The new season beckons!

Well its that time again when we need to start thinking about the new season, our tackle and our tactics.

I'm thinking about spending a few days on the Torridge again in the spring in the hope of picking up a hard fighting Spring Salmon. Having looked on the Half Moon Inn website I see that it hasn't been updated since July of last year so I'm not sure what's going on there as I know it was up for sale. No doubt Charles will still be around no matter what happens and I just hope that the pub has retained its excellent beats on the river, especially Beam! The Torridge is a magical place in the spring with lots of wildlife to admire when you are fishing, including that big dog Otter that loves to fish at Beam in broad daylight. Also the bird song is phenomenal! What I love best of all is chatting at breakfast and the excitement and anticipation of getting a hard fighting salmon that day. Often the sun shines in Devon in early April as the climate is much milder there than here in Worcestershire and with the wild flowers just starting to appear, especially the wild garlic which is everywhere on the river bank and gives off a delightful aroma as you walk under the trees alongside the river, crushing their stems with your boots. Often the kingfishers are busy building their nests and there is always a Heron or two to keep you company on the river. There is nothing lovelier on a sunny warm spring day on the Torridge to sit down on the bench at Beam and have lunch, some nice sandwiches and a cold beer - brilliant and hopefully with some good company too.

As far as the Towy is concerned then I guess my first trip won't be until the end of April or early May but nevertheless I'm looking forward to it immensely. It will be good to catch up with my fishing mates John, Rod and Sandy at some point. I know Sandy has been poorly of late so I wish him a speedy recovery and I'm looking forward to sitting with him at his bench in Crewel and sharing a story or two and having a good laugh! I've put a few pictures in just to get myself inspired for the new season so I hope you like them. Get well soon Sandy!

John eagerly casting across Beam

The Half Moon Inn, Sheepwash

A fine Spring Salmon to take home!

Rod with a belter of a Spring Salmon

Taking a break at Beam

The Weir Pool at Beam - the best pool on the river

A fine Sewin from the Towy

The Towy - looking up stream towards Crewel

A fine Sewin from the Towy quite a few years ago

AGM - so what's new?

I attended the AGM last night and have therefore listed a few of the discussions and one key decision taken. Not many anglers turned up - I guess about 15 or so? The proposals and voting arrangements need a considerable amount of attention in my view - they are certainly not very 'professional' lets put it like that! The club apparently lost £1500 last year although I can't see where that is stated in the accounts but perhaps I'm too dull to spot it? It strikes me that there are a number of items of expenditure in there that are completely unnecessary in my view. It probably wouldn't be difficult to strip out half the loss at least!

Most of the discussion was about catch and release and limits as Dai Watkins reckons that there will be mandatory catch and release on the whole river within 2 years. Only about 20% of anglers submitted returns however for the 2013 season and there were no proposals to deal with this! For this reason I haven't bothered listing any catch totals as they clearly aren't worth bothering with. Apparently canoeing is a big threat for the future so I'm off now to go and buy one - I must remember to buy an anchor though so that I can set myself up in the middle of Crewel!

Main points:-

• Crewel Pool rubbish dumping - this was done by the farmer but no action will be taken as the club believes that it was done naively. The snag at the bottom of the pool has been lost for good however the farmer says that he will put things right
• Facebook Page has been up and running for quite some time but few followers - I'm just about to log on!
• On-line day ticket sales have been a success
• Work Parties - all hands are apparently needed this year??
• Fees - stay as they are
• Vice President - position removed
• Fishing Limits for the 2014 Season are:- 4 fish per season can be taken comprising of Sewin up to 5lb and Salmon up to 10lb - all other fish are to be returned

I am not sure whether I will bother with the work parties because last year I travelled down for a 2 hour stint as everyone else cleared off by 12.00 noon! I think a proper structure for work parties is needed with everyone being given jobs to do and I believe it should be for a whole day not just a couple of hours! 

Otherwise I am looking forward to the new season as I am sure many of you are. I hope to see you all on the river at some point, preferably having just returned a monster. Fortunately for me there are no limits on the number of foxes, dogs or both that I am allowed to catch!

Tight lines - kingfisher