Glamorgan Anglers Club Ltdwww.glamorgananglersclub.co.uk
Spring/Summer Newsletter 2025

Club AGM – our AGM will take place at The Sports Centre, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff CF11 9SW, in the Taff Suite at 7pm on Thursday 22nd May 2025.All current members are welcome to attend.Please make every effort to attend.

At the time of writing this Newsletter Bishops Pond (Groes Faen) is closed. This is due to a legal issue between landowners which affects our access to the pond. The club is working with a legal team to help us with hopefully rectifying the situation. Any updates will be posted on the Club Web Site and Clubmate.

Firstly, the good news….
As of the 28th April 2025 Club members will have access to Seven Oaks Fishery. We would firstly like to thank Chris Miller for his hard work and patience in securing a lease for the Club.
Seven Oaks is predominately a Carp fishery but does hold a number of silver fish. The rules regarding this fishery are to be upheld at all times. Any Club Member found breaking the rules will be expelled from the Club. The whole site is monitored with CCTV by the owner so please be diligent. The owner will be watching what we do so please keep this in mind.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE MEMBERS ALLOWED ON THE SITE PRIOR TO MONDAY 28TH APRIL. THERE IS CCTV ON THE SITE, ANYONE SEEN ON THE SITE PRIOR TO THE DATE WILL BE IN BREACH OF CLUB RULES AND EXPELLED FROM THE CLUB.
There is parking for 16 vehicles in total, once the car park is full and you turn up, you must leave and not try to squeeze in anywhere as parking is only on the marked spaces. There are 13 spaces in the main car parking area which are marked, 1 space on the slip road at the bungalow and two Disabled (Blue Badge must be shown) spaces in front of the Bungalow.
Club Locks will be on the main entrance gate and the gate below the car park. Under no circumstances are vehicles permitted through the gates by the Bungalow other than the two Disabled cars and must go no further down the trackthan the Side of the bungalow. You must display a blue badge in your windscreen.
There a 2main lakes joined in the centre by a small canal. No members are permitted to use the metal walkway or fish off the islandthat joins the lakes, you must use the pegs that are marked around the perimeter of the main lakes. There are 8 pegs on each lake, which provides plenty of room. The small top lake has 4 pegs and is for disabled members and juniors to use if they wish and does have a stock of fish in it.
Strictly Barbless hooks only and no bolt/fixed rigs, Bailiffs will be checking rigs on a regular basis.
There is a wooden box near the bottom gate, inside will be pens and paper, the owner has requested that we leave catch reports in the box as the ponds have not been fished for 2 years and he would really like to know what is in there, although he has seen plenty of fish moving around.
Fishing and access are strictly daytime hours only, no accessing the site in dark hours either mornings or evenings.
The Postcode for the venue is CF72 9JU
Full Rules and directions are attached to this newsletter.

A bit more good news, we are in the final negociations for another still water which will be advertised later in the spring or Summer.
Issues withRigs:
A lot of rigs have been found of late that are in total breach of Club Rules. Please read the rules and abide by them, as Club Bailiffs will be doing random rig checks on all waters. Absolutely no Bolt or fixed Rigs (including the “Twig” or “Magic Wand), all rigs must be free running from either the lead or the feeder. Strictly Barbless hooks only, no whisker Barb/ Micro Barb or Barbed hooks are permitted on any Club still water, (With the exception of Pike Snap Tackle that must be semi Barbed Treble Hooks). The Use of the “Twig”or “Magic Wand” method is banned on all waters.
If you are unsure of what a free running rig is, there are plenty of videos showing you how they are set up on You Tube.
Also please be mindful of hook sizes, a size 10 is the maximum that is permitted.

Membership Secretaries Report – Paul Addecott:
First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members, whether new or renewals for your support in ensuring that we again this year have reached the maximum number of full members by mid-March.
The Club does try to offer value for money on your annual fee and we continue to try and keep our costs to a minimum. This is the third year that we have used Clubmate as the renewal portal and it seems that on the whole the system works for us, but obviously with using a 3rd party there are always the odd issues, but we do try to get them sorted out as quickly as possible.
This years Night Group is full and we already have a couple of names on the waiting list, but could I please ask all NFG Members that if you are intending to do an overnight session, you must contact the Head Bailiff and book onto your chosen venue a minimum of 24 hours prior to your session. This is to allow the Club to know who is on what water in the unlikely event that there is an incident or even an accident, it enables us to organise a quick response.
Taff Only Members are reminded that they can also fish the Clubs stretch of the river Ely (St Georges down to Cardiff Bay) and Cardiff Bay on your license.
All Club Officials and contacts numbers can be found on the Club web site.

