News

Montana's rivers and streams are on the 'bucket list' of many fly fishers because of their fantastic populations of wild trout. It wasn't always the case. Like many rivers around the world, they were heavily and sometimes indiscriminately stocked in a misguided attempt to promote fish populations. However, the vision of one fisheries biologist changed that policy. WTT's friends at Salisbury & District Angling Club have just brought to our attention this video:

The raffle of fishing days was drawn on 16 April and the winners are: 

Candover Brook - David Walker River Wylye - Robert UnderhillRiver Great Stour (Kent) - Alan Dean Derbyshire Wye - Nigel FrancisDevon streams - Tony Haugen

Thank you to the donors of fishing days and purchasers of tickets. 

Many thanks to a WTT contact in Ireland, Wolfgang Koepke of Graiguenamangh AC, for highlighting a study from a German university that points to some really worrying figures on insecticide contamination in surface waters, concluding that "the biological integrity of global water resources is at substantial risk".

The paper is summarised in Science Daily  - click here. 

Wolfgang has concerns (shared by many working in the river conservation world) that pesticides might be playing a significant role in what he perceives as reduced fly life in his rivers in Ireland. This paper gives plenty of food for thought.

Many thanks to the Lough Sheelin Trout Preservation Association for highlighting (and advice on) a consultation by Inland Fisheries Ireland on changes to trout angling regulations in some of Ireland's great wild trout lakes. The consultation proposes changes to bag limits, size limits and seasons and it is vital that Inland Fisheries Ireland gets strong representation to support good conservation measures.

WTT has responded and we would encourage members with an interest in the Irish lakes and their amazing trout populations to do so too, but the DEADLINE IS THIS FRIDAY, 17 APRIL 2015. The consultation is here

The WTT response (amended to first person) may help with wording which should go to Shannonconsultation@fisheriesireland.ie Consultation on Trout Fishing Byelaws in Loughs Sheelin, Owel, Ree etc.

Wild Trout Trust Conservation Officer Andy Thomas has been busy improving spawning gravels on a tributary of the Sussex Rother as part of the South Coast Sea Trout Project.  For more details on this project, click here.

This project is one of many carried out in a long term partnership with the Arun and Rother Rivers Trust and South Downs National Park Authority, and with local fishing club Petworth & Bognor Angling Club.

A new venture on the shores of Loch Lomond aims to inspire the next generation of ecologists with field based courses for secondary and higher education students.

For more details, check their website: http://www.inspiringecology.com/ Or to download a summary, click here

The start of the season is a perfect time to reflect on good technique in catch-and-release fishing: keep that fish in or very close to the water, handle it with wet hands and maybe through a soft-mesh net, don't lay it out on the bank, gently remove that barbless hook and hold the fish back in the water just long enough for it gather strength and kick itself away. There's more on C&R on the WTT website here.

And to make it even easier,  you can measure the fish and calculate it's weight  by using a handy stick on measure for your rod and a waterproof card that converts trout length to weight. Only £3.50. Buy rod measures and cards here  

But you might too want to get a photo of that mighty fish. I've recently rediscovered a video from John Pearson and WTT's Paul Gaskell (wearing his Discover Tenkara hat) that gives some great tips on getting that trophy shot. An essential item to follow these tips is a fishing chum but there are principles to follow even if you're on your own.

As part of the Test and Itchen Catchment Partnership Annual General Meeting, WTT Conservation Officer Andy Thomas will be leading a walk along the River Test at Stockbridge Common with the National Trust (who own the land), discussing habitat management and river restoration techniques.

The AGM includes some interesting talks, including the Test and Itchen Restoration Strategy by Heb Leman of the EA, and an update on the Catchment Partnership projects on the Test and Itchen by Rupert Kelton and Ali Morse.  

The meeting is open to all, and will take place on Thursday 23rd April, 9:15am at Stockbridge Town Hall. Click here for more details.

Grantham Angling Association is one of the oldest clubs in the country, with its Flyfishing Section offering 17km of fly fishing on the Witham and other local streams. WTT has worked with the club over a number of years and recognised its work for wild trout, making it a previous Conservation Award winner. This year, the club is moving to a no-stocking and obligatory catch-and-release policy which we'll watch with interest. Membership of the club is available, so visit their new website at http://gaaffs.org/

Gary Anderson elatedly reports that the Irvine District Bailiffs' raffle on 20 March 2015 raised £3,225 to help their work.

This is a group of volunteer bailiffs who receive funding only through such fundraising work. Great result. The raffle was supported by WTT and a host of companies, other NGOs and private individuals. Well done to all the RIDB

WTT was heavily involved with the Loddon Rivers Week during w/c 16 March 2015, a week of activities involving a host of local partners in the catchment. WTT contributed to electric fishing survey work on the River Whitewater, to a display of river processes using the Emriver models of Action for the River Kennet and Severn Rivers Trust and a day of habitat enhancement with local volunteers.John Sutton of Clearwater Photography shot this excellent, short video of some of the work of the latter day: 

I  have just come across George Monbiot's presentation to the Oxford Farming Conference in January 2015. Monbiot is well known for his support for rewilding of the countryside and contentious views on reintroduction of some of the megafauna now extinct in Britain.You may not agree with all his views, but this talk is truly gripping and thought-provoking. What WTT's Conservation Officers see day-in, day-out are rivers seriously impacted by land use at a catchment scale, where, for example, high density livestock grazes vegetation to the (compacted) ground and/or poaches river banks, changing the way water gets to and flows along our rivers, bringing soil with it to become gravel-choking silt on the river bed.  Farmers can also influence rivers and flooding in a positive way - the example of Pontbren in Wales is given (click here for the case study).Government statistics support the view that agriculture is a very major impact on our rivers across the British Isles; Defra states that farming contributes "…75% of the sediment getting into our water sources" (Jan 2015). 

See Monbiot's 26 minute talk here: https://vimeo.com/116297032

Vaughan Lewis (on behalf of David Jenkins of Coed Cymru)  also delivered a very thought provoking presentation on woodland, farming and rivers, giving more detail on the postive impacts of the shelter belts of trees planted at Ponbren in Wales. Click here for copy of the presentation.