A Message From The Secretary

Happy Christmas to all our Cav Dock Anglers

Well, 2022 was a bit of a mixed year. Some good fishing, we shut down for the spawning that never really happened, or we didn’t spot it. Overall, the fishing was good with many excellent sessions had by lots of anglers from far and wide. We have Anglers from Blackpool, Preston, Manchester, Leeds and Whitehaven regularly visit Cav Dock.

What about the water? Well we tidied it up. Over 100 sacks of rubbish have been collected over the year from swims and the surrounding areas. The bailiffs and the odd volunteer donned waders and removed a huge number of snags from the water itself. So, this year has been about keeping it clean and tidy facilitating a better environment in which to fish. The good news is that you anglers seem to appreciate the clean-up and have maintained a high level of cleanliness. Let’s keep it up. We had bins installed by the council at the Railway Bridge end of East Bank and by the car park near the Stones swims. This has helped reduce the number of doggie bags discarded on the banks. Only on rare occasions have we found anglers leaving rubbish on their swims. Next year with Clubmate we will know who has been on which swim so will be able to trace back if there has been an incident. We will soon be buying equipment to enable us to keep the swims clear of weeds and bracken throughout the year for fishing and bivvying.

Joe Jagger ran a series of matches throughout 2022, there were some good days and bad but winning bags over 80lb of fish was common. Joe will be arranging these matches again next year if you want to try your hand. There may also be a couple of additional matches run by some of the bailiffs. These will be published in the Clubmate diary and on the BAA website Cav Dock pages.

I refer to Clubmate as this will be the App and software we will use to run the club next year onwards. It will support the purchase of day tickets and annual renewals. Day tickets will be introduced in 2023 as they can be purchased directly through Clubmate. Bailiffs will use Clubmate on their phones to check anglers hold a valid permit or day ticket. It is also a way of communicating news regarding the water and fishing restrictions. Everyone is encouraged to download the app and register in time for the new season permits that you need by 01 April 2023. It also has a shop where you can buy Cav Dock clothing.

There are lots of improvements we would like to make on the dock, but we are restricted in that we lease the water from Associate British Ports ABP. So, we need permission from ABP and on top of that there are very strict controls on what we can do as the dock is an SSSI assigned area. As a Site of Special Scientific Interest approval is needed from the appropriate authorities before any work can commence. We are working with ABP to get some of our ideas progressed. There are also other dock related activities brewing. Planning permission is being sought for up to 300 houses in the area and investigations have been undertaken to see if a 7 acre solar farm can be installed into the dock. We want to understand the impact if any these activities will have on your fishing and access. We will keep you informed of these and other news as we find out more.

We suspect, from information gathered by the Environmental Agency, that we may have had fish stolen from the dock. A live 20lb carp will cost in the region of £600 to buy from a fishery. I supported a visit by 2 police officers where they found evidence of illegal angling in the no go areas across from the railway lines beyond the Stones swims. Sections of the high fence had been removed to gain access. The police have input the locations into their system for added surveillance. If you see suspicious activities in these areas, then please call the police or let a bailiff know. Theft is a criminal offence, and we will prosecute offenders. We are working with the Council to get the fence repaired. Oh, and please remember that you must hold an Environmental Agency license to fish any water including ours. If you are fishing 3 rods you need an EA license that covers 3 rods. We did have some Cav Dock anglers caught and fined by the EA bailiff for not holding the EA license.

We would like to encourage more youngsters to learn how to fish and we want to open up to non-carp anglers. Why not buy the kids a wand or whip and introduce them to tiddler bashing! They are quite cheap to buy and it’s a great way to get them away from the XBox. So next year keepnets will be allowed for sliver fishing. However, no carp can be put into keepnets unless it is an official supervised match. Anyone putting carp into a keepnet other than in matches will receive disciplinary action.

Talking of disciplinary action, may I say that the behaviour of anglers on the dock this year has been exemplarily. We have only had to implement 2 bans for rule breaking and both persons had warnings before they repeat offended.

So for next year. Permits must be renewed before 01 April 2023, Clubmate will be the method of renewing or obtaining day tickets. I am afraid that the cost of a permit is going up to £40 for an annual adult permit but junior permits will stay at £10. £40 is still good value compared to other carp waters in the region and Cav Dock is an excellent water. 12- and 24-hour day tickets will be available via Clubmate only. Some Club rules will change to accommodate day tickets and silver fishing. The rules will be accessible via the BAA website for Cav Dock. Matches will be arranged for 2023, and the dates and restrictions will be published in the Clubmate diary. And of course, we want to secure our fishery by stopping and catching poachers.

If you have any suggestions on how to improve the fishery then please pass them on to our excellent bailiffs who you will always find friendly and supportive. Our Head bailiff is Colin Pratt and he is supported by his Deputy Allen Cooke. A list of all bailiffs can be found on on our new website and the facebook group.

And finally, May I, on behalf of the Barrow Angling Association and the Cav Dock Bailiffs, wish you a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year with loads of good fishing.

Seasonal Greetings and Tight Lines

George Teasdale MBE

Secretary BAA