Head Bailiff Report – Brian Dickman
As is customary, I would like to thank my team of Bailiffs for their continued support. Without my team, who are all volunteers, we would not get the amount of work completed on your behalf that is continually being done.
I have been busy with rectification works on Llantrythid and installing an electric otter proof fence around the pond, which we hope will deter otters from plundering our fish stocks. Please be mindful of the fence and especially when parking pleased keep clear of it. I have already been called out because a member has broken the wire whilst parking.
I am installing an otter proof fence around Treoesin the near future, so please again be mindful, especially when putting up bivvies or day shelters and obviously when parking on the road bank. No doubt you are aware that the reeds at Barry ponds have been removed as much as was permissible to open up all the pegs, which was a success and we hope to re employ the reed removal company next winter to remove more of the growth, but I will let you all know about that in the Autumn.
Litter still seems to be an ongoing issue, which I would ask you all to please take your litter home and if you find litter on any of our waters, please be kind enough to pick it up. If I find proof of any member leaving litter on any water, I will seek to have them removed from the Club.
We do have quite a lot of new members this year, so I would ask at your earliest convenience to read the Club rules as if you are caught breaching Club rules, “Oh, sorry I didn’t know” is no excuse. This also goes for all members who have renewed.
I have again dealt with numerous questions in regards to Juniors fishing our waters. On Barry Ponds under 16’s must be accompanied by a senior club member (this is a Dow rule). Minimum age for a junior member is 7 yrs. On any water it is 1 x Junior per senior club member. Juniors must fish the same peg as the senior member. Juniors between 7 yrs and 11 yrs do not require a license. 12 years to 15 they require a Junior License and an NRW Junior Rod license.
There is also an issue with the amount of rigs being used that are either fixed lead or simply ridiculous and the hook sizes being used. All bottom rigs, whether method feeder, open end/Maggot feeder, Zig Rig, lead weight, they all must be running rigs and most definitely not fixed and a maximum of a size 10 Barbless hook (ALL HOOKS ON CLUB STILL WATERS MUST BE BARBLESS). I have instructed my team to undertake random rig checks, so please don’t feel offended if you are asked to reel in and show the Bailiff your rig.
Finally, as has already been pointed out, would all NFG Members who are going to do an overnighter please call me and let me know where you are going the day before and please remember that no guests or non NFG Members/Club Members are not permitted to fish overnight on any of our venues.
Please note, St Y Nyll is Closed to Members until 1st June and fishing is 7am to one hour after sunset.
Pike Fishing is from 1st October to 31st March

Treasurers Report – Mike Bishop
I will use my report for an update on the Barry Lakes Reed Project that we completed at the end of last year. Firstly, a huge thank you to NRW for partially funding this project through their Sustainable Fishery Programme. This Fund uses monies generated from Rod Licence Sales, so your Rod Licence money goes back into maintaining Fisheries & Water courses. As ever we are also grateful to NRW Fisheries Officers for their time and efforts in supporting the Club. We also have to thank Dow and the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales, who oversee the management of the lakes, for their help and consideration in enabling this project to actually happen. The lakes are a Nature Reserve and Reeds not only give us an area to fish to but are also essential to wildlife, hence future Reed removal and any other work on the Barry lakes will always be selective and limited.
Onto the actual work - The swims themselves and around theiredges had Reeds and their roots removed by the Truxor and all swims are now open sufficiently for angling.There will be some green shoots that will show as the year progresses, as it was impossible to remove all roots. We will monitor these and either, if it is possible & there are not too many reeds, remove by hand next Winter or we could possibly get the Truxor back. The edges of the main reed beds & Islands on both lakes were cut, leaving the roots in place, there simply was not enough time or money to take each bucket full of root and reedfrom the reed beds or islands back to the bank for disposal. So, we do expect to see Reeds growing back along the main reed beds & islands, exactly how much, we will see as the year progresses. Anglers need to be aware (peg 1 on Sue’s from about 10m out from the bank is the best example), that when fishing close to what you now see as the edges of the Reed beds, there are amounts of Reed stubble on the lake bed andit will be very easy for feeders to get caught on the stubble. Again, we will see how these Reeds grow back and might try a limited use of the Truxor to dig up some of the roots in the Winter. As with all work on Club waters, we do also need to thank Brian & Keith for their sterling efforts, the fishing we all enjoy would be nowhere near as good as it is without them.

Secretaries Report – Adrian Corrigan
Firstly I would like to welcome all the new members to the club and thank existing members for renewing their Licenses. The club has grown a lot in the last few years and the committee have looked for new waters for club members to fish not with much success, So a big thank you must go to Chris Miller who has worked so hard to secure access for club members to the seven oaks fishery. As was stated at the start of the newsletter the owner has cctv at the site and the club will come down hard on any members transgressing the rules at seven oaks. Seven Oaks is a lovely venue with some very impressive Koi swimming about, I’m looking forwards to fishing there myself. During the last season the club have continued to introduce new fish stocks to our waters including Barbel, Roach and Bream to the river Taff, Barbel to the Ely, Tench to Treoes and a top up stocking of Barbel to Carols Pond Barry. The club will be running a few work parties again this spring the membership will be informed via clubmate email and the Club website, over the last few years the turn out at the work parties has been very disappointing with the same few people turning up every time. If you can find time to help the club and your fellow anglers by helping out on one of the workparties we would be very grateful.
This year’s AGM will be as usual at the National Sports Centre on Thursday  22nd May 19.00 please come along and have your say on how the club is run, we value your opinion and would love to see more members attending this year and in the future.
Pysgodlyn Mawr would all members please be aware Pysgodlyn Mawr is open to the public so when fishing please be mindful dog walkers, horse riders and the general public have a right to be there. Please respect this right although I know it’s not easy when a dog plunges into the swim you’ve been fishing from first light and the owner just looks at you and says he likes a swim. Unfortunately, it’s something we have to put up with.Also All Catfish caught at Pysgodlyn must be Removed if you are not happy to dispatch the fish you must ring the head bailiff who will arrange a visit from a bailiff  to help. 

