President Alastair Hume's speech to the AGM 2008
We have a few guests with us tonight - Mrs Hume, my very supportive wife - I wonder if the committee ask Georgina along so that she can see that I have indeed stood down.
Ian Scott the Chairman of the Dee District Salmon Fisher Board and Mark Bilsby the Dee River Director. I have known Ian over the last 3 years when we were both Board members. A few months ago Ian became Chairman of the Dee Board and is also Chairman of the Dee Trust and his obvious business ability and enthusiasm has already been very beneficial to the Dee.
Jim Kerr the Don Superintendent is here for the first time and is a very important addition especially as our major fishings are on the Don. Jim is quite well known to many of you.
All our guests have said that they will be pleased to answer questions later in the evening. I should say now that that does not include Mrs Hume as I don’t want any home secrets to come out.
The past year has been a busy one for the committee and in some ways a disappointing one for most of our members. Disappointing because of the continued high water levels during the summer and lower than expected levels at the end of the season. I suppose you could say that the year was good, bad and frustrating.
Members who fished the Dee had a very poor season we are hopeful that with the runs of fish that were seen going non stop through Garthdee and Banchory Devenick future seasons should be much better. A total of 21 salmon off these waters is certainly not what we would expect. We have negotiated a further 5 year lease with Rupert Lumsden of Banchory Devenick which gives us confidence for the future on the Dee. There will be changes, no doubt, in the not too distant future at Banchory Devenick as Mr Lumsden has sold the area of land between the South Deeside Road and the flood barrier along the edge of the river to RGU who, I understand, will be making the area into playing fields. There is a probability that there will be a footbridge across the river somewhere above the Pumphouse Pool which might be useful for our members to move from the north to south banks if they so wish. Our access to the river and our parking will not be affected.
One bad feature of the last year was the poor catches reported from most of our waters. The committee have concerns that maybe not everyone has notified their catches as instructed through the telephone link but while that may well be the case certainly the run of salmon on the Don was not what we would expect in spite of the high water levels. At the end of the year when we were hoping for decent water levels the river settled down and caused disappointment to many.
To go back to the Catch Reporting I would like to remind you all that the request from the Association that you report your catches is not something that the Committee has thought up, it comes from a legal order from the Scottish Office - we have no option but to carry out this instruction or else we will be acting against the Law of the land. The committee have feelings that a few members may not have taken this instruction seriously and would make it known that from next year they will not tolerate anyone not making a true return of their catch. Please do not let us down - always notify us of catches made. Remember kelts are not to be reported, and speaking of kelts, we had one member reported to us by the bailiffs for having a dead kelt in his possession - the offender was disciplined by the committee. Please be careful.
We require a great deal more help than we are currently getting from members, maybe we haven’t gone about making known what we require but that will be looked into for the future. What we certainly do require is more river watchers - for all our fishings. These would be anglers who fish a lot and who would be willing to keep an eye on what goes on at the river and report on any deterioration of the bank, check tickets, help the convenor of the beat and give advice to members. If anyone is willing to help please give Paul Toseland, your name.
One very frustrating matter this year was that the Contractor who we had appointed after a great deal of discussion and who we had hoped would manage to do what we required and be with us for many years turned out not to be able to comply with our requirements and so we had to part company with him at the very time when the river banks should have been being cut. Hats off to Alex Paterson for the time and effort he put in trying to motivate our contractor but unfortunately it was of no avail. I will leave Alex to give you more detail about this problem and what he did to partly surmount the difficulty. I know how much effort Alex put in and the stress he felt during this trying time. Thank you Alex.
I can give you some good news for a change on the Contractor front. I am delighted to say that we are in process of appointing a new Contractor who will hopefully be starting shortly. The appointment of Stuart Fleming to the post will, I feel sure, please all members who know him. Stuart has been our Dee convenor for some years now and has been first class. Stuart’s knowledge of the Association and its assets will be of great benefit, he knows what we require of our contractor, he knows our waters and he is well respected by all committee members. This is a big job that he is taking on and we must all give him support and encouragement. Stuart could I ask you to stand up so that those members who do not know you can note who you are for the future.
Our Website has been very well managed by Iain Morrison throughout the year, few members fully realise the amount of time and effort put in by Iain on our behalf. Our Website is very highly thought of in angling circles and is widely viewed. Iain has on occasions had to warn members about their use of the Forum and I would ask all of you to be careful when using the Forum and to please remember that anything that is entered on our site can be seen by millions of people all over the world.
