River Barrow Cleanup

Today was our last cleaning before our next match: The Martin Hughes Memorial match. We now have 5 additional pegs in the rotation, letting us expand our match capacity on the river from the 12 we ran for the Winter League up to 16 for our next upcoming match! Aside from the normal pleg cleaning activities like weed cutting, strimming and raking, we also undertook something a bit different today. Along the pettits SuperValue side of the river Barrow match stretch, we seem to have a systemic littering problem. We have some of the best waterways in the country here in Athy, and it’s disheartening to see how poorly an area like that can be treated. Something had to be done.

But more on that later, let’s take a look at the peg work!

Peg Cleaning

Pegs 17 and 18 have been strimmed, weeded and had their access routes reinforced with blocks due to the bank erosion causing treacherous swampy ground. Pegs 10, 11 and 12 have also been strimmed, weeded and reinforced with blocks for safe access. With these additional 5 pegs added to the rotation we now have the capacity to comfortably run 16 anglers for our next match! These are some fantastic pegs, with 17 and 18 delivering well for roach and pegs 10 through 12 fantastic for hybrids when the conditions are right. We are delighted to have these pegs added to the cycle and very much look forward to seeing how they fish in the next match!

A huge thank you to everyone who helped in getting these pegs ready both on our last cleaning and during this cleaning. We massively appreciate everyone who donates their time to supporting the maintenance of our fishing grounds across Athy :)

The Litter Problem

Somehow, the Pettits SuperValu side of the barrow banks has become a dumping ground for cans, glass bottles, wrappers, plastic bags and bottles, gokarts, toy tractors, plastic sacks and food packaging. Not only is this terrible for the wildlife, but it’s dangerous to small children and adults alike due to broken glass and torn cans as well as tarnishing what is one of the most beautiful locations in Athy. This stretch is seen by all as they cross Crom a Boo bridge in the heart of the town, and it’s wrong to have that vista marked by such waste. Today Athy & District Anglers undertook an in-depth cleanup of this mess, which had recently been chopped up into much smaller pieces by the people who cut that grass. This did not make it easier…in case anyone was wondering!

All in all, 6 full heavy duty refuse sacks of waste were removed from the area today, and the difference is night and day! We sincerely hope that the area does not return to the state it was in, and that we all can take some pride in our surroundings :)

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in this effort: Tommy, Des, Chris, Noel & Ryan. Thank you all!