The Torridge  Rivers Association

President: Lord  Clinton

NEWSREEL: WINTER 2024

President: I am delighted to report that the late Lord Clinton’s son, who is now the current Lord Clinton, has agreed to be the President of our Association. This will continue our long standing relationship with the Clinton family and the Clinton Devon Estate. Our Chairman Paul and his wife Geraldine, Steve Phelps and myself attended the memorial service in July for the late Lord Clinton, who instigated the creation of our Association in 1979 and was our President for over 40 years.

The Salmon Hatchery: Great news: this week we have been able to trap our broodstock from the fish pass. After several weeks without any appreciable rain the rivers were almost down to summer level: then came the snow. Our first attempt at trapping coincided with the arrival of Storm Bert and we were in danger of being washed away. Three days later after the Okement had fallen back and cleared we tried again and in two sessions we netted 13 salmon from the holding tank: 8 hens and 5 cock fish. Three of the hens have been released leaving us with 5 hens and 5 cocks (the maximum number we are allowed to hold). All the hens are approx 9lb except one superb fish of at least 15lb. The cock fish are slightly smaller. We are confident that some if not all the hens will be ready for stripping in the next few days. Extra trays have been installed so that the eggs can be more spread out. Last year some of the eggs had to be taken to the Colliford hatchery in Cornwall but this year we will be keeping all the eggs at our own hatchery.

The Annual Egg Box Dinner and Raffle: over 40 members and guests enjoyed another wonderful evening at The Half Moon with good company and an excellent meal. We were delighted that our fishery protection officer, Sam Fenner, was able to join us. Our annual raffle to raise funds to support the salmon hatchery project was as usual extremely well supported. All the prizes were donated and the net profit was in excess of £1,300

Membership: we have recruited several new members during the year. If you know of anybody who fishes or has an interest in the well-being of the river please encourage them to join our Association. Our strength is in numbers.

The Fishing Season: for the salmon and sea trout anglers it was another frustrating season. After a very wet spring it was a cool cloudy summer with never enough rain to maintain the river at a good level for fishing. With numbers declining there is less incentive for us all to make the effort and go out and fish. Several salmon were caught in the last week of the season. In contrast the brown trout fishing has at times been quite outstanding. The trout don’t rise so freely as they used to so the fishing is more challenging but those who persevere are often rewarded with excellent catches including several fish in excess of 2lb coming to the net.

The 2025 AGM: the Association agm will be held at The Half Moon Inn on Friday 21^st March 2025.  Make a note in your diary, come to the meeting and get fired up for another season. We are all optimists and no doubt 2025 will be a bumper year!!

Winter well. Charles.