ABC Sea Angling Club A.G.M. Minutes
Dated the 30th of January 2004

Chairperson

Treasurer

Secretary

Junior Officer

Charter Boat Officer

Small Boats Officer

Fish Recorder

Election of Officers

WFSA & North Region

Next Meeting

Alwyn Jones, Gethyn Owen, Rob Roberts, Arthur Beechey, Stan Parry, Alan Williams, Owie Roberts, Elwyn Jones, Dave MacArthy, Myfyr Thomas.  Voting strength established as 10.

Johnny Slater, Sid Hichisson, Wyn Parry, Alan Reid, Chris Hamblin, Bob Muirhead.

As only paid up members can vote a short discussion took place regarding membership fees. The treasurer (Gethyn) highlighted that our fees would have to be increased this year and suggested it be raised to £10.00 (this figure was also suggested by Sid Hichisson in a recent letter to the Sec). Unfortunately our third party liability insurance cover has risen dramatically and coupled with outgoings £10.00 would be the minimum to balance the books. Proposed - Gethyn, seconded - Rob, all in favour. Established at 9.

Chairperson
I would like to start by thanking all those present for their attendance. I understand that many of us have other commitments and making the effort to attend the AGM is appreciated. I must also

express my appreciation for the club officers for another year of faultless dedication to their duties.

As far as club business is concerned, it's been a very quiet year. Luckily, we managed to avoid any unpleasant activity regarding a recent event which involved several notable characters from neighbouring clubs, a competition and a substantial prize in the form of a boat, trailer, engine etc.. I have not heard of any official repercussions from this or if the outcome was to everyone's satisfaction, but I hope that we can all learn from this incident.

As far as I can see, there are three areas of club activity which seem to be flagging, even though they have been revised and revamped recently. They are the charter boats section, small boats section and junior section.

With regard to the junior section, I feel that Mark hasn't been given the support and guidance he needed to provide enough interest and activities to keep the section as buoyant as it was under Gethyn's leadership. This is something we must address to keep the juniors interested and fuel their enthusiasm to continue and develop with sea angling.

Regarding the small boats section, I can understand where the problems have been. Work commitments, family commitments and being called away on National and/or International duties takes up valuable dates, leaving very little left for anything else. We'll have to discuss and take a view on this situation, as it does have strong implications for the club. This was a very strong and popular arm of the club.

I think that the charter boat section is one that causes the most concern to me. Traditionally, it is this section above all, which was the corner stone of the club. About twelve months ago we had a meeting and we identified the flagging figures of people taking up bookings. The feeling seemed to be that anglers just wanted a pleasurable day on the water with no pressures associated with competition. At this time, we also welcomed Alan Hillier back into the club after a prolonged absence due to important family commitments. Alan welcomed the initiative and stated that there were others from his area who also wanted to join to fish the charter trips. More recently, we've been told that due to other commitments with the Welsh Federation and International duties, it was felt not worth while to pursue the charter bookings.

If the club continues on this path, the interest in club sections could decline beyond control resulting in the club being very fragmented and possibly disband. The other danger is that we are becoming very elitist, with a handful of prominent members concentrating on National and International events. This is contrary to our constitution, which states that we actively encourage and develop the sport of sea angling. In my opinion, we are not doing this. A subject which I hope will provoke further discussion within the membership in an open environment.

Changing tack slightly, the club's web site was been completely rewritten and published. There are glaring mistakes which I've deliberately left. I want the membership and officers dealing with their sections to come back to me with their proposals. The meeting minutes has four entries only. I would like to build a comprehensive library of current and past minutes. Even if I get paper copies, I can scan and import the raw data into a word processor to format the text for web publication.

I'll close my report by thanking you for your attention and hope you all have a successful year enjoying the sport of sea angling.

Where do you want to go now?

