Meeting: Annual Anglers Meeting
Date: Thursday 28th November 2024
Time: 10:00am
Location: Grafham Fishing Lodge
Attendees: Will Kirstein, Emma Devereaux, Simone Tauber, Andy Ainscough, Neil Atkins, Peter Hartley, Mel Parrott, Harry How, Ray Storer, Mark Brinkman, Christopher Faulkner, Tim Lawson, Paul Wild, John Wadham, Jamie Scott, Grant Gibson, Chris Bobby, Lianne Frost.
AGENDA
- Introduction
Peter Hartley welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave a brief overview of the history of the Federation, how it functions and why it continues. Peter went on to welcome the new club ‘FFLR’ to the meeting and explained his role as chair.
Introductions to staff in the room:
Andy Ainscough – Estates Manager (Rutland)
Will Kirstein – General Manager (Rutland, Grafham, Alton)
Simone Tauber – Visitor Operations Manager (Grafham)
Neil Atkins – Fisheries Retail and On-line Sales Manager
- Matters arising from minutes of last meeting
- Last year's minutes are not reflective of the issues raised at last year's meeting.
- WK stated that minutes are checked by the chair prior to circulation and that anglers present at the meeting should feedback concerns around the minutes as soon as they receive a copy of them.
- 2024 New Faces
An update on which new members to the fishery team was provided.
Retail Staff
- Grafham - Martin & Andy
Rangers
- Grafham - Lloyd, Joel, Ollie, Krzysztof, Gary
- Pitsford - Martin, Garry at Pitsford
- Rutland - Lee
- Anglers Survey
- The Survey ran for two weeks and was sent to all current season ticket holders and day ticket holders with 571 responses. It was made available on the AW, Clubs and Other social media pages and was open for any angler to complete
Points of interest:
Key results of the survey were shown on screen, these are detailed below
- 33% of respondents were season ticket holders
- 99% of respondents were male
- 66% of respondents are over 56 years of age
- Most respondents do not often fish competitions with over 50% of anglers claiming they ‘’rarely’’ fish competitions
- 28% of Anglers would not support the barbless only rule, compared to 10% who do not support the ‘’no kill’’ on browns rule. AW considers that this means there is not high enough support in the angling community to move to a ‘’barbless only rule’’ and as such anglers can continue to fish with barbed hooks. AW strongly urge all anglers to fish barbless whenever fishing C&R
- Social media is the dominant source of information for anglers about how well a water is fishing (this includes WhatsApp groups).
- 37% of survey respondents have introduced a beginner to the sport this year (on any UK water) with 63% stating they have not taken a beginner flyfishing this year.
- Overviews of the 2024 season
Brief reviews of the season given by Neil Atkins, Andy Ainscough and Simone Tauber:
Neil Atkins – Pitsford and Ravo: Great start to the season with reasonably settled weather. Both fisheries were busy in early Spring, fueled by closure of Fishery Management UK, and the fact that Elinor had challenges – and our waters were fishing well. At Pitsford notable Brownies were coming out up to 10lb. The only blot in our copybook was that the Bank at Pitsford was a little slow, which was a trend throughout the year. Going into Summer we saw very complimentary catch return comments – quoting some of the best hatches they had seen at Pitsford. July had fantastic rod averages, at 4.9. Buzzers were still fishing at both venues – although it’s fair to say Buzzer fishing was more consistent at Ravensthorpe. Going into Autumn some anglers continued to have exceptional days at Pitsford – a few 20 to the boats on dries – but your average angler was struggling. During October Pitsford shrimp and Fry feeding was a little disappointing it was more dries and small naturals. We’re now at the early end of November and we’ve not seen any improvement – fur and feathers were both very disappointing. In summary, a fantastic spring, and early summer – disappointing autumn/winter despite 3000 extra fish in Pitsford and 500 in Ravo.