I feel that I must mention one specific point about the Website and that is that the Committee are very concerned with the sometimes unsporting and caustic remarks being made on the Forum. Please remember that the Forum was set up to allow members to exchange angling views and highlight points of angling interest but unfortunately there are now one or two members using the facility to deride the Association and its management. We are a sporting association and for members of our association to put items on their own Website which devalues it is indeed sad. Every member should respect the Association and if they have any criticism of the way it is being managed or have a point that they think should be brought to the attention of the committee they should write to the Secretary. Please in the future use the Forum in a sporting way and do not besmirch or belittle the good name of our Association.
Thank you Iain for your efforts and I would also mention that it is thanks to Iain that the Newsletter that went out with the AGM notice was produced. This Newsletter has been very well received
Last year we started a Commercial side to the Association and thanks to Stuart and Julia Fleming, Dave Gordon and Iain Morrison in particular. You will see from the accounts that we have been making a profit on the sale of badges, Beanie hats, sweaters etc and also fishing days at Tilbouries and Casting Lessons from Willie Banks. This coming year we are hoping will be even more profitable with added fundraising items coming on line. We now have an arrangement with Raemoir Trout Fishery and have fishing tickets available on most Mondays at Knappach Fishings on the north bank of the Dee below Banchory opposite Crathes.
There are a few other items from the years business I would like to headline:-
Pipe at Kemnay
We received the sum of £10,000 for allowing a pipeline taking surface water from the new house and the car parking area at Kemnay just beside the bridge to be fed into the river near the bridge.
Non access through Woodsons at North Bank, Upper Parkhill
Alex Paterson made very valiant efforts to get Messrs Woodsons to give us access through their grounds on the North Bank of Upper Parkhill at Cockers Pool so that our members could move up or down river uninterrupted. He tried without success to motivate the Council to use the Access Code to this purpose but to no avail.
The legal wrangle over the North Bank fishings at the Cruives.
For the last 5 years we have been involved in a legal wrangle with Grandhome Trust over the right to fish the north bank of the Cruives at Snuffies and Benzies. An interdict was served on the Association some five years ago to ensure that we would not fish that beat. We had tried for years to get the Trust to produce their titles but their solicitor eventually told us that he could not find them.
When we purchased our shares in the Cruives fishings we had been told that the ownership of the North Bank of these particular pools had always been under question. This was why we have been pressing the matter and why we have had such a long and trying legal problem over the years. We have now made the decision that it would be unwise to continue in our efforts because the costs of going on could involve spending more money than the fishings are worth. If we continued with our actions and lost the case then we would be faced with paying our costs and also Grandholm Trusts legal costs. We have already had costs of £15,000, and that would really only be the beginning. We have had to employ senior Legal Council to advise our solicitors, we have had to pay to get various legal documents from three or four hundred years ago, translated from Latin , and there have been very numerous meetings over the years discussing this legal nightmare with our solicitors. The opinion of your committee was that we had to be careful and not get the Association committed into a matter which might run and run in a higher court of law and could end up costing far more that the actual fishings were worth. We are disappointed how things have turned out but I do feel commonsense has to prevail.
60th Anniversary Dinner
On a brighter note we had a very successful 60th Anniversary Dinner in the Elphinston Hall. Paul Young was a guest and the event was well organised by Mike Cordiner.
Ardlethen Car Park
We are to have a new car park installed at Ardlethen and I will leave Alex Paterson to tell you all about it.
Loch of Loirston Problems
This years problems at the loch have been well documented and Richard McHattie the Loch Convenor or Alec Paterson will be saying something about the matter later.
Induction Days
This year we are going to run Induction Days for all new members. This will inform them about our Association, its fishings, rules, etiquette, successful lures, and other matters that might interest them. The first course is on Saturday at the Bothy.
Fish Counter.
At last I believe that the Fish Counter has a good chance of being removed this summer, hopefully the middle of the summer could see the removal take place. Could I ask Mark Bilsby at this time to update us.
Dee Extension.
The Dee extension starts next year. This is a three year extension into the first two weeks of October. No fish are to be killed and if a fish does not survive after having been caught it must be left in the river. Fishing will be by fly only. We hope that some important information relating to the back end run of salmon on the Dee will be forthcoming from this trial.
Western Peripheral Route.
The Western Peripheral Route is planned to cross our Don fishings at the tail of the run below Cockers Pool. We are making efforts to try to arrange for a car parking area at the north side of the bridge to allow easier access for our anglers to fish the North Bank of cockers or down stream of the proposed bridge. Time will tell if we are to be successful. The WPR bridge over our fishings at Parkhill will be well above
the water and there will be no bridge support work near the river.
