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NEWS

 

5th February 2010
Steven Rathbone and Oliver Mears have once again been chosen for the 2010 England Junior Shore Fishing team, Steven will be travelling to Portugal later this year to fish the world championships. Oliver will be fishing the home internationals in Scotland this year, The committee wishes them both well. Also this year Connor Hallett has been chosen to join the England Squad, lets hope he makes the team one day, well done Connor.

31st January 2010
QUIZ NIGHT: The club has organised another quiz night at the Salthouse West Bay, the date 27th February 2010, the time 7.00pm, the cost Adults £1 Children free. The quiz will start at 7.30pm, tea, coffee and nibbles will be provided, Adults may bring your own alcoholic drinks if you wish. So come and have a cheap fun night out.

14th November 2009
This years Junior v Parents match had to be cancelled due to the extreme weather members of the committee felt it would be totally unsafe to allow anyone to fish the match even within the harbour, as someone may have been washed/blown in. The members of the committee do not take these decisions lightly, but your safety is paramount. The match will now be fished on 28th November on east pier to the same times.

7th November 2009.
Next year (2010) there will be two new trophies up for grabs, The Senior Species Trophy & The Junior Species Trophy. Both these trophies will be presented to the senior/junior member that catches the most different species throughout the club year, in or out of competition, from boat or shore & anywhere within the united Kingdom, there will be no minimum size as all under sized fish are to be returned alive. As you renew your membership next year you will receive a record sheet in your membership pack, it will be your responsibility to keep a record and adhere to the rules. I wish you all luck for 2010.

26th October 2009
A proposal was put forward at the last committee meeting: "Members must not fish were their is no public access, I.e. Portland Harbour, and the apron on the end of the Jurassic pier. Where there is a sign that says No Access". during club matches the notices must be obeyed. I have checked with our insurers on this and they say " The issue would be that the club would be knowingly advising their members to go into an area that the local council have advised them not to due to the danger of the area. The problem with that is that it could be seen as a deliberate act which would mean that the policy would not cover it". This rule came into effect on 7th October 2009. Please adhere to this rule as the club will not be held responsible if you break it and get injured.

10th September 2009
Today saw the placing of the Sea Clean fishing line bin on the Jurassic Pier at West Bay. The line bin has been sponsored by our club, we hope that everyone will use it to deposit unwanted fishing line & hooks. The fishing line will be recycled and the hooks disposed of safely. If this bin proves a success the club may sponsor more of them for other sites in West Bay

 

 

 

1st September 2009
At tonight's committee meeting we handed a cheque over to Mr Peter Jackson Chairman of the Bridport branch of the RNLI for £200, this was the money raised at our RNLI open match in July. Due to our President being unable to attend the meeting due to ill health the cheque was handed over by Maureen Jackson our chair.

 

 

 

 

11th August 2009
The clubs Fish Recorder Dave Cornick has broken the club record for a smoothound caught out side club waters whilst fishing at Shurton Reef, Hinckley Point. The old record of 7 kg 870 g set by Hugh Rathbone and has stood for 8 years was beaten by only 11 g. The new record stands at 7 kg 881 g.

 

 

 

13th July 2009
Well done to Steven Rathbone & Oliver Mears who help the England Junior Team win gold at the Home International in Wales over the weekend.

7th July2009.
At the committee meeting tonight Oliver Mears attended to request a bursary towards the cost of participating at the Home Internationals as part of the England Junior Team. As he met the criteria he was duly given the bursary and the clubs best wishes for the forth coming match.

Ollie receiving the cheque from the Clubs President Fred Bowditch.
 

25th June 2009.
On 27th June 2009 We will have a stand at the Bridport Food Festival at Askers Meadow Bridport. Come and meet us and ask us questions about the club or fishing we will do our best to answer them for you.

