Salmon Farming: Our 'Must Win' Campaign

On the way into work this morning it was great to hear Paul Knight from the Salmon & Trout Association raise the impacts of salmon farming up the agenda on prime time Radio Four.

Despite protestations from an 'industry spokesman' I think Paul did a quite brilliant job of getting the key points across in a very understandable and personable style. Paul didn't use any jargon but left listeners in no doubt regarding what is a very desperate situation. I was really delighted that a fishing organisation came across in such a measured and reasoned manner. For so many years this hasn't been the case. If we are to win the 'hearts and minds' of the public this is just the type of strategy we will need. The stakes are high in this debate, but the science is on our side and we must resist the temptation for sensationalism and playground name calling, as has so often happened in the past.

The Atlantic Salmon is one of the most iconic species on the planet. It's migrations are shrouded in mystery and it it sustainably supports ecosytems, food webs, livelihoods and an army of passionate fishermen!

It is this army of passionate fishermen that we need to mobilise and involve in this issue of such wide ranging importance. From a personal point of view I think this is probably one of the most important battles that fishing has to win; if we lose the consequences do not bear thinking about.

My plea is to every fisherman (no matter what their persuasion, coarse, game, sea) to get behind the S&TA and this campaign of international significance. Perhaps this campaign has the potential to 'unify' angling in a way that up until now we have failed to achieve?

But here also lies angling's Achilles heel.......Apathy. So angling (guided by the S&TA) must seize the opportunity to mount an 'en-masse' a campaign targeted at decision makers and the public regarding just how passionately we feel about this issue. If we do not take a untited stand we may just as well switch the lights off and go fish the stock pond.

Make no mistake salmon farming has some powerful and influential friends, some of whom are perhaps closer to angling than you would think. We need to get the groundswell of public opinion behind us...it will be our most powerful weapon in the fight to get salmon farming onto a more sustainable footing.

I do not want to see and end of salmon aquaculture in this country - my aspirations are simple...to see a sustainable industry that can support people, the environment and our wonderful migratory fish.

Many people have given up on wild Salmon, but the Pebble Mine Campaign in Bristol Bay, Alaska shows just how powerful a well thought out Grass-Roots campaign can be (see my worth a look links). The pivitol moment in that campaign was the release of the film Red Gold. Anyone who has watched this film cannot have failed to have become very emotional and passionate regarding the need for the stewardship of our precious natural resources. The film has been shown around the world and it has made a huge difference. I have shown it to family,friends and collegues all of whom are non fisher folk...and they get it! They get that salmon migration is one of the great natural wonders of the world and once it is gone...it is gone forever.

Our salmon farming campiagn could learn a lot from Trout Unlimied in the States who have superbly co-ordinated the above.

For me this campaign is a place where our hopes and dreams for Atlantic Salmon will live or die.

Lets get behind the S&TA to make sure we achieve the former!

If nothing else sign the S&TA petition to show your support:

http://www.salmon-trout.org/save_petition.asp

Zen and the Art of Fly Fishing!

I have only recently taken to fly tying in the last two seasons. For me it was yet another interest to fill already 'at capacity' cupboards with even more kit!

However over the years I felt something was missing from my fishing. The one component missing was tying imitative fly patterns to match the varying stages of insect life on any given beat and day. Although convenient, shop bought flies are often 'over-dressed' and my personal bug-bear...barbed!

From the start, my strategy has been to...'keep things simple' I have bought good quality materials that fit into a small tool box and spent the absolute minimum on a vice (£11!) I have had some advice from some very good tiers and the owners of Cookshill Flytying, Spiders Plus,Lakeland Flytying and the lads at John Norris. Purchases were made and I set to work...self taught!

To be honest my first few attempts were.......somewhat agricultural. But I just stepped back and simplified things. Some very uncomplicated nymphs were the first to score success on the bank. This was followed by some very, very quick dry flies. tied with a grizzle hackle. The best was to come with a fish well over 4lbs from the Annan to a spinner pattern...again very simple and less than three minutes to tie.

This season I have stepped things up a bit and have started to tie some emergers and some Parachute Adams type patterns. However, if it takes more than 5 minuets to tie, I'm not interested.

We are now well into the 2010 season and this is my first where every fish caught has been on my own flies, including an early season beauty of 3lbs 5oz from the upper river.

