Corvid-19 update #1A – Scottish Government plans to open up restricted angling from May 28th 2020

Posted on May 26, 2020 by gowens2013

UPDATE 26th May 2020

This update is intended to inform members of the some of the advice provided by Forth District Salmon Fisheries Board, SANA & Angling Scotland. It will be in two parts, firstly an update on progress/understanding of the journey to restarting fishing and secondly a summary of advice on social distancing.

The Scottish Government announced last week that on completion of the ‘End of phase’ review on Thursday 28th May, the Scottish Government will move forward to Phase 1 of the ‘COVID-19 – Framework for Decision Making’. This will allow angling providing that anglers adhere to the well-established social distancing measures and are only active in their ‘local area’ which is defined as being broadly within 5 miles of your own community. Subject to confirmation on Thursday 28th May fishing on the River Devon will be permitted in accordance with the time-frame or other conditions contained in that announcement. Please observe any stated start dates for fishing contained in the announcement. It is likely that the official first date for fishing will be now Friday 29th May

It will be the responsibility of individual anglers to justify to Police Scotland and their own consciousness  that they have only travelled by car, broadly, within 5 miles of your own community.

We are very aware that a large numbers of members are anxious to get up to Glenquey, and we will endeavor to get Glenquey open for fishing at the earliest moment, however Glenquey will remain closed to fishing for the moment.

The first hurdle in getting Glenquey open is we need the permission and authorisation of Scottish Water. We have been in touch with Scottish Water’s land agents, they have informed us that they have not been permitting the reopening of reservoirs and will be waiting to at least the end of the week before considering issuing permission. We are still unclear as to the implication of the guidance provided limiting travel by car to, broadly, within 5 miles of your own community. We will continue to work really hard to accelerate the reopening of Glenquay before Phase 3 if it can be done in a responsible manner and in accordance with Scottish Government guidelines.

We reiterate our hope that members respect the requirement to travel broadly no more than  5 miles of your own community, the requirements for social distancing and that at least until the 28th May our fishery remains closed. We know that to date, a few selfish individuals have chosen to ignore the restrictions on angling on the Devon, but the DAA are really proud that the vast majority of our members have behaved so responsibly during the shutdown. Now is a great opportunity for angling to demonstrate that in grasping the opportunity to get angling again, we can provide an example of an activity that  can be undertaken responsibly with minimal Covid-19 risks.

Tight lines for  the remainder of the 2020 season

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Corvid-19 update – Scottish Government opens up restricted angling from May 28th 2020

Posted on May 22, 2020 by gowens2013

The Devon Angling Association note the guidance provided by the Scottish Government’s  document ‘COVID-19 – Framework for Decision Making – Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis’ published on 21st May 2020.  On the basis the Scottish Government are planning to allow angling providing that anglers adhere to the well-established social distancing measures and are only active in their ‘local area’ which is defined as being broadly within 5 miles of your own community; then fishing on the River Devon will be permitted from Thursday 28th May 2020. It will be the responsibility of individual anglers to justify to FDSFB Bailiffs , Police Scotland and their own consciousness  that they have only travelled by car, broadly, within 5 miles of your own community.

In line with the guidance provided limiting travel by car to, broadly, within 5 miles of your own community it is not possible at this time to permit angling at Glenquey to commence until the Scottish Government announce that Phase 3 of their route map has been reached and we have the permission of our landlord Scottish Water to reopen the Glenquay for angling. We will continue to work really hard to accelerate the reopening of Glenquay at the earliest opportunity.

Bryan Anderson (DAA President) has been very busy lobbying the Scottish Government and our local MPs/MSPs on our behalf, to encourage the opening up angling on our waters for the well-established benefits of exercise and mental benefits that our wonderful sport provides. We will continue to review the situation and seek advice from the Scottish Government, MPs, MSPs, Forth Rivers Trust,  Forth District Salmon Fishery Board, Angling Trust, SANA etc. for greater clarity on the Scottish Government’s  route map regards angling.

We hope that our members respect the requirement to travel broadly no more than  5 miles of your own community, the requirements for social distancing and that until the 28th May our fishery remains closed. We know that to date, a few selfish individuals have chosen to ignore the restrictions on angling on the Devon, but the DAA are really proud that the vast majority of our members have behaved so responsibly during the shutdown. Now is a great opportunity for angling to demonstrate that in grasping the opportunity to get angling again, we can provide an example of an activity that  can be undertaken responsibly with minimal Covid-19 risks.

 

 

Tight lines for  the remainder of the 2020 season

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Coronavirus update

Posted on March 24, 2020 by gowens2013

In line with a number of other angling clubs, associations and fisheries in the Forth Catchment we are urging anglers to stay at home. We have sought advice and are relying on the latest guidance from the Angling Trust who have been consulting with the UK government and its agencies. This afternoon they issued the following statement:

We must all do what is required of us by the Government and work together to fight this pandemic. Therefore until further notice we should all refrain from fishing. This is about saving lives and supporting the NHS.

