THE FLYDRESSERS’ GUILD

THE FLYDRESSERS’GUILD

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING A reminder that the AGM is on 5th January 2017, followed by a quiz

This is your chance to let us know what you want from the Branch.

THE PERFECT RAINBOW A talk by Peter Cockwill

In my case, the Perfect Rainbow is the one that has just taken my fly ! In Peter Cockwill’s case, it is the best fish he has taken anywhere in the world. Peter gave a very interesting illustrated talk going through the recent history of mainly rainbow trout in the UK and elsewhere. Early trout fisheries in the ‘50s and ‘60s contained splendid fish with full tails and sleek bodies. Many examples were shown which made our mouths water. As more fisheries were opened, many of the fish were very poor quality indeed, with worn or bitten tails, fat bodies and in some cases mis-shaped spines – more examples were illustrated of fish you would not want to land.

Since those days the standards of fish have improved; many examples were shown, some - from Arlington and Chalk Springs - fish any angler would be proud of. Large browns from rivers were shown, many in fact larger than the river could support. Wild browns in most rivers do not exceed, say, two pounds, given the availability of food, predation and angling pressure. An example of a large fish in good condition was shown which was taken nearby a cage system. Not by feeding on pellets but on the bloodworms which feed on the detritus below and by the cages. This illustrated how important (to fish) bloodworms are. Other examples were given where fish adapted to the food available, in one case char which had been introduced to a Lough in Scotland and became the prey of choice of large browns (ferox ?). Examples of golden and blue trout were given and it was explained that these were rainbows which had been selectively bred for colour and not sub species. Now to the land of guanacos, puma and eagles, Argentina; an 8 mile by 10 mile lake was shown which naturally contained no fish at all. A landowner introduced some fingerling rainbows to one of the inflow streams as an experiment; now the lake contains beautiful hard fighting rainbows averaging 7 lb growing to over 20 lb. Catches can range from 15 to 30 fish per day; my idea of heaven. Save up your rupees for a once in a lifetime experience, heaven on earth does exist ! A first class talk with an enjoyable mix of humour and knowledge – thank you Peter.

TW.

JONATHON GLOVER TROPHY

toon

JOHN WATT 2016 We have now received some photographs of the presentation after the great win at the John Watt competition in August.

Chris Nunn receives the Sheffield Shield

The Victorious Sussex Team

l/r - Chris Nunn, Chris Croucher, John Watt, Ian Dunk, Brian Raw

DON’T FORGET YOUR ENTRIES FOR THE “BIG

FISH TROPHIES”

The categories are: Best fish from Sussex water Best fish from Sussex reservoir (including Bewl) Best brown from Sussex water Best brown from Sussex reservoir or river. The closing date of catching 31st December 2016. Trophies will be presented at the End of Season Gathering in April 2017.

Boxed Fly Collections You may recall that at last year’s iFish show we offered for sale a number of club-owned boxed fly

collections. which sold really well. So the plan was to do something similar at this year’s iFish 2016. A number of our members have shown extraordinary generosity by donating flies, fly-boxes or boxed fly collections to supplement the stock we currently hold. At the risk of embarrassing them, on behalf of the Branch, I would like to say a big “Thank You” to the following members for their support and generosity: John Cooper, Paul Davis, Wayne Duerden, Ted How, Roy Gurney, Bill Smith, Tony Kaatze (also his donation to the auction) and Tony Woolnough.

Tony Harrison

FLY-TYING COMPETITIONS Elsewhere in this newsletter you will find the patterns for the Branch competition (which also cover some of the patterns for the main Guild competition, details of which are in the Autumn edition of the “Flydresser” ). The entries (or rather lack of entries) for last year’s were disappointing to say the least, so let us have a bumper entry this year. We have a lot of talented tyers in the Branch and had they entered in the Guild competition last year I am sure they would have given good account of themselves. This year, have a go – the more the merrier! Hopefully we will be able to devote some sessions to the competition patterns and really “go for it”.

RG

OUR AUTUMN AUCTION – how it went

There is one word to describe our Autumn Auction on 20th October - BRILLIANT! On the night the 50 attendees bid just under £2,600 for the 313 lots on offer. To put this in perspective, in the Spring auction the bidding was just under £1,400. A small part of me wonders just how much more we would have been able to make towards Branch funds had we been able to attract 60 or 70 attendees (in the past we have had up to 85 coming). That said, nothing can take away from the fact that getting £2,600 in bids was just brilliant. You may remember that during the past year Roy and I spent over £400 of the Branch’s money in acquiring a wide range of predominantly fly tying material and tools fro three people who had approached us. The items purchased were sorted into 144 auction lots which we owned, so the branch had a vested interest in holding a successful auction. I would like to take a moment to thank all of those who helped and contributed towards making this a really successful occasion, including all of you who spread the word to friends and colleagues,

