AWARD OF LIFE MEMBERSHIPS
It is with great pleasure we inform members of the award of Life Memberships to three of our long-standing bailiffs. Congratulations to Steve Cole, Peter Money and to Dave Rowe.
Peter and Dave have worked at the Hoo complex over many years, bailiffing and arranging the maintenance that has kept the lakes and their surrounds at the very high standard that we see today. They worked with the late Roger Heaton for many years and have managed to maintain Roger’s benchmark.
Steve is our longest serving bailiff at Paddlesworth and has always been ready to take that extra step in carrying out his duties.
The Life Membership certificates will be awarded as soon as we can hold our next General Meeting. The certificate states that the recipient…
‘…..has been awarded Life Membership of the Society in recognition of his service and dedication to the society.’
The three recipients have certainly met these criteria!
PADDLESWORTH WORK PARTY WEEKEND
The dates for the work party weekend for 2022 are
3p.m. Friday May 13th – 3p.m. Sunday 15th May
Please keep an eye on the Paddlesworth notice board for more information. The venue will be closed for fishing on this weekend except for volunteers at the work party who will be able to fish overnight. Come along and give a hand on one or both days and meet some of the other members. We are arranging for another barbeque.
MEMBERSHIP CHARGES FOR 2022/23
The following charges will be applicable from 1st April 2022 when current coarse fishing memberships expire.
Membership
Adult membership…………………………………………………….. ……… £90
OAPs, Juniors, Ladies……………………………………………….. …….. £45
OAP rates apply only to members who are in receipt of State Retirement Pension on 1st June 2022. Juniors must be under 18 on 1st June 2022.
Family members*……………………………………………………………… £22
Family members are defined as Wives or Children (under 18 on 1st June 2022) of full adult members.
Night Fishing Permits for Paddlesworth and Hoo:
Adult……………………………………………………………………….. £70
OAP, Junior, Ladies………………………………………………….. £35
Family members……………………………………………………….. £17
Third Rod Permit…………………………………………………………….. £35
(Valid only on Pollard Lake, Rugby Lake and Hoo, Heaton Lake)
Guest Tickets…………………………………………………………… …….. £10
(Suppliers listed on your membership card)
Replacement key deposit………………………………………….. …….. £20
Annual subscriptions must be received by 15th May 2022. It is permissible to add your 3rd Rod and Night Fishing options at a later date.
Cheques and Postal Orders should be made payable to ‘Kingfisher APS’.
Details of renewals are given on the ‘MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL CARD’ section of your membership card.
*- Each season we are asked to add family members to a current membership. We are unable to do this as family members, as well as Accompanied Young Anglers, are only enrolled from the waiting list.
CATFISH AT PADDLESWORTH
At the start of the initial Covid lockdown in March 2020 a number of Catfish were illegally stocked into each of the four lakes at Paddlesworth. We would emphasise that this was an illegal act and the perpetrators, if and when discovered, will face criminal charges.
The presence of Catfish will be hugely detrimental to the natural environment, therefore we have to do our best to remove them before they take hold and completely overrun the lakes. We have taken advice from the Environment Agency who have provided a substantial retaining net in which to store captured Catfish to be collected by them and relocated. The net will be stored around the containers in the Pollard car park. If you catch one, could you please securely retain it in the net, and contact the secretary, using the KAPS hotline, or alternatively contact a bailiff using the club Facebook site. We will then contact the EA to collect them.
WAITING LIST
At the beginning of 2022 there were 678 applicants on our waiting list. Those near the top of the list applied in August 2017 so that there is now a waiting time of about five years.
We will be sending out some membership application forms during March/April 2022. However, the final number we send out will depend on the number of vacancies we have after the renewal deadline for existing members – 15th May 2022. Please help by ensuring you renew as early as possible. We cannot guarantee your renewal if it is received after the deadline.
Any new members for 2022/23 will only be enrolled from the waiting list – there will be no exceptions.
COVID – A REMINDER
Please ensure you stay away from the lakes if you are unwell or showing any symptoms of illness. Please keep social distancing and hand sanitising when fishing.
With the amount of variant strains of Covid now coming to light we all need to be vigilant and use our common sense to ensure we do our bit so that we can avoid any further demands on the NHS and lockdown.
MATCH NEWS
Thank you to all members who support the match scene.
We are always welcoming to members who have never fished a match. It can be challenging as the matches last 6 to 6.5 hours depending on the time of year. Every fish is rewarding especially when the weather is against you. There is a small amount of money to be won if you enter the pools which currently stands at £4.
Every year there is the Fur and Feather where you can win a prize which the club has donated money towards this is held at Ulcombe. Some matches are invitation only due to the limited amount of pegs so contact me early or at the club email.
Always open to views and ideas.
MAINTENANCE
The contractors Josh Gorman and his dad Andy Gorman have done a fantastic job of keeping our river venues and the Pollard accessible throughout the season .Equally members have been contributing where they can especially Keith Espline. Court Lodge and Hunton are undergoing extensive development work around the farming so be aware of any access issues and report to the committee.
STOCKING AT PADDLESWORTH
In December 2021 we added 100 C4 Carp to Pollard averaging 13lb, 5 C4 & 5 C5 Carp to Pads and 10 C4 & 10 C5 Carp to Rugby. C4 carp are 4-summer carp, hand-picked and averaging 13lb. C5 carp are a year older and a year bigger! All fish came from VS fisheries and were of a very high standard. They certainly gave the appearance that they will thrive in our waters, with growth of just over 5lb to last year’s stockies.
We will continue our stocking programme to ensure that we future-proof our waters.