Season 2022 - 2023 round up

This season shows a slightly improved river based on personal reports and match results. Nets have included chub, roach, dace, perch, rudd and barbel. We have seen chub to 5lb plus, roach to a lb and perch between 2 to 3 lb. There is a lot of input behind the scenes to improve the river. The River Thame Conservation Trust carry out a lot of work to improve the entire River Thame basin and tributaries. Working with the trust we are also helping to monitor 40 sites on the Thame and tributaries to keep a check on water quality issues and highlight any problem areas.

The end of season fishing has not been at its best this year following the prolonged floods followed by severe frosts when the river dropped to nearly zero degrees. The river is still just around 5 degrees. There are a lot of anglers who have had blanks during this period but this is not just relative to our stretch of the river. Both upstream and down have had similar or worse results with some matches on the River Thames reporting zero fish for the entire match field of anglers.

Our membership is looking healthy. During the covid outbreak the figures were inflated as a lot of people returned to fishing but as a club we have retained a percentage of these extra anglers which is encouraging. Over the past couple of years we have installed platforms in 6 swims and improved a further 6 older platforms. We intend this year to install 6 to 8 platforms and repair another couple. We will also work on clearing swims of debris, cutting back trees in a sensitive manner, stimming the paths and pegs and possibly open up a couple of new swims we have identified. Obviously the above takes time and effort and improves the fishing experience for all our members. We will generally carry out this work over the weekends of the closed season. We generally have 99% of all the kit and equipment needed for these tasks but would ask all of our members if they could spare some time to help with the work.

If you can spare some time it is a great way to learn about the river and the various swims in each section. Please contact me via the contact page or call/message Richard on 07958286795 or contact Julian via the Facebook page (Cuddesdon Mill Village Anglers Association)

Last year we removed approx 5000 crayfish from the pegged swims along all 4 sections of the river. We now have more nets giving us a total of 27 . We will start netting once the water temp increases. As a general rule ( but not fixed) we will net the pegs in the match section the week prior to the match, so please keep an eye on the permit for these dates. All of our nets have EA white printed license tags attached. Please do not remove any nets or crayfish from the nets as we are keeping the statistics for all crayfish caught. We believe the removal of the crayfish last year improved our fishing experience and moving forward this effort will improve the fishing for all of our members.

Most of our waters are rented form local farmers and we ask all members to respect their land. Please always replace any sprung loaded barbed wire sections and ensure general barbed wire fencing is not damaged.

If there are any members who wish to participate in the club matches then please see the permit for dates, times and venues. The guys fishing the matches are a very friendly bunch and will always be willing to give help and guidance. It can help to improve your fishing and knowledge about the various sections and swims on our river. If you have any questions then please contact myself or Julian.

The clubs AGM will be at the Lamb public house in Chalgrove on Tuesday 25th April 2023 at 7.30 pm. Please either join us, or if you have any points to raise then please forward to myself or Julian so they can be discussed.

Regards. Richard Borrell CMVAA Match Secretary.