7th March 2009.
Dave Chidzoy & Steven Rathbone have once again been chosen to represent the England Team for the home internationals being held in Wales later this year (Dave will fish for the Senior Team & Steven will fish for the Junior Team). Also added to the Junior Team this year is Junior club member Oliver Mears. This is a great achievement for the three of them & the club, it shows we must be doing something right. I hope you will join the committee in wishing them congratulations and the best of luck for the competitions.

18th February 2009, Sport England Calls on Anglers
The Angling Trust is calling on all anglers who are members of an angling club, and young anglers, to take part in a new survey. One thousand anglers must register for the survey if angling is to be eligible to receive the promised four year funding package of £1.56m from Sport England and any future funding.
Sport England has commissioned the survey to establish what is important to people when they take part in sport and how satisfied they are with the quality of their experience. The survey goes live in March 2009, however we need anglers to register their details now so that Ipsos MORI who are conducting the research can contact them directly.
The registration process takes about two minutes. All personal details supplied will be held in the strictest confidence and used solely for the purposes of this study.

There are two surveys:

bulletone for members of an angling club which is a member of Angling Trust (or which was a member of NFA, NFSA, S&TA): www.anglingtrust.net/clubmembers
 
bulletand another for young anglers aged 16-18: www.anglingtrust.net/talentpool

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust urged every club angler in the country to complete the survey commenting: “This is an opportunity for anglers to have their say about their experience when they go fishing. The results will help guide our work over the next few years and will affect future funding decisions from Sport England for angling. Please help!”.

If you have any questions please visit the page on the Sport England Website or email a member of the Ipsos MORI team at SportEnglandSurvey@ipsos-mori.com
 

18th February 2009,
A completely new club record has been accepted for Baillion's Wrasse, caught by Graham Stephenson out of West Bay in 2006. This fish has taken three years to be identified, the original fish was lost by the Royal Mail on route to the Natural History Museum for identification, luckily some photo's were taken at the time which have helped us to identify the fish.

25th January 2009.
The club is holding a quiz night in the Salthouse West Bay. Entry is £2 per person, coffee will be available on the night but you can bring your own drinks if you wish. (the question will not all be about fishing)

Also i have another link for you, If you care about the future of recreational sea angling then please visit the Government web site through the link below and sign this very important email petition opposing the EU Article 47 proposals to control and regulate Sea Angling from boats. 

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/rsa-eu-proposal/

18th January 2009.
Lyme Bay: closure of an area to scallop dredging and heavy trawling gear. Invitation to participate in a research project on the economic impact

On the 11th July 2008 the UK government decided to close sixty square miles of Lyme Bay from scallop dredges and heavy demersal trawls in order to provide protection against damage to marine ecosystems incurred as a result of towed benthic gear. The area however, remains open to anglers, scuba divers, fishermen using pots and nets and other recreational users. Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), University of Plymouth and Marine Biological Association of the UK have since been awarded a contract by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to monitor, over the next three years, the economic, social and ecological impacts of the 60 square nautical mile closed area. PML will specifically assess the impact of the closure from economic and social perspectives. As part of our remit we will aim to interview all relevant stakeholders to build an accurate picture of the socio-economic implications of the closure to them.

We are therefore inviting you to take part in this research and to complete the following questionnaire. Please try to fill in the questionnaire as honestly and thoroughly as possible. We know that your time is valuable and we have therefore developed a questionnaire which should not take long to complete. Your opinion matters and your response is therefore extremely important if the results are to truly reflect the opinion of the stakeholder community in Lyme Bay. Answers given will remain confidential and only aggregated data will be used in the analysis and reporting. By taking part in this questionnaire you are consenting to the use of the data you provide for the purpose of this research. Please click on the link to go to questionnaire page http://web.pml.ac.uk/lymebay/default.php

29th December 2008.
New ballan wrasse club record set, Michael Stokes whilst visiting his grandparents for Christmas decided to go fishing at Portland. Whilst there he managed to catch a new club record ballan wrasse of 2 kg 340 g (picture in photo gallery) so well done Michael.

18th December 2008.
At this years AGM a resolution was passed that means a junior member of the club is classed as a junior as long as they are under 17 yrs on 1st January when they join or renew their membership to the club.

