Merthyr Tydfil Angling Association

MTAA February 22nd, 2010

MTAA Presentation Night

The Association’s Annual Presentation Night was held on the 10th February, was well attended and Councillors Paul Brown and Les Elliott presented the winners of some of the sections with their trophies.

The junior members of the coarse section were well represented with Mathew Maybank being the overall Over-Elevens winner and Bryn Davies the Under-Eleven winner. For the first time ever the Association held a Ladies competition and the winner was the youngest competitor, Anya Earp. Sam Gibbons was also presented with a trophy for the Best Improved Junior Angler in 2009.

The overall winner in the senior coarse section was David Thomas who also took the prize for the Summer League.

On the trout fishing side, the overall River Champion Senior was Mark Thomas and the Junior winner was Tom Jehu. David Matthews won the Senior Fly Tying Championship and Declan Parker won the Junior section. Phillip Jehu was presented with a fly-tying vice in recognition of his exceptional achievement in being the youngest person ever to win the Top Rod in the Rivers International.

Nigel Morgan who has been secretary of the Association for twenty three years was presented with a clock on his retirement. He is still, however, staying on the committee as an active member.

The reservoir trout fishermen also deserve a mention as a team of six won the WSTAA Half Moon Trophy with Gareth Park being top-rod, and Tom Jehu being the Welsh Open Bank Junior champion.

The Association will, this year, be fielding no less than six international competitors under the banner of the Welsh Salmon and Trout Association’s international teams. Merthyr should be proud of what these people are achieving. Sadly as it is not recognised as an Olympic sport angling does not get the funding that is handed out to other sports.

Trout Season 2010

The new trout fishing season will soon be upon us and begins on March 3rd. Members are reminded to send in their renewal applications as soon as possible.

Monday Night Classes at the Ex-Club

The Monday night fly tying classes are being well attended, but our coarse tuition classes are a little low on numbers.

If any members are interested in attending either please contact the relevant coach below:

• Fishing in the Classroom: Bernard Farr – 01685 385 940
• Fly Tying Classes: Gavin Jehu – 01685 722 261

For further details on the events, please feel free to browse the Events Calendar, or contact the Association via the Contact Us page.

Competitions

Ten hardy members fished the lake this past Sunday in snow and ice. Let us hope the weather will improve by the next match.

Senior/Coarse – Cyfarthfa Lake: MTAA Committee Trophy (21/02/2010)

• 1st Place: Dave Couzens
• 2nd Place: David Davies and John Davies

Catch Returns/Fishing Reports

As normal, to submit any catch returns or fishing reports for the Merthyr Express’ Reely Hooked column, please contact Julian Burns (Press Officer) on 07850 901 356 or, alternatively, email the Association via the Contact Us page.

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MTAA February 9th, 2010

Pontsticill and Dolygaer Reservoirs

These reservoirs have been fishing slow recently, as most of our waters have and due to the cold weather, but Vincent Herbert ventured out on Monday 8th of February and fished Dolygaer. He used a ledgered lamprey to land a specimen pike weighing 22lbs in weight. Well done Vincent!

Cyfarthfa Lake

Stuart Richards fished the lake on Sunday 7th of February, he landed one mirror weighing 9lb 5oz on a ledgered boilie.

WFCA Junior Welsh Squad Trials

As detailed in a previous News item, any junior member interested in entering the trials for the World Championships and Celtic Cup teams should download the entry form by clicking here (Adobe Reader required – download here) and contact Tony Rees (Treasurer) on 01685 723 520.

Newsletter

The Association newsletter has now been sent to all members, but if anyone is after a spare copy, please feel free to view the electronic version by clicking here (Adobe Reader required – download here) or, alternatively, by visiting our new Downloads area. Other important information will be added to this area in due course.

MTAA Presentation Night

One more reminder to all members that our Annual Presentation will be taking place tomorrow evening (Wednesday 10th February) at Merthyr Tydfil’s Ex-Serviceman’s Club. The evening will be 7:00pm for 7:30pm and all members are welcome to attend. You’ll have the chance to chat to club members, the Committee, and for any of our newer members, it’s always good to put a face to the name.

Monday Night Classes at the Ex-Club

The new Coarse Fishing Tuition classes (‘Fishing in the Classroom’), which take place every Monday evening at 7:00pm in the Merthyr Tydfil Ex-Serviceman’s Club (top floor), have been running well and are open to all members who would like to learn more about coarse fishing. The aim of the classes is to provide any member with greater knowledge and to improve their understanding of essential skills, methods, and techniques.

Our other popular Monday evening class, Fly Tying, is still going very strong and is also open to all members. Feel free to pop along for tips and advice on popular patterns before the trout season begins and the classes break until next winter.

If you have any queries regarding either of the above classes, or would like to forward us a question which you would like our coaches to cover in the classes, please don’t hesitate to contact the relevant coach below or, alternatively, contact the Association via the Contact Us page.

• Fishing in the Classroom: Bernard Farr – 01685 385 940
• Fly Tying Classes: Gavin Jehu – 01685 722 261

For more information on the full range of events currently offered by the Merthyr Tydfil Angling Association, please visit our Events Calendar.

