TAA News
COW PASTURE LAKE - GILLING
Posted: 6th January 2026
Please note that for safety reasons we are in the process of fitting four digit combination locks to all gates at this fishery, it is important to ensure that all gates are locked behind you.
For those of you that don't know the number - you will find it on the front page of your members MAP BOOK.
NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2025
Welcome to our 2025 newsletter where we try to keep you up to date with some of the events and changes that have occurred throughout the year.
After 20+ years Graham has decided to retire from the position of secretary and pass the baton over to Nigel Leighton who will now combine the position of membership secretary and general secretary. Nigel has been in position now for the last three years and is fully familiar with the workings of the club. Needless to say we welcome him and wish him well.
Review of the year
As always we have been busy with maintaining our various waters. The river Tees has it’s ongoing problems with Giant Hogweed and Himalayan Balsam which we continue to treat on an annual basis. We are currently looking to get more people trained up and able to supervise volunteers, speaking of which we are as always extremely grateful to those of you that give your time but are also really in need of more volunteers.
We have also as some of you may have seen been busy working and maintaining ours still-waters, whilst we have put in a few hours at Faceby we have put in an awful lot more at Gilling. Efforts to control the weed entailed some really new methods to us such as introducing A live culture a bacteria that consumes nutrients which the weed and algae relies on to thrive. This work is ongoing and will also involve the introduction of Micro chalk to help desilt the lake. Introduction of the black dye which we know helps will continue.
Stocking
Once again we stocked some stunning trout into Cow Pasture Lake which kept rods bending well into the summer and many good comments were made about this.
As you all should know this fishery is closed in December and from 1st January to 31st March (inclusive) is strictly fly only. It’s worth mentioning that there was some huge fish caught including double figure Carp on the fly so be warned strong lines are a must.
Rivers
Rivers generally seem to have been fishing quite well our matches which continue to be well supported have seen some excellent weights recorded. We have seen some cracking photos on our Facebook pages thanks to those that take the time to post please keep it up, it’s always good to promote the club on Facebook.
Meeting Dates 2026
Monday 2nd February
Monday 13th April (a week late due to Easter Holiday)
Monday 1st June
Monday 3rd August
Monday 5th October
Monday 2nd November AGM
These meetings are open to all members, we would welcome some new faces and ideas in a friendly atmosphere. New faces are essential to the future of our club, while we appreciate that most people may just have joined the club to go fishing there is so much more to be gained from being involved and learning more about how the club functions and be a part of the decision making.
Tackle Shops
We were much saddened this year at the loss of Peter Rambow who was a huge part of fishing life in our region. Sadly the Cleveland Angling Centre has closed its doors.
We are pleased this year to welcome back Anglers Choice who will once again be accepting club renewals. Also we are pleased to welcome Angling Direct who will also be accepting our members renewals at the Stockton Branch. Of course Darlington Angling Centre are continuing to accept renewals as always. We are as always thankful for the support of our local tackle shops.
PLEASE NOTE PAYMENT WITH CREDIT / DEBIT CARD IN SHOPS IS NOT ACCEPTED.
Annual Subscriptions
With ever increasing costs of all things be they lake dye fish stocking or contractors etc. The decision was taken, that for the foreseeable future to automatically increase club fees by £2.00 per annum 2026 fees as below.
Subscriptions: Please renew promptly
- Under age 13: TAA £0.00 / ATDAC optional £6.00 (£6.00)
- Age 13 – 18: TAA £12 / ATDAC optional £6.00 (£18.00)
- Ladies 18+: TAA £36.00 / ATDAC £6.00 (£42.00)
- Male 18 – 65: TAA £48.00 / ATDAC £12 (£60.00)
- Age 65+: TAA £36.00 / ATDAC optional £6.00 (£42.00)
These ages are for the age you are on 1st January which is when subscriptions become due for renewal. So if you are aged 17 or 64 on the 1st January you renew at the under 18 or under 65 rate.
Payment by direct bank transfer
Members that wish to pay by direct bank transfer can do so, but we can only take payment from ladies aged 18+ and males aged 18 – 65 that includes the ATDAC fee i.e. - £42 & £60. Juniors and age 65+ ATDAC fees are optional, so we can accept your payment with or without the ATDAC fee.
Account details:
Thornaby Angling Association Sort Code 52-30-18 Account number 32558252
When paying this way please be certain to put your surname and house number as reference to be sure we send your new cards to the correct person.
