Casting net wide for a suitable secretary

I began my fishing career as a 10-year-old, armed with net and jam jar. I am hoping that I can continue to go fishing until I become a grumpy old man and a thorough nuisance to my children.

If I am to achieve my aspiration, I shall need the help and support of Yorkshire fishing clubs. Throughout this county, these institutions dedicate themselves to ensuring that the likes of you and me have the opportunity to wet a line with the anticipation of success.

They are the guardians of our waterways, protecting them from the polluters and the abstractors. If rivers, streams ponds and lakes are pleasant places to stroll by; appear cared for, clean and tidy, you can be assured that a group of anglers will be playing their part in preserving these aquatic environs.

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All these associations and clubs need someone to direct them; this stalwart is usually, euphemistically, called "The Secretary". Fisher-folk are not the easiest people to organise; they have grumpy old men, and worse, within the clan; yet every single one is worth their weight in Yorkshire coal.

The secretary has to represent the interests of them all, often locally, sometimes nationally. Representations may need to be accomplished in writing or in person.

It is my privilege to count as friends, the secretaries of angling clubs from Wensleydale to Wadsley Bridge, from North Uist to Nidderdale. Every single one of them can be summed up by that oft misused attribute – dedicated.

The best of these secretaries are also proactive. They understand the need for active recruitment of new members; they are not content to "leave things as they have always been". They understand that the world is changing and that even an activity as ancient as the art of angling must change with it.

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Eventually, these secretaries deserve the opportunity to return to their first love, which is usually their wives or fishing, which brings us neatly back to Nidderdale.

Nidderdale Angling Club needs a new secretary. The incumbent, Michael Pattinson, who embodies the very definition of dedicated, is stepping down after guiding this large organisation for three years. NAC, as it is known, now boasts more than 400 members and was formed in 1857 by a group of anglers over a pint in the Old Oak Inn, in the village of Low Laithe.

Much information about the club can be found on its website at www.nidderdale ac. co.uk. Here, you will find a flavour of what the club has and what it does.

From here, Steve chose one of Michael's favourite flies to dress this month – a CDC Bubble Emerger.

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From next February NAC needs a new official to take the club forward. It needs someone willing to attend and guide monthly committee meetings and to represent the club at all levels.

The new secretary will certainly be angling aware, better still, will be a practitioner, and must be computer literate.

If you would like to make a contribution to the fine tradition of Yorkshire angling, contact Michael for more details at PO Box 7, Pateley Bridge, Harrogate, HG3 5XB. Or email him from the club website.

Your county needs you.

Flies dressed by Stephen Cheetham. 0113 250 7244. www.fishingwithstyle.co.uk

Roger Beck: 01439 788483. www.beckfisher.co.uk

CW 7/8/10

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