7 Dec 2021

The River Torridge Fishery Association – Newsreel

by | posted in: Game Fishing, Sidebar | 0

The River Torridge Fishery Association

President: Lord Clinton 

Chairman: Paul Ashworth                                  Secretary: Charles Inniss

                                                               e-mail: [email protected]

NEWSREEL:   WINTER 2021 

The Salmon Hatchery:

            Sadly, I have to report that the hatchery team plans to rear 30,000 swim-up fry to be stocked out into the headwaters in the spring will not be going ahead. The EA has closed down all access to their fish passes except for essential maintenance work by their fishery staff. This decision was taken after a fatal accident to an EA employee although the incident did not involve a fish pass and did not occur in the South West. As a result we have not been able to use the fish pass at the side of Monkehampton Weir to trap our brood-stock. The EA gave permission for six of us to try and catch the brood-stock with rod and line. During November we twice tried to catch our broodstock using spinning tackle. Our Fishery Officer, Callum Underhill, arrived with an oxygenated tank but despite our best efforts we had no success. Knowing how difficult it is to catch just one salmon these days the chances of catching several in a few hours was extremely remote.

The Torridge Hatchery Team in November 2020

            This also means that the plans to develop the South West Hatchery hub at Colliford hatchery on the River Fowey have had to be put on hold. Steve Phelps, our vice-Chairman, has liaised closely with the Colliford hatchery and together with the Axe Association we are all still determined to move the project forward. Hopefully next year 50% of our eggs will be reared at Colliford. As salmon stocks in our South West rivers continue to decline the aim is to expand the Colliford hatchery so that it can support several rivers.

The South West Rivers Association: Roger Furniss:

            Since helping to set up the SWRA over 25 years ago Roger Furniss has been the driving force: for many years as Secretary and for the last three years Chairman. At the SWRA AGM in October Roger handed over the reins as Chairman to William Entwistle. Roger will remain a Council member. The committee would like to thank Roger for all the help and sound advice which he has given on many occasions.

The Annual Dinner:

            Our Annual Dinner was held at The Half Moon at the end of September. It was a wonderful evening: well supported with good company and an excellent meal. The new proprietors, Haydn and Kim, joined us for the evening. We wish them well in their new venture. They are keen to support the Association in its efforts to improve water quality, stabilise river flows and restore migratory stocks to their former levels of abundance. Thank you all for once again for supporting the raffle so generously. We raised over £1,600 which will be used to make further improvements at our hatchery.

The Fishing Season:

Rod catches were disappointing. Due to Covid restrictions fishing effort was limited and even those of us who lived locally did not fish regularly. There were only a handful of anglers who did fish regularly and they all enjoyed some success. It is often said that 90% of fish are caught by 10% of the anglers. This season 95% of the fish were caught by 5% of the anglers. Let’s all make a New Year resolution to get out and fish our beautiful river more often. From the reports I have received 25/30 salmon and about 120 sea trout were caught. Several sea trout over 5lb were landed.

Best wishes to you all for the festive season. Charles

5 Dec 2021

BLAKEWELL CHRISTMAS COMPETITION 2021

by | posted in: At the Waters Edge, Game Fishing, Sidebar | 0

Blakewell Fisheries Christmas competition was held as a lower key affair this year in part due to high COVID rates in the area with only a small number of local anglers invited. Sunday morning dawned cold and showery as the draw for pegs was made along with a glass of port and  a cup of tea.

The competitors drew lots at the start of the match with the intention of rotating around every hour. With the water cold and clear it was surprising that trout proved hard to tempt at first with several anglers struggling to get any takes at the start of the competition.

As the morning progressed it soon became apparent that the trout were tightly shoaled in the bay with any angler fishing there enjoying consistent takes. I was fortunate to draw this peg just before dinner and quickly added a brace of trout to the single trout I had tempted on my second peg. The best fish close to 4lb. The first two trout falling to a bead headed cats whisker the third to an orange blob!

A fine full tailed rainbow.

Paul Grisley with a pleasing Blakewell rainbow.

Dave Winter with his best trout of the day.

A hot pasty dinner and cool beer enabled anglers to exchange opinions and tales around the venues large outdoor dining table.

After dinner the rotating pegs format was to a large extent ignored as the bay again fished well. I moved to the corner of this bay away from the other anglers and flicked a  bead head PTN out on a short line. After fifteen minutes my bag limit of five fish was completed. By now the trout were wising up as lures seemed to lose their pulling power.

