Zoom and the AGM and other meetings.
Webinars and Meetings  held using “Zoom” technology or similar are becoming increasingly commonplace. Online meetings and consultations are part of the lives of most of us these days. We moved over to Zoom from face to face meetings at the time of the Covid epidemic. Our Zoom meetings include the bimonthly committee,  the Game Meeting, the Bailiff meeting, numerous internal meetings including the coarse, finance, planning and other committee subgroups. The AGM is held a Webinar.

The main difference between Zoom meetings and webinars is that meetings are designed for collaboration, while webinars are designed for presenting content to a large audience.

The move to Zoom proved to have several advantages:
attendance at meetings increased, more members full and associate took part,
cost of meetings reduced,
meetings became more businesslike,
travel reduced for members, officers and volunteers,
volunteer and staff time saved.
There were also several disadvantages:
A few members could not take part due to technology issues,
A few members objected on principle,
Voting and question and answer facilities proved tricky,
Loss of face to face informal contact.
After the pandemic we have returned to face to face meetings for the Game Meeting, many of the sub groups, the Open Day because the face to face contact proved most valuable in these settings. (We have tried to develop a Coarse Meeting in the past and would happily hold a face to face session for coarse members but attendance has always been an issue.)
We have continued Zoom meetings for the full committee and the AGM and for those subgroups where it can prove a quick and effective way of conducting business.
We have reviewed and refined the voting and question and answer part of the Zoom Webinar.
At the AGM we will be putting […]

Dear members,

Please be informed that we will not be continuing fishing Haywards Pond.
The pond proved unpopular with our members and was visited only a handful of times last year.

It is now closed and the owner has been informed.

We have reintroduced the traffic light system which we operated a few years ago to indicate which fisheries are closed (red), fishable with care (yellow) or fully open (green).  Notes of local conditions will be shown alongside the traffic light.

Please report any areas of concern.

Dear members,

All lakes at Petersfinger and Steeple Langford are closed with immediate effect due to flooding. Please check the club’s forum for updates.

2024 Annual Game Meeting

Saturday 26th October

11am to 3pm
Antrobus House
39 Salisbury Rd
Amesbury
SP4 7HH

Entrance to Antrobus House limited parking https://what3words.com/appetite.worker.opts

Additional Parking nearby: https://what3words.com/district.tacky.scavenger

Dear members,

We have completed precautionary fish health checks in our coarse lakes at Steeple Langford, Dandys and Petersfinger.

The fish at Steeple Langford are in good condition.

This is not the case at Dandys and Petersfinger Lakes.

The sample from Dandys showed presence of the parasite Ergasilus Briani.

Ergasilus Briani attaches between the gill filaments of its host, using its specialised antennae. Once attached, it uses its serrated mouthparts (situated on the underside of the body) to feed on mucus, blood and epithelial cells within the gill tissue.

The fish sample from Petersfinger also showed presence of Ergasilus Briani and in addition, Ergasilus Sieboldi.

The latter infects the gill filaments of a wide range of freshwater fish species using two, large, pointed antennae. It has a life cycle with many stages, but only the adult females are parasitic. It tends to favour some fish species more than others, for example bream and tench.

Both parasites are Category two parasites and we have reported it to the Environment Agency.

It is highly important that members disinfect their nets and fishing equipment after fishing on any of our coarse lakes, to avoid cross contamination. Please leave your nets in the sunlight until fully dry, and/or use the dip nets provided in our fisheries before you start fishing.

We’ve been lied to’: Feargal Sharkey and green activists to take to streets over water pollution.

21st August 2024

Feargal Sharkey says the country has been “lied to” and “fleeced” over the lack of clean water, as it was announced that green groups and sporting bodies will take to the streets in autumn to protest.

The environmental activist and singer, who has been vocal about his concerns over sewage being dumped into Britain’s waterways, will be joining the wide range of groups including River Action, Greenpeace, the Wildlife Trusts, British Rowing and British Canoeing for the march in London on 26th October.

The former Undertones frontman called out water companies for dumping sewage into Britain’s waterways and the regulator for not doing more.

“The truth is we’ve been lied to, we’ve been misled, we’ve been fleeced, we’ve been had and […]