11 Jun 2026

RECENT RAIN BRINGS SILVER PRIZES

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Windows of opportunity are often brief on local rivers and getting to the waters edge when conditions are prime is the key to success.

Recent rain has brought the Taw and Torridge up a little encouraging a few fresh fish to forge upriver. Paul Carter fished a middle Taw beat to tempt a fine fresh run salmon.

Blakewell Fisheries Richard Nickell fished the middle Taw and tempted a fine brace of fresh run fish. A superb 10lb + sea trout and a fine fresh run salmon estimated at 13lb. For advice on catching salmon and sea trout from the Taw contact Richard at Blakewell Fishery.

I ventured to the River Torridge hoping to find a bar of silver but failed to drift my fly over a willing fish. The Rivers are a delight at the moment with luxuriant lush growth of early summer and an abundance of wildlife to watch. Hedging my bets I carried a light trout rod with a dry fly set up and before I left the river I dropped my fly over a rising fish to be rewarded with crimson spotted wild brown trout. When the rivers start to run clearer brown trout fishing should be excellent with the real chance of a bonus sea trout.

 

28 Dec 2025

A Contrast in fish and fishers

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I am an avid collector of angling books and was delighted to receive these excellent books at Christmas. Whilst I have not yet read them on glancing through them I noted how diverse angling is and how different species can attract across a wide spectrum of anglers. The Last Cast book by David Nickson is a reflection upon the life of a 95 year old salmon angler. The Anguilla book is the work of the National Anguilla Club whose members fish for eels. Both books have migratory fish as their focus both incredible species that travel vast distances in both fresh and saltwater.

The salmon anglers tend to be very much traditional members of the Upper classes whilst the eel anglers would be very much what would have been classed as working class. The waters fished are also generally contrasting with salmon very much connected to powerful fast flowing rivers. Eels are more likely to be dwelling within dark mysterious stillwaters. Its all angling to me and I relish each species with my favourite very much the species I am fishing for at the time.

 

8 Dec 2025

 The Torridge Rivers Association – Newsreel – Charles Inniss

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 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.

The 2026 AGM: will be held at The Half Moon on Friday 27th March. Please make a note in your diary and make every effort to attend.

My best Xmas wishes to you all. Winter well. Charles.

22 Nov 2025

Barnstaple & District Angling Club – 2025 Report

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Well the game catch report speaks for itself but as ever there were still enjoyable days to be had with our resident brownies. There were a few fish showing early in the year but only one good salmon landed to our knowledge. There were a few reports of the one that got away (and mine was obviously the biggest) but once again we had such low levels and high water temperature that on a couple of occasions we took the advice and asked for a cessation from fishing. We measured the temperature at 5 sites from Kingford bridge to Barnstaple and the further down we tested the higher the temperature we actually had a range from 18 +degrees at Kingford bridge to a peak of 24 degrees at Barnstaple bridge. This testing was part of the sampling of DNA for the Shad project run by West country rivers trust and hopefully it may even indicate what else is in the river. When the rain did come in late summer, much to every one’s amazement ,over 40 good size fish were landed upstream from the bridge during September. They were seen in bridge pool after the 3 day spate in late August and settled a little further up. They were all heavily coloured and had clearly been around a while but it was heartening to know they were there at all. These quantities landed were due to the beat above the bridge being fished by many anglers every day for a month! There is a suggestion the fish may be spawning in the streams further down rather than going way up to the traditional redds but there isn’t any hard evidence at the moment. There was enough water and they could have gone further up but chose not to so that might be worth further investigation . The WRT told me the netting count up at the known redds was very encouraging with more than expected so hopefully we’ll see the results of that in future years.

For yet another season we haven’t seen any sea trout of any size and nobody seems to have an answer to that. As the Brownies get bigger I’ve heard a suggestion they didn’t go to sea in the first place but there are lots of theories to contemplate.

We have had a few poaching reports and have chucked out a few people spinning but it seems we have got on top of that . As you may know we have trail cameras up, mainly for litter and fly tipping and we know the word is out. There have been quite a few successful fly tipping prosecutions due to the footage sent to the council and it has reduced substantially so that has been a great result .

