June 18th 2004
National Association of Fisheries & Angling Consultatives

PAC is a member of NAFAC and is working with them to promote the welfare of pike in the UK. To this end NAFAC agreed to distribute a copy of 'Pike in Your Waters' to all of the members and this was done with their latest newsletter.

The newsletter was sent out in early June and the following is an extract from the newsletter from NAFAC:

“In addition to our own Information Sheets we are pleased to circulate the work of others. In accordance with this policy we have included with this mail shot a copy of a booklet called “Pike in Your Waters” that has been produced and published by the Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain (who are members of NAFAC). This is a very interesting document and we recommend it as compulsory reading for all managers of club fisheries”

This is a very positive move for PAC and shows that we are getting the message across to all quarters about how important pike are.

May 14th 2004
PAC at the Palace

Blenheim that is! Read a full preview of the PAC at the CLA Game Fair between 23rd and 25th of July here.

April 11th 2004
New Regions

Gordon Nesbitt is re-launching RA43 - Northern Ireland.

Richard Clarke is starting RA99 - Rotherham and Sheffield.

Andy Kershaw is starting RA88 - Glossop.

Regions 12 and 68 have merged to form the new region "Somerset Levels" RA 12, the joint R.Os for the revised region are to be Pete Austin and Jon Cotton, Jon Helyer is to be region secretary/treasurer and John Hughes is to be Chairman.

Full contact information in the next Pikelines, or contact secretary@pacgb.co.uk for details.

April 9th 2004
PAC Joins NAFAC

PAC have recently become members of the National Association of Fisheries & Angling Consultatives (NAFAC). This gives the club access to regular information on issues which affect angling and allows PAC to have a voice at the highest levels within the EA and other Government bodies. We are also negotiating to improve our current insurance benefits through NAFAC. Any PAC member who wants advice on issues affecting their fishery can contact Chas White, Assistant Secretary of PAC who will seek guidance on their behalf. Chas can be contacted on email at region21@totalise.co.uk.

April 4th 2004
Soar Valley News

Latest news and pics on the Soar Valley page here.

March 18th 2004
SAA Letter To Environment Agency Re NW Bait Ban

The Specialist Anglers Alliance continue to question the Environment Agency about the value of the bait ban imposed in Cumbria, and about possible future bans elsewhere. Read their latest letter here.

March 18th 2004
RA 25 - Bristol Region News

The next Bristol meeting is on Weds 31st March at The Midland Spinner, London Road, Warmley, Bristol at 8pm. Guest speaker being Paul Hughes. Full details and directions available on the recently updated Bristol Region website.

March 7th 2004
Scottish Survey of Country Sports

For the last few months the Scottish Federation of Coarse Anglers has been involved in a working group involving other fisheries-related bodies who are trying to encourage VisitScotland (formerly known as the Scottish Tourist Board) and other agencies to improve the promotion and publicising of angling, both for tourism and short trips by home-based anglers. Among other things they have been in correspondence with Duncan Stewart who has been conducting a survey of  "Country Sports" (i.e., fishing & shooting) participants for VisitScotland. The information that he has been able to gather so far from anglers - especially coarse anglers - is not very substantial, largely because he had no clear idea who to ask. As you will appreciate, it will be useful for the profile of coarse angling in Scotland if coarse anglers who fish here have provided information in this survey. It would be beneficial to get responses from coarse anglers who visit Scotland, the great majority of which will be pike anglers.

If you are an angler who visits, or has ever visited,  Scotland for the fishing please take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire which can be found using the link below:
http://online.tns-global.com/wi/p69893736/i.asp

March 4th 2004
Zander Deadlining

Many of you will have read in the angling press or on internet forums of a Peter Collins using setlines to remove zander in the Fens. You can read a PAC statement on the issue in the Press Release section of this site. Or just click here to go straight to it.

RA 5 - North Lakes News

RA5 The North Lakes are proud to announce that our inaugural Guest Speaker will be Dave Lumb, discussing 'Big Water Lure Fishing'. This will be on the 1st April 2004, at 7:00pm in the Lions Club in Greater Clifton, West Cumbria. As well as a talk, Dave will also be providing a selection of his tackle from DLST for sale on the night. Entrance is £2 for members, £3 for non-members, on the door.

The region has also started its own website which can be found here.

