Editorial - Koi Herpes Virus The Facts
From the Chair
The Society as a whole continues to be in a good state, and this year has again seen a sharp reduction in the churn of members. This we are sure is due to the Societies continuing policy of water improvement and increased stocking.
There have been a series of outbreaks in the Colne Valley of the killer Carp disease KHV (Koi Herpes Virus) for which there is no known cure. If we get this deadly virus in our waters as it can result in the water being unfishable for up to 4 years. We have put the following precautionary measures in place to safeguard the club. We are insisting that all members dip their landing nets, unhooking mats and weigh slings in the disinfectant solution provided for at least 5-15 minutes before starting to fish. Any member found not to be taking these precautions may be liable to expulsion from the Society. If you see any dead or dying fish please report to the fishery manager or bailiff straight away. It is also very good practice to fully air dry all your equipment before fishing again as this will kill the virus. As a further precaution we are not allowing visitors on our waters, and have closed the Society to new members.
The increased membership has brought with it more problems of discipline, litter and personal litter. We have had this year an unprecedented level of individual misdemeanors with regard to litter. Unpleasant practices that I hope would be unacceptable to people in their own houses are taking place on our waters and have led to your Committee taking an inordinate amount of time discussing discipline issues and non fishing related issues. I appreciate that the majority of you reading this are good law abiding decent people, but unfortunately we have to address the minority who spoil it for the majority. Please take your litter home with you. If you are a long stay angler and require to answer the call of nature please follow the club rules:
20. Litter
No member shall leave or ignore litter of any description, members are expected to take all litter away from the waters on leaving, this includes litter which may have been left by someone else. It is the duty of every member to report to a member of the Committee details of any member seen leaving litter. Where calls of nature are necessary this should be carried out in private and no evidence of the act should be visible. A very serious view will be taken of breaches of this bye-law and anyone found guilty of this offence will be liable to expulsion from the Society without further notice.
If you are unable to comply with the above, then please leave the Societies waters to do your business and then return. The present level of discipline infringements have forced us the review the Societies discipline code.
Rule Change
(Delete Old Rule)
10. Cessation of Membership
In the event of any member so conducting himself as, in the opinion of the Committee, to injure the welfare or reputation of the Society or to contravene any of the rules and/or bye laws, the Committee may summon such member to appear before them for an explanation of his conduct and shall have the power at that meeting to expel or suspend the offending member for such period as they shall determine. The Committee shall report the result of such enquiry to the next Ordinary meeting of the members. Any member subject to the above may still have the right under rule 15.3.
Replace with new rule
10. Cessation of Membership
In the event of any member so conducting himself as, in the opinion of the Committee, to injure the welfare or reputation of the Society or to contravene any of the rules and/or bye laws, the Committee may:
i) Write to the member outlining the alleged offence, requesting an early written response to said allegations. This may include, if in the opinion of the Committee it is warranted by the alleged incident, the immediate temporary suspension of the member.
ii) Summon such member to appear before them for an explanation of the alleged offence.
Following either or both of the above, the Committee shall consider the response and shall have the power at that meeting to expel, or suspend the offending member for such period as they shall determine appropriate. The Committee shall report the result of such enquiry to the next Ordinary Member's meeting. Any member subject to the above shall have the right to appeal under Rule 15.3.
My thanks to all the Officers, Committee and Bailiffs for their hard work throughout the year, and to you the members for your continued membership and enthusiasm without which the Society would not continue.
Please do not forget the members meeting on Thursday AGM on Wednesday 19th November 2008, Ruislip Football Club, Grosvenor Vale, Ruislip.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Vince Sutton
Chairman
Editorial - Koi Herpes Virus The Facts
I have taken this opportunity to make you all aware of the key facts that KHV has on all of us.
Koi Herpes Virus has been made a notifiable disease
The Diseases of Fish Act makes it a legal obligation for any person, including fish farmers or their staff, fish dealers and fish keepers to notify the Fish Health Inspectorate if they suspect that fish may be infected with KHV (Koi Herpes Virus) Disease. Some Colne Valley waters have had KHV confirmed amongst their fish. Let us all take note of the severity of this disease and play our part in reducing the risk of contamination.
So what is KHV?
KHV is a DNA virus belonging to the herpes virus family. It is a highly contagious disease and can cause 80-100% mortality in affected carp populations. The virus is transmitted fish to fish very rapidly and usually occurs at temperatures between 15°C and 27°C. Studies have shown that exposure of common carp for five minutes to 10-40 virus particles per ml of water is enough to cause approximately 70% mortality in fifteen days. As with other herpes viral infections KHV is believed to remain in surviving infected fish for life. Any exposed fish should be therefore considered as potential carriers of the virus.
