Fishery Management Report
Here we are again at Storrington for the last scheduled work party for now although I am fairly certain that Steve will be asking for our help again later in the season. The weather today was much kinder to us and although we did not get quite the turnout of a couple of weeks ago there was still a good number present.
We therefore turned our attention to the match lake with two main aims.
1. To trim back the trees on the island that overhang the water – Keith, Vince and I had a good go at this a month or so ago but it was worth having another look round to make sure we hadn’t missed anything. So it was on with the chest waders and across to the Island for me armed with some loppers and a bow saw. We had thought that we would also burn the cutting that we had left on the island previously but it appears that ducks are nesting on the island so I decided to give that a miss. A wander round revealed a few branches that we had missed previously but nothing big needed to come down. Those branches that were cut were dragged up onto the centre of the Island and we can think about burning them later in the year. In the meantime they do offer good cover and refuge for the wildlife.
2. To take out some of the trees at the carp lake end of the lake. This was the main thrust of the day and Nelson and his crew had identified a number of trees that had a ‘lean on’ that it would be best to take out. These were duly dropped and the larger logs have been stacked and I’m not sure what we intend to do with them. They could be used for reinforcing the swims, particularly on the match lake, which is showing signs of erosion in places. Equally they could be used to help shore up the riverbank in places – however I will leave that to the experts!
We eventually managed to get the fire going even after Glyn had all but exhausted my lighter and pretty much all of the cutting were burnt. It’s a good job there was just enough gas in my lighter to fire the BBQ up! I performed my usual task of providing some much-appreciated (I hope) food to finish the morning off.
We are giving Storrington a rest for now and indeed there is nothing on next week. The week after 11th May the team move up to Bethwins ponds. Steve reckons that there is no really heavy work to do just a good strim and trim. Unfortunately (or some may say fortunately) I’m out of the country for the next couple of work parties, hopefully someone will take up my mantle and perhaps provide a few words and pictures for the website and I do have a disposable BBQ in the garage if anyone fancies taking on the cooking duties!
