ASSOCIATION BEAT MAINTENANCE
New parking corral - Upper Bodfari - Spring 2022
Beat maintenance and habitat improvement are always high on the agenda for Rhyl and St Asaph Angling Association and as such working parties are an important part of our association's activities. A well-attended work group can achieve a lot of beat maintenance in a morning or afternoon. Apart from the essential work carried out - improving access to our beats, and helping to make the water easier, safer and more enjoyable to fish for our members, they are great fun and a good way to meet and make friends with other members and also learn about the waters we fish. No one is asked to do more than they are able or confident to do.
All of official maintenance work is organised by our river keepers John Davidson and Richard Roberts. They are both qualified in using certain power equipment and make sure that the work groups are carried out in a safe environment. In our "Documents" section you will see the various health & safety documents and guidelines developed by John and Rich.
** MEMBERS BEAT MAINTENANCE **
Members have their favourite beats, and may wish to carry out basic ad-hoc beat tidying (i.e. not as part of an official Association work group).
We do not wish to discourage this, however we all have a duty of care to ourselves, to other members and to the public. In order for the Association's insurance policies to remain valid, no work on any Rhyl & St Asaph Angling Association water is to be undertaken by members without first having sought the approval of a club officer by means of a 'phone call to any of the following a day or two prior to the intended work. (River Keeper, Chair, Secretary, Membership Sec/Treasurer).
Please read the Volunteer Health & Safety Pointers document.
BEAT MAINTENANCE 2023
SATURDAY 11th March
saturday 15th April
saturday 6th may
saturday 17th june
saturday 15th july
saturday 9th september
River Keepers John and Rich completed a good deal of maintenance in the 2022 season. They would like to see you - new members and old - at some of the above dates.
You will get a good chance to see the beats following the winter floods
and catch up on the fishing news.
PREVIOUS 2022 WORK GROUPS
Wednesday May 25th 2022. Llannerch, Lower
The advertised Ad-hoc work party at Llannerch was well attended and thank you very much to those who came and worked hard on this short section of our water. Brush cutting opened up the access along the river bank and the removal of branches where they were hindering safe movement will allow our members to safely fish through from the bridge to Flamingo pool.
More work is required on the upper beat although that is fishable. We will look at getting there again time permitting.
Saturday 21st and Tuesday 24th May 2022. Bodfari.
Following the successful work party on Saturday 21st another evening ad-hoc party was carried out on Tuesday 24th to try and complete the fishing access and fishability of the lower meadow at Bodfari. That is from the woods through Willow Pool, the right hand bend pool and culminating in the S-bend pool.
This evening we finished the brush cutting at the S-bend pool. A tree, which was ready to fall into the tail of the S bend pools, was removed to enable access and remove excess shade. Foliage and brash canopy was raised/removed at the S bend. Signs were placed at the wood end, Willow pool and the S-bend.
Hop-overs were constructed at the S Bend pool and willow pool. This short section now has 3 easy points of access to the river. Attached are a few photos of our work at Bodfari.
We look forward to seeing those of you who can attend the Work Party at Bodfari as advertised on the 11th June. Tight lines. John and Rich.
9th May 2022. Upper Bodfari beat - New parking corral
The previous corral had been in place for many years and the winter floods in recent years finished it off.
The Association committee agreed a budget and John and Rich managed to acquire all the materials to complete the project within budget.
As you can see from the photos John, Rich, Dave G, Scott D and Steve B have done a stirling job creating a sturdy stock-proof corral. Thanks to all concerned.
7 images in the slide show below.
Working Party 14-7-21
Our second "Intro to Fly Fishing" Day of 2021 was on Saturday July 17th (Fully booked). As often happens at this time of year the floating pond weed has appeared on the lake and with no rain to flush it through there was quite a build-up.
A few volunteers got stuck in on Wednesday 14th and thanks to their efforts an amazing amount of clearance was completed. There was still a fair amount of floating weed at the top end but, as Dave G said "Provided we don’t get any adverse winds we will be all set up for a great day on Saturday. It’s great to be in an Association where people pull together for the benefit of others."
Thanks again to Scott D, Dave R, Dave G, John D, Richard R and Stephen Biddle for all your graft, not forgetting Peris on the Quadbike.
Chris P. Chairman.
Here's one "before" shot and a few taken during the socially distanced working group!
WEEKEND WORKING PARTIES 2020
Regretfully we have had to cancel
the official September working parties
due to issues beyond our control.
As soon as River Keeper John is able
to set up more work groups we will
email a request to all members as we
are aware that many of you are
very keen to get involved.
River Keeper John was delighted with the
turnout at the 2019 working parties.
447 man hours of beat improvements
were carried out in 2019.
There will also be ad-hoc working parties throughout the season, on weekdaysand evenings. Details of these will be sent by email and Facebook.
Please contact John Davidson to confirm you are able to attend.
Saturday April 6th 2019
Bodfari Beat - meet 10 a.m. Park on the roadside in the usual place. The river is well up so it will be general bank clearance and the chainsaw gang will remove the large fallen tree. John will go through the H&S aspects and inform all of what's needed. The weather forecast is good but please do take appropriate clothing as well food and drink.
A fantastic 23 people turned up for the first working party of 2019. The work required was completed in quick time - see photos on the right courtesy John D and Dave R.
Sunday April 7th 2019
Pont y Ddol Beat - meet 10 a.m. at Ddol Farm. The farmer knows we are coming and there are no cattle in the field. John will go through the H&S aspects and inform all of what's needed.
14 volunteers did a tremendous amount of clearing work between 10am and 3pm. Great fun and some good banter. See the gallery below for photos including before and after shots. Three likely looking pools now clear for fly and spinner.
WORKING PARTIES (2018 SEASON)
All of the working parties in 2018 were very well attended. John and Rich are very gratefulfor the effort and help willingly given by the members on these occasions, which make such a difference to the access and quality of the beats.
During the 2018 season we held 14 working parties including some ad hoc evening sessions - this resulted in a remarkable 815 working man-hours of improvements to our river beats. John, as our River Keeper, will give a report to the membership at the forthcoming AGM. Our Association members owe John and Rich a huge debt of gratitude for all the hours they have put in organising and managing each event.
Rich and Steve of Rhyl and St Asaph Angling Association building a sturdy step-over at out Bodfari beat on the river Clwyd. 6.4.19
A large obstruction before and after! 06-04-19
Main photo: Some of the Pont-y-Ddol working party. Below: The rock pool before,during and after!
