Merthyr Tydfil Angling Association

MTAA October 30th, 2009

Homes were evacuated earlier this evening after the explosion occurred near Cardiff Road, Abercanaid, in Merthyr Tydfil.

Investigations into the cause of the explosion are still underway, and fire crews are still working to close down the 30′ high flames.

There are no reports of any injuries and it is not thought that properties have been damaged, however, burning debris has been reported mid-river. Temporary shelter has been set up in the church hall.

More information on this incident will be passed on here as soon as it is made available, but a report via the BBC can be read by clicking here.

• Announcement , Pollution Incident
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MTAA October 27th, 2009

Pontsticill and Dolygaer Reservoirs

Michael Jenkins fished Dolygaer reservoir on Wednesday 21st October for pike using ledgered herring and mackerel and landed three pike, the largest weighing 18lb 7oz.

Cyfarthfa Lake

John Hodgeson fished the lake on Sunday 18th October on peg #9 and landed 13 carp on boillies and pellets, the largest weighing approximately 12lbs.

Bernard Farr fished the lake on Friday 23rd October and had a fantastic day fishing a ground bait feeder with maggots. Carp to 7lb, tench to 3lb, crucian to 3lb, and skimmers to 2lb were all landed.

Janice Farr also fished the lake on the same day and, within 15 minutes, had caught a 3lb crucian and 12lb 4oz common carp.

Mobile phone photo of Janice Farr with her 12lb 4oz common carp.

Competitions

Senior/Coarse – Cyfarthfa Lake: Club Trophy (25/10/2009)

• 1st Place: David Cousins (15lb 11oz)
• 2nd Place: Bernard Farr (6lb 15oz)
• 3rd Place: Peter Sullivan (4lb 6oz)

The next coarse match to take place will be held at Penywern’s middle pond on November 8th (see Events Calendar for more details).

The Fur & Feather match (scheduled for 22/11/2009) has now been moved from Penywern’s middle pond and will, instead, be held at the Pen-y-Clawdd Fishery near Raglan.

Fly Tying Classes

Fly tying classes are being held in the top room of Merthyr Tydfil’s Ex-Servicemen’s Club every Monday evening at 7.00pm. All are welcome and there will be expert tuition available from Gavin Jehu and Dai ‘Double’.

Catch Returns/Fishing Reports

If anyone has any catch returns/photos or fishing reports that they would like to submit, please contact Julian Burns (Press Officer) on 07850 901 356 or, alternatively, email the Association via the Contact Us page.

• Weekly News
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MTAA October 19th, 2009

Cyfarthfa Lake

Simon Davies fished the lake on Wednesday 14th October on peg #9 and landed approximately 15lb of roach, rudd, and skimmers using maggots fished on a waggler float and a size #18 hook. He also landed a 7lb carp on a method feeder and boilee hook bait.

Pontsticill and Dolygaer Reservoirs

These reservoirs continue to fish well, with good bags of fish being caught and ground bait feeders being the preferred method for anglers.

Damien Evans fished Dolygaer reservoir on Thursday 15th October using a feeder and landed approximately 40lb of skimmer bream and roach.

Kevin Jones fished Pontsticill reservoir on Saturday 17th October for pike and used ledgered herring to land two fish weighing approximately 8lb and 12lb.

River Taff

With the river now being closed for trout fishing, members are reminded that there is an exchange ticket scheme available via the Glamorgan Anglers Club, allowing members to fish for various species of coarse fish on the lower Taff. Members must return the exchange tickets at the agreed time as there are only a limited number available. Anyone requiring further information on this scheme, please contact Tony Rees (Treasurer) on 01685 723 520.

Penywern Ponds

It has been a difficult two weeks of waiting and watching on what was the best way to save what stock we could from the pond and, finally last week, we were able to make a start.

On Wednesday 14th October the Environment Agency came to help us net the lake and, although we had some success, the mud and uneven lake bed near the outlet prevented us from getting many fish. We did, however, move 74 carp and several thousand small silver fish successfully to Penywern’s middle pond.

On Saturday 17th October the final draining took place and a small group worked hard in deep mud to remove a further 280 quality carp and an untold number of silver fish. The work was carried out in very difficult circumstances and all those present were more than pleased with the result. A big thank you to everyone involved.

We would ask that members keep a close eye on Penywern’s middle pond and, if you see any problems, please report them to the any member of the committee via the Association Committee Contacts page immediately. Alternatively, please email the Association via the Contact Us page as soon as possible.

Competitions

Senior/Coarse – Cyfarthfa Lake: Club Trophy (11/10/2009)

• 1st Place: Steve Crowley (20lb 12oz)
• 2nd Place: David Davies (14lb)
• 3rd Place: David Cousins

The match to be held on Penywern’s middle pond next Sunday (25th October) has now been moved to Cyfarthfa Lake. Please see the Events Calendar for further information.

Frank Thompson

Frank Thompson, who was chairman for over twenty years, has had a bad fall and has broken his hip. He has had a hip replacement and the Association wish him a speedy recovery.

Catch Returns/Fishing Reports

If anyone has any catch returns/photos or fishing reports that they would like to submit, please contact Julian Burns (Press Officer) on 07850 901 356, or alternatively, email the Association via the Contact Us page.