6th November 2008.
Please remember all proposals for this years AGM which will be held on 2nd December at Haddon House Hotel West Bay must be in the secretaries hand no later than midnight Tuesday 11th November.

26th October
Steven Rathbone recently became the Under 16 World Champion, when he fished with the England Junior Team in Barcelona. Full report can be found on the junior page

5th June 2008

As some of you may already know that since April 2008 Tope have now become catch and release, due to this the committee has decided that if you catch a Tope and wish to claim a record or to enter for specimen the fish must be weighed on certified scales and immediately released. for a code of best practice for handling of Tope please go to http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/Sea-Fishing-Articles/tope_handling.html

6th May 2008
You will remember that last year Steven Rathbone was chosen to fish for the England Junior Team in the Home Internationals in Ireland, Steven helped the team to win the silver medal. On the 6th May 2008 Steven Rathbone attended a committee meeting to talk to the committee about his being chosen to fish in the England junior team to fish the world shore fishing championship in Barcelona later this year. Steven was also a reserve for the  home internationals in Kent, but learnt on the night he will now be fishing the home internationals as someone is unable to attend. Steven was also awarded a bursary from the club to help towards the costs of the trips. the committee congratulated Steven on his wonderful achievement and wished him well in the matches and we hope the England team can go one better this year and win the gold. The picture is Steven receiving his bursary from chair Maureen Jackson.

21st March 2008.Government shelves plans for a sea fishing licence for the moment.
On the 19th March the government abandoned its current plans to impose a sea angling licence. for more on this story please see www.nfsa.org.uk/

5th March 2008.
At last nights committee meeting a proposal on the weighing in of foul hooked fish was passed. The new club rule is; fish hooked in front of gill opening to be allowed to be weighed in in club closed competitions and for all awards.

5th March 2008.
Dave Chidzoy came to Februarys committee meeting to request a Bursary, as he had been chosen for the NFSA England squad. As Dave had filled the required criteria, the committee were pleased to present him with the clubs first ever bursary, and wished Dave well with the up and coming squad day, where the England team would be chosen. Since the squad day Dave has now learnt he has been chosen to fish for England at the home internationals in 2008, Well done Dave. The photo shows Dave receiving his bursary from club president Fred Bowditch.

27th January 2008.
DEFRA is carrying out a consultation on Recreational Sea Angling. Please visit their website at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/sea-angling/index.htm  and read the document then comment on it. This is the time for all sea anglers to have their say so speak up for YOUR sport.

10th January 2008.
On your club size limits 5 bearded rockling are 20cm", this has now changed to 18cm" with immediate effect.

10th January 2008.
The club has now decided to go with the NFSA rule on pennel rigs "An angler is permitted fish with no more than two rods with up to three hooks or two pennel mounted baits, one on each rod at any one time, so constructed that the measurement between the eyes of the two hooks does not exceed 10cm" (shore Angling) see diagram.

 

6th November 2007
At tonight's committee meeting it was proposed that no match can be moved except for bad weather, the proposal was passed by the committee.

16th September 2007

As the editor of your newsletter i am trying to make it a better read for you all, if you have any ideas please let me know (contact details on contact page) I am going to add a for sale, swap, free and looking for to this newsletter so if you have anything in those headings let me have them no later than 26th September

24th August 2007, Melplash Show

As usual the club had a stand at this years Melplash Show, The stand was to promote our club and the sea angling jetty. as always people came and asked us lots of questions about both. We also ran a free prize quiz and the winner was Mr R Livesey of Bridport who signed up as a member at the show, he was very pleased with his prize of rod & reel.