Catch Returns/Fishing Reports

As normal, to submit any catch returns or fishing reports for the Merthyr Express’ Reely Hooked column, please contact Julian Burns (Press Officer) on 07850 901 356 or, alternatively, email the Association via the Contact Us page.

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MTAA February 8th, 2010

If you are 20 years old or younger (as of this year) and fancy participating in the Welsh Federation of Coarse Anglers’ Junior Welsh Squad Trials held at Cwm Celyn Lake, Blaina, please feel free to download the below entry form and submit to the enclosed address by Monday 15th February 2010.

Entry rules and bait requirements are included within the form, but for those interested in applying, please complete the relevant form and contact Tony Rees on 01685 723 520.

Downloads:
	WFCA 2010 Southern Trial – Official Entry Pack
Adobe Reader will be required to view the above documents. To download click here.

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MTAA February 5th, 2010

MTAA Annual Presentation Night

As mentioned in our previous News item the MTAA’s Annual Presentation Night will take place this coming Wednesday 10th February at Merthyr Tydfil’s Ex-Serviceman’s Club. The evening will be 7:00pm for a 7:30pm start and we would like to invite all members to what is set to be another fantastic and enjoyable night.

All those who have won a competition during 2009 will have their awards presented to them on the night, and there will be other festivities taking place too.

Fishing in the Classroom

A new event taking place every Monday evening at 7:00pm in the Merthyr Tydfil Ex-Serviceman’s Club (top floor) began last Monday and is open to all members who would like to learn more about coarse fishing. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to catch a fish in these classes, but they aim to provide you with greater knowledge and to improve your understanding of essential skills, methods, and techniques.

If you have any queries regarding these classes, or would like to forward us a question which you would like our coaches to cover, please don’t hesitate to contact our Coarse Competition Secretary, Bernard Farr, on Tel: 01685 385 940 or, alternatively, contact the Association via the Contact Us page.

Fly Tying Classes

Our weekly tying classes lead by our Trout Competition Secretary, Gavin Jehu, continue to receive more and more interest; so if you feel like tying a few flies before the oncoming trout season, or maybe you’d just like to learn the basics, then all members are welcome to attend.

Taking place, again, every Monday at 7:00pm at the Ex-Serviceman’s Club (top floor). If you have any queries please feel free to contact Gavin on Tel: 01685 722 261 or the Association via the Contact Us page.

Competitions in 2010

The competitions lined up for 2010 have now been added to our Events Calender, and all members are welcome (new and old, junior and senior) to take part in what are hugely enjoyable events.

Details of the events can be seen by hovering over the relevant competition within the Events Calender

If you have any questions regarding the competitions, please feel free to contact the relevant Competition Secretary below:

• Competition Sec: Senior Coarse – David Thomas (Tel: 01685 386 166)
• Competition Sec: Junior Coarse – Bernard Farr (Tel: 01685 385 940)
• Competition Sec: Trout – Gavin Jehu (Tel: 01685 722 261)

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MTAA February 1st, 2010

Newsletter

The Association newsletter with an application form to rejoin in 2010 has now been sent out to all 2009 members. Please note that all applications are via post only. If you wish to become a new member and need an application form, please feel free to contact Tony Rees on 01685 723 520 or, alternatively, contact the Association via the Contact Us page.

Application forms are also available from Merthyr Angling Centre (Cefn Coed, Merthyr Tydfil – 01685 379 809), Ron Jones (Troedyrhiw – 01443 693 117), and the Quakers Yard Stores.

MTAA Presentation Night

The MTAA’s Annual Presentation will take place on Wednesday 10th February at Merthyr Tydfil’s Ex-Serviceman’s Club. The evening will be 7:00pm for 7:30pm and all members are welcome to attend.

All those who have won a competition, whether they be junior or senior in 2010, will have their awards presented to them on the night.

This year’s presentation night is set to be another hugely enjoyable event, so please feel free to attend.

Coarse Fishery Roundup

It has been very cold in January and, although at this time of the year we expect our lakes to freeze over, for the first time in many years Pontsticill has been nearly completely frozen. This is very unusual as, for such a large lake, the wind would normally be sufficient to stop this from happening. This year the wind has been cold and the temperatures very low.

We have already lost a few fish on Penywern’s middle pond through the cold weather, and we understand that some small ponds that were not very deep have frozen completely with all the fish being lost.

River Taff

The Committee would very much appreciate it if members could keep us informed of anyone fishing on the river. The 2010 Trout Season has not yet opened on the river and we have already had reports of illegal fishing. This has been reported to the Environment Agency who are already carrying out extra patrols.

Fly Tying Classes

The Monday evening fly tying classes are still going strong, and all are welcome. If any member would like to come along, the classes are held in the top room of the Merthyr Tydfil Ex-Servicemen’s Club every Monday evening at 7pm. All are welcome and there will be expert tuition available from our Trout Competition Secretary, Gavin Jehu.

See the Events Calendar for more information, or contact Gavin Jehu on 01685 722 261.

Catch Returns/Fishing Reports

To submit any catch returns, photos, or fishing reports for the Merthyr Express’ Reely Hooked column, please contact Julian Burns (Press Officer) on 07850 901 356 or, alternatively, email the Association via the Contact Us page.

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