Well, here's to the end of 2022 and what a year it's been!
Firstly, we would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of the members for their continued support this past year, and not forgetting the new members we have been lucky to have gained too, we really couldn't offer such fantastic angling, at so many venues, for such a small annual investment if not for you!
2022 has been a year of both huge success, and difficulties.
As many of you already know, this year saw a few pool closures due to the Cyanobacteria outbreaks during the warmer months. Little Apley, Tee Lake and Dothill pools were the worst affected and with the dedication, hard work and perseverance of our keepers, we were able to, along with the help of the Environment Agency, get everything under control, and we are happy to say that all waters are open for your angling pleasure!
Our Keepers are all volunteers, and spend a lot of their personal time patrolling the waters, and sorting out any issues that arise. During the water crashes, our Keepers were "in the trenches", sometimes until nearly midnight, removing dead fish, manning water pumps, and ensuring that the fish, and local wildlife were safe, and not under pressure as much as possible.
I think that I can say a massive thank you to the team from all members, as what they did literally saved these waters from doom!
We also had a huge water quality issue on the Newport Canal, with many fish losses due to a lack of oxygen, bought on by the huge amount of weed in the water. Unfortunately, Natural England had put a stay on any maintenance being carried out on the canal, so nothing other than removing the dead fish could be done!
We hope to have some answers regarding Newport Canal in the near future!
We also had a few successes too. We had some new eco-friendly pegs installed on the Wide Waters in Little Dawley. These were to replace the old, well used pegs, and were made to be more disabled friendly. Not all of the pegs have been completed yet, but hopefully, not for much longer (fingers crossed)!
Our biggest success this year has to be the Telford and District Juniors. Not only did we have a massive, and successful training season, but we also saw many of our juniors compete in the European Nationals, as well as the UK Nationals. Many of the kids who attended, it was their first time being involved in such an event, and they did everything correctly, behaved professionally, and made the club very, very proud indeed! I know that things will continue to get bigger and better moving forward into 2023 and beyond!
Telford Angling Association would also love to thank everyone who donated their unwanted fishing tackle to the Regeneration Project. All donations are put into the Juniors, and allows the kids to have access to great tackle and equipment that they may not normally have a chance to have, so again, Thank you to all.
(If you would like to donate anything, please see the Regeneration Project page on the website).
Well, that's all that I have to say right now, but remember to keep an eye on the blog for future updates and announcements. If you haven't tried our app, we have a page for that too!
See you all next year!
TAA.