13th July 2007 England win silver
Earlier this year Steven Rathbone was chosen to fish for the England Junior Team. The first match he fished for the England Juniors was in Ireland, to fish the home internationals against Ireland, Scotland & Wales. Full report and photo's Click Here

23rd June 2007 Press release re Angling Jetty

As the initiator of the campaign to have a sea angling jetty at West Bay it has become clear that the “Facts”, the reality of that campaign, the specific reasons for it and the position to date need to be clearly stated. Much of the information given out during the recent “Flurry” of political activity has been inaccurate mainly because those giving it have not been involved prior to the recent elections and have not taken the time to fully understand the issues.
            The design of the new Jurassic pier was purely for sea defence and made no provision for angling to continue. The rock armour preventing fishing from the outer walls. The custom and practice of fishing from both piers was dismissed and not given any importance. Equal opportunities was also ignored as the young and old, the disabled and those not competent enough to fish the dangerous Chesil Beach lost the space to pursue their sport.
            This is not only a local issue for the West Bay Sea Angling Club but for the business community in the Bay. Revenue was lost because the numerous holidaymakers who came to fish from the piers stopped coming and therefore the revenue they brought also stopped. An economic impact survey commissioned by the Bridport Community Initiative was carried out by an independent research team from Bournemouth university. They concluded that the equivalent of twelve jobs worth of money came into the bay via anglers who brought families who stayed in local accommodation, bought food, bait, sundries, went on charter boats and went shopping in Bridport.
            The Town Council fully supported the initiative for the jetty as did the Town & District councillors of all parties who voted to give the money for the foundation pillars when Fred Bowditch the president of the angling club and myself then press officer presented the need to the various committees before presenting a petition to the Executive committee of West Dorset District Council. The supporting columns (the rusting pillars) had to be in position before the rock armour or could not have been placed at all. In retrospect a more appropriate structure would be one integral to the pier rather than attached to it, because currently the risk assessment of the structure is as much a problem as the cost. The original build was estimated at £250,000 this rose to £400,000 as the type of surface and materials needed to withstand the pounding of the sea and the cost of the build itself was discussed. Should the jetty be built to stand for 25 or 50 years, the more money spent on the initial build could alleviate a costly expense on maintenance.
            A steering group has been in place for the past four years with representatives from all political parties, the angling club & W.D.D.C Engineering department. The need for an accountable body is paramount if major grants are to be won. A local trust was considered but discounted as the insurance alone would be in the region of £8,000 per annum. The major breakthrough came in November 2005 when following a meeting with Steve Woollard, Technical Services Manager for W.D.D.C he agreed that, I quote “W.D.D.C are best placed to be the accountable body to manage the construction and insure the facility because it will form part of the harbour infrastructure subject to members approval and funding from an external source”. It is this statement that the Bridport Town Council sought verification of following a meeting at Bridport Town hall on march 27th 2007 when the directors of W.D.D.C David Evans and David Clarke presented the options of the regeneration of West Bay. It is the response to this statement that will determine any further action on the Sea Angling Jetty at West Bay. Many people have pledged money for the project to the sum of £29,536.09, and the Angling Club has been granted £20,000 for the jetty from 106 funding plus £100,000 ring fenced by the District Council. The hope is that the water has not been too “muddied” to allow for a continuation of the considered, patient if very slow progress that the steering group has made to date.

Maureen Jackson
Chair
West Bay Sea Angling Club

25th March 2007 Your club needs you!!
On Tuesday 27th March their is a council meeting in the town hall in Bridport, This is about the regeneration of West Bay and which of two schemes to spend £1.3 million on. but there is no mention of the jetty in either scheme, so we are asking members to attend the meeting and to try and put the jetty back on the agenda. The meeting is at 7.00pm at the town hall.

21st February 2007.
I received an Email alerting me to a petition on the internet for the banning of Gill Nets, please click the following link http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/gillnets/ and if you agree with the banning of Gill nets sign the petition now.

19th February 2007.
Dave Chidzoy sets new club record for Ballan Wrasse of 2 kg 330 g (5 lb 2 oz). Also congratulations to Dave for making the Sea Angler Penn League Final, Good Luck.

The committee has decided that if the weather conditions at the venue are too bad on a Thursday night match the steward has the right to cancel it. Sunday daytime matches will be made into a rover if the venue is unfishable due to weather conditions.