Andy Ainscough – Rutland: Preseason fish fed well, great start to the season. Catch returns per month show the season has been consistent. As expected, rod averages start high and settle throughout the year. Spring, as always, has fished well. A couple of small isolated algal blooms throughout the year. Summer had a solid rod average of 4. A further impact of these closures has been an increase in competition in our waters, in an attempt to accommodate customers of the closed fisheries. Conditions have always (and always will) have an impact on fishing, electrical storms, water temps, bad weather. An example was given where anglers had practiced for a match and in pre comp practice the res had fished at 8 fish per rod, on match Saturday a storm rolled through a killed it for the rest of the weekend, with the match fishing to a lower average.
Simone Tauber – Grafham: Grafham had an average Spring and good Autumn, seeing higher rod averages than the other waters during Autumn. A lot of days cancelled in Spring due to strong winds. Grafham fished well in late Summer and early Autumn due to an increase in shrimp and fry. Competition for space became clear between bank and boat Anglers at G buoy, so we are looking forward to the launch of the volunteer bailiff program to support the rangers. Numerous competitions throughout the year have been successful. The launch of the online booking system has been a great addition to the service we offer. Overall Grafham has fished very well
No. of trout stocked:
- Rutland: 73,500 (71000 planned)
- Grafham: 39,000 (40000 planned) – The number was lower due to fish coming from the farms being underweight but at a time when the rod average was high, as such small fish were not stocked
- Pitsford: 28,000 (25000 planned)
- Ravensthorpe: 7500 (7000 planned)
Season Rod Averages:
- Rutland: 5.2
- Grafham: 5.38
- Pitsford: 4.6
- Ravensthorpe: 6.6
At this point anglers were shown data from the angler's survey that suggests that most anglers consider a ‘good day’’ catching 4-6 fish. It was noted that the AW rod averages fall into that range. It was also noted that anglers are expecting to catch more fish for a ‘’good day’’ with 30% of anglers expecting to catch 6 or more fish on a trip. AA noted that for a fisher to achieve this rod average all year round was highly unlikely
Members of meeting agreed with AW that Rod averages will continue to be calculated in the current method and that they are happy with the calculation used for displaying seasonal and monthly rod averages with data supplied by anglers using catch return data.
NA reminded anglers that our website shows live catch return data for our waters
Stocking:
AW explained that it was not a viable option for stocking from small boats and that fish would continue to be delivered in bulk. A question was asked if AW would buy a fish fam. AW are not considering a fish farm but are exploring cages for growing fish over the winter
There is a lot of feedback in the angler's survey that says that rod averages are too high in the spring. As such we will re-profile our sticking and this may well alter spring rod averages. Anglers are reminded that spring fishing may thus be different next year.
Pitsford stocking: A map, (prepared by Mark Mathiesen), of the reservoir was shown to indicate where fish were stock and how many were stocked in each location. Most fish stocked at Dam. This does provide option for stocking more at causeway or small half next year to test effect on fishing. There are only three viable stocking locations at Pitsford. WK advised that the club should decide how they best consider stocking locations the lake to be used and feed this back to fishery staff as there was no reason for AW to not move locations of fish deliveries
Grafham stocking: A map of Grafham, prepared by Simone, was shown that detailed the locations and number of fish stocked. 39,000 fish stocked. Most fish off South Shore. Our 2025 intention is to put less fish in the harbour and more in the sailing club where they are in the out of bounds area anglers to give them chance to settle in. This is a direct result of anglers saying that they don’t think anglers should be allowed to fish for freshly stocked fish. WK noted that anglers all comment about other anglers fishing for fresh stockies. However, it is anglers who are fishing for the fresh stockies. WK advised that anglers should encourage each to move away from fresh fish if its noted to be happening when on the water. Despite most fish being stocked on the South Shore at Grafham they follow the wind and end of the north shore. It is not currently felt that more of a spread of fish is required at Grafham
Rutland stocking: A map, produced by Andy Ainscough, was presented showing where the 73500 fish were stocked With a widespread stocking profile across the water, including 26000 fish at the bottom of the South Arm. Stocking in previous years has been front loaded, However, many open comments in the Anglers survey said that the fishing was too easy in early season and that the back end fished less well. As such fish stocks are being reprofiled based on angler's feedback and will now be split more evenly across the season
AA issued a RED LETTER WARNING ‘’We expect this means rod averages will not be 10 plus in early season and anglers need to remember this if rod averages are not what they usually are in the early season, please remember that if the lake is not fishing early season like it has in the past it is because the view of the angler is that AW should change our stocking profile. We are trying this based on angler feedback’’
Our 2025 Stocking policy will be published in full on the website as it is each year There are no changes planned to quantities or size profiles of fish and fish are on order. 3000 browns to be stocked. Changes to phasing of stocking as a direct result of angler feedback. Again, Anglers are reminded that we expect that early season fishing will not be as it has been in previous years and anglers are reminded to remember this in the early season. The changes are being made as a direct result of angler feedback.
