It is with great sadness
that we have to report
the passing of Peter
Neave, in hospital, on
the 19th September, from
a very rare and
aggressive form of lung
disease and chest
infection.
Peter was a stalwart,
much respected and
invaluable member of the
Syndicate management
team, handling all our
stocking arrangements
for many years. He will
be sorely missed. A
tribute to Peter appears
elsewhere on our
website.
Syndicate Independence
Following our Chairman’s
email of the 27th
August, we are pleased
to say that we have
received quite a few
responses in support of
the idea and have
therefore booked the
Village Hall at
Fletching for an
inaugural meeting on
Wednesday the 28th of
October at 7:30pm.
Please reserve this date
in your diary and try to
come along. It’s your
Syndicate so please make
the effort; we would
love to hear what you
have to say. Further
details will follow
nearer the date.
Work Parties
Over the summer months
the weed growth in
Grubbero and Piplye
Pools put on quite a
spurt and it became
virtually impossible to
fish, so, during August
we held no less than six
work parties, when we
dragged out enormous
quantities of the stuff.
Attendances varied, with
as many as 13 volunteers
turning out on one
occasion, with sadly
just 4 on the last, but
we managed to remove the
bulk of the weed.
Those attending were
rewarded with some
magnificent home cooked
cakes to enjoy during
the mid morning tea
break, kindly provided
by Brenda Newington.
Thank you Brenda, it
really is appreciated.
However, as usually
seems to be the case,
patches of weed
inevitably seem to
spring up again, even
when we think we’ve
cleared the area
completely, but
hopefully both waters
should now remain
fishable through to the
end of the season.
Water Quality, Stocking,
Catches and Limits
After the hot dry days
of summer when the
feeder streams all but
dried up, although the
oxygen content remained
O.K, the water
temperatures became too
high for trout’s
comfort. However, the
welcome rain and cooler
weather towards the end
of August, cooled the
waters and boosted the
stream flows resulting
in good flows and water
quality through all the
lakes. We therefore
restarted introducing
fresh stock into the
waters at the beginning
of September.
Unfortunately, the
subsequent dry spell led
to the flows becoming a
mere trickle again,
although water quality
remained good. Further
stocking has since taken
place and all the recent
rains have seen the
streams flowing once
again, the downside
being that all the lakes
are now carrying quite a
bit of colour.
Dependant on the species
and strain, fertile
trout normally spawn in
late autumn or early
spring, so the eyed ova
from which our fish
originate, are only
available at these times
of the year and this
obviously dictates the
size of stock available
at any given time of the
year. In common with
many fisheries during
the dog days of July and
August, we do not carry
out any stocking at
these times as it is not
fair to the fish and
they also tend not to
co-operate with any of
our attempts to catch
them.
As a consequence, fish
which would be supplied
at say11/2
to 2lb in weight in the
spring, grow on at the
suppliers and are now,
when we are
re-commencing stocking,
in the 3lb range or
larger, with smaller
fish unavailable at this
time of the year. This
is fairly normal and we
are in the hands of our
supplier, but, as there
is a limit on the weight
of fish that can be
safely transported and
we also pay for them by
weight, there are fewer
to go round than if they
were smaller. Therefore,
in order to share the
fish out and give all
members the chance of a
fish or two, we
introduced a temporary 2
fish per visit limit on
catches and have
received several emails
from members in support
of this strategy.
After the disastrous
fishing during July and
August, when just one
fish was caught from all
of the waters, we had
high hopes of catches
improving as conditions
cooled off, but, despite
the fresh stock,
initially very few fish
were caught, but now
that they have settled
down, more are showing
and although several
members have still
failed to catch, most
have managed at least
one fish, with quite a
few realising their 2
fish limit.
The writer visited
Piplye in the afternoon
of the 13th September
and caught 2 lovely
fish, a rainbow of 3lb
and a brown weighing 2lb
12oz (see photo).
Surprisingly, he was the
only member visiting
that day. Other fish
caught have all been of
a similar stamp and
members have also
reported being snapped
off, while one member
emailed us the
following, repeated
verbatim:
“I fished Cinder Hill last
Wednesday. Fish were
constantly moving in the top
pool and I had a fish third
cast (3.5 lb). This fish was
bright and I suspect
recently stocked. I
continued to fish the top
pool as two others arrived
and went to the other pools.
