Small friendly Angling Club on the River Windrush for fly or coarse fishing - beautiful area of the Cotswolds to spend a day relaxing
This is a small friendly club which has the fishing rights to a section of the river Windrush. The Windrush is a small Oxfordshire river with plenty of character, swims range from steady glides to fast riffle beds and turbulent weir pools.
The river boasts an impressive list of species, most of them can be caught to specimen sizes.
Roach can be caught to 2.5lbs though they can prove to be very nomadic and as with all fishing on the Windrush, stealth and patience is the key to success.
Perch have been caught to 4lbs , be prepared to fish early or late for the perch as they prefer low light conditions. Location is easier than that of roach , if it looks “Perchy” chances are there will be perch there.
Dace have been caught to 1lb and tend to move in shoals, if you can get a shoal to remain in your swim you will have a truly memorable day, although be prepared for lightening quick bites.
Chub, as with all chub fishing they can either prove to be the easiest or hardest fish in the river to catch. The largest chub from Burford club waters to date is 6lb 4oz.
Grayling, a lot of our members join each year purely for the grayling fishing, whether it be fly fishing or trotting a float both methods are equally productive. The minnows can be a bit of a nuisance at times so rather than use maggots give a grain of sweet corn a try as the grayling have developed a liking for it.
Pike, these have been known to grow huge for such a small river, the largest recorded last season being 18lbs. Surprisingly one of the best baits for pike is Lobworm !
Barbel, these are present although they are not popular with the landowner as he has witnessed them sitting behind the spawning Trout waiting to eat all the eggs released ( he was not amused after spending many thousands of pounds having riffle beds installed for the trout )
Trout, these are primarily brown trout although rainbows do crop up now and then as Cotswold fly fishers own the fishing rights to a downstream section of the Windrush. The water is not artificially stocked so we have a catch and release policy and this lets someone else have the pleasure of catching the same fish another day.
Eels, as with all waters eels have been sadly lacking in recent years. If you do catch one treat it with the respect it deserves, and if it is deeply hooked cut the line as close to the hook as possible, as you can do more damage trying to unhook these delicate creatures than you will by leaving the hook in.
Small species, the Windrush has a healthy population of smaller species including, Minnows, Bullheads, Gudgeon and Stone Loach all of which have their part to play in the rivers ecology.
Club rules.
Burford Angling Club is proud of the fact that it has relatively few rules and the majority are purely commonsense. For those interested night fishing is permitted although this is restricted to fishing under an umbrella rather than the use of bivies.
Other rules include matters concerning trespass, taking fish in an illegal manner, damage to river banks fences or crops and dates when fly fishing is permitted.
Burford Angling Club matches.
The club has a summer league which is held on Wednesday evenings, which consists of six three hour matches.
There is also a Sunday match held on the last Sunday of each month, a competition rule worth noting is “Competitions do not exclude any other member of the club from fishing the waters during the match” a rule which I wish more clubs would implement.
Both the Sunday and summer league matches are open for any member to enter although don’t expect it to be a serious affair as like most things connected to the club the emphasis is on enjoyment rather than win at all costs. To give you an idea of the scale of the matches, last seasons biggest turnout was a HUGE nine anglers.
O.D.A.A Affiliation.
Burford Angling Club is affiliated to the O.D.A.A ( Oxford and District Angling Association ) this gives you access to sections of the Thames in and around Oxford notably Medley, Donnington and Clifton Hampden to name a few. O.D.A.A affiliation also gives you access to several miles of the Oxford canal above Oxford and over a mile of the river Cherwell.
Membership Fees.
Senior £30.00
Ladies/Disabled £17.00
Junior £12.50
OAP £20.00
Junior membership applies only to those aged 8 to 17.
Day Tickets are available from: Orvis, 80 High Street, Burford, OX18 4QF.
Any questions regarding the club please send an email to burfordanglingclub@outlook.com
An application form will also be sent to anyone interested.