YDAA Stillwaters to Reopen

Following the guidance given during Sunday’s Prime Ministerial broadcast on Sunday, and the subsequent more detailed advice from the Angling Trust, [who had been actively campaigning for angling to accepted as a safe form of exercise,] the Trustees have agreed that the subsequent expectation is that angling will be available on YDAA waters from Wednesday, 13th May. This has been borne out by the sudden rise in sales of YDAA memberships.

Therefore, we have decided that the waters that will be available to YDAA members will be: Laybourne, Park View, Sand Hutton, Claxton, Hemingbrough, Burn Road, Rawcliffe, Pocklington Canal, Selby Canal and the Aire & Calder ONLY. Other waters, i.e. all rivers, remain closed for the duration of the close season, except for those members who hold a YDAA game fishing permit.

If you elect to go fishing you must still stick to Government Guidelines:

* do not leave home if you have symptoms of Covid-19.

* only make journeys based on Government Guidelines.

* travel on your own, unless you can prove that you are travelling with someone you live with.

* park your vehicle at a greater distance from other vehicles than you would normally do.

* maintain social distancing i.e. 2 metres.

* fish no closer than 15 metres apart.

* please only fish alone, unless you are with fishing with someone who resides at the same address.

* if there are no safe angling places at one water, please try another venue.

* no sharing of tackle or bait.

* please bring your own disposable gloves, and anti-bacterial hand sanitiser to use when handling gates, locks and other surfaces.

* no competitions – not even little knock ups – are allowed in Phase 1, as they are organised gatherings, not permitted under Government Guidance. Nor is the use of keepnets.

* to protect our waters, if you suspect that someone is not a YDAA member, please use your authority to ask, from a safe distance, to see their membership card. Carrying this card is a condition of membership within our rules. Please report any infringement of rules to a Trustee [see front of your Member’s Guidebook] as soon as possible.

It should be noted that the Trustees share a level of discomfort in the way that these steps have been announced without any real consultation with member clubs, who alone have to implement the relaxation of the Covid -19 regulations.

Please note too, that, at present we have no means of making Day Ticket sales.

Please help us make this work for the benefit of all our members. Let’s all stay safe and stay fit and well, so that we do not have to revert to total lockdown.