Club Information
Our club
Additional Information
So it was on May 13th 1968, that the Fly Fishing Section emerged.Membership comprised 22 anglers paying 2 Guineas apiece. GAA approved £300 to be spent on stocking with 300 brown trout between 7" and 9" to supplement the native population, and GAAFFS took wings.
The 1968 season was busy and glorious. Casting clinics were held, flies were discussed and swapped, beginners were helped, and fish were caught.
In 1969, we approached GAA, successfully, for permission to fish further stretches of The Witham between April 1st and June 15th, when they were out of season to coarse fishing. That same year, we asked the Lincolnshire Water Board for help and advice with river improvement, and set in place catch returns to monitor and preserve the trout population.
This laid the foundations to an environmentally friendly approach to fishery management that has produced excellent sport, improved the environment for wildlife, enhanced enjoyment for anglers, and is a part of our club culture.
The years up to 1976 showed steady improvement in the fishing. Interest in the club was high. Important river work was undertaken. Membership increased to 50, fees to £5 and there were 7 on our waiting list.
The halcyon days soon darkened...
In 1978, 14,500 gallons of oil went into the river, with disastrous results. The 1979 subscription was reduced to £1 because of the
lack of sport. We contacted the local MP and appropriate Ministry but nothing could compensate for the damage done to fishing
and fishers' morale. Not to mention the wider environmental effects up and down the food chain.
A short time later, we lost our short but highly enjoyable access to The National Trust water at Belton Park. (this was rectified
some years later).
In 1980, having served honourably for their full 12 years, most of the founding officers of the Fly Fishing section resigned. A
re-structured board of officers supported by a wider committee was formed. £250 was pledged to restocking, and fingers were
crossed that there would be no more pollution.
But the most tightly entwined fingers could not prevent a further incident in which 1,000 gallons of oil were recovered from the river. Membership fell to just 35 diehard members.
It was formed on October 5th 1872 at The Mail Hotel in Grantham High Street, by
coincidence now the offices of The Grantham Journal who reported the occasion as
follows:
"Mr W W Leak was appointed Chairman at the meeting attended by 80 gentlemen who
had given their adhesion to the movement"
The first fishing match was held in September two years later, when some sixty anglers
competed "in a most satisfactory and agreeable manner" for a first prize of 25 shillings,
the unrecorded winner caught seven fish with a combined weight of 2lb 9oz.
Things haven't changed much (apart from the prize money)!
Membership has increased somewhat since then, and now stands at some 564
book-holders. The Association is a founder member of the National Federation of
Anglers and has fished in all National Championships since its inauguration.
1984 brought a new lease of life.
The previously joint roles of secretary and treasurer were
separated to become more focused, and Gordon Taylor was
made head keeper, backed with gusto by the committee to turn
the fishing around.
Gordon ran the river for only 3 years, but what a ripple effect he had! Sadly he died in 1987, but his vision and vigour was carried on and developed by Bob Bunn, who had worked at Gordons side and co-authored "an improvement programme for small rivers" an article submitted to a competition in Trout and Salmon magazine.
The winners of the substantial prize were announced- Not Bob and Gordon, but to general consternation the authors of an article with an uncanny resemblance (almost identical) to theirs. We shall never know whether there was a mix up in the entries, and incredible coincidence or something else. As the then treasurer George Yates, put it "right fly, right fish, wrong net". Following Bob's death in 1996 , Gordon Brooks became Head Keeper.