How does the virus spread?
KHV can be transmitted by direct contact with infected fish, with fluids from infected fish or by water and material from infected systems.
Which fish species are affected?
KHV affects Koi and common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Other cyprinids such as common goldfish (Carrassius auratus) and crucian carp (Carrassius carassius) seem to be immune to the disease but can be infected with the virus and may become carriers. Other fish that may become carriers include grass carp (Ctenopharynodon idellus) and tench (Tinca tinca).
What are the clinical signs of KHV?
KHV infection usually results in severe gill lesions and high mortality rates. Secondary bacterial and parasitic infections may also be present. Affected fish often remain near the surface, can be heavily mucosed, swim lethargically, and may exhibit respiratory distress. (See front cover for affected Koi with severe gill lesions).
Diagnosis
KHV can be very difficult to diagnose. Visual examination is unreliable because the typical signs are also seen in a number of other carp diseases. Some fish can carry the virus for long periods without showing any signs of disease.
Treatment
There is no cure or treatment for KHV. There are no antiviral drugs available to treat KHV or any other viral diseases of fish.
Ian Warr
Editorial Secretary
Harefield Pit One
First and foremost Larry and I would like to thank the bailiffs at No1, Stuart Verity and Joe Nicholls, also Brian Watts (Pit2) for their work. Good bailiffs are hard to come by and we have some of the best.
Secondly, we would like to thank all those who turned up for the working parties this season, especially all those that did over and above the required working parties along with Pauline Rees and daughter Amy who spread and laid most of the chippings for the new path on the marina side of the lake whilst husband, dad and member Mike supervised.???
A special thank you to Brian and Dominic Busby also Mike and Stuart Hermaluc and all those who have lent a hand whenever the call for a bit of help went out through the season. Also we are grateful to members who have supplied materials for use at the lake, thanks.
The standard of work carried out on the swims, paths and bottom car park speaks for itself, well done all!!
Litter left by members has been a problem. One member was expelled from the club for leaving rubbish, also the disgusting habit of fouling swims with human excrement has happened again this year, if you really do need to "go" then either bring a bucket with you or "go" right down the back of the lake beyond the car park and bury the results.
Line, rigs and leads have been found snagged up in the trees and bushes on the islands and elsewhere.
We all loose line and rigs from time to time by casting into the rough, all we ask is that if you do, tell a bailiff, Larry or myself, so that it can be retrieved ASAP. If you see any of us about the place don't hesitate to get our mobile phone numbers off us.
The change in season on No1 has worked better than we could have hoped with the Carp fishing through the first three months being exceptional by anyone's standards. As the season has gone on the larger carp have become harder to catch but the capture of so many of the smaller fish has made up for this we hope.
We have had 2 x thirty pound plus carp reported, a 30lb1oz Mirror for James Sammuels and a 32lb Mirror for Lee Loughlin, along with over 25 twenty pound plus fish, 50 double figure fish and 70 other smaller carp.
There has been some good Tench and Bream caught this season, mainly by people fishing for the Carp.
During late March and early April it was reassuring to see some many Pike spawning in the margins, some of the females were well into double figures along with many smaller Jack Pike.
As we write this in early October some quality Roach are being caught on the float or feeder along with good Bream and the occasional Tench still showing, but watch out for the Carp if you're fishing with lightweight tackle and small hooks as I found out to my cost with several hooks straightened!!
The Turkish crayfish that have been causing problems this year are dying off, for weeks now we have noticed that the crayfish in the traps were either already dead or very sickly. The EA were informed and they seem to think that the lake has become infected with crayfish plague, quite how they're not to sure. All we can hope is that the lake has not become home to American Red Signal crayfish, the carriers of the crayfish plague.
You all know there has been an outbreak of KHV (Koi Herpes Virus) within the Colne valley, unfortunately this is not now limited to one lake and there has been another confirmed case at Colney Broad near St Albans. The river Colne runs in and out of this water, the thought of what this might mean leaves us cold. The disinfectant dip tanks will now become a permanent feature on our waters and all our members must use them correctly, along with allowing their landing nets, weight slings and unhooking mats to be exposed to UV light whilst drying, this way we may keep this terrible disease out of our waters.
See you all soon and tight lines,
Larry & Graham.
Tackle Raffle
At every meeting a well stocked raffle is held with great tackle prizes to be won. All proceeds go to club funds so why not have a go.
On behalf of its members Harrow Angling Society would like to thank the following local fishing tackle shops for their generosity in supplying the prizes for our tackle raffle.
- Judds of South Ruislip 020 8841 7194
- The Fisherman's Cabin, South Ruislip 020 8422 9546
- The Tackle Exchange.
