Annual General Meeting 2024

Brief Report of the Meeting:
All reports were accepted by the meeting as a true record.  The role of Chair was up for nomination and Ian Wynn (previous Treasurer) was elected un-apposed by the meeting.  Paul Leng was re-elected as Secretary and Chris Stevenson was appointed as the new Treasurer.  All other existing Officers were re-elected with full support from the members present.  
Lively discussions took place , led by Adrian Sturdy, relating to issues such as water quality and the work of the Club in monitoring levels as well as our involvement in the wider Water Quality Monitoring Network (WQMN) and our involvement with the wider Community push to have the River Nidd designated as 'bathing water safe' at the Lido in Knaresborough.
Paula Child gave a review of more recent developments relating to the Youth Development programme; two of our younger members were present at the meeting - a great sign of how well the project has done over the past 3 years.
The final topic for discussion was related to 'stocking' the river.  This was, as expected, a lively session and the Club is to move forward with planning a site visit from an officer of the Wild Trout Trust (WTT).  This will be arranged as soon as possible with a full report and review of possible river environs and their improvement for wild fish to be the focus.  This year the Club will reduce the stocking from 150 to 125 Triploid Brown Trout.
A summary of the WTT Report will be posted as soon as it becomes available.  This will be in the Members Section

General News

Well - What a Washout this autumn has been!  Whilst my river fly fishing does not go back more than a decade and a half I cannot remember an autumn where the levels of the Yorkshire rivers have consistently been so high - often well above the 0.60m mark on the Knaresborough Gauge for the River Nidd.
On only two occasions I noticed the levels had dropped closer to 0.50m and I was lucky enough to be able to pick up my rods and head up to the river.  On arrival it was clear that recent high flows had taken their toll on trees and other natural growth as there was a logjam against Burgess Bridge.  Needless to say this was reported to the EA, thanks to member Adrian, and hopefully they will attend to its removal before it becomes a more serious issue.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

One thing that was clearly evident is that the force and amount of flow that had been flowing down the river due to these high levels had flushed a lot of the silt out of the river bed.  Members may recall that 2 years ago there was a very big and unexpected release of slit from ground works at Gouthwaite Reservoir.
It was great to be out and about on the river again and whilst the fishing was by no means easy, as the weather was a chilly 3 to 4 degrees, the rewards of finding some lovely grayling was worth making the trip even if each visit was only for a few hours before the numbness of the fingers prevented more fishing.  The river was running very clean and clear, it was lovely to be able to see the flash of silver as a grayling moved to take a nymph.  Some brown trout had obviously not read the emails about seasons and they too came to the pink tagged tungsten nymph, if they had been in season each would have made a special photo to share but luckily they self released as soon as they touched the net, a real benefit of using barbless hooks.







 

So if you find the levels anywhere near the 0.50m mark in the remaining part of the autumn season my advice is it is worth making the trip but don't forget to wear plenty of layers and take a warm drink and some energy snacks to combat the cold.

CATCH RETURNS
A gentle reminder to ALL members; we do ask for Catch Returns to be made each year so an analysis can be made for presentation to Members at the AGM, usually held in early February each year..  The preferred method of making a catch return is via the website but paper copies can be sent to our Chair, Ian Wynn.  NIL returns and returns when guests have accompanied you should also be made. The importance of accurate Catch Returns is even more crucial at the present time when the Club is seeking ways of making improvements to the fishing we all enjoy, be that for wild fish or those that have been stocked.

Finally on behalf of the Committee we would like to wish all members a very enjoyable season in 2024.

Tight Lines