IZAAK WALTON ANGLING SOCIETY. (Founded 1927)
Officers of The Society:-
Chairman –
Secretary – Jim Simpson
Treasurer – Dean Cox
Match Secretary – Andy Pickles/Adrian Berry
Site Manager – Jim Madeley
Assistant Site Manager – Joe Goldthorpe
Committee – Above plus Kev Sephton, Ged Grant, Rachel Leyland, John Leyland, Jim Madeley and Andy Underwood.
Honorary Life Members:-
Frank Partington
Chris Unsworth
Graham Russell
Honorary Membership:-
Secretary
Treasurer
Match Secretary
FULL MEMBERSHIP.
Meeting Dates:- 8pm on the first Tuesday of every month, except the Annual General Meeting in January when it is the second Tuesday.
Meeting Place:- Bond Street Club, Leigh.
SOCIETY RULES.
General Rules and Constitution:-
1. The Society shall be called the Izaak Walton Angling Society.
2. The Headquarters of The Society shall be at any place agreed by the members at an Ordinary Meeting.
3. The membership of The Society shall be a maximum of 65, excluding Honorary Members who are recognised by the members for their contribution to The Society and the Pleasure Angling Only Section.
4. Applications for membership:-
a. Minimum age for Full membership to be 16 years
b. Minimum age for Pleasure Angling membership to be 18 years.
c. Each applicant shall be introduced by the Secretary on the recognised Form of Application to the Meeting of Members and it shall afterwards be considered by the Committee. The decision of the Committee shall be final & binding and reasons for non-acceptance need not be given.
5. The Society year commences on the 1st of January and ends on the 31st of December.
6. No one will be considered a Member of The Society until payment of the entrance fee and subscriptions. (ie. pro rata to full year)
7. The Committee and officials shall be elected yearly at the Annual General Meeting and any business not on the Agenda of the Meeting shall not be discussed unless the Chairman is prepared to admit it as an extra-ordinary question.
8. The Society shall be governed by the officials and a committee of members. 4 members required to form a quorum.
9. Members must pay their subscriptions in full no later than the first Tuesday in March each year. Members who fail to pay their subscriptions by the due date will face a £10 fine in addition to due fees or then, with the approval of the committee, have their membership of The Society cancelled.
10. Members must purchase an annual Environmental Agency Licence at their own expense and produce it when necessary.
11. Members on reaching age 65 qualify to be made Associate Members of The Society provided that they have been a full member for a minimum of 5 years. The annual subscriptions for Associate Membership shall be agreed at the Annual General Meeting.
12. It shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting each year which Associations the Society shall affiliate to. All costs to be paid by The Society.
13. The Ordinary Meeting of the members shall be held on the first Tuesday of each month with the exception of January when the Annual General Meeting will be held on the second Tuesday. The committee shall meet as and when required.
14. Members shall carry identity cards and licences when fishing and produce same when required by an authorised person.
15. In the event of any member of The Society interfering in any manner with game, breaking down fences, leaving litter, committing wilful damage in any fishing locality, poaching, or, on club matches failing to comply with fishery rules they shall, on satisfactory proof thereof, be expelled from The Society. All members are responsible for ensuring that they are aware of the rules of the water they use; ignorance of the rules is no excuse.
16. At Taylors Hole, all members are to enter and leave by the gate only. No fish are to be put into the water, or taken away from the water, unless approved by the Committee. Any member in breach of this rule may be expelled from The Society.
17. Members are allowed to take their children/grandchildren under the age of 16 but the following rules apply:-.
i. Juniors under the age of 16 must be accompanied by the parent or guardian who is a member of the Society.
ii. Parents or guardians shall at all times be responsible for juniors whilst fishing or being on Society premises.
iii. Juniors should be in possession of an Environment Agency rod licence from the age of 13 years onwards.
18. Members are allowed to take a visitor fishing on Taylors Hole at a cost of £5 per visit payable to The IWAS or committee. The member shall at all times be responsible for the visitor whilst fishing or being on Society premises.
19. The use of live bait (ie. live fish) spinning or lure fishing and the use of treble hooks shall be against the rules of The Society. Barbless hooks only, max size 12, to be used at Taylors Hole.
20. Members must abide by the rules and regulations of the Environment Agency (eg. No baited rods to be left unattended)
21. All members of The Society must be respectful and civil to other anglers on all society waters.
22. If anything occurs for which the rules are not sufficiently binding or for which there is no rule, the same shall be decided by the Committee whose decision is final and binding.
