Marsh Farm

[Phil Smith 2]

With many anglers travelling to fish this venue they need be aware of a new rule to combat fish virus. When arriving, they go to the on-site shop to get their day ticket, they need to take a DRY landing net head to show at the same time. The ticket will then be stamped as checked.

 

[geoffmaynard]

And also note that you will need to be off the water at 5.30 when the shop shuts! I think a letter of complaint from each of us is required as this new ruling doesn't seem to have been very well thought out and ignores the needs of the customers.

Perhaps IC will comment?

 

[preston96]

And also note that you will need to be off the water at 5.30 when the shop shuts! I think a letter of complaint from each of us is required as this new ruling doesn't seem to have been very well thought out and ignores the needs of the customers.

Perhaps IC will comment?

you could always move off commercial waters Geoff :j

 

[Cakey]

yeah get on a proper water :wh

 

[the indifferent crucian]

Ok, it isn't great...rushed decision, the AGM was a very confused bash.


Nobody liked the decision, but nobody could come up with a better idea.


With surrounding waters carrying the KHV, it was pointed out what the outcome would be if the virus got into Marsh Farm..bearing in mind it is fed from local streams and drains out into others....some going North to the Wey and on to the Thames and so very nearby are others going South and on to the Arun.

The Club is enormously indebted to the on-site tackle shop for taking the strain and dealing with the loaning , against deposit, of nets....But the guys in the shop are working a 10 and a half hour day without a break.

Nobody felt it was appropriate to ask them to work later into the evening...though, knowing them, it wouldn't suprise me if they did anyway..that's the sort of people they are.

It was agreed that the ruling would be flexible and that if a better idea was suggested it would be proper for the commitee to meet to discuss it and vote accordingly.

I am not a commitee member and this is just what I picked up listening to those who know what they were talking about...nobody wants to take advantage of day ticket visitors or discourage them from coming to the venue, but the dangers are self evident.


As the waters warm up this Spring I fear we shall see, once more, this disease rampaging through our fisheries...it's only the result of a long Winter that has held it in check for a few months. It's still out there, just dormant for a few weeks longer.


All around us are waters infected with this virus...in a month or so it will become active again. The only 'cure' ... if it is one ....is to drain , cull and destroy the sediment, before re-filling and re-stocking. It scares me silly to think that just one thoughtless angler with a wet net from visiting another venue could bring this Club to its knees.


Already we are at the stage of ' what if '.....when if a few 'importers' had obeyed the rules it would never have been an issue.

 

[geoffmaynard]

I appreciate all that IC but it begs the question - if an angler can bring it in on a wet net - if the already infected fisheries really are that close - then surely waterfowl will be bringing it in on wet feathers etc?

 

[the indifferent crucian]

That might yet prove to be the case Geoff. We will only know when the water warms up and the virus becomes active again. We pray that we are still clear of it.

But to do nothing and just take a chance seemed foolish. The cost to cull, drain, scrape clear the silt and dump it, before re-stocking would break the club.

It's cost a fair few bob buying several hundred landing nets, as you can imagine.

It's not for me to say, but the shop usually stays open later as the Summer progresses............who knows ? Finding someone to attend the lakes and return deposits after 5.30pm might be harder than finding a Chelsea supporter with a smile this morning.

The new rules aren't popular with the members either, who realise that a day ticket water, open all year, is a valuable asset to the club, but it's because it is such an asset that it needs protecting.


If only there was a simpler way to kill the virus, but it's either a 'quarantined net' or 100 degrees C......and I don't think there's any nets on the market that can take that ?


But I personally think we must find a way to allow our guests to fish later, though the club waters have always closed to non-members at 7pm anyway.

I should say that I can find nothing about presenting dry nets for inspection as mentioned by Phil Smith 2. I have checked the web-site and the circular handed to members at the AGM. Where did you get that from Phil ?

Edit: I have now recieved confirmation about inspecting nets from a commitee member. Phil was spot on and the website will be modified asap. This means that our guests can fish on until 7pm. Once again we are indebted to the on-site shop for taking on another chore to make it all work, well done Steve Moore, Paul and Mike !


Somewhere there, is a crucian near to the British record, perhaps already above it ? I've had a few this year already and the bigger ones must show soon...the teasing swine were taking emergers last night and not my pellets.

 

[alan whittington]

I appreciate all that IC but it begs the question - if an angler can bring it in on a wet net - if the already infected fisheries really are that close - then surely waterfowl will be bringing it in on wet feathers etc?