all who helped on the night and all who attended on the night and had a few bids. Many thanks to Roy Gurney, Brian Raw, Bill Smith, Ray Love, Tony Woolnough, David Painter, Tony Kaatze, and Nathan Winter for their work in getting information and posters to various fisheries and angling clubs and special thanks to the auction-night teams: Finance/accounts : Paul Bond, Ray Bond Roy Gurney and Bill Smith Catering: Ray Love and David painter Porter/demonstrators: Jim Harris, Paul Davis and Nathan Winter Assisted by: Bill Smith, Brian Hendry, Tony Woolnough, Phillip Ellis, John Cooper and John Plowman My thanks also to those of you who are not mentioned above who helped get the message out or helped on the night and especially to the 50 who came along and bid – in some cases many times! My personal thanks to the two people without whom, quite simply there would be no auction; Mike Humphreys, for his skill, patience, humour and continued support to this Branch; and Roy Gurney who puts together and circulates all the catalogues (a massive task) and takes the money on the night and then balances the books following the auction – a heartfelt thanks to you both. So, what did we make? As a result of the support and hard work of the above-mentioned and other unnamed members (and my apologies if I have forgotten anybody) the Branch has benefited by the best part of a thousand pounds!

Tony Harrison

Chairman’s Chat Many fish pass designs are not only about siting a structure which will work hydraulically and

biologically (if that is a word). The problem below includes a complex of six channels, all with their own problems. Not least of which is that the whole site is subject to serious flooding. You will also note two lines of stepping stones on a public footpath. There is no access for vehicles, the site is in joint ownership and it is a high amenity area. There is a sluice, three weirs and two culverts. So how do you deal with the problems ? To minimise costs and simplify access two fish passes could be provided if you could encourage/ prevent fish entering the other channels. To stop fish entering the other channels, the other weirs etc. could be raised to concentrate flows in the channels with fish passes BUT this would / could be seen as increasing the flood frequency of the site. This could be countered by bringing the sluice gate (not shown) at the head of the Mill Stream into service and automate it, although it could be blocked by debris. Another option to prevent fish entering channel without fish passes, barriers (weirs) at the downstream entrances to the channels, but this would flood the stepping stones and result in nuclear war with the hikers. Our draft proposals are: 1. Lower the sluice intake and upstream weir crest. This will reduce the flood frequency of the whole site, concentrate the flow into the modified channels, simplify maintenance access (via St. Thomas’s Island) and only involve one land owner’s approval.

2. Convert the sluice channel into a pool and weir. 3. Cut a bottom baffle fish pass into the lowered weir crest. These works will require a temporary bridge for construction traffic and a wayleave for the maintenance staff. I just pray that the Client does not want lots of alternative layouts / options. Tony W

Roger Smith Our December speaker was Roger Smith, who made a welcome return after his presentation of fishing in the Welsh Borders a couple of years ago. This time he demonstrated a new twist to some traditional patterns with a masterful display and narrative which was enthusiastically received by those present.

Roger Smith at Patcham

The use of artificial material replacing some of the traditional natural ones was most illuminating and his foam beetle a great example of this. We can look forward to another entertaining evening with Roger some time in the future – what will he bring to us next? I believe Tony Woolnough may have details of the patterns. P.S. Roger has sent us the following e-mail: “Last Night - J ust a note to say thank you for allowing me to share a few patterns with your branch members last night. I’m pleased to say I had a smooth journey home today. Thank you for the expenses and the contribution to the Lugg and Arrow Rivers Fisheries Association which is part of the Wye & Usk Foundation. You should receive an email for WUF when they receive the money next week. Meanwhile tight lines and threads! Roger”

FLY-TYING TROPHIES The patterns for this year, which also double for some of the Main Guild competition, with details in the Autumn “Flydresser”, are: Novice Pheasant Tail Dry Fly

(substituting Red Game for Honey Dun hackle)

Intermediate Peter Ross Open Sunset Spinner Saltwater Tony’s Epoxy Fry Salmon Grape Bucktail Three identical samples of each fly to be submitted by Thursday 16th March 2017 to Paul Bond or Alan Middleton. They will then be passed to the Guild for entry to the national competition, together with any other entries for the other Guild categories which can be submitted via the same route or direct.

SUBSCRIPTION REMINDER ANOTHER GENTLE PROD TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE YET TO FORK OUT YOUR SUBS

FOR THE NEW SEASON. Please let Roy Gurney have your subscriptions for the Branch (and main Guild if you renew through the Branch) as soon as possible. Don’t forget - if you don’t renew now, you will not receive further copies of the “Flydresser”, be able to enter Guild competitions or be eligible for insurance cover provided by the Guild, If you can’t get down on Thursdays, his address is:

29 Capel Avenue, Peacehaven, BN10 8NB

Published by the Sussex Branch of the Flydressers’ Guild

Chairman: Tony Woolnough 01273 483833 Secretary: Paul Bond 01273 420410 Treasurer: Roy Gurney 01273 581519

Editor: ROY GURNEY

29 Capel Avenue, PEACEHAVEN, BN10 8NB E-MAIL: fdgsussex@capel29.plus.com

Visit our web site Sussexflydressers.org.uk