The Torridge Rivers Association
Chairman: Paul Ashworth. Secretary: Charles Inniss.
Beeches Sheepwash Beaworthy Devon EX 21 5NW
e-mail: [email protected]
tel: 01409231237 (m)07464190944
The Salmon Hatchery: I am pleased to be able to report that the hatchery team have been able to trap the broodstock from the fish pass at Monkokehampton Weir. We have five hens (largest 11lb) and four cock fish. The first hen we trapped three weeks ago (a superb fish of 13lb) had to be returned: she was ripe and ready to be stripped of her eggs but at that time we only had two cocks and the EA are insistent that the eggs must be fertilised by three cocks for factorial mating. Hopefully within the next fortnight all the hens will be ready for stripping and we will have over 25,000 eggs laid out in the shallow egg-holding trays.
One of our members recently gave me a copy of an article in the Daily Telegraph magazine which outlines the amazing work of Bob Kindness on the River Carron in Inverness Scotland. For thirty years he has run a hatchery very similar to ours and each spring releases the young salmon at the swim-up fry stage. He has a cylindrical trap set on a pontoon which each year catches the smolts migrating downstream. I quote: “when I look at a smolt caught in the trap, I can determine whether it is a wild fish or a hatchery fish and from which hatchery batch it came from”. Over the last twenty five years salmon stocks on the River Carron have increased dramatically. The amazing work of Bob Kindness has not only increased the numbers of adult salmon returning to spawn but has shown that artificial rearing and stocking retains the genetic quality of the Carron salmon. The editor of the Trout and Salmon magazine wrote: “the debate over the stocking of salmon rivers is hotly contested but the work of Bob Kindness proves that when done correctly artificial stocking can lead to successful and sustainable outcomes and could form a blueprint for artificial stocking as a viable tool for helping other rivers were salmon stocks are in decline”.
Graham Dunn, one of the hatchery team, has completed some essential health and safety improvements. The bridge over the mill leat at the entrance has been strengthened with new handrails and a safety rail has been erected by the leat next to the egg trays.
The Fishing Season: yet another season dominated by hot dry weather and low river levels. The salmon season got off to a wonderful start with a 13lb fish caught at Madeira in the first week of the season: but sadly only a handful of springers were caught in March and April and the salmon anglers had to wait until the last fortnight of the season when after a welcome rise in river levels several salmon were caught mostly from the middle river beats. Rod catches for the season totalled somewhere between 15 and 20: very similar to recent years. The sea trout run was again disappointing, but a spate in June encouraged a run of fish and several were caught again mostly from the middle river beats. As in recent years the saving grace has been the excellent brown trout fishing with several fish over 2lb being caught.
The Annual Egg Box Dinner and Raffle: over 40 members and their guests enjoyed another wonderful evening at The Half Moon with good company and an excellent meal. Sam Fenner, our fishery protection officer, joined us for the evening. The raffle was done online this year to save the cost of printing tickets and postage. It worked very well and raised over £900 to help with the costs of running the hatchery. Thank you for your support. Prize winners: 1st: Chris Payne: £100 Sportfish voucher. 2nd Graham Henderson: case of wine voucher. 3rd Ron Burton: £50 Half Moon voucher 4th Adam Barron: a days fishing at Brightlea. 5th Andy Wadham: teacloth painting of Mill Leat.
My best Xmas wishes to you all. Winter well. Charles.
The flounder fishing season is in full swing with last weekend’s BBT Dan Miles Redmore Open attracting over one hundred competitors who raised over £1200 for Children’s Hospice South West. The competition was won by Mario Manley with a fine flounder of 1lb 15oz. David Atkinson was runner up with a flounder of 1lb 14oz and David Jenkins third with a flounder of 1lb 10.5oz. The best brace was caught by David Atkinson with two for 3lb. olive Atkinson was top junior with a flounder of 1lb 5oz with AJ Woodger runner up with a flounder of 1lb 4.5oz.
Bulldog Fisheries November Trout Fishing Competition was won by Ian Conabear with six rainbow trout for a total bag weight of 15lb. Aiden Revie was runner up with six for 14lb 15oz and Nick Tamlin fourth with six for 14lb. The biggest fish of the day was a fine tiger trout of 6lb 14oz to Aiden Revie.
Bulldogs monthly trout competitions are very much a social occasion with plenty of coffee, biscuits, bacon rolls to start the day with burgers and chips for midday lunch. The events are limited to twelve anglers and generally sell out quickly. Novembers competition was blessed with sunshine and light winds which may not have been ideal for the trout but were certainly perfect for the competitors.
Bideford Angling Clubs latest Rod and Reel Match on their home water Tarka swims was won by Colin O Hagan with 39lb 2oz. Runner up was Ian Sedgewick with 24lb 9oz and third Keith Copland with 23lb 15oz.
Anglers Paradises Lure Fishing weekend was hotly contested with a wide range of species tempted from the complex. Sixteen year old Harrison Woodham was the weekends champion landing seven different species including pike, rudd, common carp, mirror carp, perch, brown trout and rainbow trout. Runner up was Scott Way with five species. The biggest pike of the weekend was caught by Nikki Williams and measured 89cm. The biggest perch of 35cm was caught by Matthew Colegate. Nat Worsfold banked the biggest catfish at 78cm. Thomas Wilson caught the first chub to be tempted during the lure fishing competition. Fox Rage were the winning team with nine species. The event was generously sponsored by Capital Angling, Rapala, Fortis Eyewear, Fox Rage, Okuma Europe, Devon Baits and Okuma Freshwater UK.