Also to add to the I.Crucians post the conditions on a wet net would almost certainly be a perfect host for the diseases,so make sure its dry,i understand Phil's problem,as he fishes almost every day,if he is doing well a dry net is hard to achieve(he could fish less like the rest of us,or have three nets to ensure one is dry),other than than that Marsh Farm should supply nets like many other fisheries.

 

[Phil Smith 2]

It seems that most have missed the point of my post, the previous requirement to hire a landing net and return it has been stopped. Just take your own dry net to the shop and they will be alright.

It is recognised that the virus cannot easily be killed by dips but does not survive a dry period.

This is from a email to me from Malcolm Richardson in response to my initial queery and suggestion.

hope this helps.

Phil

 

[Jeff Woodhouse]

Most dips on commercials and club waters never would work, you need absolutely FRESH liquid, just mixed.

You need to leave the nets in the liquid for at least 30 minutes, 1- 1½ hours preferably and I just can't see anglers doing that.

It usually just a quick 10 second dip in some rancid mixture that was two weeks old (on many waters), a quick shake off and away they go. A complete and utter waste of time. Drying is by far the best option, 24 hours in the sun kills everything.

PS, I should add that the above also came from the EA Fisheries, Thames Region.

 

[tinca steve]

I was one of the poor anglers caught up in this fiasco, OK so you can use your own net now you say but that still leaves the problem of the gates being closed at shop closing time.

Having talked it over with a few friends we may have come up with a partial solution.
As a member has to do a work party, maybe the lesser disabled members could make it possible to make their work party be the collection of and reimbursement of deposits and of course the operation of the gates for a few days. Its only an idea but .........................

 

[Mark Wintle]

John Raison (Gold Valley) gave up on net dips when he realised that a quick dip did nothing. What he did realise was that the principal reason for the transference of diseases like this one was restocking. Drying your nets after each trip makes a lot of sense.

 

[Phil Smith 2]

Not been yet this year but previously the gates closing had nothing to do with the shop closing time. I believe it is officially 1 hour before sunset.

 

[Neil Maidment]

Agree with Phil, the gates being locked didn't seem to be linked with the shop. A lot of my trips there were/are late afternoon onwards (a few miles from where I work).

As for KHV, it is obviously a very serious issue around these parts and all anglers should do whatever is necessary to minimise the risk. However, despite GAS' best efforts "king" carp still seem to turn up in MF Complex and they don't swim across open farmland! Stupid people seem to be intent on ruining fisheries by their irresponsible actions.

Are GAS bound by any restrictions/covenents, associated with non members access, connected to the original funding acquired to build the complex?

 

[the indifferent crucian]

Lots of issues raised here.....


The gates should be locked at 7pm and guests to have left by then, however it seemed to me that just one ballif was being asked to enforce this last year and he does have a life outside of Marsh Farm.

King carp in the lakes? ...well the official reasoning is that they slipped in as young fish when the the lakes were first filled from nearby Johnson's Enton Lake. However a monster has just been caught and it seems hard to believe that he has evaded capture all this time.....see the Club website for details.

I met some day ticket anglers last year who thought the place was ruined by removing the king carp strains. When I pointed out that the idea was to retain the purity of the crucians, ....and that a British record was on the cards in a year or two it fell on deaf ears. Some anglers just want to catch big bags of carp regardless of other issues. Whilst I wouldn't dream of criticising the approach of others to their fishing, it does seem that to some numbers is all important and the element of chance is just an annoyance.

Marsh Farm too, has dropped net dips..which means my car smells rather bad at the moment and only the dog seems keen to join me in a drive these days.

Nets are still available to borrow against deposit if yours isn't dry, but the shop opens at 7am and I think the guys there have done a full days work when they go home at 5.30pm, so a rented net needs to be returned to the shop before then. The club is sorry the need for a deposit has arisen, but some nets just never got returned.

Oh, and all new stock is tested for KHV and other infections before purchase, so we hope to have that issue covered. Personally I think it's way too early to say that a principle reason for the spread of this disease is re-stocking. Since the disease is so new to the UK and is said to lie dormant over the colder months I don't think anybody is in a position to speak from authority yet.

When the waters warm up we may get a truer picture .....



EDIT. I have just accessed the rules for day ticket holders and it is indeed until one hour before sunset, not 7pm as I thought. The Club's website is not yet updated with the 'dry net inspection' news.