The section continues to prosper with a membership of 102, including 6 junior members. We worked throughout 2021 within the Covid regulations applicable at the time and managed to run fishing competitions throughout the period. Fewer boats competed in the earlier competitions of our Angling year as members continued to be wary of Covid risks associated with social distancing.

 

The Committee continued to meet virtually utilising TEAMS before we were permitted to physically meet and were able to promote competitions and plan for the Open Cod Competition. The Committee is reinvigorated with several new members joining the team and have already implemented actions to advance the offering of membership to the Angling Section. We have launched a species hunt competition for 2022 which will be focused on a more ethical ‘catch and release’ competition, spanning 13 months. We have also upgraded 4 bait freezers, under a self-financing offering for all members of the Angling Section for 2022.

 

The section were pleased to run 24 competitions with 13 unable to fish because of bad weather, some good fish brought to the scales throughout the year. Steve Lane was the out and out angler for the year securing 50 points, some 30 ahead of 2nd place John Pinch with 3rd place Phil Evans 19 points. Three anglers won the following  competitions Biggest Cod John Pinch, Thornback Harvey Preston  and biggest Bass was won by John Pinch. We have arranged a sell out Presentation Evening for the 9th April with Ceri Dupree show.

 

November saw the 44th annual running of our famous Open Cod Competition attracting 424 anglers on 124 boats, which were very pleased with in this Covid year. The club’s restaurant was kept busy in the morning providing breakfasts and in the evening the bar staff worked hard for the presentations. This year’s competition was challenging with difficulties caused by the weather, low tide and restricted barrage operations causing delays to the weigh-in as many boats were stuck in the chaos of barrage operations in deteriorating weather conditions. Only 19 fish were brought to the scales, with the best fish being weighed-in around 15lbs. Some lessons have been learnt to improve the competitions operation and protocols with the date of 20th November 2022 fixed for this year’s competition.

The committee for 2022/23 is as follows : -

                             Chairman, Phil Evans             Vice chair, Harvey Preston

                           Secretary, Keri Britten              Treasurer, Simon Watts

Competition secretary, Paul Akerman               IT/website, Luke Evans

                 Weighmaster, John Gittings              Assistant weighmaster, Steve Lane

Membership secretary, Paul Akerman

Other members:- Alan Thorne, Tony Walsh, Mike Smith, Keith Wheeler.

 

The Angling section raised through 2 dedicated angling competition in memory of Simon Leek and Gareth Davies over £400 for Holme Towers Hospice & Velindre Hospital, and through social evenings £135 for the RNLI. 2021 has seen our accounts remain robust helped by the success of the Open Cod Competition and support of our section members.

 

We are hoping for an improvement in fish catches in 2022 and are looking to stage 35 competitions in 2022, along side the newly launched Species Hunt. We hope to continue to see the section thrive and will be looking to increase our offering to attract youngsters to our sport.

 

Tight Lines

Phil Evans

Chairman CBYC Angling Section