Bulldogs monthly trout competitions are very much a social occasion with plenty of coffee, biscuits, bacon rolls to start the day and burgers and chips for midday lunch. The events are limited to twelve anglers and generally sell out quickly. Novembers competition was blessed with sunshine and light winds which may not have been ideal for the trout were certainly perfect for the competitors. Heavy rain showers had hit hard the previous day and weather warnings were in place for the following day.
The competition got underway shortly after 9.00am and the trout were obliging for the first hour with most anglers catching a brace or two with lures working well.
My own morning session resulted in four rainbow trout to 3lb 12oz all tempted on my favourite olive damsel. I enjoyed an hour chatting with fellow anglers and capturing a few images of this last day of Autumn.
The afternoon session proved hard going with just a few trout tempted a fact that proved frustrating for Tom and Nigel who had recently stocked some very large brown trout, spartics and tigers. These large fish will undoubtedly succumb to anglers over the coming weeks or maybe at the Christmas Competition on December 14th.
WINTER ANGLING
As we head into Winter dedicated sea anglers will be targeting the big fish that prowl the varied shoreline of North Devon. On the open coast late November would once have signalled the start of the cod fishing season when anglers would jostle for position at favoured marks. The cod have sadly departed becoming a rare sight in the Bristol Channel. The number of anglers fishing the open coast has also plummeted and many sea angling clubs are in terminal decline. This decline is not entirely linked to fish but more to other factors that impact our lives. Social behaviours have undoubtedly changed since the Covid pandemic and anglers have to some extent become more insular and solitary in their pursuit of fish. The cost of living has also had a significant impact as families struggle to make ends meet.
Whilst fish populations fluctuate and I mention the decline of cod in our region all is not bad news. Bass are now present in our waters all year and other species seem to be more prolific. Ray, smoothound, spurdog, tope and bull huss seem to be more abundant and dogfish seem to be present in plague proportions. Whiting and pouting populations seem to have crashed compared to thirty years ago which is a mystery as these fish are not targeted commercially. It could be that bottom trawling is having an impact on these fish that has not been documented.
Safety is paramount when fishing North Devon’s remote and rugged shoreline and a few words of advice at this time seems appropriate. Key points I would suggest are an awareness of tidal state, weather and sea conditions. Sensible clothing and footwear. Consider a floatation device. Always let someone know where you are intending to fish and expected time of return. Carry a mobile phone and keep it safe and dry and use What-three words to communicate your location.
Dale Kiff won Bideford Angling Clubs forty eight hour rover with a bass of 6lb 14oz. Runner up was Stephen Found with a spotted ray of 3lb 11oz.
The flounder fishing season is in full swing now and many will be fishing the estuary with numerous competitions being staged this Sunday including the Barnstaple Bait & Tackle Dan Miles Redmore Memorial. The competition starts at 8.00am and concludes at 1.30pm with the weigh in at the Ebberley Arms at 2.00pm. Entry forms at Barnstaple Bait and Tackle all proceeds go to Children’s Hospice South West.
Barnstaple & District Angling Association’s AGM was held at the Ebberley Arms on November 18th and a large proportion of the clubs membership were in attendance. The meeting commenced with an informative presentation from Hannah Parvin of the West Country Rivers Trust. Hannah outlined the challenges facing the rivers of the South West and in particular the Teign – Taw Fishery Management plan. Hannah outlined the work being done working with the farming community to reduce harmful impact on rivers from slurry and sediment. Adjustments to practices can have a very positive impact on the health of rivers with cost benefits from reduced lost soil and longer term sustainability. The main focus on the River Teign catchment is on removing migration blockers such as weirs. Hannah highlighted results of recent fish fry surveys with some good news amongst the data showing good numbers of salmon fry across some areas of the Taw catchment.
The Taw eDNA study is ongoing and it is hoped that results from this year’s sampling carried out by anglers trained during the summer will soon be released. In recent seasons anglers have reported significant numbers of shad caught whilst fishing for trout and salmon. The presence of a breeding population of shad could bring significant funding that will in turn benefit salmonid populations.
The 2025 salmon fishing season was hampered by low water levels and high temperatures. The last month of the season brought an encouraging number of salmon caught by anglers fishing the Lower beats above the club water. Close to forty salmon were caught between Newbridge and Umberleigh with only a handful of fish caught from higher beats despite good water in the closing weeks. Most of the fish caught were believed to have been in the river for some time and had become active with a rise in water levels and oxygen. The club has resurrected several of its old trophies and three trophies were presented on the night. Dave Winter was awarded the bass on the fly trophy for a bass reported at 8lb in Trout & Salmon magazine. The fine bass was tempted over a mile above the tidal limit. Scott Bowden received the Salmon Trophy and Nick McMurtrie was awarded the committee Cup for his sterling and meticulous work as club archivist.
The evening was an enjoyable social occasion that brought its membership together with a very positive vibe despite the challenges that face our rivers. An auction of fishing books and memorabilia was held at the end of the meeting with proceeds going to the Air Ambulance.