Last week I was lucky enough to get out twice on both upper and middle river beats. Despite low water,both of these visits were great fun. But it was the first visit which lasted well into the late evening that was to be my piscatorial 'Zen' moment. I had just managed to catch three fantastic wild trout on a spinner pattern,from a difficult run that necessitated casting off my left shoulder due to heavy foliage behind me.

In the fading light of that summers evening on the banks of a truly wonderful trout river, with the Pennines as my backdrop, I realised there and then that I had finally closed the gap in my personal fly fishing circle.

I felt I had finally made the links between habitat, quarry, technique , fly life and fly tying. It was quite an enlightening moment and one I will savour for the rest of my fishing days. I'm not suggesting I am now some sort of fishing superstar with all the efficiency of a modern trawler.....far from it! However, the increase in my enjoyment and understanding of fly fishing over the last couple of seasons has been nothing short of a revelation to me.

I just hope it lasts for a while!

How Low Can You Go?

It almost beggars belief that after the winter we have just had that we are now just a few steps away from a drought order being imposed across the North West. United Utilities and the Environment Agency are starting to gear-up in anticipation of a continued lack of meaningful rainfall.

The Eden is low, very low. But despite this there is still some sport to be had for the flyfisher. I have just returned from the lower river this evening where I enjoyed some sport on the dry fly (all tied by my own fair hand!). I did drop two good fish, one was very good. Despite some impressive flylife the fish were reluctant to rise and you had to be quick to cover the odd one that did. If you were millimeter accurate you would get a take. I did see one of my favourite flies on the river today the Yellow May Dun (Heptagenia sulpherea)....I think this is one of our most spectacular upwing flies and I just love it's latin name!

The other big yellow thing on the river was my Labrador (Maximus chaoticus) who has developed an impressive skill in river boulder hopping...it has to be seen to be believed!

I hope we get some rain soon and that the salmon and sea trout fishing can get going!

Felt Soled Waders - Update from Alaska

The Alaska Board of Fisheries voted unanimously last week to ban felt-soled waders in Alaska freshwaters effective Jan. 1, 2012, out of concern they could transport invasive aquatic species between water bodies.

Trout Unlimited, a national fisheries conservation group, made the push for the ban, arguing that felt stays wet longer than rubber boots and can carry more sediment.

Felt-soled waders were due to be banned the beginning of 2011 in Southeast, however that change will now occur at a later date.The ban will only apply to anglers. Duck hunters for example, who also use waders, will not be subject to the ruling.

Local angler advocacy groups were tacit on the issue.

Ricky Gease, executive director of the Kenai River Sport Fishing Association in Soldotna offered no comment on the ruling as did Dwight Kramer, chairman of the Kenai Area Fishermen's Coalition.

Will You Rise To The Challenge?

The Anglers Monitoring Initiative presents anglers with a fantastic opportunity to back up our claims about being the guardians and the eyes and ears of our waterways.

See http://www.riverflies.org/index/riverfly_monit.html

The initiative comes from The Riverfly Partnership, an organisation which enables anglers to take action that will help conserve the river environment. This initiative provides a simple monitoring technique which anglers can use to detect any severe problems in river water quality and puts them in direct communication with the Environment Agency.

This anglers monitoring scheme, used alongside routine monitoring by the Environment Agency, will ensure that water quality is checked more widely and action taken at the earliest opportunity should any severe problems be detected.

We have arranged the next Riverfly Training date for 22nd May. To date we only have four bookings out of a total of 12 vacancies. This concerns me greatly. I think it would be a terrible demonstration of angler apathy if we are not able to fill this course and have a healthy waiting list too.

The cost is £35 which includes training and all the equipment you'll need. Clubs should not even have to think twice about paying or should I say 'investing' in keen members to attend. If you are member of a fishing association or club on the river contact your committee to see if they will fund a place for you. As anglers we have a moral duty to rise to this challenge. If we do not I fear we may as well switch the lights of and go home as rarely has there been such a golden opportunity for anglers to monitor the resource they are so reliant on to provide their sport.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to contribute towards an invaluable initiative...lets not squander it. If we do perhaps our claims regarding those eyes, ears and guardianship may just start to sound a little hollow?

Booking forms are available by contact Education Officer, Becky Helm: becky@edenriverstrust.org.uk.

Please..............Get Involved!

