Rich Parker and brother Chaz fished on the beach swim (swim 14) on lodge lake to bank carp up to 30lb all fish were caught on Sticky baits 16mm boilies.
The final of Stafford Moors March Silvers Festival 2023
The final of Stafford Moors March silvers festival 2023 winner is Dave Willmott who won with 6 points and total weight of 132lb 15oz.
In 2nd place with also 6 points (with a weight difference )120lb 5oz was Neil Mercer
In 3rd place with also 6 points (with a weight difference ) 85lb 7oz was Sophie Hill
The largest weight of the week was 77lb 7oz from Jim Lawrie from peg 11 on Pines lake
Below are the results for the final match for our March silvers festival 2023 here at Stafford Moor.
Top weight of the day on Tanners lake was Jim Lawrie from peg 19 with 31lb 8oz
Top weight of the day on Pines lake was Ian Jones from peg 5 with 29lb 3oz
Top weight of the day on Woodpecker lake was Ritchie Reynolds from peg 18 with 32lb 8oz
Stafford Moor thank all for being part of our festival & for supporting the JO-OP all week and also for supporting the Devon Air Ambulance.
Torridge Fly Fishing Club – Plenty of limits
Plenty of three fish limits at Torridge Fly Fishing Clubs Gammaton Lakes
Day tickets available from Summerlands, Quay Sports & Tarka Outdoor pursuits. £25 for 3 fish
The club have a limited number of membership vacancies . £180 a year, members can take up to 6 fish a week
Great Torrington Detachment Devon Army Cadet Force – Fly Fishing for Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Skills Section
Great Torrington Detachment Devon Army Cadet Force
Fly Fishing for Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Skills Section
Back in September four Army Cadets from Great Torrington Detachment undertook the challenge to learn fly fishing as a skill for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Hobby.
Cdt Sjt David Lee, Cdt Barnie Reeves, Cdt Archie Reeves & Cdt George Batten have worked hard over the winter months to master all the relevant skills required, under the supervision of Captain Trevor Cook.
The program followed by these four Cadets included a visit from Environmental Agency Fisheries Enforcement Officer Callum Underhill to talk about his job role and licensing. Also included were rod actions, reels, types of lines, types of flies, line installation, braided loop install, knots, roll casting, false casting and turn over plus a session of fly tying and two days on the lake.
On both lake days the cadets managed to catch and take home 1 fish each, the second day on Sunday 12th March proved quite challenging and the rain in the afternoon didn’t help. But they all achieved their goal and had a great time.
Very Special Thanks
Very Special Thanks to Paul Cozens and Simpsons Coarse and Trout Fishery for their continued support in making our two lake days possible, it is greatly appreciated for without their help and support these young people may not have had the full experience.
Also, special thanks to Callum Underhill EA Fisheries Enforcement Officer for giving up his free time to come along and do a presentation. Thank you we really appreciate it.
We are now planning our next course starting in June with fishing days in the Autumn 2023.
Upper Tamar Lakes Carp Fishing
(Above ) A cracking 31lb 12oz common that Dean Compton caught from Upper Tamar.
Charley Fowler with good Upper Tamar Common
(Above) Jason McEvoy had plenty of fish to 25.8lb on a recent session at Upper Tamar
(Above) Simon Richards had this 21lb 8oz mirror on Baitworks Atlantic heat at Upper Tamar
There are still places on the The Mainline Pairs competition at Upper Tamar on March 24th to 26th.
Torridge Carp Lakes – Dave Jenkins big thirty
Dave Jenkins was delighted to bank a new personal best carp of 39lb 2oz whilst fishing day ticket Torridge Carp lakes.
Bideford & District AC Monthly Coarse Section competition results:
1st Nathan Underwood 34lb 7oz
2nd Dave Wood 25lb 14oz
3rd Keith Mountjoy 24lb 3oz
4th Kevin Shears 23lb 5oz
5th Paul Elworthy 22lb 4oz
6th John Lisle 19lb 6oz
7th Graham Currington 18lb 1oz
19 fished
Another very close match was enjoyed by most , the weather was mild and dry until the last hour.
