It’s a fact that anglers are always moaning and complaining about the cost of their club tickets and the lack of venues available to them. Each time the subs have to go up by as little as a quid there’s a hue and cry about ‘what for?’, but perhaps the solution lies within themselves.
When I wrote the series ‘Running a Club as a Business’, one of the statements I made was that clubs should be pro-active in finding new waters. These could be already established and known fisheries or maybe, pieces of waters that they’d assumed no one was allowed to fish and because no one had approached the owner/s, nothing ever got done.
A case in point was a lake near where I used to live on the borders of Ashton and Stalybridge called Silver Springs Lake or Chadwick Dam, both names have been given in the past. This was created in the 1950s as a silt trap for the Stamford park Boating Lake. Idea was that the feeder stream would fill into this valley and an overflow grid was built to continue feeding the main lake. It covers approximately 3-4 acres and is around 5-7 feet deep at its deepest point.
Chadwick Dam would become a silt trap in effect heavier solids coming down the stream in heavy weather. It was never officially stocked with fish, but as kids (at that time) we did transfer some fish from the main lake to the dam. It was all built on Council land and it’s only other demand was to ‘look nice’. In fact I planted yellow flag (iris) and white lily pads (native ones) in the margins from out of our garden pond and they spread like wildfire
 |
| The top end of the lake looks more natural |
Now pardon me whilst I go back 34 years in time. I was, at that time, Secretary of the local Tameside Sports Council that sought help and funding for local sports bodies and clubs irrespective of what sport they performed. One claim came to our attention from the then Hyde Federation of Anglers for £500 to spend on fish to stock the recently cleared out canal.
The idea was that they should put up 50%, their £500, and we would, if accepted give our £500 to help them. Not only did their bid succeed, but my advisor on Tameside M.B.C. suggested we take the new total to Cheshire County Council to see if more money could be had. That too was successful and they ended up with £5000, 10 times what they originally had in mind.
Having done all of this I entered into discussions with them about changing their name from Hyde Federation, which only reflected one town, to Tameside Federation, which would represent an area incorporating many towns and a much larger population. I still think that was a wise move at the time although it has since been swallowed up by, I believe, Stockport Federation.
The idea now was to capitalise on all waters in the Tameside area whether Council owned or otherwise, save those waters licensed to existing clubs, but hoping that those clubs would too join the renamed Federation. Believe me, it wasn’t all plain sailing as one club complained that their membership fees might have to go up from ten bob per year to well over a quid. Even then that was nothing compared to my own sea angling club that was charging an average of £6 for one day’s boat fishing, including coach fare, mind.
Now one of the waters I had in mind was the aforementioned Chadwick Dam (or Silver Spings…) The Council certainly wanted to improve it and make fuller use of it and I set the wheels in motion for it to be leased out to the Federation for a peppercorn rent (that’s a pittance in any other terms).
It might have to be shared with other users and another use I put forward was to have the track that went all the way around it with humps and dips (well away from the anglers though) used as a cycle track for ‘chopper’ bikes. They were in fashion then you will remember. Anyway, the principle use as far as we were concerned would be fishing.
I had to leave the north for a new job soon after I started the talks and I was never kept informed of it’s outcome, which is a pity because I would still have liked to help even at a distance and I’m like a dog with a bone once I get my teeth into something.
 |
| This bank needs restoring, it’s do-able though. |
As proof, if needed, I also asked the Council if we could have an old garage so some veteran bowlers could brew up a cup of tea. That was refused, but my pursuance of their plea led to them (and two similar clubs) getting club houses costing £10,000 each in materials alone. You just have to argue with the right angle a lot of the time!
Anyway, back to the lake and today (well, some 7 months ago now). Nothing has been done with it still except a few more pieces of rubbish has been discarded into it. Some more fish have been introduced, illegally, and very occasionally you may find the odd fool, sorry, fisherman, giving it a go. The water is clean, the bottom may need scraping out by now to remove the years of silt build up, but sometimes that can be treated with chemicals.
All that it needs, I’m sure, is for one really caring club to step forward and convince the local council that they can look after it, stock it, and install and maintain some fishing platforms. And here’s the clincher if the Council are dithering, you designate some swims as being reserved for the disabled. That usually wins them over. I’m not saying it would be easy, but persistence pays off, usually and eventually.
 |
| A cleaned up dam and just choose your swim! |
Put forward a good cast iron case study and there will be a belting fishery for the future. I don’t know how anglers get on with the local EA Fisheries Department, but they could and should help especially where such a lake could be of vital importance to the community. In our Thames Region now, the EA would probably pay for the disabled swims to be built and put a large stock of fish in the water for us – NO CHARGE!
(PS, if anyone fancies having a go with this lake in particular I’ll be happy to put you in contact with some influential people in the area.)
In another case study, I wanted a little side drain in Marlow to be dug out and widened so that maybe 6 new swims, safe and away from the main river, could be built. It would also provide a breeding area and refuge for the river fish when the river was in flood. We had the permission of the land owner, a rich local Sheik, and the EA was planning to pay for most of the digging and construction.
 |
| Needed widening and swims built – all paid for by EA! |
All we had to pay was around £500 as a token gesture towards the proposed disabled platforms. I was secretary of the local club at the time and you have just one guess as to what happened next….
Well, the narrow minded committee people, lead by the Treasurer and Chairman, said that £500 was too much to pay for six swims. I’m not saying it would be the greatest fishery of all, but it would be safe for children and they are our future senior members, never forget that. The idea got kyboshed and I got lots of blame for being “profligate” with club funds. I resigned soon after.
So I do understand what you would be up against both inside and outside of the club, but these chances are worth pursuing if all they do is provide long term fishing for just a few, be they seniors, veterans, or simply kids.
Chadwick Dam and my side stream are not alone, there must be thousands up and down the country of disused waters, park lakes, village ponds, wide drainage ditches, and small stretches of rivers and stream that are begging for attention. All that it needs is for a club or association (I’m a great believer in stronger associations anyway) to start work on talking to the right people. You might face a few setbacks, but persist and your troubles could be well rewarded.
What about it?
