News

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 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 27^th 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.