AS I LOOK around the fisheries during the latter part of the season my thoughts are to global warming and the hole in the Ozone layer. Whoever filled the hole in ought to be shot!

Since November we have been subjected to one of the wettest Winters in living memory. Ok, maybe this has something to do with 'global warming' but at the moment it'll take a lot of convincing.

Looking back over the year our optimism of the season was rewarded with excellent fishing all round. Although the weather during the summer months was a little disappointing most fisheries were producing.

At Frogmore the fishery provided good sport in both lakes following stocking during the winter period. The car park lake produced Carp to 15lb, plenty of Tench, Roach and Bream to 6lb. The Match pool produced Carp to 14lb with some good bags of Roach and Rudd. A few problems with Pike resulted in their removal during the winter.

From November onwards the fishery suffered from severe flooding and virtually made it unfishable. We pumped the water out after initial flooding but then the water rose back up through the ground. We hope, by the time you read this report that we have successfully installed an overflow system to drain the lakes and things are back to normal !

Following a number of fish deaths early last year Riverside Road fished well during the first part of the season. In fact the match record for an evening match was broken with a fine bag of Roach weighing in at 35lb. Plenty of Carp, Tench and Crucians were reported at first but catches deteriorated as the season progressed.

We were obviously concerned and decided to carry out a full servey on the fishery to establish the problem. It was concluded that many of our original stock were affected by the pollution incident in 1998 and unfortunately mortalities were continuing to occur.

Throughout the winter we have been re-stocking with Carp, Tench, Crucians, Chub, and Rudd which helped to improve sport considerably during the latter part of the season. Crayfish continued to be removed and with the addition of Chub in the water we hope that the numbers should begin to fall.

Smallford produced Carp to 37lb, Tench and Bream to 10lb. Some fine Rudd and Roach to 2.5lb were reported together with reports of good mixed bags to waggler methods. Unfortunately Pike have not shown as well as in previous years with only mainly small fish reported to 18lb.

Following risk assessments carried out on the power cables pegs 1-14 have had to be restricted to rods not exceeding 4 metres in length. We have since been informed that the cables are to be buried early in the summer therefore this restriction will be lifted once the work is complete.

At Marford Farm sport has continued, as always in excellent form with many good reports coming from the 'long walk'. At long last we hope that the enhancement work at the top end of the short walk will be done during the close season which hopefully should open up many more swims.

Leasey Bridge has also produced some fine sport with Barbel, Chub and Roach from the River and Backwater. Heavy weed growth in the backwater during the latter part of the summer caused a few problems but we hope to keep a check on it this year.

New car park arrangements at the River Flit may encourage more members to visit this fishery this season. Good catches of Dace, Roach and a few small Chub were reported from this fishery throughout the season.

On the Great Ouse at Felmershaam and Radwell the season deteriorated rapidly from November with the river hardly recovering from the heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding. Prior to this time we had reports of Barbel to 14lb from Radwell and Chub to 5lb. At Felmersham we were pleased to hear reports of Barbel to 10lb and many smaller fish together with some good Chub and Roach .

Paynes Lane our Consortium fishery although receiving some stocking of Rudd last year has provided reasonable sport for those that are prepared to put some time into the fishery. Unfortunately the fishery has become almost unfishable during the winter due to flooding.

I believe many in the club still do not realise that they can fish the whole of the River Lea, which constitutes the Lea Anglers Consortium. This could be a reason why we have received no feedback.

Sadly during the latter part of the season we were obliged to close some of our fisheries directly linked with farms owing to the foot and mouth disease. Many thanks to you for you co-operation and understanding in this matter. Hopefully when you come to read this report the disease has been isolated and we can look forward to the new season.

And finally, on behalf of all the fishery officers may we thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you all again next season..

Barry Killinger