- Fishing Trends
- In general, angling participation is healthy.
- Dramatic changes in ticket choice which puts revenue pressure on fisheries.
- Data was presented showing the changes in ticket sales record on AW waters since 2017
- 8 fish, 4 fish, and 6 fish seniors tickets continue to decline.
- Sporting tickets continue to increase.
- When asked in the survey Anglers are not clear or united on how fisheries should manage this change in usage. They are united on their lack of desire for diversification of trout fisheries or any form or change to fish stocks.
Results from the angler's survey show that 76% of anglers mostly fish C&R
- Sales data shows us that anglers are increasingly moving to C&R tickets. This means that despite a healthy rod average, revenue is falling. This is set against a background of increasing fish, fuel and other running costs. As such fisheries are having to review their operating models to simply limit financial losses.
- While anglers suggest putting up the price of tickets is the preferred option, when asked what limits their fishing, cost is the number one factor in our direct area of control that limits fishing time on our waters.
- The top three limitations on fishing are as follows, 1. Free time 2. Cost of fishing 3. Weather.
- Paul Wilde stated it would be better if the graphs showed during presentation used the same scale. AW agreed to rectify scale issues where possible but noted some numbers were just vastly different in terms of actual quantity and that the trend lines were correct.
- AW presented data on the number of starter and beginner permits sold and showed anglers the data form the survey that shows only 37% of trout anglers took a beginner fishing this year (on any UK water)
- The Idea was raised of AW providing free fishing for juniors under 18 (all catch and release permits) Neil Atkins stated that AW already allow JNRS to fish for free with a paying adult.
- All Day boat usage is decreasing amongst anglers. This is despite the fact that 57% of survey respondents said they mostly boat fish. AW believe the use of all day boats is directly related to either cost or availability of free time as half day boat use is increasing. Free time is the number one reason anglers don’t fish more often (according to the angler survey)
Data on the amount of predator angling that takes place on the water was shown dating back to 2017
- Predator fishing makes up on average 23% of day ticket sales and remains an important part of the sustainability of our waters
- 2024 Summary
- 2024 permit sales and boat hires have been stronger than previous years due to closures of Eyebrook and Draycote. They are lower however than the post covid bounce back all fisheries saw after covid
- The numbers of 8, 6 and 4 fish day permits sold continue to fall year on year with anglers choosing to switch to the sporting permit option.
- All day boat usage is decreasing year on year
- As expected, more competitions are reducing kill limits.
- Trout season ticket sales this year have picked up slightly but continue to trend downwards
- Predator and spinning for trout permit sales remain relatively stable and the introduction of a carp syndicate has proved extremely popular amongst course anglers.
- Game fishing remains the majority fishing type on our waters.