27th January 2007.
I would like to report that the Chesil Beach is fishing well after reports of oil being washed up on some of the beaches. The oil came in on debris from the MSC Napoli that was grounded at Branscoombe. All the oil has been cleaned up and the beaches are the cleanest I have ever seen them, well done to all the volunteers that cleaned them up. I fished (yes at last) West Bexington tonight and caught whiting, poor cod & dogfish. Keep a look out for me as I plan to fish a lot more. Tiny

30th September 2006
The Jurassic Open Boat Festival was cancelled this weekend due to the bad weather. the new date for the festival is 14th & 15th October 2006 fished to the same times, sign on from 8.00am each day. West Bay SAC apologies for any inconvenience

 but this decision was taken for everyone's safety.

30th July 2006
Today saw the junior's annual trip to Brixham to fish an open competition, for full report & picture click here

19th July
The stand that the club had at the food festival won the prize for the best stand. We had lots of interest from the people who visited the food festival with one new member joining the club.

8th & 9th July: Your club will be having a stand at the Bridport Food Festival in Askers Meadow on Saturday 8th July & Sunday 9th July to promote the club and sea angling. the stall will be manned by Tiny & Maureen with PJ Wheeler & Dave Chidzoy showing people how to tie rigs,  the rigs will be available to purchase. So why not come along and get some tips from Dave & PJ.

17th June 2006: Dave Chidzoy continues to shine in non club matches with 1st overall in the ISSACS fished at Ferry Bridge. he weighed in 13 Dogfish, 4 Pout, 4 Smoothound's & a specimen Spur dog weighing 8 lb 12 oz. He also came second in Weymouth's RNLI match.

6th June 2006 The Mackerel are showing on the piers again

27th May 2006: Junior member Paul Grinter who fished the Andy Neal Rover tonight at Lyme Regis has just broken the club record for Bull Huss with one weighing 4 kg 40 g (8 lb 14.5 oz) which has beaten the previous record by 752 g (1 lb 10.5 oz) which was held by Don Welch. Photo will appear as soon as I receive a copy.

20th May 2006: The Jurassic open boat festival had a big boost today when Atlantic Fishers donated a Atlantic Fisher 260 Dinghy with engine & Trailer as the first prize for the competition.

 

 

DUE TO THE BULL HOTEL BEING UNAVAILIBLE COMMITTEE MEETINGS WILL NOW BE HELD AT HADDON HOUSE HOTEL WEST BAY AND THEY WILL BE ON THE FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH NEXT MEETING 6th JUNE 2006 7.30P

 

 

 

Club member Dave Chidzoy has just heard that he has been chosen for the
National Federation Of Sea Anglers England Squad.

This will come as no surprise to those that know Dave as he is a keen and good angler, who last year had a clean sweep of the club's species league winning match point champion, league champion & handicap league champion.

Also in 2005 Dave  won the galeforce league, the Chesil league (the only person to win it two years running), came 1st in zone twice and had one 2nd & 3rd in the Wessex spring league, came 3rd in the Chesil Champs,  came 4th in the Weymouth RNLI , came 3rd in the Swanage & District open , came 2nd in the Echo Open , came 2nd in the Weymouth Xmas Open , and also qualified for the Penn sea league Final where the top 40 anglers in the country qualify & to top it all won a holiday to Guernsey.

Even though Dave has come a long way since he joined the club as a junior member in 1992 at the age of 12yrs he has never forgotten his roots. He can often be seen at West Bay during junior matches passing his knowledge onto the next generation of anglers who one day may follow in his footsteps.

When asked how he felt about being chosen for the England squad he replied "It is brilliant as it has been one of my ambitions to be chosen as a member of the England squad for many years, but it has taken a lot of hard work to achieve the standard required and I would like to thank the former junior Secretary Mr Ian Draper for all his help and coaching over the years and thanks to the club for all their support".

Good luck for the future Dave.

 

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