Posted on April 05, 2017
The River Avon in Hampshire, Wiltshire & Dorset has won the Nigel Holmes Trophy for the 2017 UK River Prize
Wild Trout Trust Conservation Officer Mike Blackmore was one of the team accepting the prize at the River Restoration Centre conference dinner yesterday evening.
Well done to Mike and the Avon team.
Posted on March 31, 2017
The River Restoration Centre has announced the ‘River Champions’ for 2017. The awards recognises those who volunteer their time to improve rivers, and we are delighted to see so many friends and partners of the WTT in the list, including Vaughan Lewis who has worked with the WTT for many years in both a professional and voluntary capacity.
Posted on March 23, 2017
This important new film explains the catastrophic collapse of sea trout stocks in Loch Maree, once one of the world’s truly great wild fisheries, following the arrival of salmon farming in the adjacent sea loch. It’s a disastrous tale of a vibrant fishery, supporting a hotel and twenty seasonal ghillies, that, within a very few years, virtually disappeared. The 7-minute film, and the story of S&TC Scotland’s campaign in Holyrood, can be viewed here:
Posted on March 22, 2017
Over on the blog, Jon Grey is hoping to create a series of informal reports from current researchers undertaking studies relevant to wild trout.
Jess Picken is our brave guinea pig! Jess completed a MSc at the University of Birmingham in River Environments and Management, and spent a year studying the impacts of high river flows on fish ecosystems in Alaska. With climate change models suggesting that high and low flow events will become more frequent in the future, she chose a PhD topic providing a perfect opportunity for her to broaden her knowledge on extreme flow events. The goal of the PhD is to provide reliable scientific knowledge to river management teams to help keep healthy populations of salmon and trout in our beautiful rivers.
Keep tabs on the blog for future updates from her and other young academics
Posted on March 15, 2017
The Deveron, Bogie and Isla Rivers Charitable Trust and The Wild Trout Trust invite trout enthusiasts to join them for a weekend of fly-fishing, fly-tying and most importantly fun!
Trout fishing will be available on a large number of prime Deveron beats over the weekend and there will be an evening gathering with fly-tying demonstrations from experts such as Allan Liddle and informative talks by Paul Proctor and the Wild Trout Trust team. Further details at http://deveron.org/deveron-trout-fishing-festival-may-2017/
Posted on March 14, 2017
We have just four unsold lots from the auction. They have now been re-listed on eBay.
Click here to go to the list on eBay.
The four lots are:
Posted on March 12, 2017
We are absolutely delighted to announce that our 2017 auction raised a total of £94,255, an unprecedented figure for WTT. Thank you so much to all who donated lots and those who joined the auction, as bidders or (hopefully) winners.
WTT’s team is already busy matching lot donors and winners, but please bear with us while we sort payments and communication between those donors and winners.
We have very few unsold lots but we will probably relist those we have on ebay, so please keep an eye on the WTT website, www.wildtrout.org, for further details.
Posted on March 08, 2017
The provisional programme for the 2017 WTT annual gathering is now available - click here.Please note this is version 2 of the agenda - Nick Everall has been replaced by Nick Measham.
This year, on Saturday 13 & Sunday 14 May, we’ll be in glorious Derbyshire, hosted by the Haddon Estate and based in Rowsley, near Bakewell. Early arrivers will meet in Bakewell on the Friday night for a bite and beer, before a Saturday with a mix of interesting talks and river walks. We hope that the Sunday will allow our guests to enjoy the excellent fishing of the classic Derbyshire rivers, including the Derwent, Dove and Wye.
More detail on the fishing to follow.
Posted on March 02, 2017
We delighted to announce that Matthew Wright, journalist and presenter of ‘The Wright Stuff’ on Channel 5, has joined the eteemed ranks of Vice Presidents of the Wild Trout Trust.
Matthew said:
"I’m profoundly honoured to be a Vice President of a charity that has done so much already for this country’s rivers and lakes and the wonderful creatures they support. My appointment coincides with a watershed moment in history for the future of the UK environment and I intend to use my voice to insure our wild brown trout don’t get forgotten about."
Posted on March 02, 2017
We are delighted to receive a silver award for ‘Best Fishing Charity of Organisation’ from Fish and Fly in the 2016 Fly Fishing Industry Awards.
WTT Vice President Paul Procter received a gold award for ‘Best Guide or Instructor’.
Posted on February 24, 2017
Action for Conservation (AFC, http://www.actionforconservation.org) is a charity that seeks to inspire young people to a long-term belief in the wonder of the natural world, to shape their dreams and actions.
AFC run summer camps, filled with conservation activities, careers advice and adventure, guided by young conservation professionals, the AFC team and partners such as the National Trust and The Nature Conservancy. Participants will connect with nature and learn how to protect it alongside other young people from across the UK, returning ready to drive change in their community as Conservation Ambassadors. You can find out more about last year’s adventure here.
AFC has just launched a challenge for free places on their 5-day residential summer camps. Young people aged 12-16 from across the UK can enter the challenge before the March 31st deadline for the chance to win a free place on one of our two camps: 22nd - 26th July and the 31st July - 4th August at the National Trust’s Stackpole Reserve in Pembrokeshire.
Posted on February 24, 2017
Two late lots added and some changes to lots which are not reflected in the catalogue, but will be correct on eBay when the auction goes live on 3 March,
Click here for the list of late lots and changes. This version updated 2 March.
Posted on February 24, 2017
The Environment Agency will launch, on 1 March 2017, a new website “Get a Fishing Licence”. This simplifies the process of buying a fishing licence for England & Wales: www.gov.uk/get-a-fishing-licence. You can now buy a rod licence on line, by phone or at the Post Office. EA say this is part of a series of improvements to the service, which include:
• Free fishing for junior anglers, up to the age of 17, announced in November 2016
• The fishing licence now lasts for 12 months from the day it is bought, rather than expiring at the end of March each year
Posted on February 06, 2017
The Environment Agency in England is seeking a new Head of Fisheries (or, more correctly, a new Deputy Director of Agriculture, Fisheries & the Natural Environment), to replace Sarah Chare who has moved on to a Midlands Area Manager’s role within EA.
Sarah was a passionate advocate for rivers and fish and a great friend to WTT; she will be much missed but we wish her all the very best in her new role.
Details of the vacant post are here. Closing date of 13 February.
Posted on February 03, 2017
The Wild Trout Trust will have a stand at the British Fly Fair International in Stafford. Please come and visit us.
We will have auction catalogues and a few choice auction lots on display in addition to our library of books, CDs, DVDs and magazines.