The ropes off , ensured that a variety of techniques were able to be used , despite this the pole has dominated.
Last year’s winner Nathan moved into first position in the league with a convincing victory on peg 9, pole fished bread in the margins has accounted for a fine net of carp. Dave has fished similarly for second spot on peg 13.
Committee member Keith has fished with soft pellet on the long pole in open water on peg 6 for third and a section win.
Kevin’s fourth position was mainly silver fish on maggot off peg 10.
Big huss for CMSAC member
Martin Hunton tempted a specimen huss of 13lb during a recent trip to the shoreline.
Wistlandpound Club – Wimbleball Results
Wistlandpound Fly Fishing Club visited Wimbleball for their March Competition and all members tempted trout from various locations around the reservoir. The trout proved more difficult to tempt than expected possibly as a result of fluctuating temperatures with snow melt a potential factor. Prospects for are excellent for the coming months with large numbers of trout stocked. As Spring slowly settles in fish activity will increase with floating line sport likely on milder calmers days that are surely on the way.
Small dark coloured flies proved successful for me with a black lure on the point and black and green buzzers on droppers. Four of the five trout caught were tempted by the buzzers on the droppers. An intermediate line proved the best option it might have been worth drifting a set of buzzers beneath a floating line with a long leader and a gold head on the point.
I addition to hard fighting rainbows several wild browns were tempted with Colin Combe returning three fish to just over 1lb.
March 12th – Wimbleball Result
1st Wayne Thomas 5 – 9lb 1oz
2nd – Andre Muxworthy – 3 – 6lb 10oz
3rd David Eldred – 2 – 5lb 8oz
4th Nigel Bird 2 – 4lb 11oz
5th Dave Mock – 2 – 3lb 6oz
6th – Colin Combe – 3 brown trout to 1lb +
RIver Taw Fisheries & Conservation Association – News
Chairman’s Report
Our AGM will be on the 31st of March at the Highbullen Hotel. We have a speaker from the Environment Agency called Harry Chance. Harry is an Agricultural Regulatory Inspection Officer and will update us on the greater level of enforcement that was first trialed on the Axe and is coming to the Taw.
We are running our annual auction online this year. The link is at the bottom of this piece which can be forwarded to as many people in your network as you feel might be interested. Chris Taylor, as ever, is rounding up auction lots. If you would be willing to donate, be it fishing, stalking, other experieces or equipment, then do email Christopher Taylor ([email protected]) or me ([email protected]). We will continue to add lots and run the end date through into mid April.
We have started the new season with a bang with around 20 fish caught on the lower beats, mainly kelt on the Barnstaple & District Angling Association water. Wisely, they immediately asked members not to spin and then brought in a voluntary cessation of fishing until the next large tide that should carry these valuable fish safely out to sea. I have checked with other rivers and these unusually high numbers have not been replicated elsewhere. They equate to a lot of eggs in our river and will only represent a proportion of the total spawning fish. This gives us some reason for optimism. Any angler who does catch a kelt should take particular care in returning this valuable fish to the water.
We hope the weather is an improvement on the 2022 season. Last year we had a promising start with several early fish caught. The rain then stopped and the summer and early autumn were a complete right-off. Our final figures were a miserable 53 salmon and 83 seatrout. The one lesson is to put in the effort when the conditions are right. Those lucky enough to fish the lower river did have sport in periods the water was cool enough to fish.
The Committee has been working away behind the scenes on protecting the ecology of our catchment. The toughest job was working with Fish Legal on a private prosecution. Alex Gibson coordinated this and his report is in this Newsletter.
There are rapidly increasing numbers of shad spawning in our river, most likely the result of the weir removals assisting their migration. We contacted various researchers through Jo Madden (Upper Taw Representative). An article on this fresh-water breeding herring can be read elsewhere in this Newsletter.