- 2024/25 Inflation & Cost Pressures
- Fish stocks have increase 41% since covid
- Engine and fuel costs have seen similar rises
- Wages (rightly) continue to rise
- Employers National Insurance changes next year are significant
- Anglers continue to switch to C&R (lower value ticket) and half day boat use
Price Changes over the same time
- Ticket prices have risen by circa 18%
- Boat prices have risen by 10%
AW does not believe we could pass on all inflationary rises to anglers at the time
- 2025 Permit & Boat Prices and changes
- Pre-Booked boat (boats booked online or via cash in the shop before the day they are to be used) prices are being held at this year's rates
- On day sales of boats are rising by 10%
- Day tickets have increased by an average 5.6% percentage
- Season tickets have increased by an average 5.3% percentage as tabled below
- We will no longer be offering season ticket renewal discount
- Multi-Stage Payments are still available
2025 Prices
Gold (500 fish season/8 fish per year/unlimited visits) – £1300.00
Silver (180 fish season/8 fish per year/unlimited visits) – £890.00
Bronze (65 fish season/4 fish per year/unlimited visits) – £800.00
Sporting (25 fish season/1 fish per year/unlimited visits) – £705.00
Starter (25 fish season/1 fish per year/unlimited visits) – £399.00
- What’s New
- Grafham Bailiff Scheme
- Line Bins
- Online Shop coming soon
- Fishing Courses booking online
- Refresh of boat league and standardization of fishing times
- Eyebrook, Draycote & the future of our waters
Eyebrook
- We will not operate Eyebrook as a game fishery as records from the previous operator show it was not commercially viable or sustainable.
- The site will be a mix use coarse & predator water and fall into our existing suite of coarse waters
- We are exploring the option of ''wild style'' brown trout angling
- We have contacted Eyebrook Fly Fishing Club as the most directly impacted customer group
- 5-year lease
Draycote
- Active lease negotiations are ongoing
- Plan to open the water on April 1st as a game fishery with addition of predator angling as per Rutland, Grafham and Pitsford
- Season to be in line with current waters
- Prices to follow our pricing at our current waters
- As we open Draycote, we will restructure our current waters and close Ravensthorpe as a game fishery
- Fishing lodge will be based in shop for now, but may move in future
- 10-year lease
Reasons for change:
The area surrounding Eyebrook is well served by Rutland, Grafham, Pitsford and Elinor Fisheries. A declining customer base and environmental challenges at Eyebrook mean the water is not currently viable as trout fishing water.
Ravensthorpe has long not been a profitable trout water. It struggles with low footfall and environmental challenges in the summer. We are often in a situation where we staff it for one or two, single angler boats. We have made changes to the operation to keep it afloat. However, with Draycote coming online the time is now right to consolidate our trout offer to the best trout waters available to us.
Draycote is a prolific and popular water, however, to ensure we can operate into the future we are diversifying the offer at Draycote to support trout fishing, much like our current waters.
All of these changes are being put in place to provide longevity for our game fishing operations and to maintain healthy trout fisheries for our customers.
Subject to the contract these changes will come into effect on April 1st, 2025.
Draycote impact on season tickets:
Subject to successful completion of the lease your four waters permit will no longer include Ravo but will include Draycote.
Should the Lease not complete your season ticket will retain Ravo and we will operate Ravo as we have done, with same fish stocks for 2025
- Dates for your diary
- Fisheries Open Day – 15th February at Rutland Water (Grafham last year)
- New Season Open Days 2025
- Rutland: Saturday 8th March
- Grafham: Saturday 1st March
- Pitsford: Saturday 22nd February
- Ravensthorpe: Friday 21st February (if Draycote does not open)
- Draycote: April 1st and Ravo remains closed (no boats or comps etc can be booked at Draycote until contract finalised and approved)
- Questions
- Paul Wild – “Initially the forum was to get feedback from clubs, is there a sense that the meeting is now turning into an information briefing from Anglian Water. Is this Federation of Anglers meeting now redundant?” Answer: We make a regular effort to speak directly to clubs and hear their feedback and we welcome feedback at this meeting. Action Anglian Water (AW): Review the structure of federation meeting to see if it can work better for both AW and clubs.
- Tim “Are there any plans to put better accessibility railings in at Rutland Water as the rails at Grafham are excellent for people with disabilities?” Answer: Nature of Rutland Pontoon makes it extremely difficult to implement a fixed rail, this is because the rail would just be screwed into a thin decking board and we don’t want it being ripped out the wood when used. Action Andy Ainscough: Andy to engage with a marine contractor to explore all possible outcomes and implement a solution.
- John Wadham “Bailiffs are a great addition to the water at Grafham, can this be implemented at other waters” Answer: Yes, if you’re interested in putting this in place somewhere else, please contact us and we will work with you for relevant training etc.