As the afternoon grew colder competitors gathered for the weigh in with a hot cup of tea. Over half the competitors had managed to take limit bags with several rainbows topping 4lb.

1st – James Burdus – 5  for 16lb 13oz

2nd – Paul Grisley – 5 – for 15lb 15oz

3rd – Dave Winter- 5-for 15lb 8oz

4th Wayne Thomas – 5 – for 12lb 5oz

James Burdus with a brace of 5lb plus rainbows

Many thanks to hosts Richard and John Nickell for holding the event.

Richard told of the impact of changing climate on the trout fishery with warmer temperatures resulting in extensive weed growth throughout the year. The traditional season on small still-water trout fisheries has certainly changed across the country with the best of the fishing now starting in late October through until early summer.  Increasing numbers of trout fisheries now close during July, August and September. Extensive farming could also be impacting with run off from fields helping to promote weed growth.

Blakewell is open for the rest of 2021 with a short break over the Christmas holiday. The lake will close  for most of January when the lake will be drained to allow treatment of the weed growth. It will reopen rejuvenated in February with excellent prospects for late winter, spring and early summer.

 

3 Dec 2021

HUMPHREY WOOD SADLY MISSED BY TAW ANGLERS

by | posted in: At the Waters Edge, Game Fishing, Sidebar, Uncategorised | 0

 

The Lower River Taw ( Note not Kingford)

 

It is sad to relay the sad news of the death of Humphrey Wood who contributed a huge amount of time and effort into preserving the River Taw. I fished at Kingford several years ago whilst writing ” I Caught A Glimpse” and have fond memories of visiting the hut mentioned by Alex Gibson below.

 

Dear Members,

I hope that you are all well, it is with sadness that I pass on the below from Alex.

All members will be sad to hear that Humphrey Wood died recently. He played an important role in West Country fishing life  generally and made a huge contribution to the Taw in particular.During the first part of my Chairmanship, from about 2008 to 2015 Humphrey and I worked together on the Weirs Project. It would be hard to overstate his contribution to the success of this major achievement. RTFA, as it was then, was the beneficiary of his technical knowledge and the range of his contacts in the EA and Westcountry Rivers Trust, our partners.Humphrey fished at Kingford, a part of the river he loved. The fishing hut he built with Ron Warwick, another RTFA stalwart, can be seen from the road on the way from Kingford Bridge to Portsmouth Arms; it is a fitting monument.Humphrey and Polly moved from Roborough to Broughton in Hampshire a few years ago, but Humphrey never lost his interest in Taw matters. I was able to keep him in the picture with phone calls from time to time. He will be greatly missed by all in the fishing community who knew him.

Alex Gibson
November 2021

 

Extract for my book I Caught a Glimpse referring to the hut

The fishing hut provides the angler with a resting place during the angling day, a place to pause for contemplation, saviour a brew of tea and exchange tales and tactics with fellow anglers. Ron worked with Humphrey Wood on his fishing hut on the middle Taw. This hut features in the book, “Fishing Huts –The Anglers Sanctuary” by Jo Orchard Lisle. A pleasing book that details angling huts throughout England.

Humphrey Wood’s hut was built to replace the old hut that was swept away by a big winter flood. To avoid a repeat performance the new hut was built upon stilts. Heavy duty posts that were driven deep into the ground using the appropriate tool. Ron told me that each post had to be inch perfect so that the hut would sit firmly in its place. The building of the hut took a couple of months and on completion a small party of family and friends assembled to drink a toast and share a good luck cake to celebrate the occasion.

The hut with its elevated position should provide many years of service and will be host to many happy days beside the ever-flowing Taw.

 

24 Nov 2021

INVASIVE SPECIES _ADVICE

by | posted in: Article, Articles, At the Waters Edge, Carp Fishing, Game Fishing, Match Fishing, Sidebar | 0

A Riverfly Monitoring volunteer alerted me to what he thought could have been a Killer Shrimp whilst carrying a survey on the River Torridge. I passed the details to our local E.A Fisheries officer who alerted the relevant bodies. Fortunately on this occasion it was a false alarm but the relevant bodies are always grateful of reports in their fight against invasive species that can devastate the local eco-system. The EA can be contacted via their Hotline – 0800 807060

www.nonnativespecies.org

KIller Shrimp Species Description

Scientific name: Dikerogammarus villosus AKA: Killer Shrimp
Native to: South-east Europe
Habitat: Still or flowing freshwater and brackish water, often among hard surfaces or vegetation.