Over the years we have improved access over our weirs, bought out the estuary salmon nets, succesfully lobbied IFCA to ban other estuary netting, monitored fish numbers through fry surveys and beat surveys, collaborated with South West Rivers Association on various lobbying activities, cleaned compacted and silted gravels to assist with spawning, sued polluters and those that damage the ecology of our river and brought a multitude of other benefits. The two major causes of damage we continue to battle are sewage treatment works and poor farming practices. We can’t change these alone and so view collaboration as a necessary strategy. The North Devon Biosphere have a Catchment Partnership and Ian Blewett has a seat at that table as outlined in his article in this Newsletter. A major step forward will be in-river water monitors that have been trialled in the Umber and are now to be introduced in the Little Dart.
William Martin has just completed a new website for us. It will allow greater flexibility, easier communications – such as this email – and also online auctions. Bryan Martin has ably managed our previous website for which we are grateful and will continue to assist with the new one. The new model allows other officers to have direct access alongside Bryan.
Andy Gray
The Mole Pollution Incident
The Mole pollution incident has been extensively covered in
our website over the last 2 ½ years. Now that the legal processes have run their course, I have been asked to write a concluding article. We should remember though that the effect of so many of our fish being killed will be felt in our salmon, sea trout and brown trout fish stocks into the future.
Sadly we have become used to the drip by drip deterioration
in the water quality of our river caused to a great extent by the bad practice of farmers and our water company, South West Water, this despite extensive campaigning efforts for improved regulation and enforcement. There was always a feeling though that a major catastrophe could be around the corner.
I was Chairman when I received a call from the EA on the
morning of 1 August 2020 telling me that there had been a major fish kill incident, Category 1 in EA terminology, as a result of anaerobic digestate used as a fertiliser getting into the Mole in large quantities. For reasons of continuity I stayed involved until all the legal loose ends were finally tied up towards the end of last year.
An estimated 15,600 fish in a 5km stretch of the Mole were
killed, from above the link road to the junction of the Molland Yeo where fortunately sufficient dilution took place. This stretch is an important spawning and juvenile area for the river. The salmonids actually counted by the EA were: 315 salmon parr, 1,155 salmon fry, 14 adult sea trout, 1,127 adult brown trout, 328 brown trout parr and 1,222 brown trout fry. Although no adult salmon were killed the loss of three generations of juvenile salmon will be felt for years to come. The same situation applies to the sea trout killed and to the unknown number of juvenile brown trout killed that would have migrated to sea as sea trout.
The EA mounted a successful criminal prosecution of Alun
Sing’s company and one of his employees. The total fine was £2,667, an amount viewed as derisory by those concerned with the health of the river. The proceeds went of course to the Treasury not to the river. With the criminal prosecution out of the way it was open to us to mount a private action for damages. It turned out that amongst all the riparian owners below the polluted stretch on the Mole and on the Lower Taw only five RTFCA members, a
disappointing number, could be identified as members of Fish Legal. These five, acting as claimants, engaged Fish Legal and after a long, drawn-out legal process compensation of £18,000 was paid. Each of the five claimants agreed that the proceeds should go to the Westcountry Rivers Trust for river improvement work on the Mole and this has now happened.
What lessons can be learned?
Taking legal action in relation to river pollution is a
time-consuming and expensive business which requires specialist skills. This we found out through working alongside Fish Legal and through the excellent efforts of Justin Neal, Fish Legal Solicitor. I do urge riparian owners to protect their own and the river’s interests by becoming members of Fish Legal, thereby in effect insuring against the costs of legal action and making legal action affordable.
Those who pollute our river should be held to account and
pressure needs to be brought to bear on the EA to prosecute Category 1 and where possible Category 2 incidents.