Dave and Adi built a useful bridge at Newbridge to access the track up to the car park and they managed to get a steel fire escape across the river at Gandys to improve access and Handrails are to follow.

Once again our first day meet/BBQ at the club hut was really well attended with some coming from many miles away but they all said it was worth it as game fishing can be a solitary affair and it’s lovely social day to swop stories/lies of past achievements. We’ll do it again next season for sure and with a bit of luck may even see a fish. As you know we have volunteers strimming and clearing most of the year but it can be hard going and it would be helpful if we called for working parties on specific dates. We haven’t really sorted that out before but next season we will call for help before it gets out of hand. Assume it would be weekends and any help would be much appreciated. I know people are looking after Aller too and that is appreciated by the course anglers .

The AGM was well attended as ever and an interesting talk from WRT regarding Shad survey and other river issues held every ones attention. Tony Watkins held an auction of a few items with the proceeds going to the air ambulance charity as due to the remote places we find ourselves in we might well need them one day. Thanks to those who attended and we can but wish you all tight lines for 2026. To close the meeting Our president, Colin Ashby, awarded the following trophies:

Committee cup for his archive work – Nick Mcmurtrie 

Les Hewitt shield best game fish – Scott Bowden

Bass on a fly – Dave Winter 

Best Junior – Spike Fairchild

20 Nov 2025

Barnstaple & District Angling Club – AGM 2025

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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.

Training for shad eDNA sampling with the Westcountry Rivers Trust at the Fox & Hounds in June 2025

The Taw eDNA study is ongoing and it is hoped that results from this years 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.

( Above ) Cup Winners – Dave Winter – Bass on the Fly, Scott Bowden -Salmon Cup, Nick McMurtrie- Committee Cup

 

The Club is undoubtedly in good hands with a longstanding and hard working committee good it is good financial health and has a strong membership.   The club owns two stretchs of fishing on the Taw with salmon and trout along with a delighful coarse fishing lake at South Aller.

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 sometime and had become active with a rise in water levels and oxygen.

The club has resurrected several of its old trophies and three trphies 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.

 

 

 

15 Sep 2025

End of season flourish for Devon Rivers

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http://www.halfmoonsheepwash.co.uk

After a long dry summer North Devon’s rivers are now rejuvenated as heavy rain swells the flow. The salmon that have been waiting in the estuaries are now surging up river. On the Lower Taw close to twenty salmon have been caught as the rising water bring fish up. As I write this the Taw and Torridge are in full spate with fishing virtually impossible. It is expected that as levels drop and the clarity improves salmon and sea trout will be spread throughout the rivers with fish likely throughout the catchments.

Richard Nickell with a fine Taw salmon

The Rivers of Exmoor including the Lyn, Exe and its major tributary the Barle should all be worth a try.

Salmon and sea trout have also been reported from the Arundell beats on the Tamar and its tributaries.

8 Sep 2025

PROTECTING OUR SALMON – Dates for your diary

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https://www.exmoorsociety.com/individual-event/protecting-our-salmon-history-threats-and-their-future-on-exmoor

The iconic salmon have migrated up through Exmoor’s Rivers for thousands of years yet their extinction could be imminent if we do not focus our efforts on saving these beautiful enigmatic fish. It would be tragic to walk beside these waters without the chance to glimpse a salmon.

THE 2025 Salmon Run with the Westcountry Rivers Trust also highlights the plight of salmon see below for details.

Salmon Run 2025

 

14 Aug 2025

T0RRIDGE RIVERS ASSOCIATION – NEWSREEL: SUMMER 2025

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The Annual Egg Box Dinner:

This is always a most enjoyable evening and hopefully our Fishery Protection Officer, Sam Fenner, will be able to join us. As usual the dinner will be at The Half Moon Inn: Saturday 20th September. It is always extremely popular so book early.

To book contact The Half Moon [email protected]: tel 01409231376

The Annual Raffle:

This year to save on the cost of printing raffle books and postage it has been decided to organise the raffle online. There will be a large board in the bar at The Half Moon with box numbers 1 to 1000. As members send in raffle monies (by cheque or BACS) I will write names into the boxes. Raffle tickets will cost £2: so for £10 you will have 5 tickets and for £20 ten chances to win one of the three excellent prizes.  This is our major fundraising effort to help cover the cost of running the hatchery so please support generously.

