Yes, I know, the water was
often far too high to fish, only around 5% of our members caught salmon/grilse,
very few sea trout were caught (and of those, most were returned), and some
members have seen more seals than salmon. This at a time when our surrounding
rivers have had a bumper year, so good in fact that I actually felt embarrassed
to use the Exchange Ticket for the Conon; it had produced 8 fish that day, while
we were at 2 for the season! We have a great Club; all it needs are fish! With
the dark evenings here, don't forget that David Sellers, our BAC Secretary,
has kindly taken over the running of our Video Library from Ray Langley. The
list of titles may be updated in time for the AGM.
RETURNS As you hopefully know, all returns, including NIL returns, must be placed in the new Returns Box in Morison of Beauly by 31st October 2004; otherwise, Dave Sellers, our friendly enforcer, will be in touch!
ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
As already intimated in our permit, our AGM will take
place at 7:30pm on Thursday 18th November, in the Phipps Hall, Beauly.
Please make a real effort to attend, and to vote on our
catch returns policy. For the last two or three seasons, defaulters have
been given the opportunity to pay a £5 fine for late or non-returns, or leave;
typically about half of them do, and our returns rate is now comparatively high.
The vote will be for the status quo as described above, or to exclude offenders,
who can go on to our Waiting List if they wish, and rejoin the Club in around
4 years, the actual time being dependent on the length of our Waiting List.
The purpose of the proposed change in policy is to further tighten-up the returns
rate. Please attend, politely say what you think about the proposed change,
and vote; it's your decision. The
Agenda is:
Apologies, last AGM Minutes, Returns, Presentations,
Treasurer's Report, Elect/on of New Committee, Discussion / Vote, AOCB.
DATABASE UPDATE The Database has been Updated as best it could with the information available, however please check your details, including post codes, when collecting your 2005 permits; hopefully available before this Xmas. Details for a few of our new members are incomplete, but will be complete in due course.
POACHING ACTIVITIES With the season over, presumably the residual poaching has stopped? Because of some unusually blatant poaching on our salmon beats towards the end of the season, we had to involve Lovat Estate, the Bailiffs, the River Board, and the Police. Full details of the perpetrators, whether presently residing on site, or not, are known, hence eventual action by the relevant authorities need not be a surprise to anyone involved. As previously stated, BAC pays a lot of money annually to Lovat Estate in order to have the right to fish our tidal water. We also pay a substantial Beauly River Board levy, which also gives us the services of a bailiff when required.
THE MOST FISH Incredibly, four of our 13 salmon/grilse for 2004, were caught by Bill 'Silver' Sykes, who only fishes the Beauly when staying on the Lovat Bridge Camp Site, when on holiday from his home in Armadale, West Lothian. Needless to say, the deadly Silver Sykes was responsible for much of his success, but do remind him who got the biggest!
FISHY STORY ETC. Dan Robertson (no relation), a regular fisher on our water, has been notable during 2004 for making great strides in perfecting his 'Short Dump Spey Cast', aided no doubt by his current rod, which thankfully does not have a large door knob attached to the end of the handle! While recently taking advantage of the half price deal kindly provided by Frank Spencer-Nairn on his Farrar Fishings, Dan distinguished himself by catching not one, but three salmon, and that during a gale! Dan tells me that he has completed much of his 'How to catch them' book, which will be in the shops soon, unless he's bought off by one of the Atlantic Salmon conservation bodies. From now on, don't be fooled by the slow deliberate gait; this man is a highly effective fishing machine.
That's
it. I'm about to take a break from my Newsletter and other BAC duties, however
I hope that a computer literate member or two can join our committee, and share
the work. I've enjoyed using the Newsletter to inform, and to tease; hopefully
I've not over-done the latter too often! If we're going to get more of this
high water next season, best to get kitted out with fast intermediate lines,
fast sinking leaders, and bigger flies than you currently tend to use. Thereafter,
if you can safely get into Beats 2 & 3 (& 4), you'll have a chance of a fish,
often nearer the side than you would expect. Tighter lines for 2005.
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