In regards to the current restrictions announced by the Government on Monday 23 March 2020 it is clear that the only permitted activities that have been specified are walking, running and cycling for the purpose of local daily exercise. Today we have written to the Sports Minister highlighting the benefits to both physical health and mental wellbeing that angling provides and that we are ready and prepared to offer whatever support the government or Sport England require now or in the future to get people back fishing as soon as is safely possible.

https://www.anglingtrust.net/news.asp?itemid=5240&itemTitle=Coronavirus+update+%2D+Support+hub+and+helpline+are+now+available&section=29&sectionTitle=Angling+Trust+News

Please respect this advice and stay well!

 

 

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2020 Permits

Posted on March 3, 2020 by gowens2013

Just to let everybody know that the 2020 Permits have been distributed to all our retailers and are available for purchase.

Permit information can be seen here: Permit information

Posted in DAA News, River fishing, River journal | 6 Comments

Record breaking spate

Posted on March 2, 2020 by gowens2013

Anyone trying to travel across Stirlingshire, Clackmannanshire or Kinross-shire last Friday (21st February) will know what a nightmare it was. It took me 2.25 hours to get from Eurocentral to Stirling with the M80 flooded around Denny and the M876 closed , a journey that would normally take 25 minutes and resulting in me missing a meeting. The volume of water flowing in rivers, burns and pouring off fields was absolutely incredible.

I took a detour and parked my car on Naemoor Road just above the gorge at Rumbling Bridge to witness the Devon thundering downstream

Devon in full spate and crashing into the wall holding up Naemoor Road, Rumbling Bridge 21/02/20

Those familiar with the old footbridge that was swept in the 2011 spates will get some idea of how much water was flowing when you note the position of the old abutment position on the opposite bank here:

Devon entering the Rumbling Bridge gorge (note the old bridge abutment on RHS on opposite bank) 21/02/20

Before the reservoirs were built in Glendevon this must have been a more regular event. Anglers who have fished the opposite bank upstream, may well have encountered the potential ankle braking gullies buried in the vegetation where floods have gauged channels in the bedrock.

In the upper reaches the spate peaked during the late evening with the Castlehill SEPA gauge recording 2.076m at 23.00 just 1.6cm short of the record set in similar circumstances in January 2011 (heavy rain and snow melt resulting in the record of 2.092m ay 06.30 on 16/01/11).

As is usual the peak took longer to reach downstream with finally the Glenochil SEPA gauge breaking the previous 2011 record at 12.30 on Saturday 22/02/20. The result was the inevitable overtopping, extensive flooding closing all the roads across the river between Vicars Bridge and Menstrie and considerable damage. It will take time to assess the full impact of these spate events but there have been significant changes in the river.

Following the spate the upper river ran unusually dirty, in part from bank erosion above Castlefhill Reservoir but mostly from a series of significant landslides along the Glendey Burn (by the Muckhart to Dunning road just after Dunning Glen)

Landslip into Glendey Burn 22/02/20

There is little that can be done here,  this is an entirely natural phenomenon as the valley here is geologically a very young valley and the burn is busy eroding the valley sides until one day, in centuries to come, there will be a stable V-shaped valley. The positive impact is that it will encourage fresh sand and gravel to be moved downstream.

Only two weeks to go before the 2020 season opens ……… and hopefully plenty of fishing records can be broken too!

 

 

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Italian Casting Style course June 2020

Posted on March 2, 2020 by gowens2013

The DAA have been approached by Mike Hendrix from Stirling representing FFM UK. They are group of anglers who have a strong interest in the Italian Style of Casting and run a number of casting workshops at different venues to introduce other fly fishers to a dynamic casting style that has been shown to be very successful in the UK.

They are promoting and inviting anglers to attend a casting workshop at Hoddom Castle on the River Annan, near Lockerbie on the 6th and 7th June, 2020 at £60/head.

Quoting Mike:

We feel the knowledge, practice and experience people will gain at the workshop will at the very least improve their casting skills and their enjoyment of casting dry flies, whist having a fun weekend. However it’s likely they’ll also come away with a better understanding of how good casting will provide them with an advantage and more success. There will opportunities to take one’s casting abilities to a whole new level of experience and success.

See http://www.ffmuk.club/the-casts.html

They are also holding workshops on the Upper Tees at Middleton-in-Teesdale in NE England (a cracking trout river) and on the river Dee at Carrog, north Wales.

I expect this will be of interest to some of you, particular those routinely embracing new techniques!