• Weekly News
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MTAA October 19th, 2009

The commencement of the Association’s weekly fly tying nights will begin this evening at 7.00pm and will be held every Monday evening at the Merthyr Tydfil Ex-Servicemen’s Club (top floor). Led by Gavin Jehu, the classes will include instruction and tutorials on how to tie successful patterns, as well as competitions, and much, much more.

Please feel free to come along and join in; all are welcome. All equipment and materials are provided (if required).

For further information on the event please see the Events Calendar, contact Gavin Jehu on 01685 722 261 or, alternatively, email the Association via the Contact Us page.

• Event & Competitions
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MTAA October 17th, 2009

Today Saturday the 17th October has seen the pond now completely drained.

After a long hard day working, in some instances up to their waist in water and mud, members successfully netted over 250 carp and untold quantities of silver fish from the sump around the valve. Over 250 excellent carp and large quantities of mainly small silver fish were transferred to Middle Pond.

As is usual with netting in deep mud there are some fish left. The fish removed included tench. perch, roach, and carp. Only one bream made an appearance unless there were some smaller specimens that were amongst the small fish. The total number of carp moved was over 320 over the two nettings.

A big thank you must be said to all who helped on the two days the pond was netted. A special thank you must go to those who work in the mud to save the stock.

• Announcement
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MTAA October 17th, 2009

The Association has just been informed that Frank Thompson, our previous Chairman, has had a bad fall at home that has left him in hospital. We understand he has undergone surgery and he will be unable to answer any phone calls for some time.

We wish him a speedy recovery and will update you all as soon as we have further information.

• Announcement
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MTAA October 16th, 2009

It appears that the final draining down will be carried out today, Friday 16th October 2009. We will still be trying to take any recoverable fish down to Middle Pond.

On Wednesday 21st October 2009 at 9:30am Keep Wales Tidy, at our request, are organising a clean up of the bed of the pond. Would any members who are free and willing to help please come along as many hands make light work.

For further information on the clean up, if you would like to take part, or if you have any other queries/questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Association via the Contact Us page, or alternatively, via any of the contact details available on the Association Committee Contacts page.

• Announcement
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MTAA October 13th, 2009

The decision has been made to remove as many fish as we can from Top Pond. This will take place tomorrow Wednesday 14th Oct 2009.

We are sorry for the short notice but assessment by the Environment Agency, and the need to drop the pond lower to reach the valve, has meant we need to act as soon as possible.

The work will start at 9.30am and anyone who wishes to help is welcome to come along.

The work undertaken can be seen in the below images:

• Announcement
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MTAA October 12th, 2009

- by Julian Burns

Pontsticill and Dolygaer Reservoirs

David Lee and Christopher George fished for pike at Pontsticill last Saturday on the boat house side of the reservoir. David landed three pike, two on herring and one on a sprat, and all fished on the bottom. The largest fish weighed around 12lb. Christopher landed two pike on ledgered sprats, the largest weighing around 8lb.

Cyfarthfa Lake

Steven Philips fished the lake on Wednesday 7th October; he used a ground bait feeder and maggot and paste hook bait to land around 20lb of skimmers, tench, and crucian carp.

Upper Neuadd

John Taylor fished the Neuadd last Sunday and landed two rainbow trout and five brown trout on a damsel fly lure and a hare’s ear nymph on a slow sinking line.

Penywern Ponds

We are hoping that this week will see the resolution of the problems and that work to install a valve will take place on Monday 19th October 2009. We hope to include daily bulletins here on our website and are looking to work on removing the rubbish (such as trolleys and other debris) near the bank, as well as the cars.

People are reminded to not walk on the mud at top pond as it is very deep in places.

Competitions

Anglers from the Association fished the Molly Sweet Fly Fishing Competition at Llyn Clywedog on 4th October. Merthyr group C&D came 1st place in the team section and Gareth Park beat off over 150 competitors to win the individual section and the Terry Fenton Cup.

Also, congratulations to Tom Jehu for winning the Youth Open Fly Fishing Competition at Elan Valley and for winning a place in the Welsh World Rivers Fly Fishing Team. A very well done Tom. Congratulations to Mark Williams also for winning a place in the Welsh Lakes Team.

Catch Returns/Fishing Reports

If anyone has any catch returns or fishing reports that they would like to submit, please contact Julian Burns (Press Officer) on 07850 901 356, or alternatively, email the Association via the Contact Us page.

• Weekly News
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MTAA October 12th, 2009

The Association has been discussing with the engineers from Merthyr Council the proposed works and have also called in the Environment Agency.

The Agency have been called in as, now the pond has been lowered, it appears there may not be sufficient water below the valve to safeguard the fish. This is mainly because of the amount of silt in the pond that has been difficult to quantify from the surveys. If the fish do need to be removed then they will be transferred to Middle pond on a temporary basis.

We are not allowed to move them anywhere else as any other movement would need a health check.

We are hoping that this week will see the resolution of the problems and that work to install a valve will take place on Monday 19th October 2009. We hope to include Daily bulletins on our Website.

We are also looking to work to remove the rubbish such as trolleys and other debris near the bank we also hope to be able to move the cars.

• Announcement
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