Vision
New Platt Fishery aspires to be Cheshire’s premier trout fishery.
Our aim is a holistic one, not just a focus on numbers or size of fish caught. It encompasses the exclusivity that comes with a members’ only fishery, on a private water, in an easily accessed tranquil and picturesque setting, where members share a common interest and vision for their fishing experience.
To achieve and maintain this, the fishery owners and club’s management team continually strive to improve the quality of fishing, member facilities, the fishing environment and the fishery’s surroundings, for the enjoyment of our members and their guests.
Goals
While it is never possible to provide exactly what every angler wishes, a balanced compromise is distilled from the input of members, to provide the essence that is New Platt Fisheries.
The club’s management encourages a close-knit membership, supporting each other and the club as a whole, in order to achieve collective goals.
The club strives to balance fishing pressure; numbers, sizes and species of fish stocked; catch rate; facilities, together with the cost of fishing.
Approach
The fishery is managed by anglers, for anglers.
The club management is always cognisant of the club’s vision and goals when developing and implementing its plans.
Our long-term plan is reviewed and updated annually by club management, in conjunction with the fishery owners, with the objective of delivering the vision and goals and to ensure the vision of the club remains aligned with that of the members and the lake owners.
In parallel with the long-term plan update, a 12-month plan to deliver key elements in the next membership year is agreed.
The club management team is empowered to deliver against that plan, within an agreed budget.
The management team facilitates working parties to be attended by members to deliver each element of the plan. Where needed, specialist expertise and equipment is procured to deliver those that the club cannot deliver itself.
Management
Management of New Platt Fishery is undertaken by anglers who have fished the water for a number of years, working closely with the fishery owner.
The management of New Platt Fishery is information and knowledge led, ensuring decisions made are well informed. A holistic view is taken based on the information and knowledge available.
Regular updates are provided to members on all aspects of club management and the fishing. Typically, weekly fishing updates are provided with other information supplied on an ad hoc basis.
Members can provide feedback at any time and are actively encouraged to provide information through the returns book, electronically or verbally. All input is appreciated in ensuring we can maximise the understanding of what is happening at the fishery, capture proposed improvements that may help the club and to share methods and flies that are productive.
As always, the aim is to maximise the enjoyment members can take from being a member of New Platt Fishery.
Water quality has been monitored for a number of years and this continues. Temperature, dissolved oxygen, water clarity, depth and nutrient levels are monitored with actions in place to manage these where possible. Water quality is also used as an indicator for managing stocking.
Fishing statistics are recorded on a weekly basis to monitor fishing pressure, catch rates, successful areas, methods and patterns. This information is reported weekly for the benefit of members. As with water quality, fishing statistics feed into the stocking plan.
There are a number of ‘pests’ that affect New Platt with control measures implemented where possible.
Cormorants can be present at New Platt to varying degrees. A number of methods are used to discourage their presence.
Over the years, fish lice numbers have varied greatly, as is the case with most fisheries. Numbers exploded in 2022 due to a perfect storm of ambient conditions and fish levels. A containment plan was developed and is actively and successfully managed today.
In summary, while many aspects of managing a fishery are not absolute and cannot be controlled 100%, management of the fishery is geared towards improving as many aspects of the fishery as possible to maximise benefits to the membership.
