Home

Articles

News

Find Us

Rules

Join Us

Gallery

Welcome to the tenth Bainton Fisheries Newsletter, which is designed to keep you informed about the Fishery, in terms of news during the last season, future events and issues.

Membership 2009 – 2010
There continues to be significant demand for permits on the complex. New members will only be accepted in place of existing members who do not renew by the deadline. Membership numbers will be fixed again for the coming season. Operating profits have been spent on fish stocking, staff, (bailiff and contract labour), swim building materials, a few tools and admin costs (e.g. Stamps/Printing etc).

The really good news is that lease costs for 2010/11 have only increased by a nominal inflationary amount. Therefore the permits will increase in cost by £2.50 for day fishing and £5.00 for night fishing to reflect this. Keys however have become expensive of late and Bainton Fisheries has been loosing money on the supply of keys to anglers. Therefore the new price will be £10.00 for new members.

For 2010 – 2011 the prices are:-

Non-fishing Permit: - £17.50

Dawn to Dusk Permit: - £127.50

24-Hour Permit: - £255.00

Keys will be £10.00

Stockings News
In the 2009/10 only one small stocking was managed. This was 500lb of bream in the 5-7lb range which went int0 the L-Shape, some tench were also moved from the Orchid Lake into the L-Shape after capture to create a greater presence of this species to hopefully start breeding. Double the amount of stock lost from the fish kill of 2006 has now been stocked into the L-Shape over the past three years and this fishery can now be considered as a serious prospect for the pleasure angler.

Fishery Maintenance and Development
A working party weekend was held on the 10th and 11th May 2009 with the fishery being closed to anglers during the day. On the Saturday enough eager volunteers turned up to complete the programme of work on the Carp Lake, but on the Sunday the turnout was very disappointing and only some basic gardening was achieved.

Working party dates
In 2010 year there will be 2 working parties, and they will take place over one weekend. The fishery is closed to fishing on all lakes from 9am on Saturday the 24th April until 5pm and again from 9am on Sunday the 25th April to 5pm. Anglers with 24 hour tickets are more than welcome to fish nights outside of these hours, however they must remove their equipment to a safe distance to avoid any possibility of damage, e.g. falling branches.

In order to take advantage of the new stocking levels on the L-Shape the whole weekend will be dedicated to creating sustainable access to swims on this lake. The major items of work that need to take place are as follows:-

• Creating flat areas to fish from along the main road bank.
• Salvaging and repairing overgrown swims along the field bank.
• Heavy duty gardening along the National Grid Wood bank and to allow for car parking and car turning.

Bow saws, loppers, pole cutters, spades, shovels, chest waders, lump hammers, wheel barrows, very thick gloves, reed rakes are all useful to bring.
Please meet by parking either side of the Bailey Bridge at 9am, plant machinery will hopefully be used so we need to keep the main road clear.

Feedback from Members Meeting
The tenth members’ meeting was held at the Tallington Lakes Bar, Tallington, on 23rd March 2010. This had a fantastic good turn out with about 70 members which was excellent.

• A significant time was spent discussing the L-Shape lake and the future development of it, and it was noted that without significant improvement to the track surface it would forever remain little fished. Therefore the targeting of the working part to the L-Shape was supported by members.
• Baitboats were discussed again but the crux of the issue seemed to be the breaking of existing rules and using a bait boat to do it. It was agreed that a tougher line would be taken with anglers who were reported to be breaking the rules with baitboats (rule 12 and 34). Any angler fishing in a manner that would endanger the welfare of fish would have a warning and if repeated would have their membership revoked.

A discussion was held about publicity of captures, it was felt in general that there was nothing in principle against anglers publishing their captures, however it was agreed that the wording would be no more explicit than a “Cambridgeshire Gravel Pit.” This would be added to the rules to avoid any future misunderstanding.

• It was agreed that a swim being closed on the big pit was to prevent anglers fishing two lakes simultaneously. After a discussion it was agreed that the rules should be changed to explicitly forbid anglers from fishing two lakes at once, although it was already in the EA byelaw rule. The swim would be reopened and the situation monitored.