Treasurer

Financial Report AGM 30th January 2004
Current Account
Date	Payment	Deduction	Balance		Reason
			£1,190.84		Opening balance as at 22 June 2002
16-09-2002		£89.85			Website invoice re: 2001/02
22-09-2002		£11.69			Web name (domain name registration)
18-12-2003	£150.00				Anglesey Sports Club
30-01-2003		£80.00			2003 WFSA Affiliation & Insurance Fees
30-01-203	£90.00				Membership - 18 seniors and 1 Honorary
30-01-2003		£10.00			Anglesey Sports Club Affiliation
13-0102003		£50.00			WFSA Donation
28-03-2003		£29.38			Web space hosting 2002/03
25-03-2003		£65.00			Digital Scales from Anglesey Bait Centre
14-05-2003		£150.00			2003 Anglesey Sports Club Grant - WFSA Boat Squad
07-06-2003		£48.19			Scales Calibration (x2)
23-06-2003		£75.00			Wyn Parry 2002 Anglesey Sports Club Grant
05-07-2003		£75.00			Bob Muirhead 2002 Anglesey Sports Club Grant
13-08-2003	£150.00				Anglesey Sports Club Grant
01-12-2003	£62.93				(see notes below)
07-01-2004		£125.00			2004 WFSA Affiliation & Insurance Fees
07-01-2004		£30.00			Rolling deposit return to Sid Hitchinsson
Sub Total	£452.93	£839.11	£804.66
Savings Account			£1,443.25
Total ABC Funds			£2,248.25
__________________________________________________________________________________
Secretary's Final Notes
			£44.65		Balance B/F year 200
	£105.00				Membership 2001 (£5x21)
	£145.00				Membership 2002 (£5x29)
	£6.00				2 club badges (£3x2)
		£65.00			WFSA Affiliation & Insurance 2001
		£10.00			Anglesey Sports Club Affiliation
		£19.76			Secretary's Expenses
		£25.00			WFSA raffle donation
		£65.00			WFSA Affiliation & Insurance
		£10.00			Anglesey Sports Club Affiliation
		£27.62			Secretary's Expenses
		£10.00
		£5.34
Sub Total	£256.00	£237.72	£62.93
It was pointed out (by Arthur) that Medre Mon has in depth knowledge on the spectrum of grants available to clubs and it would be well worth their £10.00 fee (Alwyn would make enquiries).

 Where do you want to go now?

 

Secretary
Another quiet year on all fronts, very little incoming / outgoing correspondence, I have to apologise for my in-activity once again this year. However if re-elected I intend to devote far more time not only regarding my own duties but endeavouring to get the club back on track.

On a more positive note several of our members achieved creditable results at various competitions: - Rod Adamson - Winner of the Whitby Open also WFSA Personal Members National Boat Champion and North region P .M. Champion, Fishy - Best Overseas Angler - Westport, Wyn Parry - Winner of the WFSA Boat Championships and 3rd North region P.M.'s Boat League, Colin Orme Thomas - Winner of the Personal Members Challenge Match, Runner up at the Anglesey Festival also WFSA Championships (losing both on a count back), Alan Reid - Winner of the Caherisveen 2 Day Open, Gwyn Andrews - Runner up National and North region P .M's Boat League's. Gethyn Owen - 3rd National P .M's League.

Out of the 103 anglers that entered the Anglesey Festival we had 7 anglers in the top 20, Rod 4th, Gwyn – 7th (top rod day 1), Wyn -8th, John Traynor – 11th, Alan Hillier –13th, Alan Reid - 18th, Bob Muirhead – 24th, Nick Owen - 29th, Geraint Rogers - 30th, Mark Cain - 35th, Fishy - 69th.  Irish Boat Specimens for Alan Williams -10.91Kg - Cod, Rob Roberts - 06.05.00 - Tub Gurnard.

We had strong representation at national level in 2003:-
Home Junior Shore International - Chris Bellion.
Home Boat International - Gethyn Owen, Wyn Parry and Alan Reid.
World Boat Championships - John Traynor, Rod Adamson and Colin Orme Thomas.

