Meeting With Martin

[Tiger Nuts]

Martin will be down at Ravenfield to meet the carp anglers and discuss concerns, ideas regarding the carp pond on Sunday 12th October at 10am.

He will be sending a letter out to those people who arent registered on the forums. I will knock a little poster up to place on the pond side. Please contact any of your mates who are in the cap syndicate at Ravenfield and get them to attend or post their questions for Martin (and the committee) in here and I will print them off and pass them on to him on the day.

Can you please indicate if you will be there below. It is important that we get as many people there as possible so the committee get a broad view of our concerns about the pond.

[Tiger Nuts]

These are my personal concerns, you may or may not agree with them, say so either way.

1) I believe we need to sort the Canadian weed problem out. I don't have a problem with weed here and there, but it has been almost unfishable through the summer months and remains so now.

2) Possible 'sculpturing' of the lillies. By this I mean making some room along the margins either side of the swims so you can fish left and right of a 'peg' in the margins rather than just in the middle. Also a general reduction of the lillies. It is my understanding that this is easily carried out using Roundup, an aquatic version. Its too late to do it now though and can't be done until the lillies are back up again next year. Another option is to drag the root system out.

3) I presume that once the weed dies back we may see an increase in the number of people fishing the carp lake, I hope so, because if not I fear we may have lost members for next year. With the increase in traffic the banks and some of the swims are going to end up like mud pits. The swim I have been raking all summer gets like that now! Would it be possible to repair and then possibly gravel or woodchip the swims and bivy areas to stop this happening?

4) The wooden steps down to the swims are dangerous when wet, as are some of the metal spike used to secure them in place. Plastic coated chicken wire or galvanised chiken wire would solve this at little cost. The spikes need trimming down, I understand there has een one accident already?

5) Any chance of a sawdust toilet like Terry said we were going to get?

[hursty]

All sounds like basic fishery managment to me Adi , so it shouldn't be too much to ask for.

[Tiger Nuts]

Will you be there?

[hursty]

Yes mate , wouldn't miss it . Just hope it does some good and the committee don't just pay us lip service .

[Tiger Nuts]

I got the day wrong! It is actually Sunday the 12th not Sat, Martin just emailed me to say I had it wrong, thanks!

So to confirm: Sunday 12th October at 10am at the carp pond.

[andyoak]

Adi

Are you going a little mad in your old age. Yes the 12th is a sunday but where did you get sat from. You post says sunday and the PM said sunday. Looks to me like you got it right the first time 

[Tiger Nuts]

I changed the date on the first post to avoid confusion, obviously it caused confusion, and yes I am going mad

[Tiger Nuts]

AndyOak are you going to be there? So far its just me and Hursty

[andyoak]

You having a laugh, I'd walk over hot coals if I had to

dam right I will be there

[andyoak]

I posted the dates on two other carp forums as well, hopefully we should get a turn out

[hursty]

I've spoken to Cundiff and he is coming along too.

[stufish]

I'll be there if I have to set off walking now to get there on time. EVERY angler interested in the upkeep of Ravenfield Carp Lake should be there. This is probably the best opportunity we will have to form a working relationship with the committee.  Well done Adi for its arrangement. Cheers!

[Tiger Nuts]

You should get your letters from Martin very soon. I have a copy which I am sure he won't mind me posting on here:

Dear Multirod Permit Holder,

Meeting for carp anglers.

I would like to invite you to a meeting just for carp anglers, which is to be held at the Ponds on Sunday 12th October at 10.00 a.m.

There is no formal agenda, rather the opportunity for all to express their frustrations, hopes, and aspirations for carp fishing at Ravenfield.

2008 has not been a good year. Once again weed has been a serious problem, not helped by the fact that the summer has been appalling, which in my case has resulted in much less fishing than normal. Perhaps one upside of the weed is that the fish seem to love it, doubtless because of all the natural food it supplies, both during the summer, and again in the winter as bloodworm, grubs and other organisms that the fish eat convert the dying material into protein. But there has to be a happy medium. Suffice to say at this stage that recent efforts to get there have not been successful!

Weed apart; there are obviously other aspects of carp fishing at Ravenfield that could usefully be discussed. We got our knickers in a twist regarding fishing the Gt. Pond this year and I have recently applied for planning permission for a toilet to name but two.

I would also like the opportunity to explain where carp fishing fits into my overall responsibility to look after the Park as a whole.

For too many years now our committee have tried to encourage carp anglers to ‘come on board’, give us feedback on how the fish are doing, what work ought to be done, how we might plan for the future, with minimal success, and the messages we got back have often been conflicting and confusing. Only recently when Terry Littlewood became involved did we begin to make any real progress. But, and this is certainly no reflection on Terry’s efforts, there is always room for improvement, and so once again the club is seeking your help, in whatever way it might be offered, to make improve carp fishing at Ravenfield.

I really hope that you can make it and look forward to meeting you on the day.



Tight lines




Martin Read

[Tiger Nuts]

I think this is a good start and an honest letter from Martin.