News

Paul Gaskell runs the Trout in the Town programme for the Wild Trout Trust. He is based in Sheffield, and involved in the 'One Big River' project and the week of events  to celebrate Sheffield's rivers and promote more sustainable use and management of water.

One Big River Week is open to all. For details of the events, click here

See also the videos on the One Big River Blog, click here  

The WTT would like to invite you to a seminar to highlight recent developments and research outputs with regard to southern sea trout populations in Hampshire, Sussex and Kent.

For details click HERE

To learn more about the South Coast Sea Trout Project click HERE

Thanks to our generous donors, we are able to raffle some exclusive fishing days which are not available as day tickets.  Raffle tickets are sold in the website shop and the first five prizes are now available. Click here to buy tickets 

Tickets are sold for specific prizes. Only 50 tickets will be sold for each prize at £10 each.   You may buy as many tickets as you wish subject to availability. Following purchase, you will receive your allocated number(s) between 1 and 50 by email from the WTT Office.

The draw will take place at 10am on Thursday 29 May 2014 when a number from those sold will be randomly drawn. The Office will then contact the purchaser of the winning ticket with details of how to take up the prize.

Since the very first show in Christchurch in 2006, RISE Fly Fishing Film Festival has been entertaining fly fishermen across the globe on an annual basis. RISE showcases exclusive premieres from the world’s best fly fishing film makers. Cinema audiences will be gripped by stunning footage from Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Argentina, Tahiti and Boliva presented in high definition on the big screen.

Gin-Clear Media's LEVIATHAN is the feature film of the festival and the follow-up to the highly acclaimed PREDATOR

The festival has two UK dates: London 14/5 and Exeter 21/5

Free seminar on Ferox trout research. Ferox trout have received little research attention compared with Atlantic Salmon and Sea trout in the past century.  Despite such a lack of information they are a subject of intense debate amongst anglers, scientists and fishery managers. The most frequently asked question is: “Are ferox a distinct species or another life-history able to be adopted by all brown trout given the right circumstances?”.Whatever the answer to this question is, the fact still remains that ferox trout are poorly understood. In 2014 we know almost nothing about their distribution, population sizes, spawning requirements and threats.The IBIS project has funded 3 trout PhDs to answer some these questions and more.  The purpose of this seminar is to discuss completed research on ferox trout and highlight the future direction of ferox research. The appropriate strategies required to successfully manage a species requires input from all stakeholders, i.e. fishery managers, scientists and ferox anglers. The project encourages input from each stakeholder so the results of the research can be applied to real situations. The day will consist of a series of presentations covering topics such as ferox trout genetics and morphology, to fisheries management and safe implementation of catch and release. Our aim is to persuade attending delegates to engage with the science and become part the project at some level. Each presentation will be followed by a chaired question and answer session.   This seminar is open to all ferox enthusiasts from any background. Hopefully this will stimulate lively discussion from like minded people, but also illustrate how everybody can contribute to the research in some form. Speakers are:

• Prof Colin Adams – “The IBIS project: The importance of trout research”
• Prof Andy Ferguson - "Are ferox genetically distinct from other brown trout?"
• Alan Kettle-White – “Fisheries management of ferox trout”
• Alistair Thorne – “Catch and release of large, piscivorous ferox trout”
• Martin Hughes – “What is the future for ferox trout research?”
• Travis Van Leeuwen – “Life history strategies of brown trout”
• Oliver Hooker – “Is the ferox phenotype a developmental response to diet?”

Tea/coffee and lunch will be provided. This event is funded by the IBIS Project.

To book a place at this free event, click here

Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw) publishes a major report on how trees can help manage water better.

Jerry Langford, Wales Director of the Woodland Trust says:'I’m delighted to announce today that we in the Woodland Trust are ready to put our money where our mouth is and provide £20,000 towards the cost of a scheme, or schemes, in Wales, which can help demonstrate the effectiveness of using trees to reduce flood risk and improve water quality'

Click here for the report (PDF)

Click for Woodland Trust website

Wild broodstock schemes (stripping fish of eggs and milt and raising the juveniles outside the river environment) may look like a simple and effective way of supplementing trout stocks, but there are number of areas to consider before embarking on such a scheme.

This document from the Wild Trout Trust is designed to give a summary of the key points to consider and is based on our own experience and the published research. 

Black and  white, easily printable verson - click here

Luke Bannister is a master cane rod builder and maker of furled leaders. He has very generously created a range of WTT furled leaders with 20% of the sales donated to the Trust.

Leaders can be purchased from Luke's website here

In this video, Tim Jacklin and Paul Gaskell use the 'nymphing' leader to fish for grayling. 

We now have a page on Arctic Charr on the website, which includes links to an article by Dr David Fraser about charr in some of the Scottish lochs, and a link to a superb video about charr in Ennerdale in the Lake District.

Click here to go to the page

We have a few lots unsold in the auction. If you would like to bid for any of these lots, please email Denise Ashton : dashton@wildtrout.org  Including the lot number and your bid.

The Terms and Conditions of the Auction will apply, as will the Reserve / Starting prices published in the 2014 Auction Catalogue (click here for a PDF copy).

To view a full description and photos of the lot, click on the lot number

Decades of research have proved that potent synthetic hormones released into the world’s water supplies have adverse effects on aquatic life. Oestrogens in sewage effluents, notably ethinyloestradiol (EE2) – an active ingredient inthe contraceptive pill – are known to trigger the development of female characteristics in male fish, which decreases fertility and increases the risk of population-level harm. This paper, 'Troubled Waters' emanates  from a workshop by IFM, EA and Exeter and Brunel Universities in November 2013. 

Click HERE to go download the paper