- West Drayton 01895 442424
- Frames of Hendon 020 8202 0264
- Harefield Tackle 01895 822900
- Franks Leads 07976 108749
When visiting any of the above shops please mention that you are a member of Harrow Angling Society. Judds of South Ruislip have promised discount on purchases with production of your Harrow Angling Society membership card. Good on 'em
Harefield Pit 2
Hello all
First of all a big thank you to the dedicated few who take time out to attend the working parties held on the lake. Although this is the clubs biggest water we seem to have the least amount of people attending the work parties here, hence we do not get to do half as much as we would like to, something for us to look for a solution at committee level for sure. Of those who did attend we'd especially like to thank the Egham lads for their expertise on the tree work and clearance. Top job Ian! Also, thanks to Fudge and the Don for their sterling efforts both during the close and open season with their Digger and Tipper. The shingled swims along the Canal bank are the fruits of these two's labour so when sat in them thinking it's just like Brighton Beach tip a glass to them. Lastly all the usual characters, you know who you are and what you do, thanks again lads. Whilst thanking people a huge one must go to our bailiffs who are always around, it seems sometimes there are more of these on the lake than anglers! They have been their usual vigilant selves and have been a great help looking after the place as is the norm, snuffing out trouble!
Onto the fishing and the season started well on the lake with about a dozen Carp caught in the opening weeks up to 33lbs. The bream also put in an appearance with slabs being caught by design up to 12lb 8oz on corn and maggots but only a few tench reported.
As seems to be the case all over the country after the opening few weeks the fishing seemed to slow up. We don't know whether this was down to the weather, pressure, lack of spawning or what but the lake has fished badly for all species for what seems like months now, hopefully the autumn and winter will fish better.
Talking of the later stage of the season we now have the Predator anglers starting to turn up. Hopefully the Pike and Perch will be fat after scoffing fry all summer long! We will now make our annual plea; hopefully people will take note this time and heed our advice. If you have the misfortune to lose tackle in bank side vegetation or trees PLEASE CONTACT THE FISHERY MANAGERS A.S.A.P. There is nothing to be ashamed of if you have a mishap, accidents happen but if we are aware we can remove any lost tackle, what we can not do is replace a bird's life or heal an injured person. Please contact as soon as you can, our numbers are in the magazine.
We have had the unpleasant experience this season of finding a lot of litter around the lake, some of it of the human nature. We understand that people fishing the lake are sometimes there for 2 or 3 days at a time. What we don't understand is why people would want to leave evidence of their stay? Please think of other water users when doing what you do, litter is against the rules of the club and rule breakers will be expelled.
Sorry for that moan, and unfortunately here is another one. There has been at least one incident of bad handling and mistreatment of fish this season that has been witnessed. With the threat of non-members from various countries fishing our waters and taking fish the last thing we expect is for members to do the same, again another club rule which people will walk for if found guilty of breaking. Well that's about it for now, wish we had more good reports for you, hopefully the rest of the season will prove more fruitful.
Regards
Les and Ian
River Colne Fishing
Harrow Angling Society has negotiated with Yiewsley Angling Society (Y.A.S) a limited amount of tickets to permit fishing on their River Colne at Iver. Details of how to find the fishery can be found via the map, on the centre pages. Please make yourselves aware of the rules relating to the fishery, because if you do not you may well jeopardise our fishing there.
There are 8 tickets which are available for collection from a member of Y.A.S at his workplace in Uxbridge. The company is called METTS and is a truck repair facility in Arundel Road on the Uxbridge Industrial Estate a short distance from the fishery. His premises are open Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm and Saturday until midday. Our contact, Martin can be contacted on 01895 239834. Please be polite when inquiring for ticket availability. You can now show your membership card and obtain a disposable paper ticket VALID FOR THE SELECTED DATE ONLY. There is no requirement to return this ticket once you have completed your session, just dispose of the ticket in a responsible manner Warning there is a clamping unit in operation on the road outside METTS.
Members should park in METTS yard when collecting permits. HAS will not be responsible for any parking violations. The fishery runs south from Iver Lane down to the footbridge at Little Britain Lake. A small area for car parking can be found in Iver Lane just after the second hump backed bridge when approaching from the Cowley Road direction. The River contains all species of fish including Barbel, Chub, Trout, Tench, Dace, Perch, roach etc and should provide reasonable sport.
Rowley Lake
The misty dawn of 27th September saw 12 would be match anglers assembled on the banks of Rowley Lake. The culmination of some bright sparks idea to have a one rod only, float match. The object of the exercise to try and catch some of the Tench and Crucians introduced over the last couple of years and to assess the quality of the Roach, Rudd and Perch.