Fish continued to move and I
had a further fish after
about an hour. This fish
(2.5 lb) I think was not so
recently stocked it was not
as bright as the first fish
and was a thinner shape. I
was very encouraged to see
fish moving, being able
to catch a recently stocked
fish and also a fish that
had been in for some time.
Conditions were good, with a
good breeze and overcast. I
suspect members will be more
successful now that the fish
are more settled.”
Members are requested to
stick with the 2 fish limit
until the end of the month,
increasing to 3 fish per
visit at Piplye during
October and 4 fish during
November, the last month of
our season at this venue.
At Cinder Hill, our season
finishes at the end of
October, so a full 4 fish
limit there is in order
during that month.
Additional stock has since
been introduced, all fairly
large fish, including one
well in excess of 5lb, with
some browns and blues
included and further
introductions will take
place over the next few
weeks, so we should expect
some exciting fishing over
the closing months of the
year.
Suspicious Goings On
On the 1st September, in the
late afternoon, one of our
new members paid a visit to
Cinder Hill to take a look
at the lakes. Arriving at
the gate, there was a young
lad on a bicycle using what
appeared to be a mobile
phone or walkie talkie. The
gate and padlock were secure
as usual. Thinking nothing
of, the member let himself
in and proceeded to the
lakes. There was nothing
untoward at the top lake,
but when he approached
Hurstwood, there was a lot
of shouting, including some
pretty foul language, with
words to the effect of:
“Quick, get our stuff out of
the reeds”, or something
similar. When he got to the
lake, there was a guy in a
boat out on the water, from
whence all the shouting
emanated. Not wishing to get
involved with an obviously
unwelcome person, our member
beat a quiet retreat. There
was no sign of any vehicle
and when he left the site,
also no sign of the lad on
the bicycle. What was going
on?
The boat was probably the
Syndicate boat, which had
been moved from it’s hiding
place amongst the brambles
at the dam end of McArthurs
Pool to Hurstwood,
presumably by the Estate, as
they often use it to
retrieve fallen birds from
the water during the duck
shoots at this time of year.
If you feel up to it, please
feel free to challenge any
persons you encounter when
on our waters, however don’t
put yourself at any risk by
doing so, if there are 2 or
more of you so much the
better and take note of the
make and registration of any
suspicious vehicles. People
with a genuine right to be
there will not mind being
asked.
The second strange
occurrence was at the Junior
Course at Piplye on the 6th
September when, arriving on
site in the morning, both
the gate padlock and the one
on the hut were missing,
presumed stolen.
In order for this to happen,
either they had been left
with the numbers
unscrambled, or the
miscreant knew the code.
Only Syndicate members and
the Estate are privy to the
lock combination, so it is a
rather unpleasant thought
that one or more of our
members might be responsible
for stealing the padlocks,
not the sort of person we
really want in our
organisation. In addition to
the inconvenience, these
padlocks aren’t cheap and
the cost is born by the
Syndicate, money which could
be better spent on other
things.
New locks have since been
fitted. Please do NOT
leave any of the padlocks
with the combination in the
release position apart from
when passing through. ALWAYS scramble the
numbers after entry or exit,
especially when leaving the
site.
Cinder Hill Access
Although all the recent
rains have improved water
quality, they have not
helped the condition of the
track at Cinder Hill.
Although the area between
the hill and our hut has
been filled, when wet it is
very slippery and unless you
have a 4wd vehicle, it would
be wise to park before the
hill and walk to the lakes.
Although now covered in
grass, the area on the left,
just before the “water
closed” sign, has a hardcore
base and you should be safe
to park there.
Coaching for Members
Every season we have members
joining the Syndicate who
are relatively new to fly
fishing. Some struggle with
their casting, some to catch
a fish and some with both.
Therefore, in order to
assist any member, thereby
hopefully increasing their
enjoyment of our sport and
membership of the Syndicate,
we are happy to arrange
coaching/mentoring sessions
where our more experienced
anglers can offer advice
aimed at improving the
members casting, fishing
skills and techniques.
Members interested in taking
advantage of this offer are
invited to contact Alan
Purnell (alan@flyfishing4you.co.uk)
or the Branch (sta.sussex@gmail.com)
and provided sufficient
persons are interested, we
will make suitable
arrangements.
Best regards and tight
lines,
Mike Richardson, Syndicate
Organiser
Cinder
Hill Trouting Syndicate
Any
statements, opinions or information
contained in this website, do not
necessarily represent those of the
Cinder Hill Trout Syndicate