Payment can also be made in person at the following tackle shops:
Darlington Angling Centre 341 North Road Darlington DL1 3BL
Anglers Choice 98 Cumberland Road Middlesbrough TS5 6PW
Angling Direct Unit 4 Portrack Trade Park Cheltenham Road TS18 2AD
As always the tackle shops are not allowed to issue cards on anything other than a like for like basis. Therefore, if you have changed your address or status, (for example reached age 65+) you can only renew by post to Dave Oxley. Renewal in shops can ONLY be paid for by cheque or cash – no card payments.
Renewal payments by post can still be made by sending to Dave Oxley 34 Bensham Road Darlington DL1 3DG please include a stamped addressed envelope along with last year’s cards.
To sign off it only remains to wish you all a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.
Tight Lines
Nigel Leighton
Work Party Notice - Gilling West
Posted: 16th October 2025
Continuing our programme of works at Cow Pasture Lake Gilling.
To help improve water quality and control /reduce sediments etc we are asking for volunteers on Sunday 9th November at 9.00am. We are applying 3 tons of Microchalk to the lake and require helpers (with wheelbarrows if you have them) to move bags of chalk around the lake for loading into the boat.
Many hands make light work please come and help if you can.
REMINDER TAA AGM MONDAY 3rd NOVEMBER
Posted: 16th October 2025
Just a quick reminder that our AGM is scheduled for Monday 3rd November Croft Club 7.45pm. Strictly members only current membership card required for admittance, all members welcome.
Once again we will be providing refreshment by way of Pie & Peas and a free drink. To ensure we order sufficient food will those planning to attend please inform the club by email to: [email protected]
FISH KILL INVESTIGATION GUIDE
Posted: 1st July 2025
Following the warmest spring on record, and the driest for 50 years, many regions of the UK are approaching or already experiencing drought. River temperatures have soared, causing dissolved oxygen to plummet.
Fish kills devastate populations and too often aren’t investigated. The citizen science community has developed extensive water quality monitoring and with feet on the ground, the WQMN is well placed to identify and investigate fish kill incidents.
Prior to joining the Angling Trust, Alex Farquhar produced a fish kill investigation guide with WASP and the Institute of Fisheries Management. You can find it here.
In many cases, the Environment Agency fails to respond to a fish kill. There are a range of cases where official investigations have failed to act rapidly enough or follow proper procedures. Polluters are being let off the hook, with the cause of fish kills remaining unclear. This guide allows citizens to add evidence to any EA investigations, not to replace it. None of the methods described interfere with official processes.
Time is of the essence in fish kill investigations and local citizens as first responders, armed with an understanding of what evidence to collect, can obtain on-site evidence much faster and more widely than EA teams are able to. The guide provides a rigorous framework for the proper collection of evidence, which could be crucial to hold polluters to account. The guide has two parts, a written guide and an epicollect site to log your investigation – both of which you can find on the WASP page.
UPDATE ON GIANT HOGWEED AT CROFT & INGLEBY BARWICK
Posted: 12th May 2025
Week commencing 5th May the Giant Hogweed 3 miles at Croft and the long bottom field at Ingleby Barwick has all been successfully treated.
A massive thank you goes out to our volunteers for all their hard work.
Cow Pasture Lake Gilling - Temporary Keepnet Ban
Posted: 1st April 2025
On Tuesday 1st April the above fishery becomes open for both trout and coarse fishing.
This year the current water level is very low and we are working hard to discover the source of what we think is a water leak. We hope and believe that we may have found it, if we have then we need the rain to help restore the level, time will tell.
IN THE MEANTIME FISH WELFARE HAS TO BE THE PRIORITY, FOR THIS REASON THERE IS NOW A TEMPORARY KEEPNET BAN IN PLACE.
Notices will be placed to this effect. We would hope that all members can see the common sense in this.
THORNABY AA NEWSLETTER 2024
Welcome to our 2024 newsletter where we try to keep you up to date with some of the events and changes that have occurred throughout the year.
Having worked tirelessly for over 30 years, our Chairman Gordon Angel & Treasurer Dave Oxley have decided to retire. Our new Chairman is Lewis Illing & new Treasurer is Mike Edwards who are ideal replacements, we wish them well.
As always, it’s been another busy year with lots going on to maintain our fisheries with the help of a small number of volunteers. If you are one of our volunteers, we appreciate your help and would like to say a big thank you. Some of these tasks have been fairly physical as in treating the Giant Hogweed at Croft and for the first time this year at Ingleby Barwick which took us by surprise. This is now an ongoing yearly task, not something that we will defeat any time soon.