This will be the last time I will have the pleasure of addressing the Association’s AGM. I am a founder member of the Association so have been in the Association for just over 60 years, I have seen it grow from nothing to where we are today, arguably the largest Angling Association in Scotland. So far as I can recall I have missed only two AGMs in the 60 years of the Association - 1949 and1950 when I was doing my army service.
We started with no fishings and no funds, the original members gave and lent the club money to get it on its feet, we borrowed money from members to buy Upper Parkhill and repaid the borrowings.
Over the years we have had the support of very many Committee members who are no longer with us and we should always be thankful for the time and energy that they gave to this Association.
I have stood for election either as Vice President or President for the last 43 years - when I was first appointed Vice President and Finance Convenor all those years ago the Association had just over £2000 in the bank and owned just Upper Parkhill. We now have fishings worth probably somewhere around £6 million on the open market and a very healthy bank balance. I have seen over the years the work put in by so many people to make the Association what it is today. There have been good times and bad times, times of worry and times of great satisfaction. We fought a major battle with the Paper Mills in the days when the Don was like a river of cardboard and paper, where trout could not survive below Stoneywood Mills. We created such a fuss and with the support of other Donside clubs the Scottish Office set up a public enquiry to look at the state of the Don and we won.
Not so very long ago Angling Associations were looked down on by Fishery Boards and many river proprietors. I am glad to say that this view has changed greatly in recent years and we have, for some time, had seats on the Dee, Don and Ythan Salmon Fishery Boards - in fact we have two representatives on the Don and Ythan Boards and Dave Gordon and I are Directors of the Dee Trust The sporting behaviour of our members over the years has, I have no doubt, helped to support our image. The Chairman of the Don Board, Alastair Wallace and the Clerk to the Ythan Board, Mark Andrews are in London and Edinburgh repectively and have sent their apologies for not being able to attend.
The behaviour of all our members reflects on our good name and we would not be where today if were not for you all. Please keep up the good work.
I would thank you all for your support over those past years and especially I would thank your current Committee for their efforts on your behalf during the last year. I have mentioned only a few of the committee by name but all of them have played their part in the past years management.
Over my years as Vice-President and President the firm of Somers Fishing Tackle has been closely involved with us and have willingly assisted the Association when requested. I would like to thank David and Colin Craik and their staff for their help for so many years.
I have tried to tie up all the loose ends before standing down but in an organisation the size of ours there are always going to be matters ongoing that will take time to come to completion. My reason for standing down is quite simple, in many ways my life has been tied in with the Association for more than 50 years and I feel that with the demands now made on the President ever increasing it is time for someone younger to take up the challenge. While I will no longer be President I will for some time still be remaining on the Dee, Don and Ythan Fishery Boards and as a Director of the Dee Trust. I hope now to be able to fish more often and will be around should my views or opinions be sought.
There is a lot still to be done and I am sure that your new office bearers will act very well on your behalf. Bob Dey, my Vice President, has come through the ranks of the Association and came from being Secretary to Vice President and I would thank him for his support and say to you that you are fortunate to have the likes of Bob, Iain, Alex, ‘Diver Dave’ Gordon, quite a new but very active member of committee and someone who has provided a very important fresh approach and drive at committee level and is our PR man, Stuart Fleming, and Paul Toseland our Secretary who produces paper work as if it were going out of fashion.
All your committee have done a great job this past year and deserve a mention - David Smith, he is our Map and Planning expert and Trout Stocking organiser, John Pirie is our Statistician, he of the technical mind, John Jamieson, who is currently ill, is our Bothy looker after and the Dee Assistant Convener, Kenny Cowan is the Netherdon Convenor, Dr John Lewis is our Dee liason manager and ties other jobs into to that as well, Richard McHattie is our Loch Convenor and a keen member of the Competition sub committee, Nat Mathieson is our Parkhill Convenor. Johnny Walker is our Trout fishing expert and a member of the Don BTIA, Kenny Riddell is our Fintry Convenor, a member of the Competition Sub Committee and is also our Minder and Heavy who we can unleash if we ever feel the need. Only joking.
I have been very pleased and proud to have the support of all the committee and hope that those who are standing for re-election will indeed get your support.
This year you will notice a change in the Agenda for this meeting. I felt that it would only be right, because I am retiring, that any questions on the past years activities be made while I am still in the chair to answer them so you will have noticed that there will be a period for open discussion prior to the appointment of the new office bearers. Questions on matters out with last years activities should be kept until AOCB.
Finally I would like to thank my wife for the years of support she has given me and in some ways the Association and again thank you all for your support last season and for many of you the support over many many years. I wish you and this wonderful Association of ours all success in the future.
Alastair H. Hume
President of the ADAA