Chairman’s Report

This report will be subdivided into several sections.

1. Dams.
   1. We have had very good fishing from all our dams over the last year with all dams producing the 4-5 kg trout. These trophy fish are the product of well maintained dams and a sound stocking policy. Most of our stock has been sourced from Martin Davies in Grahamstown and the Winterberg.
   2. It seems that with the weed levels in most dams there is a plentiful supply of insect life and food. Hence well fed trout which are a challenge to catch. Vicky Bell has the same experience. However, when they do come the bite the numbers are impressive.
   3. The weather is impacting on our dams in a dramatic way. This, coupled with several landowners pumping for their pivots has meant low water in some places, the long dam at Snowden is very low.
2. Communication
   1. Web Site: The web site has been reworked this year and Ruan Botha the Web designer has done an excellent job. We are still working on the Gallery and are always open to suggestions for improvement. There is still work to be done on the Accommodation page which may well enable the web site to be self-funding.
   2. News Letters. There have been several Newsletters sent to the members during the year. This has produced positive feedback.
   3. Land Owners: The Landowners have been included in all communications this year and all have expressed their appreciation of this.While on the subject of our Landowners, let me express our deep appreciation for their continued support of the club. Without them there is no fly fishing club. Each in their own way encourage members and day ticket holders by being available to give directions to the lost and interacting with those fishing. I have had a number of visitors to the area express their appreciation for the friendly and helpful approach of the dam owners.
3. Gathering 2015: This year’s Gathering attracted some 27 entrants who enthuasitically fished all our waters. The Friday evening was kicked off by an excellent talk by Ryan Smith who is the Chairman of the EC Boarder Fly fishing Club. The day was varied in results from Trophy to nil! As usual the prize giving at Aloe Grove was well attended and the prizes were welcomed by all participants. We are very grateful to Aloe Grove for providing an excellent venue for the event. In particular Elaine is to be commended for being endlessly helpful. The 2016 Gathering is already booked at Aloe Grove.
4. Membership: It has been good to welcome a dozen or so new members over the year, with some more in the pipeline. The challenge of every club is what to do about members who do not pay all year. Several clubs have adopted the system that if there is no payment after a year then such people cease to be members and would have to join again with the payment of the annual subscription and the joining fee. This meeting could propose such a system for us.
5. Day Tickets & Books: Day Tickets provide the club with considerable income and to make the system easier to use we have printed Day Ticket Books. These have been placed in Target Line in EL & Queenstown, Louis Sports and Spur for after hours. The books will also help us to keep track of who goes to which dam. The top copy is required to be displayed clearly in the vehicle being used. This enables the landowners and committee members to check even if the person is busy in the middle of the dam on a tube.
6. FOSAF: I attended the AGM of the Eastern Cape Chapter on Saturday. We were given a rundown on the latest developments in the ongoing saga with DAF. This is a whole subject in itself. Please do visit the FOSAF web site where all the details of the struggle to protect trout for fishing. One of the latest developments is the creation of TROUT SA. This becomes the umbrella organisation for highlighting the value of the whole Trout industry in this country. It is a multi- Billion Rand business. It is essential for the whole industry to be able to speak from economic strength. To this end FOSAF which is a member of Trout SA needs to boost its membership in a major way. As a club we have always paid our dues to the Eastern Cape Chapter. However nationally FOSAF has to be joined individually. Again check the web site to find the benefits of membership. Then as a club you will see in the financial statement we donated to the work of the struggle for trout. We will again do that this year.
7. QFFC Committee: Your committee has met regularly throughout the year. The major issues have been organising the Gathering and arranging the stocking of the dams. The committee works well and has done sterling work for the club. I personally wish to thank every member for their hard work.
8. New Dams: as the club waters are sometimes under considerable pressure from requests to fish we have been in negotiation with some new dam owners. These discussions are continuing and are positive. Once we are in full agreement we will notify members.
9. Finances are in good heart as of this meeting. The report will be handled separately.
10. Grass Carp: With the amount of weed in most of the dams and some considerably worse than others we have had many discussions around the introduction of Grass Carp. Bearing in mind this is a long term strategy and very costly we are proceeding with caution. One local dam which had carp introduced 5 years ago is only now showing visible improvement.