Having said that once we have treated the GH it leaves a void on the bankside which the Himalayan Balsam quickly fills. Again, this is something we are now looking at trying to control. The question is how? We are aware that there are presently biological trials taking place all over the country in the hope that someday it can be eradicated.
Added to these works is the efforts put in with general maintenance to all our fisheries including peg clearing at Kilgram Bridge and Croft.
Stillwater Fisheries Report
Ascott: - This year we have invested approximately £7,000 in further fish stocking along with the laying of a new footpath and building of 2 new pegs on the smaller top pond along with general maintenance removing Gorse and overgrowing trees etc. You may have noticed that we are now applying black dye to help with weed control.
Gilling West: - Once again, we stocked with Rainbow Trout (fishing fly only Jan 1st – 31st March) which is proving increasingly popular. Added to this was a further stocking of Carp Total fish stocking approximately £4,000. This year we used a different black dye which didn’t prove as effective as the one used in 2023 so for 2025, we are reverting back to original, having said that the lake has had a really good colour to it these last few months.
River Reports
This year all our rivers have suffered from regular floods especially throughout spring time when the fish are either spawning or returning back up rivers after spawning. This had an adverse effect on catches across all our north eastern rivers with the usual big Dace shoals virtually non-existent. Let’s hope for better in 2025.
Following concerns raised by some members regarding the permissive Tuesday competitions held at Croft June – October, on how it interferes with the enjoyment of some of the majority who do not wish to partake in competition fishing. This was reviewed at our October meeting and after discussion the conclusion was reached that as a committee, we should support both sides and these Tuesday competitions will now be held on alternate Tuesdays rather than every week.
Over the last 12 months we have been taking part in regular monitoring of river water quality as part of the Angling Trust initiative on the Ure – Swale & Tees. Thanks once again to our volunteers.
Annual Presentation Evening
As mentioned in last years newsletter where we hoped for better attendances, this wasn’t forthcoming so sadly after 75 years 2024 was our last one.
River Tees Yorkshire Bank at Dalton Wood
The court case continues, it turned out that four days was insufficient. Time ran out and case is adjourned to resume at a date yet to be set but expected in March/ April. Staying with this subject we can report that both of the retrospective planning applications were heard in committee on Thursday 14th November and both applications were refused.
Annual Subscriptions
With ever increasing costs of all things be they lake dye fish stocking or contractors etc. The decision has been taken, that for the foreseeable future to automatically increase club fees by £2.00 per annum 2025 fees as below.
Subscriptions: Please renew promptly
- Under age 13: TAA £0.00 / ATDAC optional £6.00 (£6.00)
- Age 13 – 18: TAA £12 / ATDAC optional £6.00 (£18.00)
- Ladies 18+: TAA £34.00 / ATDAC £6.00 (£40.00)
- Male 18 – 65: TAA £46.00 / ATDAC £12 (£58.00)
- Age 65+: TAA £34.00 / ATDAC optional £6.00 (£40.00)
These ages are for the age you are on 1st January which is when subscriptions become due for renewal. So, if you are aged 17 or 64 on the 1st January you renew at the under 18 or under 65 rate.
Payment by direct bank transfer
Members that wish to pay by direct bank transfer can do so, but we can only take payment from ladies aged 18+ and males aged 18 – 65 that includes the ATDAC fee i.e. - £40 & £58. Juniors and age 65+ ATDAC fees are optional, so we can accept your payment with or without the ATDAC fee.
Account details: -
Thornaby Angling Association Sort Code 52-30-18 Account number 32558252
When paying this way please be certain to put your surname and house number as reference to be sure we send your new cards to the correct person.
Payment can also be made in person at the following tackle shops: -
Cleveland Angling Centre 22A Westbury St Thornaby TS17 6PG
Darlington Angling Centre 341 North Road Darlington DL1 3BL
As always, the tackle shops are not allowed to issue cards on anything other than a like for like basis. Therefore, if you have changed your address or status, (for example reached age 65+) you can only renew by post to Dave Oxley. Renewal in shops can ONLY be paid for by cheque or cash – no card payments
Renewal payments by post can still be made by sending to Dave Oxley 34 Bensham Road Darlington DL1 3DG please include a stamped addressed envelope along with last year’s cards.
To sign off it only remains to wish you all a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.
Tight Lines,
Graham Jeavons