 Prizes: 1. Sportfish £100 voucher: 2.The Half Moon Inn £50 voucher: 3.Voucher for a case of 12 bottles of wine.

The Hatchery:

The EA has given us the go ahead to run the hatchery again this winter. Last year was a great success and in March 33,000 swim-up fry were stocked out into selected sites in the headwaters of the Torridge, Okement and Lew. Work is being undertaken to improve the safety of the site and the hatchery team are investigating ways to reduce the silt loading in the trays holding the eggs. All being well we will be trapping our broodstock during November.

The 2025 Season: following the pattern of recent years low flows seem to be the norm. The highlight has been a 15lb salmon caught on the second day of the season on the Madeira beat and anglers who have ventured out at night have enjoyed some success with the sea trout. During May and June the brown trout anglers enjoyed some excellent fishing with several fish over 2lb being caught.

Mike Weaver: the Devon River Reports:

A few weeks ago a guest staying at The Half Moon gave Adam old copies of the Trout and Salmon magazine with some going back to the early 1970’s and I was amazed to discover that over fifty years ago Mike Weaver was writing the Devon River Reports for the magazine and he is still, fifty years later, writing comprehensive monthly reports for the rivers in Devon. Well done Mike!! I have to admit these days I only buy the magazine to read the river reports.

In the April 1975 magazine Mike gave the rod returns of salmon and sea trout for the Devon rivers for 1974. The Torridge return was 156 down from 191 in 1973. The sea trout returns are astonishing. The total for all the Devon rivers was 3,778 of which the Taw return was 1,666 and the Torridge return 1,059. The two North Devon rivers accounted for over 75% of the Devon total.!! And almost certainly these returns did not include the large number of school peal which were caught. Taking into account there was much greater fishing effort in those days and spinning was allowed throughout the season but even so these returns show how dramatically stocks of both salmon and sea trout have declined in the last fifty years. Those were the days!!

Secretary: Charles Inniss Beeches Sheepwash

                   Beaworthy Devon EX21 5NW

                   e-mail: [email protected]

                   tel: 01409231237  (m)07464190944

25 Apr 2025

Salmon News – Rivers Coming good

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The rivers are starting to fine down after the rains and there is encouraging news in that a fresh run salmon has been tempted by an angler fishing the River Mole. There are also stories of other fish contacted briefly on the Taw.

I fished a River Torridge beat that I have not fished for two years and relished revisiting an old friend. The river was perhaps a little too coloured but the height was good and it felt good to drift the fly in expectation over familiar lies. Many thanks to my wife Pauline for capturing a few images. The sound of chiff chaffs and woodpeckers provided a pleasing soundtrack to our visit.

4 Apr 2025

Stocking hope – Torridge Hatchery

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The Hatchery Project: has been a great success this year with about 33,000 swim-up fry  stocked out in selected sites in the headwaters during late March. The association were able to trap their broodstock from the fish pass at Monkokehampton Weir with relative ease at the end of November and by mid-December all five hens had been stripped and the eggs fertilised. The alevin started to hatch at the end of January and have grown on steadily with very limited mortality. The weather has helped: it has been a colder winter than average with the water temperature only once going above 10C.

Many thanks to Alex Rowson who kindly sent the images below showing the transfer of swim up fry from Torridge Hatchery to a tributary of the River Torridge.

 

 

Looking back through my many images I discovered to my amazement that the hatchery has now been running since at least 2008. It is still very difficult to assess its success but it has given hope to Torridge River Association and as each salmon is so valuable it is likely that it has helped the river cling on to its dwindling salmon population. The project works in line with other efforts to protect and enhance the complex river environment.

Since posting this I have spoken with Paul Carter who informed me that next years is the hatcheries 20th season and an average of 30,000 swim up fry have been into the Torridge system a total of 600000. This has surely helped the salmon maintain a foothold in the river.

Paul Carter with hatchery swim up fry from 2008.
Paul Carter stocks out swim up fry in 2008