March 1st 2004
RA 21/89 - Darlington/Teeside  Meetings

Darlington/Teeside region has a good line-up of guest speakers for 2004:

21st April - Geoff Parkinson on Catfish & Pike
19th May - Tony Smith on fishing in Yorkshire
15th September - Neville Fickling on Pike fishing
20th October - Nige Williams on Big Pike

Enquiries for details of the venue to Chas White on 01642 599894.

February 17th 2004
RA 84 - Amber Valley  Meetings

Details of forthcoming meetings on the Regional News page.

February 8th 2004
Piking 2004

The PAC Annual Convention will be held at a new venue this year. After spending the last few years at UMIST in Manchester, this year's event will be staged at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on Saturday 25th September.  Piking 2004 is expected to be bigger and better than ever. With easy access by car from the M62 or the A1, and from Leeds city centre, this is a prestigious venue to hold such an event. The Royal Armouries also has a fantastic museum so this should make an excellent day out for all the family. Further details of guest speakers etc. will be announced as they become available.

S.E. Northumberland Regional News

The members of S.E.N.P.A.C. the South East Northumberland region of the PAC can feel proud of their efforts in raising more funds for worthwhile causes. The Christmas charity raffle raised £500.00 and this was added to the £300.00 from the PAC privileged access event on Scaling Dam in North Yorkshire. A cheque for £800.00 was presented to Cancer Research U.K. on the 3rd February 2004 on behalf of the PAC. This brings the total raised by the PAC events in the North East and S.E.N.P.A.C. to over £6,000.00 in the last seven years. The charities that have benefited so far have been The Jack Charlton Disabled Anglers Trust, The North of England Cancer Research Campaign, Macmillan Cancer Relief and Cancer Research U.K.

Regional Publicity

Any ROs who would like to get their forthcoming meetings mentioned in the national angling press can do so by contacting Mike Bell at Pikeymikeyatra24@aol.com . Remember that you will need to get the information to Mike in good time to meet publishing deadlines - a couple of months is about right to ensure that the details go in the right issue of the monthly magazines.

January 28th 2004
Bristol Meetings

Bristol region have changed the dates for their meetings. details can be found here.

January 14th 2004
New Link

The Snoekstudiegroep Nederland-Belgie (the Dutch/Belgian PAC) has a new website on line now. It's all in Dutch though!

January 11th 2004
New Regions

We have two new regions new regions - RA84 Amber Valley and RA82 Colne - plus  RA48 Lincoln is being relaunched. Full details will appear in the February edition of Pikelines.

January 10th 2004
Regional News

Details of Ely Fenland regional meetings for early 2004 here .

January 9th 2004
Irish Pike Review

The IPS have  the latest news on the subject and you can read it in our Press Release section.

October 28th 2003
British Pike Squad

Another International victory for the British Pike Squad.

October 18th 2003
Boat Insurance Information

We don't usually post articles on the website before they appear in Pikelines, but this one about the state of play for members seeking insurance cover for their boats answers many frequently asked questions.

September 22nd 2003
RA 68 Taunton

R.O. Pete Austin informs us that the South West Trophy event raised over £140 for the local hospice. Well done to everyone who took part and those who supported the event in other ways.

August 14th 2003
Lough Beg/River Bann Pike Deaths

Following the original post we have received the following update from a member of the Northern Ireland Pike Society:

I also witnessed the large numbers of dead pike on the Bann system and have been keeping in touch with the Fisheries Conservancy Board (FCB) based in Portadown who investigated the kills. Their marine biologist took samples from dead pike and carried out tests to try and identify the root cause. I spoke to them on Tuesday (12th August) and unfortunately the tests came back negative where they could not find any viral or bacterial infections which may have caused the kills and are therefore at a loss as to why the deaths occurred.

Regards

David Darling (member of Northern Ireland Pike Society)

July 24th 2003
Lough Beg/River Bann Pike Deaths

Some news from George Higgins in Northern Ireland:

There has been a significant pike kill on the Bann and Lough Beg. A report has appeared in the Belfast Telegraph to the effect that a number of pike had been observed dead in the Lower Bann River at Toomebridge. The fisheries people took bodies away for examination but reckoned the cause was a fungal infection. There have also been reports of numbers of dead pike in the stretch between Toome and Lough Beg. The anglers stopped counting at 50 fish and some were in the 25/30 lb bracket. A further report from Lough Beg itself mentions pike dead in a number of locations, close to a hundred in total and of all sizes. What is worrying is that everyone who witnessed these events said that only pike were involved and no other fish seem to have died.