Chairmans Report –Richard Turner
A quick thank you to all members who have renewed their membership and a “Welcome” to all new members! Club membership has exceeded 1,000 for the 2nd year in succession, testament to the quality of fishing experienced on our waters and hopefully to the work done by the committee, bailiffs and other volunteers who work to ensure that our waters are maintained and stocked to ensure we maintain our standards.
As always, Brian is doing a sterling job maintaining the waters, but member’s help will be welcome in the next month or so, when we need to do extensive weed clearance at St y Nyll and Pysgodlynin particular and general work on our other waters – Keep your eyes out for those Clubmate e-mails “inviting” you to the work parties
We are constantly on the lookout for new opportunities, so keep your eyes out for announcements in the coming weeks! Finally, best wishes to all for your Spring tench (or whatever takes your fancy) fishing and thanks for supporting Wales’ best angling club!
Juniors Group – Matt Clarke
As the Spring begins so do the GAC junior events and competitions. It has been a good start to the season, with 9 juniors attending our first event, but it would be great to see this number continue to rise. There will always be help and support available for parents and juniors at the GAC junior events along with hotdogs and prizes post-event too! If you would like some more information about the GAC junior events please donot hesitate to get in touch either through email or my telephone number, which can be found on the Club web site under contacts.
Coaching Report – Ian Lewis
Coaching report March 2025.
We are looking forward to a full program of coaching this year. If there are any schools wishing to take part please pass on my contact details.
I have had interest from a charity group called Pathfinders Cymru for Friday 13th June at Treoes. Coaches please put this in your diary.
Disabled Group.
We have a full program of disabled matches this season.
To scotch any rumours that someone has been spreading the committee is NOT thinking of cutting out disabled comps, but trying to get more disabled anglers to take part.
Ladies Comps
Donna McIlroy is trying to revive the lady’s section of the club these comps will be run in conjunction with the junior section as we have as many girls fishing the junior comps as boys, which is nice to see that the club can be all inclusive.
48 Hour Charity Event
This years 48 Hour Charity Event will be taking place at Treoes Pond from Friday 27th June to Sunday 29th June. 
There are 2 places still available on this popular event which for new members who do not know what we do, all you need to do is raise a minimum of £50 sponsorship for our chosen charity which this year is the Specialist Stroke Unit at Llandough Hospital. The weekend is all about having fun and enjoying your fishing. There is a raffle at the end of the event and as always we ask if any member has any items they would like to donate for the raffle, please just drop them at the Bailiff hut at Treoes on a weekend.
If you would like to take part, please text 07804 097857, first come first served.
If you cannot make the whole event then of course please pop along and support us over the weekend.

Glamorgan Anglers Club Rules for Seven Oaks Fishery, Cowbridge Road, Pontyclun
1. Personal conduct
a) Only full Coarse members of Glamorgan Anglers Club Ltd are permitted, not Taff only members.
b) Fishing is from Sunrise to Sunset and no night fishing is permitted.
c) Fishing from marked pegs only.
d) The walkways between the two lakes are strictly out of bounds for safety reasons.
e) Strictly no drugs or alcohol are allowed on site.
2. Conduct when entering, parking and leaving Seven Oaks
a) Please make sure you lock all the gates on entry and exit, including the gate by the bungalow.
b) Parking is only permitted in the assigned parking areas and no vehicles to be driven beyond them.
c) There are 13 parking spaces on the left hand side of the track. Please park diagonally in a herringbone pattern with your bonnet facing the hedge. There are 3 additional parking spaces on the right hand side of the track, opposite the barn and bungalow.
d) Parking is limited to 16 vehicles. Once the car parks are full there is no alternative parking and you must leave the fishery.
e) All buildings on site are strictly out of bounds.
f) Access to and from the parking areas and to the lake is by the stone path and through the gate. g) Please complete a catch return and post in the box explaining what you’ve caught.
g) Members are only permitted on the site in daylight hours, no access or fishing in dark hours either morning or evening.
3. Fish care and safety
a) No bolt rigs or fixed rigs allowed.
b) Barbless hooks only (maximum size 12).
c) Maximum of 2 rods per Angler.
d) Maximum of 1 Kilo of ground-bait or loose feed per day.
e) You must have a landing net of 32 inches, in addition, you may use a 22 inch net for smaller fish.
f) Unhooking mats must be used. g) No fish are to be removed. Anyone doing so will face legal action and a minimum fine of £1000.
h) Nets must be dipped on entry and exit to the fishery.
i) No Keep nets, carp sacks or retaining slings are permitted. All other Glamorgan Anglers Rules apply to Seven Oaks
All other GAC Club Rules Apply