Who are we?

 

We are a large Angling Association made up from Angling Clubs in Hampshire and Surrey that all have a common interest in fishing from the towpath of the picturesque Basingstoke Canal.

Our membership currently stands at 29 clubs giving us a head count of over 3200 members together with 500 individual members.

In 1975 the Hampshire Basingstoke Canal Angling Association was formed from a few local angling clubs, their aim was to gain a lease from the Hampshire County Council for the 16 miles of canal within Hampshire and then develop this length as a fishery. Nine years after the formation of the H.B.C.A.A. a formal fishery licence was granted for the canal from Greywell Tunnel to Ash Lock.

 

In 1977 the Basingstoke Canal Surrey Angling Amalgamation was formed from 8 clubs in Surrey with a similar aim to the H.B.C.A.A. However their task proved to be greater as the Surrey section contained 29 locks which all had to be lovingly restored and subsequently many sections remained dewatered until the late 1980's. However, they did secure a licence to fish a relatively small length of canal below Ash Lock, which contained water and a few fish.

In 1989, with the canal now full of water (but not of fish!), it made sense that any fishery licence would be easier to administer to one angling body. At this time the County Councils of Hampshire and Surrey were setting up the Basingstoke Canal Authority to control the canal. And so in 1991 the B.C.A.A. was formed when the H.B.C.A.A. and the B.C.S.A. joined forces. This significantly strengthened our position whilst negotiating with the B.C.A. for a single fishery licence for the whole canal. At the time we had over 50 clubs with a membership of 15 000 anglers.

 

In 1992 we finally concluded our negotiations and took over control of the fishing on all 32 miles of the Basingstoke Canal under a 21-year Licence Agreement.

A major restocking programme was then embarked upon to fill our beloved canal with fish and since then an estimated £43 000 has been spent on thousands and thousands of fish and good catches can now be had from all sections.

The canal has improved dramatically since our early days and anglers can be found gracing the towpath every day during the season. We have a very active match calendar (see our Matches page) hosting some very prestigious matches in recent years, including the Division 5 National in 1997, the Division 4 National in 2001 and the Division 1 National in 2002, Division 2 National in 2004 and countless Embassy Pairs & Fish O'Mania qualifiers.

The B.C.A.A. plays an active part in the supporting our sport and anglers in whom they fully support in their progressive attitude towards promoting and safeguarding our beloved sport,  click on the Angling Trust link for further details.  It is our view that ALL clubs should be affiliated to coarse angling's governing body as is the case in most other sports.