Records show the Club to have been in existence since 1925 when it was formed from the amalgamation of other local clubs including the Kelvin Valley Angling Club and Kirkintilloch Angling Club.
In 1943, the Burgh of Kirkintilloch granted the Club the lease of Antermony Loch, which was the local water supply. The Club has held the lease of the loch since then, through several changes of ownership involving Central Regional Council (1975), East of Scotland Water (1996) and the latest in 1998 when East Dunbartonshire Council obtained the loch. In 1998, a ten-year renewable lease was signed with East Dunbartonshire Council with a view to the Club making significant capital investment at the loch including building a clubhouse. This failed to transpire for a variety of reasons, but mainly because one of the buildings, the demolition of which would be necessary, was retained by the Water Board until 2005
Throughout
the Club’s tenancy, its ethos has been the provision of quality, traditional
trout fishing for the community, at prices all sections of the community
can afford. Membership is open to residents of East Dunbartonshire at
a very reasonable cost. A full season’s fishing (205 days) costs the
same as four days on a commercial rainbow trout fishery. Day tickets
are available in local outlets for non-members and visitors, and many
bird watchers and locals visit the loch. This benefit to the community
is reflected in our large membership, currently 246, with a thriving
junior membership of over 40. This makes the Club one of the largest
in Scotland.
Under the Club’s stewardship, Antermony Loch is now one of the few local
waters to offer predominantly traditional brown trout fishing, in contrast
to the many local rainbow trout ponds, two of which are located within
quarter of a mile of the loch.
The Club stocks fish at scientifically recommended levels, to minimise
harm to the loch. The Club also uses traditional algal control techniques
such as barley straw bales
Over the years sympathetic management of the loch and its environs has
produced a haven for wildlife. In addition to the fish, there a great
variety of birdlife, plus abundant insect life and mammals such as;
rabbits, stoats, pipistel bats, butterflies and moths etc. and in the
summer we have ospreys and otters as visitors. To illustrate this diversity,
below is a list of some of the birdlife recorded by one of our members:
barn owl, blue tit, buzzard, carrion crow, chaffinch, coal tit, coot,
curlew, goldeneye, goldfinch, goosander, great crested grebe, great
tit, greylag goose, grey wagtail, heron, kestrel, lapwing, linnet, little
grebe, mallard, mistle thrush, moorhen, mute swan, osprey, oyster catcher,
peregrine falcon, pheasant, pied wagtail, pochard, raven, reed bunting,
ruddy duck, sand martin, sedge warbler, snipe, song thrush, sparrow-hawk,
swallow, teal, treecreeper, tufted duck, widgeon, wren, yellowhammer,
Recently, in addition to the other improvements, the Club has bought weeping birch trees, for planting at the lochside, built bridges over feeders, casting platforms and a special easy access jetty for less active anglers and laid many metres of improved pathway to assist access for anglers and visitors. For a part of history Click on the following link
(News Clip From The Kirkintilloch Herald April 28, 1943)
Also
Results of the Competition Held at Todholes Loch 24 April 1902
KELVIN VALLEY ANGLING CLUB, KIRKINTILLOCH
20TH SEPTEMBER 1900 TO 9TH MAY 1919