• It was suggested from the floor that if prospective anglers wishing to join Bainton Fisheries attended a working party then they could be given priority. It is a useful suggestion that needs further consideration but the Working Parties are prior to the renewals deadline and these prospective members would not be covered by public liability insurance.

• Anglers using Vans was also asked to be raised, after a discussion the following factor emerged. Swims are designed by the fishery management, and vary in size according to the available space and the purpose of the swim. However the original conceived size should not be enlarged without permission and low level gardening as per the rules should only take place to ensure that annual vegetation growth is checked, but not increased in size. So the issue was more about not increasing original swim sizes to accommodate vans. If a van would not fit the swim, then an alternative swim should be sought or the angler should use a bivvy.

• It was also agreed the covering letter out to new members should clearly state that they are not to enter the site until June 15th each year, to avoid too much pestering of existing members.

• The deadline for renewal will be to ensure that all applications are received no later that Tuesday 11th May 2010 to ensure that membership does not lapse, thereafter; existing members will compete with new applications.

• Anglers should note that if they wish to sponsor an angler to join Bainton Fisheries it to ensure a good chance of consideration an early return of their application is advised to avoid disappointment.

A Note from the Bird Ringer!!

It doesn’t seem five minutes since I was ringing the last of the summer migrants as they headed off south to winter in Africa and yet, here I am again, itching to get my hands on one of these little miracles that’s journeyed many thousands of miles to return, not just to the UK but to the exact same location they’ve been to many times before. And that location is of course Bainton.

I’m always mightily impressed when I retrap a bird I know has spent the winter in sub-Saharan Africa and none gives me a greater thrill than the Nightingale. These magnificent birds, often heard but rarely seen, start arriving at Bainton in April and one of the first I caught in 2009 was a really old friend – a male bird ringed in June 2005. This old chap has been retrapped every year since and must have a few miles on the clock by now. Although it is now many years since man first set foot on the moon, incredibly we still don’t know exactly where in Africa our Nightingales spend their winter months. In 100 years of ringing in Britain, only 10 birds ringed in this country have been recovered abroad, one of which was a Bainton bird ringed on 5 June 2008 and caught by French ringers at Saint-Froult, Charente Maritime on 31 August 2008. Being so unusual, this record made the local and national press and I was relieved it was at least heading in the right direction i.e. south.

Birds do some really funny things sometimes and on 30 August I caught a juvenile Reed Warbler that had been ringed elsewhere in Britain. I found out a few weeks later from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) that it had been ringed at Icklesham, Sussex on 25 August and had decided to head north-north west instead of south. Why I don’t know but talking to the experts at the BTO, this year several young Reed Warblers decided to head north before rebooting their sat nav and heading in the proper direction. One that seemed to get it right first time was a juvenile, ringed at Bainton on the same day I caught the Icklesham bird. This young shaver was caught again on the south coast on 10 September at…….yep, Icklesham – the exact same site where my ‘lost’ youngster had been ringed. Perhaps the wanderer tagged along and hopefully they’ll both make it back in 2010 to breed.
The ringing at Bainton is part of a scientific study run by the BTO and this study monitors the fortunes of 25 species, most of which occur here. The trapping and ringing of these birds is the bread and butter stuff but every now and again the spectacular happens and in June, I was staggered to find a Hobby glaring at me from the bottom shelf of one of my nets. These fantastic little falcons – a summer visitor from Africa – are regularly seen at Bainton wheeling around the skies as they chase dragonflies. These are caught in mid-air, their wings stripped off and then the rest of it quickly eaten. I often watch them as they cruise around, head down, one leg clutching a luckless dragonfly as they set about their meal. Nonchalant or what!

Anyway, after a much better summer in 2009, let’s hope 2010 brings us lots of birds to ring and fish to catch. As ever, if you see my trusty Skoda you’ll know I’m around so please feel free to pop over for a chat and, maybe, enjoy a close up view of some of our wonderful visitors from many thousands of miles away.

Chris Hughes

March 2010

And Finally…….
Without all your support and effort running this fishery would be an impossible task. Hopefully you get out more from it than just a days fishing, I hope you feel included and consulted and feel that you are making a contribution into shaping the ways things develop.

Remember the Bainton Philosophy is for conservation minded anglers who care about the environment they fish in.

Ian Wakeford