23. Generally no amendment or additions to Society rules shall be considered unless given in writing to the secretary before the close of the IWAS meeting immediately preceding the AGM. The motions are read out to the members present for their consideration. However, in cases of emergencies, an Extra-Ordinary Meeting can be arranged to amend or add to a rule, subject to a request at the ordinary meeting.
24. Members are not allowed to fish on Taylors Hole 2 hours prior to official matches. Once the match has started no one other than participants are allowed to enter the pond until the All-Out signal has been given.
25. The use of braided line is not allowed on Taylors Hole.
26. Only people who have completed applications for full membership of The Society will be allowed to fish Society matches as visitors.
27. Members attending Society meetings sign-in on arrival.
28. Members will be insured by The Society for local waters (ie. Taylors Hole and Pennington Flash) but in cases of Championship matches and general angling, members will not have a claim in cases of accidents/incidents against The Society or its officials.
29. All persons fishing Taylors Hole shall be in possession of an appropriate landing net.
30. Members must inform the Secretary of any changes to their address, email addresses and contact numbers so that they can be kept informed of Society issues.
31. The Society shall not be dissolved so long as ten members are willing to continue it. Should it be dissolved any assets after discharge of all liabilities shall be donated to any registered charity, other such organisation, or shared among the remaining members as the majority of members deem appropriate.
32. Active members (ie. those attending at least 6 matches or meetings) who are unable to attend an AGM for genuine reasons are allowed to submit a proxy vote (in writing) for or against any motions tabled.
33. Maximum hook size allowed on Taylors Hole at all times (pleasure fishing and competitions) is size 12. All hooks should be barbless.
Match Rules:-
M1. All matches shall be pegged down matches and all fish caught shall be returned to the water after weighing.
M2. Matches shall be of 5 hours duration or such durations as agreed by the members fishing the match on the day. Match rules shall be drawn up by the Committee and agreed by the general body of members. The rules shall be based on the general principles of the NFA rules.
M3. Any member having salmon parr, trout or other game fish (excluding grayling) in their keepnet shall be disqualified from weighing in.
M4. The points awarded in Society matches shall be decided at the Annual General meeting.
M5. The prizes in Society competitions shall be decided annually and preferably at the commencement of the season.
M6. Pools are optional on all outings.
M7. All fish are to be fairly angled for. (ie. no artificial baits)
M8. Any member defrauding or attempting to defraud The Society by weighing in a fish that they themselves have not caught by fair angling which are in any way contrary to the rules of The Society will be expelled from the club.
M9. Society representation at competitions:-
(a) A team may be sent at the expense of The Society to any angling competition the committee decide. The members of such teams shall be chosen from the most successful match anglers available.
(b) The committee shall have the power to choose such members as they deem necessary to act as reserves.
M10. Members drawing an invalid peg shall draw from several pegs close to the access point chosen at the discretion of the match organiser.
M11. Applicated members shall be allowed to attend championship matches paying the peg fee for the water and also participate in the pools. They will not be participating in the actual championship competition nor be eligible to win any trophies connected to said matches.
They will not be allowed to attend IWAS Summer or Winter leagues.
M12. Floating baits selected for use on Society matches to be on hook only, unless otherwise prohibited by the fishery attended. (ie. no loose feeding with floating baits)
Currently floating baits are not allowed on any IWAS match.
M13. Baits and groundbaits to be agreed at the club meeting prior to the relevant match. This is to be repeated at the time of the draw by a match official. No changes will be allowed irrespective of the relevant fishery venue policy.
M14. Once the match list has been issued, usually at the nearest preceding IWAS meeting, members have until 6pm on the Thursday immediately preceding the said match to book on or cancel a booking. Booking onto a match via a third party is not allowed.
Any cancellation after this time will warrant the payment of a match fee unless justifiable reasons are given, which the committee accepts.
From 6pm onwards on the Thursday immediately preceding the said match, members and visitors can book onto the match on a first come first served basis.
Visitors cannot book onto matches before this time.
On the day of the match, the names on the match list will be read out before the draw to check that all eligible entrants are present and registered. In the event of any problems, these will be sorted out as amicably as possible by any committee members present.
M150. On away matches, an angler may fish up to 1m short of the halfway point between himself and the next angler.