2011 News and Initiatives

The committee have been very active so far this year, planning a number of initiatives that help promote the Club and the River Almond, not only within Cramond, but the wider community.  The Chairman is talking to “Fishing for Heroes”, with regards to the Club assisting by hosting an event on the River and potentially offering some free memberships.  We’ve been invited to jointly host an “Open Day” with WLAA at Almondell & Calderwood Country Park, so once further details are available they’ll be posted here.

If you are able to help with any of these events, then please drop the Chairman an E Mail.

Fish In The Classroom – Cramond Primary School (23rd February 2011)

The Club, in conjunction with the River Forth Fisheries Trust and Stirling Council have arranged for the very successful “Fish In The Classroom” Project to be rolled out to Cramond Primary School.  It is hoped that next year (funding permiting) that we’ll be able to roll this out to further schools within the catchment.  The Hatchery will be installed on Tuesday 23rd February, with Jo Girvan (RFFT Biologist) and Jim Madden (Club Treasurer) attending site.  Our thanks go to Davy Jones (Stirling Council), Patrick Fothringham, Jo Girvan (RFFT) and Fen Howieson for making this happen.  A great example of the Committee and Sub Management Group delivering a project that aims to enhance learning outcomes within Environmental Studies curriculum, as a result it is hoped that students will develop skills in science-based understanding leading to enhanced social and environmental responsibility.

Read the full article here.

Linn Burn Tidy Up (Keep Scotland Tidy) Sunday 20th March 2011

We have arranged a tidy up on the Linn Burn, prior to the spring “Keep Scotland Tidy” campaign with our new neighbours West Lothian Angling Association (WLAA), West Lothian Council and the local Farmer.  West Lothian Council will be providing the skips and the plan is to start the event at 08:00 and clear all the debris from “fly tipping”.  This should make a big difference to the Gogar Burn and hopefully improve the water quality and access for Brown Trout.  As you’ll see from the picture below it’s going to be a fair old job, so the more hands the quicker and easier it’ll be.  Our thanks go to Fen Howieson for arranging this event with all the parties involved, it’s great to see yet another initiative coming from the Sub Management Group and Committee.

Angler Monitoring Initiative (AMI) with The Riverfly Partnership

Thanks to Jim Madden (Club Treasurer) the Club has secured funding to run the Angler Monitoring Iniative on the River Almond.  The event will be hosted by our partners the “Cramond Boat Club” on Monday 4th April 2011, it’s great to see so many people getting involved and we hope that this will be the start of increased monitoring across the catchment.  We have several Club Members attending, along with our neighbours from West Lothian Angling Association (WLAA), Jill Gillard (SEPA), Jo Girvan (RFFT), Kirsty from Almondell & Calderwood Country Park and a couple of students from Heriot Watt.  Yet another initiative being delivered out of our Committee and Sub Management Group.

Catchment Weirs

A very quick update (Sept 2011) - I heard last week that FDSFB and RFFT have granted permission to carry out sediment sampling on the weirs.  The reason being that if the course of action decided upon partial or full removal of the weir, there is a chance that the sediment that has been held back over a number of years could have a detrimental effect on the River downstream.  As you’ll understand this project may take a few years to complete, as the funding involved in weir removal is substainal.

Electro Fishing Survey

The River Forth Fisheries Trust as part of the District’s Catchment Management Plan’s has provided 3 days electro fishing on the catchment.  This has allowed us to survey a number of sites including the Niddry Burn, Brox Burn, Gogar Burn as well as sections of the mainstem in theLivingstonarea.  The fishing was cut short to 2 days because of a serious pollution incident on the River Avon, but our final day has been re-arranged for Saturday 20th August 2011.  We hope, weather permitting to survey the Linhouse Water, Murieston Water, Killandean Water, the Briech Water and a site on the Upper Almond.  This is the first step in understanding “who lives where”, this data and the historic data will be collated so we can start building a better picture of the catchment and identify issues which may be stopping adult fish or effecting juvenile habitat. 

Many thanks to the River Forth Fisheries Trust, Club Members, Committee Members and West Lothian Angling Association members that assisted and a special thanks to Cameron Chapman, it was great to have such an enthusiast junior members with us on all 3 days.  A further update will be provided once we have analysed the data.

    

2012 Season Tickets

Renewal’s are open for all 2011 members that provided a “Catch Return” for season ending 31st October 2011 from 1st January 2012, for new members and 2011 members that didn’t supply a “Catch Return”, membership opens of the 1st February 2012 on a first come first served basis.  Please refer to the Permits page for further information.

Cramond Angling Club Outings 2009/10/11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the full details for the 2010 outings please see the Club Outings Page, we have still to finalise some of the dates and venues, but we’ll endeavour to update the website as soon as the information is available.

The Juniors Competition/Fun Day was an excellent event, paid for by the Angling Club, with tutition from Gordon Graham. All the kids went away with a trophy, a certificate and a goodie bag.

What’s happening – West Lothian Angling Association

Some great news from upstream, which I’ll try to capture.  I spoke with the Chairman the other day (Sept 11) and he was preparing to attend an evening event at Almondell and Calderwood Country Park, which sounds like an excellent idea and something we should look to assist with in the future.  “Come Fly with Us” has been pulled together following a conversation with a number of parties, they have developed a series of angling workshops in fly tying and fishing.  The booklet has been produced to inform those attending the sessions and can be used as an educational tool as well.  A great bit of collaboration between WLAA, Art Link Edinburgh and the staff at Almondell and Calderwood Country Park.

The Chairman is also arranging some tidy up days during the winter months, so we’ll add some detail here and on our forum once it’s available.  It would be great to help out, as this too will have a big impact on our fishing.

Club Member Offers

CAC are pleased to annouce the following offers available to our members.

Fishers 10 John Street, Penicuik EH26 8AD, Tel: 01968 672877 E Mail: sales@fishersdirect.com Website: www.fishersdirect.com Members Offer – 10% Discount, Simply present your permit instore at time of purchase, terms and conditions apply, see instore for details.  (Fishers have sponsored our Season Tickets for 2010 & 2011)

Flies 24-7 , anniversary offer, 10% off all flies , the discount code can be found within the members only forum! visit www.flies24-7.com for more details.

Cramond Boat Club – Affiliate Membership

As promised in the Autumn Newsletter I can now confirm that the Angling Club are now Affiliate Members of the Cramond Boat Club.

Full Terms and Conditions of membership will be posted to members with their Season Tickets.

News Letter

The Spring 2011 edition of the CAC Newsletter is available for download here.

The Summer 2011 edition should be available early September.

If you wish to assist with reducing the clubs costs, then please contact the Club Treasurer with your E Mail address details.

Derbyshire Derwent / Cromford Fly Fishing Club

We have been offered an unique opportunity for members of the Cramond Angling Club to fish alongside John Pass on his home water. If you’re interested then please contact John Pass Mobile 07762-901334 Home 01623-759918.

John will happily provide details of accommodation in the area and the fishing is free, there is a limit of two members at any one time. Great fishing for both wild and stocked Brown Trout and of course Grayling.

I have known John for a number of years now and he’s a well respected angler and a supporter of the River Almond and the Cramond Angling Club.

Hopefully, John will make it up to fish this year and I’m sure you’ll all make him feel at home again.