Well the season is well and truly open but no news of any fish off the Club water. Hopefully soon…

Competitions :

The Club competitions this year will take place at Achagour Fish Ponds, Ardclach, Nairn. Senior Competition Thurs 26th June. A bus will be available, it will be in the Square from 5.30 and leaving promptly at 6.00 pm. Please phone John Szarkiewicz and let him know a) if you will be taking part in the Competition and b) if you want to travel by bus (the more ecological and sociable option). We can arrange a pick up in Inverness if required. Costs will be around £20.00 including the cost of the bus. Junior Competition Thurs 3rd July. Transport to Achagour will be by bus which will be in the Square from 5.00p.m. leaving at 5.30p.m. Both the Competition and the bus will be free for the Juniors. Please let Yorky (782785) know if you want to take part. We are looking for adults to help with the Junior Competition – if you are willing please let Yorky know.

A Charity Fishing Competition will take place at Loch Rannoch on Saturday 19th July – 9am-5pm. This is being organised by Tayside Fire and Rescue for The Sunday Post Sick Childrens’ Appeal. For more information and to book a place contact Frazer MacDonald at Perth Fire Station (07841 452405) or by e-mail frazer.macdonald@taysidefire.gov.uk

The Loch Meig Competition took place on 3rd May. 14 teams took part traveling from as far afield as Skye & Fort William; the club entered two 3-man teams and the team of Neil MacKenzie, John Gunn and Frank Durdle took third place. Thanks to Dave MacGregor for organising the Competition and the food at the Conon Hotel afterwards. The Loch Watten Brown Trout Competition (Highland Federation) will take place on the 24th May. Neil MacKenzie, John Gunn & Frank Durdle will be representing the Club.

Casting Clinic : The casting clinic will take place this year on 8th June - 10am – 1pm, on Beat 3 at the Caravan Park. Frank Durdle and Ewan Robertson will be on hand to offer advice, help, demonstrations etc. You can just turn up though it would be helpful if you phoned John Sz to him know you are coming.

We are also looking for members who would like to be come a casting instructor, if you are interested please get in touch.

Bank Clearing : This will take place at 11am to 2pm on Sunday 29th of June, at Beat 1, a date chosen so as not to clash with the Scottish Game Fair - so you will need another excuse for not turning up with your tools.

Membership : This year a number of our senior members gave up fishing altogether - our thanks to all those members who have retired for their support of the Club. So this year we are able to add approx. 20 new members from the waiting list. We have also gained 3 new junior members. All new members will be notified within the next few days. The Club will then have its full quota of members plus 12 juniors however we really need more junior members.

Despite the number of new memberships being offered we will still have people on the waiting list. It appears that there have been difficulties in the past with people actually getting their name onto the waiting list; from now on anyone wanting to put their name on the waiting list should contact one of the Committee members with their name, address, and phone number. The Committee member will then ensure that the person actually gets put on the waiting list.

Electrofishing : The Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust have offered to fund places on the electrofishing courses at Inverness College. This is partly so that people can get a clearer idea of how the Trust counts fish and partly so that people will be able on occasion to help
Dr Keith Williams when he is surveying the River and its tributaries. The first place is available on the Electrofishing Introductory Course 25-27th June at Inverness College. If you would like to part in this course, or who would like to take part in a similar course at some future date, could you please contact us either by e-mail or by phone. This is a really good opportunity to learn a new skill so hopefully there will be a few takers.

Our thanks to Richard Porter for his donation.

I’m still looking for e-mail addresses……

Wendy Harpe (harpew@dsl.pipex.com)