- Concern raised over placement of potential new fishing lodge at Draycote reducing spaces to bank fish. Answer: We are committed to continue bank fishing at Draycote (currently you must book to bank fish). We are currently unclear on the process that will be implemented but is something we are discussing with Severn Trent.
- “What will the policy be regarding nets and drogues at Draycote?” Answer: We are currently unsure on if these will be provided for Anglers at Draycote, further information to follow.
- Grant: “You use the cost of fish to increase ticket pricing, with Draycote now included (that will require stocking) the price will continue to increase. Have you ever considered buying or opening a fish farm?” Answer: This is something we have occasionally thought about. There are many complications that go alongside this that we will continue discuss. With using fish farms, we essentially pay for someone else to take the risk of losing fish. There are less fish farms than ever before which will continue to be an issue for us, but we aim to “not put all our eggs in one basket”. A good example is Bristol who lost 48,000 fish in one incident
- Grant – “Problem at Pitsford, we have spinners at Pitsford in July but not at any other water, why is this?” Answer: Pitsford and Ravo see our lowest number of Anglers. Your 4-water season ticket does allow you to fish in other places and we urge anglers to use all our waters. We think spinning would be a very popular addition to Rutland and Grafham BUT, we enjoy providing trout fishing, we like to have trout anglers on our sites, and we know it’s not popular with trout anglers. We respect that anglers do not want us to diversify the trout fisheries. Because of this and because now there is not an immediate financial need we are not planning to introduce spinning on Rutland or Grafham at this point in time.
- Grant – “Green algae is a major issue at Pitsford and Ravo, is there anything we can do about this?” Answer: There is very little we can do about this, however the Quagga Mussels currently in Pitsford may start to tackle this issue (Quagga Mussels at Rutland have made the water crystal clear which has changed the fishing and made it harder). Global warming and climate change both have a major impact on the algae issues. Pitsford and Ravo were directly affected by high rainfall. Sadly, as Grant has just said, Ravo suffers with algae and anglers do not fish it, it’s one of the reasons we can no longer operate it.
- Online booking: Can car parking be sorted for day ticket anglers online? Answer: Yes, it’s in development with the new booking season
Comment made regarding no bag check have been noticed this year at Grafham. Action AW: Make it clear on social media that bag checks will take place in 2025 across all waters.
“Are functions continuing to be developed on the website?” Answer: At the moment we are focussing on parts of the website build that give us commercial return. However, it is on the list for the fishing parts of the booking system to be more detailed.
- Grant – “Pitsford banks and car parks are a disgrace, is bank clearance on the itinerary for next season?” Answer: We know this is an issue. Grafham banks are in a good state due to work done by the local angling club. Lots of bank work at Rutland is taken care of by sheep. We will continue to look at Pitsford. We will investigate the potential of livestock at Pitsford and supporting work parties to help clear the banks
- “Hours to fish on the dam at Grafham, will this ever be reviewed?” Answer: We have had a valid piece of sensible feedback during the survey regarding times for the dam and is a valid argument that we can look at. We will not be able to open unlimited access to the dam, but we can re-look at usage times and will work with the club on this.
AOB
- Season Ticket Nomination - Nominate an angler who you feel has maybe contributed to the AW fly fishing community or perhaps made a positive impact on the sport on your favourite AW water or maybe is just someone who is a regular who is well liked and respected. The overall winner will receive a free season ticket for 2025.
- We are aware the service standards at Pitsford have been lower than we would like this year. There have been a range of issues that we are very much aware of, and we sincerely apologise for this and will make improvements at Pitsford before and during the 2025 season. There is no good excuse from us, and we do apologise to our anglers at Pitsford
- Retail sales are due to go online for start of the 2025 season – Which means retail stock can be purchased online and delivered to you (or click and collect from a lodge). Don’t forget our lodges price match!
- Higher interest than ever in beginners' courses, welcoming customers from all over the country, including 2 from Australia and 2 from Camen Islands. Courses are now bookable online, and we will push and actively promote these courses via paid social media adverts.