ATTENTION: MATCH CANCELLED

The planned match for Sunday 17th July at ‘The Lilies’ lake is cancelled, this is due to the expectation of unusually hot weather.At the time of writing, the Met Office have issued an “Amber warning – Extreme heat”.At yesterday’s Club night, those Committee members present, discussed the implications of extreme heat and the associated risk of harm to both anglers and fish. Key risks that have led to this decision are as follows:Risks to anglersSunburn – Very few swims on West Lake provide shade throughout the day. Hence even with the mitigation of sun protection creams being applied, exposure to powerful sunlight for a continuous period of 6 hours would likely lead to instances of sunburn.Dehydration – Continuous exposure to high air temperatures and powerful sunlight for a prolonged period would present a high risk of dehydration to anglers, particularly for those who are on a regular course of medication. Risks to fishLow water oxygen levels – Currently West Lake is suffering from an infestation of ‘Blanket Weed’, a characteristic of this weed is that it consumes substantial amounts of oxygen which it takes from the water. Whilst Horizon Work Parties have recently attempted to mitigate this risk through removal of Blanket Weed, much of this weed still remains and continues to grow. The impact of low oxygen levels is to place additional stress on the fish population, unfortunately this situation has been exacerbated by a lack of recent rainfall, in turn lowering the water level in East Lake which is not currently feeding fresh water in to West Lake.Fish body temperature – The hot weather has increased the water temperatures in out lakes, consequently the body temperature of our fish stock is already elevated. Any fish that are caught by our anglers will suffer a further rise in body temperature during the time they are out of the water, in addition the mandatory angler’s mats and cradles will become very hot whilst exposed to the sunlight, thus presenting a risk of applying further heat to fish as they are unhooked and photographed. Whilst wetting of equipment and fish with copious amounts of lake water will partially mitigate this risk, there would still be some detrimental effect on fish body temperature and drying of skin/scales. In summary, the Committee have decided that the balance of risks versus benefit of holding this match falls in favour of cancellation. As a broader mitigation to the Weekend League for 2022 and potential for further weather related cancellations, the Match Organizer will continually review the overall impact of cancelled matches with a view to introducing additional replacement matches as needs dictate. Mike WaiteMatch Organiser, Horizon Angling Club for the disabledTel: (01243) 771373Mob: 07581062628