I am sure that you did not expect to receive another BAC Newsletter so soon and I certainly did not to expect to be writing one but such is the pace of change in this modern world!

Permits : Morisons have decided that they will no longer handle the Club’s Permits or the Day Tickets, etc. So from the 15th February Members Permits will be handled by John Szarkiewicz from home. If you have not yet got your Permit then send a cheque (made out to the Beauly Angling Club) and a stamped addressed envelope (or if you don’t pay simply a stamped addressed envelope) to John at 18 Croyard Drive, Beauly, IV4 7EE and your permit will be mailed to you. If you owe fines from last year – that is if you did not get your returns in on time – then Permits will only be sent out once the fines are paid. Any queries you can phone us.

Tickets : Exchange Tickets, Day Tickets, and Permits for the Firth will, from 1st March, be handled by the Beauly Centre (e-mail: beauly.centre@beaulyandglens.com tel: 01463 783444). Anyone wanting a Ticket or Permit before that should ring John on 01463 782631 Our thanks to Carol Masheter and Caroline Bullock of the Beauly Centre for taking this on.

Returns : As indicated in the last Newsletter the Committee have now discussed the situation with regard to returns and decided that anyone (whether they pay for membership or not) who does not get their returns in on time will not be allowed to fish the following season. Also people need to put in returns whether they caught anything or not – that is nil returns count.

Fishing Loch Ness : Lovat Estates have licences for boats on Loch Ness for sale. The cost is £150.00 + vat for the season beginning 15th January and ending 30th September. A licence entitles the holder to 3 rods fishing from the boat and along the length of the Loch. The BAC have decided against taking on a licence; however Ian McHardy and John Brocklehurst, using Ian’s boat, are putting together a syndicate to take on a licence. They will also allow Club members to fish for a day at a yet to be decided daily rate plus cost of petrol for the boat (and at your own risk). If you are interested in joining the syndicate or fishing for a day, contact Ian on 07778479247.

Parasites : Some of you may seen the article in the P&J on the parasitic worms being found in wild salmon. These produce the condition commonly called red vent and anyone catching salmon with this condition are asked to report it to the duty inspector of the fish health inspectorate at the Food Standards Agency. Current thinking seems to be that the fish is safe to eat if it has either been frozen or cooked at 70C for 2 minutes. The parasite has the capability to make humans very ill or possibly even kill them so it is perhaps debatable as to whether infected fish should be eaten until more is known about the condition. We will keep you up-dated via the website.

Opening the River : On a more cheerful note the opening of the River took place on Sunday 10th February – the weather was pleasant - a number of the next generation of fishers accompanied the adults - pictures will be on the website in the near future. Thanks to those who organised the food, (Janet, Paul and Yorky) and to our bard Frank Durdle for the ode.

E-mail Addresses : Many thanks to those of you who sent me their e-mail addresse – however unless the Club is very atypical I know there must be more of you out there – so more addresses please.

Wendy Harpe
harpew@dsl.pipex.com