North Country Spiders

A week or so back I fished on a section of lower river with two good friends. Despite my best efforts I struggled to make contact with some very fussy wild trout. On return to the hut for lunch I enquired how my two fellow piscators had fared. Vaughan had struggled for two small browns on a dry fly and Tim had had fourteen...yes fourteen!..... to North Country Spiders.

Up until this point I had always discounted this style of fishing as a bit dated and traditional for my liking. After lunch I accompanied Tim down a through a fantastic boulder strewn run which had pocket water to die for. He on the spiders and me on the dry fly. Despite a good hatch and many rising fish I came away with one and Tim about half a dozen. I had seen enough.

On my return home I hastily looked up Tims patterns, A Water Hen Bloa and a Partridge and Orange. Materials were sourced (very precisely) from Steve Cooper at Cookshill Flytying and Phil Holding at Spiders Plus and I set to work tying-up a few of my own.

The patterns are simple and even someone with my agricultural tying skills soon had a few tied-up and ready to go. The trick is to dub the body very sparsely (with water rat substitute!) and not to overdo it on the hackle (two turns maximum!).

On Saturday I returned to the same beat of lower river and for the sake of scientific rigour, I fished the exactly those runs as I had with Tim. After what seemed like an age (5 mins!) I had a very positive take which resulted in a 'bonnie wildie' of about half a pound....and they kept coming too. I finished the afternoon with fourteen fish. I'm also encouraged to report I also caught a few sea trout smolts, which were as silvery as new Christmas decorations. One of the smolts was also intercepted by a very large brown trout, who let go when all didn't quite feel right!

There will be no prizes for guessing that I am now convert to this historic method of fishing. As Oliver Edwards puts it "anyone who fishes upstream North Country Spiders is helping to uphold a dying angling tradition" As I wandered back to the hut I pondered over a hundred and fifty years of spider tradition that in my eyes is as relevant today as it was when described by Pritt in his book North Country Flies, printed in 1886. That evening I raised a glass of something strong, golden brown and smokey to that great angler of the Eden, William Nelson who fished these very same methods, in the later part of the nineteenth century...I only hope he would have approved!

How Good Was The Eden?

Trout too numerous to count and salmon too heavy to lift are the wistful memories of anglers who have fished the beautiful River Eden in the past. Here at Eden Rivers Trust we are looking for any recollections about fishing on the River Eden for a new book on the history of the Eden. This will cover its fisheries, fishermen, great captures and the changing ecology and land use of the river.

If there is anyone out there with old diaries, articles, photos or club records specific to the Eden area, we would love to hear from you! We need as much information as possible to help us produce what we hope will turn out to be the definitive work on this iconic river.

Sadly fishing on the Eden is not now what it used to be, as we heard at a recent event called “How good was the River Eden” at the Tufton Arms Hotel, Appleby. Fifty local anglers, keepers, ghillies and land owners who have fished the Eden over the past 70 years were invited to share their recollections, memories and historical records about this special river; it's fish, flylife, habitat and fishing. Their contributions were fascinating.

Although we still have a great fishery, we have heard firsthand about the truly wonderful river the Eden once was. I tried to visualise the halcyon days of the 1950's and 60's when a good day’s dry fly fishing for trout was measured in the scores of fish with hatches of fly to die for. Some of the captures of salmon in the early part of the 20th century are the fishing days that we can only dream about today, with many beats recording several fish in the 30-50lb bracket each season!

Many of those present at the event have promised to hunt out historical records that will help us to build up a picture of how the Eden has changed over the decades. This ‘anecdotal’ information is seldom captured by organisations responsible for fisheries management and can be extremely important when setting objectives for the restoration of a fishery - especially if historical monitoring information on the fish populations is absent.

A summary of discussions at the “How good was the River Eden” event is available on the Eden Rivers Trust website http://www.edenriverstrust.org.uk/. It will be used to help guide the Trust’s conservation work on the Eden and its tributaries. This approach could form the basis of a blueprint for other Rivers Trusts and managers to use in their areas.

We can be contacted at Eden Rivers Trust, Unit’s O & Q, Skirsgill Business Park, Penrith, CA11 0FA, tel. no 01768 866788 or email office@edenriverstrust.org.uk

Photos: Robert Strong with 31lb salmon caught at Rickerby Park and Ron Mckillop with catch of trout, both pictures circa 1935. (Photos courtesy of Carlisle Angling Association)