This meant that we had 6 out of the 10 boat squad members representing Wales, not bad for a small club! Another positive was the performances shown by Gethyn, John and Rod on their "first tour of duty", Gethyn - was the top Welsh angler and out of the field of 75 world anglers, John was 19th and Rod 23rd. Well done to everyone, you were worthy ambassadors for the club and country. (This year we will have all of the above plus Gwyn Andrews on national duty).

Where do you want to go now?

Junior Officer
Nothing to report as no events were arranged.  As a club, we need to encourage and support Mark in his efforts this year.

Where do you want to go now?

Charter Boats Officer
Although we had booked 3 trips on the back of strong support, sadly that did not materialise when it came to filling them! If I had not phoned round to fill in the vacancies the club would have taken large losses, which is why I have not book any trips for this year. (A short discussion took place and it was felt by all those present that we should book 3 trips - some onboard Starida' s new catamaran, unfortunately they would be mid week trips as that's all that would be available).

Where do you want to go now?

Small Boats Organiser
Once again a good turnout to start, but this really dried up into a non- event for the remainder. Although I am standing down this year I do know that Arthur Beechey is more than willing to fill the post. I feel his dynamic and enthusiastic approach would go a long way to restoring a once thriving section. (A lengthy discussion took place regarding several topics such as a "trial away weekend" to Aberdaron, inshore wreck fishing, but the main issue was which format to adopt. It was felt a special small boats meeting be organised to finalise dates / venues and a running format - 13.02.04 at the Holland Arms P .H, Pentre Berw).

Where do you want to go now?

 

Fish Recorder
Nothing to report as no specimens / record claims were submitted.

Where do you want to go now?

Due to poor attendances at the Bi-monthly meetings of the north region had been cancelled until further notice (we have registered our disapproval of this stance via the regional chairperson, as we feel it is a backward step).

The long awaited issue of a Marine Nature Reserve in the Menai Straits has re- surfaced, although this time it is being proposed as a "Site of Special Scientific Interest". Thanks to Gethyn an informal meeting was organised between interested parties within angling and 3 representatives of the Countryside Council of Wales at the Victoria Hotel. We had representation through Gethyn, Wyn and myself. There was a good turnout on the night and the main issue was would it affect our rights as anglers in any shape or form - we received assurances that nothing would or could be altered (passed dealings with the CCW have left us with a certain scepticism). A formal meeting would be held sometime in the future where all interested parties could attend to be given an update and an opportunity to air the concerns and ask questions (Gethyn, Wyn an myself have received our invitations and will duly be attending - I'll keep you informed).

The issue of launching fees at slipways on Anglesey looks like being re-introduced this year. I have spoken to John Owen (Anglesey council) regarding this topic and although nothing had been passed at that time he felt it would definitely be introduced from April until September. Also a figure of £10.00 per launch or an annual fee of £100.00 had been muted, I enquired whether there would be any concessions. He said that certified, competent boat owners would probably receive a 20% discount also locals another 10% discount. (A short discussion took place and passed that a club letter be sent to the relevant department of Anglesey Borough Council requesting an update and clarification regarding this issue).

A recent planning application for development of the "waterfront and old wood yard area" at Menai Bridge may cause us concern. Parking and even access/usage of the slipway becomes an issue, hopefully the strong local opposition will be taken into account. At this stage only personal objections have been raised by Gethyn and myself, but I think a club letter is called for - all agreed.

We were one of the top clubs regarding sales of the WFSA fundraising raffle tickets; sadly some clubs never even sold 1 ticket!

The present WFSA secretary (Colin Doyle) will be standing down at the AGM in March, I will pass on our thanks for all his efforts over the past 5 years (several clubs have mentioned Gethyn as a suitable replacement and as he is willing to stand it seems like a formality - so good luck).

Where do you want to go now?

A date for our next general club meeting has not been agreed,
but there's another small boats meeting scheduled for
Monday the 5th of April, Holland Arms Pub, Gaerwen  -  8:00 p.m.