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Secretary’s AGM Report 2023

The Management Committee met four times since the last AGM. Most of the year’s business will be included in the various Sub-committee Convenors reports. I think it’s safe to say it was a relatively quiet year and great to get back to what passes for normal following the previous two COVID years. 
Online membership continues to grow, with lots of visiting anglers choosing to join this way. We had a glitch in the system last year which meant that those joining did not receive our automatic email response. Hopefully that’s sorted now and we’ll soon find out as the system will be put back on line in a few day’s time.
I get a lot of email queries from visiting anglers – mainly through our contact form on our website. I still get a few phonecalls too but letters are rare now. Thankfully I can refer most folk back to our excellent website as all folk need to know is there.
At the end of every season, Ian Hutcheon produces a detailed membership list along with an analysis of membership category and boat ownership etc. It never fails to amaze us the number of folk we meet on our sites whose names do not appear on the list. Yes, we can take out friends and family, partners and kids without them being necessarily OTFA members, but for locals who regularly drive into our sites and take off in a boat for the day it’s just not on. Our sites are maintained for our members use and this comes at a cost. Subscription money does not go towards competition fishing. It funds our hatchery, sites and environmental stuff and so on.  So I hope folk take heed.
We are still having problems with the Marimo Moss on Harray. It was pretty bad at the site last year with a fair area of shore virtually unusable. It was very hard work for old men using rakes and nets to even make a dent in the stuff but thankfully Derek Moar came to the rescue with device he put together on the front end of his tractor. It certainly did the business and with some tweaks it will be invaluable this season if the problem persists.  
AS you can see from the white hair, or indeed the lack of hair on many of the folk here tonight, our committee members are no spring chickens. We need keen and enthusiastic young anglers to join the ranks and take over the management of the OTFA in the forthcoming years. So step forward and you will be very welcome.   
Wishing you all tight lines for the season ahead.
 Malcolm Russell – OTFA Secretary
 February 2023