A highly invasive shrimp, with only a few known populations in GB. A key ID feature is the presence of cone shaped protru- sions on the tail. Often larger than native freshwater shrimp species and sometimes with a striped appearance.

It is a voracious predator, killing invertebrates and small fish. It quickly dominates habitats it invades and can significantly alter their ecology.

It is tolerant of poor water quality and can survive in damp conditions for up to five days. It could therefore be spread in ballast water and also by people on kit used in the water, including an- gling gear, boats, kayaks and trailers. Good biosecurity is essential to reduce the risk of spread.

As a non-resident species it could be an offence to release or allow the escape of this species into the wild.

Suspected records of this species should be sent with a photograph to: [email protected]

Another species of concern is the top mouth gudgeon see information and links below.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/fishing/related-articles/the-fisheries-and-angling-team/tackling-the-topmouth-gudgeon

 

23 Nov 2021

River Taw Fisheries & Conservation Association Urge Anglers support for petition

by | posted in: Game Fishing, Sidebar | 0

The River Taw Fisheries & Conservation Association are urging all anglers to support the petitions on the parliament UK website for adequate funding of the Environment Agency.

Petition to increase powers and funding of the Environment Agency

The environment agency is underfunded and underpowered. A great example happened to our very own Mole recently where despite a record fish kill the fine was a paltry £2,000.

 

This petition asks the government to give more funding to the Environment Agency and to free it from overly business-friendly Government codes and guidance, so it can pursue and achieve its principal statutory objective to protect and enhance English rivers.

The petition has 2 days left to run and needs support, please click on the link below

Give the Environment Agency the funds and freedom to protect English rivers – Petitions (parliament.uk)

12 Nov 2021

South West Lakes Trout Fisheries Report November 2021

by | posted in: Game Fishing, Sidebar | 0

All of the South West Lakes Trust trout fisheries continue to be operated under strict Covid-19 restrictions, in line with the current Angling Trust and Government guidelines. At the time of writing the on-site permit huts are not open, so day tickets, season tickets, and boats should be pre-booked online (www.swlakestrust.org.uk/trout-fishing) or via the telephone. Water levels are now starting to rise to between 60% and 75% full (depending on site), while water temperatures continue to fall.

Fishing:

Kennick – The weather conditions have generally been very changeable, with some pleasant sunny days mixed with days of strong winds and heavy rain showers, while overall temperatures have remained mild for the time of year. There has been little surface insect activity, and fish have only risen to feed very occasionally in the early part of the month. Subsequently, most fish have been caught between one and six feet down on slow-sink or intermediate lines, with bank anglers catching the majority of fish. Fish have been well spread out around the lake, although Sycamore Wall, The Narrows, and Clampitts have been particularly popular. The usual selection of nymphs (Buzzers, Diawl Bach, Montanas, and Damsel Nymphs) and lure patterns (Orange Blob, Boobies, Cats Whisker, Kennick Killer, and Nomads) have produced the best sport, with Bibios, Shrimp, and Vivas also catching well. Sharif Adams (from Moretonhampstead) caught the best fish of the month with an impressive bag of six rainbows between 2 and 5lbs, using a Gold Damsel fished about a foot beneath the surface. Graham Roberts (from Totnes) caught three rainbows weighing in at 2lbs, 4lbs, and 4lb 4oz, as well as a 1lb brown; Bryan Parry (from Newton Abbot) caught rainbows of 2lb 8oz, 3lb, and 4lb, using a Damsel Nymph; Mick Megee (from Newton Abbot) caught seven rainbows to 3lb 8oz using a sinking line and slow retrieve. The final of the Lakes Trust’s ‘Best of the Best’ bank competition, supported by Snowbee UK, was held on 17 October – with twenty one anglers competing. Cornish angler Dave Johns won the competition (and £1000 prize cheque) with twelve fish weighing in at 25lb 2oz, Devon angler Andy Watson took second place with 15lb 12oz, and Andy Gooding won the prize for Heaviest Fish (3lb 2oz).

