Beauly Angling Club AGM minutes 28th November 2025.
12 people in attendance. Meeting started at 7:05pm.
1. Apologies:
Ewen Robertson.
2. reading and approval of AGM minutes from 2024:
Toby Hardwick read out the minutes and it was approved by the committee.
3. Accounts:
The accounts for the year were in a fairly healthy state. The Downie fishings made a loss this will be the last year it is run members were advised it needs to be used or it won’t happen next year. There is still enough money from SSEN to run the juniors for another two years. Grahams did an okay job of selling river and firth tickets in what was a poor season all round. The bank is now charging to have the account as it sees the club as a business.
4. Report from The Chair (with Beauly River Report):
This year was a poor one again with Iain stating that we were plagued by high water through our most productive months on the river. The water on the club beats was high from mid July to October reducing the number of days members were able to fish. There was a bigger presence of members fishing on the river this year than last with 116 fishing days which only resulted in 1 grilse, 13 seatrout and 31 finnock.
There were meetings held last year about tackling SSEN regarding the high water throughout the season. Wendy took ill towards the middle of the season and any progress made had paused. Iain stated that we need to push on with the good work that was made before to hopefully have a positive outcome with the high water.
Iain stated that it would most likely be the last year that the club takes on the Downie beat at the start of the season unless there is a bigger uptake this season coming as the club has made a slight loss the last two years. Jim Braithewaite suggested taking guests on but they are required to be members to fish it.
The membership will stay the same with the hope of members rejoining for next season.
Bank clearance was mentioned but opposition at the caravan park has put paid to the club carrying out the clearing attempts will be made to come to some arrangement for next season.
Iain is going to speak to Gordon about the use of the Downie hut again for the opening ceremony and for when the club fishes the Downie beat.
Gordon was also going to be asked about having use of the hut to run a ladies day on the river during the weeks the club has the Downie fishing.
There is the possibility of extending the Downie fishing by a few weeks as guests of Lower Beauly Fishings don’t tend to fish Downie beat until later on in the season.
A newsletter will go out before the Downie fishing starts.
Iain mentioned how good value our club water is and given the right conditions it can be great fishing. Dams being removed in America were mentioned and the amounts of fish that are now returning it it too much to hope for the same on the Beauly?
Yorky and Karl did a great job with the juniors and are willing to carry it on into next year.
More weed will need to be cleared for next year to allow more space for juniors to fish round the loch. All the parents speak very well of the junior section. Junior day on the river didn’t happen this year due to the high water making it unsafe to carry it out. If the water levels allow for 2026 then junior day will look to be run.
There was talk around getting juniors to use the fly with the consensus being it is great that juniors are fishing but after 2 fish on bait if they can use the fly then they would be required to do so.
Iain mentioned that club membership is going down all coming down to the lack of fish due to high water during our most productive months.
John ran the Coul house raffle which Jim Braithwaite won and enjoyed a couple of days fishing on the Conon.
5. Competitions and prizes:
Iain Morrison – Biggest salmon – 6lbs
Iain Morrison – Biggest seatrout – 3lbs
John Broklehurst (Yorkie) – Club trout competition – 1lb 12oz
Melanie Hardwick – Junior competition 1lb 2oz
6. Election of Office Bearers:
Jim Braithwaite proposed Iain as Chair, Paul Summerlin Seconded.
Paul Summerlin Proposed Toby Hardwick as Secretary, Charlie Simpson seconded.
Iain Morrison proposed Paul Summerlin as Treasurer, Jim Braithwaite seconded.
All committee staying the same.
7. Proposals for revised rules and constitution:
Constitution okay. Rules – Junior rules bolder as some are coming along to junior sessions without being asked. Changing in grading of river now all 100% catch and release.
8. Members proposals:
Leave costs as they are Iain proposed Charlie/Paul seconded. John Campbell asked to look at and repair steps by the bridge, Iain proposed that the club/committee to do a reccy of what is needed first then repairs can be carried out. The oak tree by the cark park needs to come down as it is possibly dangerous in the next storm.
Ladies day was again mentioned. Toby and Jim to have a meeting in the coming month or so to get ideas together to push it forwards.
9. Matters arising not on the Agenda:
Iain welcomed Ruth Watts from the Fishery Board who made the following points:
Projects – Progress has been made to adding sediment to the lower Beauly and the Farrar. Gravel to go into the river.
Work on flow data has been carried out to see how sediment will be distributed in the river. The sediment/gravel will make more spawning habitat.
The Farrar has been lacking gravel since the dams which is typical of a hydro electric river.
Gravel is getting washed out due to high flows from hydro dams.
The smolt monitoring was run over a smaller length of time this year with a 9% catch efficiency.
Trail will be run of trap and truck to help smolt migration and taking out the most hazardous sections of the migration to sea.
This will be over quite a long distance of 12km.
A small number will be trialled to compare with those migrating naturally to compare the return rates coming back into the river.
£6000 is needed for the transport kit for 2026 with a total of £20000 needed for the full funding for the trap and truck project.
Smolt travels a maximum of 45km to the sea so the 12km trap and truck is a 3rd of the journey which may have impacts on finding their way home.
Beannacharan – Trying to improve the passage of smolts talks will be held with the estates in January. Possible whoosh water pump to create flow for attraction was one of the ideas.
A licence for seal management has been approved but only from January-March and for only one seal to be culled.
Have to have the correct qualification to have the licence needs to be a trained marksman.
Training courses are not being run currently.
The acoustic deterrent not working – looking at implementing a sonar detection system as this is proven more effective.
Electro fishing on the Lower Beauly has been carried out with results to be analysed due to hydro peaking/habitat this may take longer than normal. There is lower juvenile habitat than there should be.
Salmon have been caught more off the shallows this year more than likely due to higher seal presence in the middle of the river.
Iain thanked Ruth.
10. Any Other Business:
Jim is standing down from the board. He is the only board member who is on both trust boards.
Yorky stated that the hydro lifts have been broken for most of the season and maintenance should be carried out by SSEN. The board have sent emails asking for the maintenance plan. According to SSEN it is as good as it can be. The lifts are no longer locally controlled now all done remotely from Perth. Ali Skinner has been frequently been visiting the dam to check passage of smolts etc, before he could turn up and check but now SSEN are stating he needs to inform them each time he is turning up.
Kilmorack dam is still transferring data the last reliable count was in 2022.
Aigas has been reliable this year.
SSEN stating they want to make the counts public and they do care although still no figures are available
Iain was pleased to see a new member to the club attend the AGM this year (Keith Lambert).
Jim raised the issue of setting up a ladies day again and would like to hold a committee meeting early in the year to make arrangements to host one.
Proposed date for Committee meeting was the 23rd of January at 7pm. Toby Hardwick would be absent from this as he is on holiday at that time.
The opening ceremony will be on the 14th of February.
11. Proposed date of next AGM:
Friday 27th November 2026 7pm.
Meeting ended 8:24pm.