Criminal prosecutions do have a deterrent effect. It is therefore important to decline offers under enforcement undertakings as RTFCA did in this case. By using the enforcement undertaking arrangement and offering money direct to the affected party the polluter seeks to avoid a criminal prosecution. It is important to note that after a criminal prosecution there remains the option, as in this case, of bringing a private action with proceeds going to river improvement work. A successful criminal prosecution by the EA
increases the likelihood of a successful private action.
We will never eradicate all the threats that our river faces,
but we must do all we can to minimise them. This means that anglers should act as eyes and ears on the river and report pollution incidents to the EA via its hotline (0800 807060). It may seem dispiriting that individual cases are not followed up by the EA unless there is a fish kill, but action becomes more likely against the repeat offender if incidents continue to be reported and logged.
Three anaerobic digesters on our system are three too many. There
is always the threat of a major incident directly or indirectly connected to them. I would urge any member who hears of plans for others being built to bring that information to the attention of the RTFCA Committee so that a concerted campaign can be launched to nip such plans in the bud.
Fortunately major incidents are rare and I hope my successor, Andy Gray, has a smooth ride in this respect.
Alex Gibson
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| CATCHMENT PARTNERSHIPS – THE WAY AHEAD
Many people will not have heard of Catchment Partnerships, CaBA is a community-led approach that engages people and groups from across communities, encompassing a variety of environmental interests at a local level to help improve our precious water environments. The idea is to do this to by addressing environmental issues at scale on a catchment basis. THE NORTH DEVON CATCHMENT PARTNERSHIP (NDCP) RTFCA is a member of the North Devon Catchment You will see that area includes all of the Taw and MEMBERSHIP OF NDCP In addition to RTFCA the following are members of NDCP: NDCP Priorities are: – action on on diffuse pollution from agriculture (improving or restoring water quality) – working with landowners to manage river banks – encouraging best practice in forestry to reduce sediment pollution removing barriers to fish passage – investigating the extent of sediment pollution in our river – tackling the tricky issue of non native invasive species
THE FUTURE We face a number of significant and daunting challenges to our river’s health and whilst we do our utmost to neutralise or mitigate the effects of the challenges that face us, the reality is that some are just too big in terms of scale and scope to grapple with. The Committee is of the view that we must adapt our approach if We have been welcomed as a valued member and have already been able to demonstrate our worth through our wide experience of raising funds and delivering environmental enhancements throughout the catchment. The NDCP priorities largely chime with We believe that making new alliances and partnerships will be key to success in the future. The NDCP will be central to that success and the early indications are that we as an organisation have a great deal to offer and will benefit from being part of this alliance. As the old saying goes – you have to be in it to win it.
Ian Blewett Secretary SOIL MINERAL NITROGEN SCHEME SAVES FARMERS MONEY AND REDUCES POLLUTION IN RIVERS A Soil Mineral Nitrogen (SMN) project in Devon delivered through Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT) has helped farmers save money and reduce the pollutants going onto the land and into rivers. In 2022, we worked with farmers in the Otter catchment to review their likely nitrogen fertiliser application and how much these had been adjusted due to cost, before sharing the results of nitrogen tests, to allow further adjustments (up or down) to improve the efficient application of N. Over 425 hectares of conventional and organic land have been The results showe significant opportunities for reductions in nitrogen applications, with the majority from the arable fields. Total applications fell from 57,114kg N/ha to 49,521kg N/ha Based upon a nitrogen fertiliser costing £841/tn in July 2022, the savings equated to over £14K, with an average saving per field of £234. Arable savings were considerably more at £340/field, £148/field for forage and £113 for grassland, with one field’s savings over £1,350. These are unprecedented times in farming and costs of inputs are increasing, it is good to monitor efficiency across farming systems. A 7,593kg N/ha reduction in application is the equivalent The main driver for this SMN work has been to empower farmers to undertake the analysis (where appropriate), to help their on-farm efficiency. This leads to financial savings and an improved environment, including of course water quality in our rivers. Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT) has been working with farmers The picture below shows an operator taking soil samples which can be tested for carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and a variety of other elements. Yog Watkins Westcountry Rivers Trust
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