Siblyback – Although there has been little surface activity and few insects on the water, a few fish were caught early in the month on a dry static fished Black Hopper. Otherwise lures and sunk nymphs have been the patterns of choice (Red Matuka, Baby Doll, Viva, or Damsel Nymphs and Montanas), with an intermediate line producing the best results, and Crylla Bay the preferred location. Generally, fish caught have been between 1 and 2lb, with the best rainbow weighing in at 2lb 5oz caught by Nigel Muscelwate; Neil Barron caught a rainbow of 2lb 2oz.

Burrator – There was little surface insect activity over the month, and with the fish feeding sub-surface, generally intermediate lines with varying retrieval speeds proved to be the most successful method, with either a nymph (Montana, Damsel, or Diawl Bach) or lure pattern (Muddler, Leach, Orange Blob,or Kennick Killer) – although a Zonker fished on a floating line and pulled fast did result in a few fish caught. Longstone Point, Pig Trough Bay, and Sheepstor proved to be the most productive locations. The best fish of the month (and the best brown of the season) was caught by Al Lawson (from Plymouth) – a beautiful 4lb fish, using a Blue Flash Damsel on an intermediate line. Kevin Sellar (from Plymouth) caught a bag of seven rainbows to 2lb, using Damsel and Orange Blob patterns, while Steven Carter (from Tavistock) caught four rainbows to 2lb on a floating line and fast retrieve.

Stithians – Fish continue to be well spread out around the water, with most locations producing fish, although Goonlaze, Pipe Bay, and Dam Bank are all worthy of mention. With insect activity on the surface sparse, most fish have been caught on intermediate or sinking lines, although the occasional fish could be tempted by a dry Daddy, Deer Hair Sedge or Black Gnat on a floating line. With the majority of fish being caught subsurface, lure patterns such as Orange Blob, Cats Whisker, Black Cormorants, Boobies, and Fritz patterns produced the best catches. John Henderson (from Falmouth) caught the best fish of the month – a 3lb 8oz rainbow, as part of a bag of five rainbows using small orange gel blobs and mini orange boobies; Phil Messenger-Roberts (from St Austell) caught six rainbows to 3lb using black and white and green fritz patterns; Clive Pearce caught five rainbows to 3lb.

South West Lakes Trust’s brown trout waters (Roadford, Colliford, and Fernworthy) have now closed for the season, to reopen in March 2022.

Please visit the website (www.swlakestrust.org.uk/trout-fishing) for details on ticket prices, fishery information, clubs, competitions, and boat availability.

Chris Hall (November 2021)

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Annabel Underwood

Communications and Marketing Manager

South West Lakes Trust

01566 771930

[email protected]

 

9 Nov 2021

Barnstaple & District Angling Association – Launch New Website

by | posted in: Club Page, Coarse Fishing, Game Fishing, Sidebar | 0

Barnstaple & District Angling Association held their AGM on line consulting the membership via email. The club Chairman John Webber reported on a very successful year with positive developments on the upkeep of the waters on the Lower Taw and at South Aller. The club launched it new website last Tuesday evening that will provide a valuable working link to the membership. http://www.barnstapledistrictangling.co.uk

The B&DAA formed in 1941 is one of North Devon’s longest running clubs and it is good to see that it is thriving thanks to the dedication of its long running committee. The club gave special thanks to Colin Ashby who has been membership secretary  for at least 25years. Don Hearn and Alan Jump also deserve credit for the work that they have undertaken on the club waters.

Click home to visit :-

 

 

Home

7 Nov 2021

Autumn Trout Sport at Bulldog

by | posted in: At the Waters Edge, Game Fishing, Sidebar | 0

 

I joined eight members of South Molton and District Angling Club at Bulldog Fishery where a good days sport was enjoyed. It was a surprisingly mild and sunny day for early November and several good sized trout could be seen cruising in the clear water.

Bulldog is a small water and  eight members is close to the maximum comfortable number for the water. But with all members being friends and it being very much a social event the fact that lines came close at times didn’t matter.

The hotspot seemed to be close to the lake inlet where several fish were showing including a large fish well into double figures. Small imitative patterns seemed to be the way to go with several fish tempted on montana nymphs. My first fish of the day succumbed to this pattern with a further three falling to small gold head PT nymphs.

 

A full finned four pound rainbow

I believe at least half the members ended the day with four fish limit bags with most fish weighing between 3lb and 5lb.

Ed Rands nets a Bulldog rainbow

Bulldog is an intimate water that is stocked with rainbows averaging over 3lb and browns into double figures. It is a perfect winter venue that offers good sport and a good chance of a double figure fish.