New Season : Despite the snow and wintry weather the opening of the river is only few weeks away. The Season opens on Monday 11th February; however we’ll be having our usual annual get together, with a wee dram and an ode
to the River, at Beat 1 at 11am Sunday 10th February. Please come along.

The AGM : Took place on November 15th in the Phipps Hall. Frank Durdle retired as President as he has moved to Inverness. The following were appointed; John Szarkiewicz: President, Paul Pacey: Vice President. Dave Sellers and John Brocklehurst will continue as Secretary and Treasurer respectively; a heartfelt thanks to them both for their long service in these demanding roles. Paul Summerlin will continue to run the website, Wendy Harpe took over from Archie Prentice as Editor of the News Letter.

Trophies : Frankie Durdle won the Morison Trophy for heaviest salmon (7lb 5oz) and John Brocklehurst the Tommy Mightens Cup for heaviest sea trout (3lb). No Junior put in a catch return to qualify for the Ferguson Trophy.

Permits : New permits are now available in Morison’s. Owing to the rising costs of running the Club the AGM decided to increase the Senior Permit to £60.00. Whilst all other costs remain the same – with O.A.P continuing to fish for nothing - any O.A.P. who feels they would like to donate to the Club should send their donations to the Treasurer, all such donations will be acknowledged in the News Letter unless we are asked not to.

Exchange Tickets : Sadly we have lost our Exchange Tickets with both the Rivers Nairn and Alness. Best make use of the others whilst we still have them.

Returns : We did not have a great season last year - a total of 34 salmon (58% returned) and 120 sea trout/finnock (78% returned). 90% of members managed to get their returns in on time – however it follows that 10% of you did not. The Committee are considering changing from fines for late returns to loss of membership for a year. This is because, with the focus on conservation, returns are playing a more and more important role – we need them in and we need them accurate. We would like people to take the time to record not simply the number of fish but also their weight and time of year caught. Let’s get this together before we face penalties for not being able to provide the information we are being asked for.

Catch & Release : It was decided at the AGM that it would be Club policy to have a 2 fish limit per day. People can keep the first fish they catch and return the second or visa versa. This approach has been sanctioned by Lovat Estates. This policy applies to both salmon and sea trout. The Club is receiving increasing pressure to ensure that we return fish – with the preferred policy for the first fish caught to be returned. Given the low number of fish coming off our beat we feel that the policy above is more appropriate. However this policy will in future be strictly enforced and anyone found breaking it will lose their right to fish the River. Note: Treble Hooks are no longer permitted.

The News Letter : We would like in as far as is possible to send the News Letter out on-line – which would save on one of our major expenses – postage – and also on people’s time. So if members could either let me have their e-mail addresses or fill in the form when they collect their permits we’d all be very grateful.

National Developments : The Government is working on new proposals for the future management of fisheries – the consultation document can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk /Topics/Fisheries. The Club has done a response to this document.

Competitions : The Club receives invites to a number of competitions – two we usually take part in are on Loch Meig and the Highland Federation on Loch Watten. In 2008 the Loch Meig competition takes place on 3rd May – ideally we’d like to enter 2 teams for this competition with each team consisting of 3 people – currently we have 1 team. The Loch Watten Competition takes place on May 24th. Anyone who thinks of themselves as a competition angler and fancies taking part in either competition should contact Neil McKenzie on 0463 782991 after 6 p.m.

Thanks : Thanks to those who helped make the junior competition a success, Sid Pennington who again paid £80.00 for the bus hire, and Ian McHardy who donated the Trophy. Thanks to Darky Skinner who donated an 8Ft fly rod for the juniors to practice with on the river or during fly casting lessons. If you want to use this contact Yorkie on 782785. And finally thanks to Ray Langley for his £50.00 donation

No funny or fishy stories this month – clearly its winter

However Happy New Year and see you at the River. And don’t forget e-mail me with your e-mail address.

Wendy
harpew@dsl.pipex.com