Secretary’s Report

• Plough Pond Water Testing:

Water quality testing was carried out on 15^th September. Nitrite and Ammonia were below detectable limits (0 ppm). Phosphate was 0.25 ppm and Nitrate 5 ppm. Dissolved oxygen measured between 34.8% (Peg 1) and 76.9% (Peg 19). Water temperature was 18.5^oC (Peg 10).

• Water Quality Monitoring Network (WQMN):

Water quality testing on The Thames at Newbridge was carried out on 13^th September. Phosphate was measured at 0.92 ppm, above the reportable level (0.3 ppm) and nitrate was at 10 ppm. Our Fisheries Manager at the Environment Agency was emailed with these results. Water levels remain low.

• Membership:

Refer to printed minutes.

Vice Chairman’s Report

• Plough Pond: Work to clad the Boat Shed will continue at a Work Party on Saturday 17^th October. A further Work Party on Saturday 31^st October will carry out the necessary work to close the Pond for the winter (strim island; install cormorant tapes and floating barriers).
• Newbridge: At his request, our Club’s Angling Trust Membership Certificate and Member Club Insurance details were emailed to the Landowner. A complaint was received by our Secretary regarding excessive noise from anglers at 07:00 on Sunday morning, from a moored boat owner. A suitably apology was sent on behalf of the Club. We must endeavour to keep noise to a minimum and carry out the match draw in the car park in future. Adam has asked for more of our members to patrol the bank. He is concerned that the Club is missing out on day ticket income.

Chairman’s Report

• Predation: There were otter sightings by the camera mounted close to the stream at Plough Pond on four separate occasions in the past month. There were no signs of predation though.

New Actions

• 285 Crayfish have been caught at Plough Pond since the traps were set this season (last season: 76 total).
• This year’s Christmas Carvery has been booked for Sunday 6^th December at the RBL Sports & Social Club.
• Coldstone Angling Club will be fishing Newbridge on Saturday 26^th September, with access to all three fields. Our Chairman will meet the club at the draw.
• Trimming of some Pegs at Newbridge is required to enable rod & line anglers to fish comfortably.
• If any member is interested in purchasing Club clothing (Polos, Hoodies, etc.), then please contact the Secretary who will be compiling an order.
• The possibility of the future funding of Club match teams will be discussed at the next AGM.
• A member holidaying at a lake complex has raised the possibility of ‘free’ fish (carp, roach and rudd) for our Club, as one of the lakes is to become a swimming lake. The owner will be contacted by the Secretary.

The meeting ended at 21:15pm.

The next monthly meeting will take place at the RBL Sports & Social Club in Hanney at 19:30 on Tuesday 20^th October 2026. All welcome.