News

A new Irish study has revealed levels of genetic diversity in Irish populations that are greater than genetic diversity between the entire human race. 13 different varieties of brown trout in Lough Corrib had already been identified by Inland Fisheries Ireland.

‘’Thin and streamlined like a herring, croneen trout are a pelagic fish, designed to swim long distances to spawn. The croneen population in the Lough Derg catchment of the Shannon’s main stem retreat to the small Camcor river in Co Offaly, 50 kilometres away, to spawn.

Another trout variety in the river Suir, which hasn’t yet been named, was found to travel 78km from the river Nier in Co Waterford, where it is born, down to the main stem of the Suir’’.

The Atlantic Salmon Trust's (AST) 2013 auction has been running on their website (click here to be redirected to the auction).

The aim of the auction is to raise money for Atlantic salmon conservation. The lots are varied and incude fishing & shooting offers from around the UK. Some money will also go towards the work of RAFTS (The Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland). 

A map of the auction lots is displayed; the WTT auction in Feb/March will also feature a map setup. 

The 2013 WInter edition of the Deveron Flyer Newsletter has just been published. 

Among other stories was the welcome news that the community lead biosecurity programme is to be extended for 2013. For biosecurity projects to achieve any modicum of success, efforts have to be sustained and past successes (such as mink and Japanese knotweed removal) built upon. To view this story and other news (such as revisons to catch and release regulations in the catchment); please click here.

It has long been believed that running water has a therapeutic effect on human beings. Charities like Casting for Recovery  (link here)  have used flyfishing to harness the healing qualities of rivers to help breast cancer patients. Now a great new initiative in the USA (Reel Recovery Retreats) has taken off for men. A feature film is being shot following a group of men with cancer who have come together for three days of healing, relaxing and fly fishing at a Reel Recovery Retreat at The Wildhorse Ranch in Mackay, Idaho.

For more details on this worthy initiative and to donate, go to their website.

A 'Chalk Stream Summit' was held in Stockbridge, Hampshire in December, attended by over 100 interested parties (including the WTT)  from chalk streams all over the UK - not only Wessex, but the 'Cinderella’  chalk streams of Lincolnshire, Norfolk and the Chilterns.The meeting was organised by Martin Salter of the Angling Trust and Paul Knight of the Salmon and Trout Association for Richard Benyon, Environment Minister, with the intention of raising the profile of this unique and threatened habitat to DEFRA, the EA, the responsible minister and to the All Party Angling Group, led by George Hollingberry MP. The result was a commitment by George Hollingberry to create a ‘Chalk Stream Charter’.  

Whilst the WTT’s focus is on practical habitat advice and projects, we will be involved in the Chalk Stream Charter process and will use our knowledge and experience to influence the lobbying organisations including the S&TA and AT, and to support them in addressing the issues facing our chalk streams.    

Over the next few months, the WTT team will be finding, filming and producing a sequence of footage documenting the lifecycle of trout. The footage will be used in a series of conservation films. For now, tasters of this footage can be seen in the Trout in the Town blog. To see the first film in this sequence, click here.

It is with great sadness that we report the death of John Goddard, one of fly-fishing’s towering figures and the pre-eminent angling entomologist of his day. He died on Boxing Day at the age of 89.

John, a staunch supporter of the Wild Trout Trust, wrote a dozen books, most of them with an entomological bent. His reputation was established with Trout Fly Recognition (1966) and then Trout Flies of Stillwater (1969). Trout Flies of Britain and Europe followed in 1991. The artificial flies he designed and revealed in these books and in the hundreds of articles he wrote for magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, were used by anglers throughout the world. His most famous pattern was probably the G and H Sedge, a virtually unsinkable deer-hair pattern devised with Cliff Henry, with whom he collaborated in his early researches.

John’s most widely-publicised book was probably The Trout and the Fly (1980), written with his long-time friend Brian Clarke, former President of the WTT. This book concentrated as much on the fish in the water as the angler on the bank and was a worldwide success. The Sunday Times Colour Magazine devoted seven pages to it in the week it was published. A 50-minute documentary on BBC-2 followed two days later. The New York Times picked it as one of its books of the year.  The work is still in print in many countries, 32 years on.

During December, Tenkara USA ran a special offer on the Iwana rod. For each rod that sold in the UK,   Tenkara USA donated $50 to the Wild Trout Trust. The offer has now closed and Daniel Galhardo of Tenkara USA has just donated £475 to the WTT.

Many thanks to Daniel Galhardo of Tenkara USA and to all those in the UK who purchased the Iwana rod in December under the special offer.   

The WTT has teamed up with professional film makers Fish On Productions to make a series of short videos that illustrate techniques for habitat management and habitat improvement, along with advice on getting permission to carry out the work, working safely and assessing risk. 

The first set of videos is now available in the library - click here to view them. 

The annual Wild Trout Trust raffle was drawn on Tuesday 11th December at the Thomas Lord in West Meon.

The winners are:

The Wye and Usk Foundation have announced changes to their voucher based wild trout fishing. In his recent newsletter, Stephen Marsh -Smith outlined the reasons for the change:

‘The Roving Voucher scheme was something we pioneered in the late 90’s to make more wild trout fishing available and at the same time provide an incentive for the farmers who own these stretches to look after and value them. In the early days we received project funding to expand the scheme as it brought visitors to the area. It enjoyed considerable early success and has been replicated across many other parts of England and Wales.

The 2013 Three-Fly Challenge will take place on 22 June at Meon Springs Fishery in Hampshire. The closing date for entries is 15 June. Click here to download full details and how to enter.

The Moray Firth Trout Initiative (MFTI) has received a grant of £56,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The MFTI is an exciting new project that aims to protect the future of Moray Firth Trout populations and the communities that depend on them through education and conservation. The project will be administered by the Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries Trust

The Moray Firth Trout Initiative (MFTI) is a partnership project that will work with local Fisheries Trusts, District Salmon Fishery Boards and Community Angling Associations to protect this species through environmental education and the conservation of trout populations and habitat.

Brown trout and sea trout are both the same species, Salmo trutta, and are highly adaptable, found from highland hill lochs down through major rivers and streams to coastal estuaries and out to sea. However their broad distribution and diverse life history exposes them to extensive threats from changing land use practices in their freshwater habitat to environmental changes and declining food supplies at sea. Although, sea trout catches are known to be falling in many regions in Scotland, very little is known about how our brown trout populations are faring. This is particularly prevalent in the Moray Firth where there has been a 42% decline in the average sea trout rod and line catch over the last 10 years. In 2011 the Moray Firth Rod and line catch of sea trout was the second lowest year on record (1952-2011)1. This worrying trend is threatening local Angling Associations and Clubs that have traditionally relied on sea trout fishing to attract members and visiting anglers.

The Angling Trust has published a National Angling Strategy. The strategy, called 'Fishing for Life' , aims to find ways of overcoming barriers to increasing the number and diversity of anglers and maximising the benefits to society from people going fishing.

The results of the National Angling Survey, completed by 29,000 anglers, have also been published. 

Full details are available on the Angling Trust's website here