Sadly the conditions were not too clever. Thick fog until mid morning then bright sunshine for the rest of the day. Equally sad was the calibre of the anglers who either hadn't float fished since they were 10 or had forgotten how to tie a hook any less than a size 6.
What they lacked in ability was more than made up by sheer enthusiasm and determination. Cutting a very long day short, punctuated by a lunch break for dog rolls in the car park, the results were disappointing in that the prime objective was not achieved. No Tench; no Carp. However, some sparkling Roach were caught, notably by Mike Bridges, who won with 9lb 12oz whilst a quality Perch of 1lb 10 oz graced Graham Pearce's net.
Above all the day was great fun, lesson's were learned (don't forget the mustard and Daddies sauce next time Dave) and the general consensus is that we should do it again next year. Brian Busby has already pencilled in some dates and I have reserved my copy of "Billy Lane's Guide to Successful Match Fishing" at the local library. Watch this space.
The fishing over the year has been generally good and at times quite remarkable with some of the regulars having multiple catches of Carp and Tench. From my own perspective, I have fished Rowley regularly all summer for the first time in many years and have really enjoyed it. Taking carp to 27lb and Tench to 5lb with plenty of stockies, doubles and a sprinkling of twenties to maintain the interest.
It's been good to see some of the old regulars who have been members for many, many years and who still keep coming back for more. Rowley is not just about the fishing but the sheer enjoyment of just being in an oasis of tranquillity, at one with nature, whilst the rest of the world goes about its daily madness.
There was some concern that crayfish may have found their way into the fishery. Traps have been set for some weeks now and too date have revealed nothing but the odd small Perch. Fingers crossed.
As you will know we have installed dip tanks at all the fisheries as a precaution against the Koi Herpes Virus (KHV). It is absolutely essential that you dip your landing net, unhooking mat and weigh sling before fishing. Yes it smells and yes it takes a small amount of time to carry out but the consequences do not bear thinking about. The Fisheries Angling Club in Harefield have KHV confirmed in their Weller Pool fishery and have taken the difficult decision to kill over 250 prime carp up to 30lb in an effort to get rid of it. Whether they will be successful only time will tell but be absolutely sure that we do not want this unhappy situation on any of our waters. Be of no doubt that those who do not comply with the guidelines will need to look elsewhere for their fishing.
Before closing I would remind you of the following:
Litter - No real problems this year.keep it up.
Gates - Please ensure you shut them after you. We have a good relationship with our farming neighbours and want to keep it that way.
Combination locks - Make sure they are fully locked. This only takes a final spin of the numbers to ensure that the shackle is locked and also that the numbers are not left in the right sequence for some undesirable's future use.
Swims - The odd bit of trimming is acceptable. Mullering the area into a helipad isn't. If you think any swims are in need of major attention please let me know.
Poaching - This was a real problem in the closed season right up until June 15th when John Pickard had occasion to politely ask a group of lads to leave. Fortunately they have stayed away but with the onset of winter and with fewer members on the water they or others like them may be tempted to return. Could those of you that do fish through the winter make a point of asking to see tickets etc and report any offenders to me or the bailiffs.
Bailiffs - I would like to welcome John Westley on board. John is able to call in at odd times during the week and, I'm sure, will be a valuable addition to the team.
Here's looking forward to the winter campaign wherever it may take you.
All the best
John Miles.
Anecdote
Two weeks ago on a Sunday evening I decided to go fishing, I arrived at the venue only to find the meadow alongside the river that I intended to fish was full of cows, I had a good look round to make sure there were no bulls around, I couldn't see any so I crossed the stile and walked the half mile or so to the spot I wanted to fish, the weather was cloudy and overcast, darkness descended around 7.45 there was no moon and the nearest street light was more than a mile away so no light pollution and therefore very dark.
at around 9pm it was time to pack up, making my way back to the car park dodging clumps of grass, holes made by the cows hooves and other smelly obstacles left by them, I also spent a fair amount of 
time avoiding the inquisitive bullocks, eventually making it back to the stile and nearly walked into a very large cow asleep in front of the stile, I tried to shoo it away by shouting and clapping my hands but it wasn't budging so I poked it with a bank stick and it got up and moved away and I went to climb the stile I had one leg either side of the stile and looked back at the cow only to see an enormous pair of bol***ks swinging between its legs, I nearly fell of the fence when I realised what I had just done, in the pitch dark I had just poked a bloody great big bull with a pointed bank stick and got away with it, the fishing over I thought I would grab a pint on the way home, standing at the bar chatting to one of the locals (gypsy bob) I told him this story, he agreed with me that I'd had a lucky escape.
unbeknown to me he then related the same story to the landlord, when I turned up to take part in the quiz the following evening this is what I found stuck to my chair..