Details here in the FFM flyer:

Italian Casting workshop – Hoddom Castle June 2020

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Pre-2020 season roundup

Posted on February 17, 2020 by gowens2013

It doesn’t really feel like it but the 2020 season is only four weeks off !

The river has once again seen a series of massive spates. Storm Dennis contribution resulted in the river peaking at the SEPA gauge downstream of Castlehill Reservoir at 6.45pm at 1.982m only 11cm short of the record at this gauge set in similar circumstances in January 2011 (heavy rain and significant snow melt).

By Sunday, the upper river was running pretty mucky normally a sign of a landslip into the Glendey Burn (alongside the Dunning Road) but it transpires that the silt came from the other side of the reservoir where there had been some significant erosion and transport of gravel.

Looking ahead to the new season:

  1. Permits – Permits are with the printers and should be with the outlets by the end of the month. Permit prices remained unchanged from the 2019 season. Unfortunately we won’t have an outlet in Kinross this year, but anglers from the ‘Shire’ can still pick up permits locally at Monas (Muckhart) and the two Inns at Crook of Devon and Pool of Muckhart.
  2. Fish in the Classroom – Alan Armstrong and Bryan Anderson of the DAA assisted Forth Rivers Trust with our local ‘Fish in the Classroom’ school, Muckhart Primary School. Quite apart from supporting the FRT we have once again part funded the school (including a very generous donation from member Ken Hills ) and FRT secured matching funding. Bryan and Alan really enjoyed interacting with the kids and were blown away (and exhausted) by the pupils enthusiasm. Their trout will probably be released into the Hole Burn not far from the school (which holds a resident population of trout which nowadays are extremely rarely troubled by anglers)
  3. Invertebrate Surveys -routine sampling at a number of key locations is being undertaken by members of the committee at key locations. This information will be fed into a SEPA database to be used to monitor the general health of the river and identify potential problems early
  4. Tree Planting – Thanks to Kenny Macaulay we have secured a large number of tree whips from the Woodland Trust. We have secured permission from a local landowner on the Fossoway beat to plant copses adjacent to the river. These will be protected from grazing, will provide cover for juvenile trout and an improvement to the riparian habitat (without impact significantly on fishing). It is intendend to undertake the planting in the Spring 2020. Our intention is to undertake a major weekend work party …… so look out for news on the website as we will need as many volunteers as we can muster!!!
  5. Programme of works on the River – For the 2020 season the DAA has a major programme of works planned for general improvements to the river environment. Details to follow shortly on a separate post

This season Kenny Macaulay has joined the committee and he has volunteered to join Jim and Alan as a bailiff on the River. Kenny fishes generally on the top of the river; he has done incredible working clearing up after the wild campers in Dunning Glen but just importantly has spent a lot of time encouraging wild campers to tidy up after themselves and behave responsibly

Lastly the DAA extends its thanks to Ian Allan who retired from the committee at the end of 2019 season. Ian had been on the committee literally for decades and was very much the DAA ‘go to guy’ for bridges, stiles and any sort of woodwork. An absolute gentleman! The DAA extends its thanks for the huge contribution Ian has made to the Devon Angling Association and best wishes for the future!

 

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Wild Trout Trust – ebay auction from 20th March 2020

Posted on February 17, 2020 by gowens2013

The excellent Wild Trout Trust begin their annual auction to raise funds for conservation work all over the UK to improve the riparian habitat for trout (and everything else that shares the water)

Details are here https://www.wildtrout.org/content/auction-0

and a copy of the current catalogue can be downloaded from https://www.wildtrout.org/assets/reports/WTT-2020-Auction-Catalogue-low.pdf

Huge range of opportunities from eye-wateringly expensive days on a chalk stream in England to very affordable opportunities throughout the UK

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Alloa Fly Tying group – updated 28/01/20

Posted on January 28, 2020 by gowens2013

ALLOA FLY TYING GROUP

DAA member Scott Freeman has been running a fly tying group for a couple of months. They meet most weeks on a Tuesday between 7pm and 9pm at Coopers in Alloa (23 Kellie Place, Alloa, FK10 2DW).

Tuesday 28/01/20 – Tonight’s tying is the black and peacock spider and the hot head damsel. Hopefully see you there

It an opportunity to get together in a very social setting with fellow local anglers to tie flies for the river and still waters and blether about fishing. The group take their own dedicated room with tables, and food/drink is available for purchase from the bar.

You will need to bring your own fly tying gear but Scott will give a heads up in advance of the flies being tied so that you don’t need to bring the “kitchen sink” with you …….. for example they are looking at tying Parachute Sedge patterns next Tuesday.

The easiest way to keep up with the group is to search for ALLOA FLY TYING on Facebook (and you will be able admire in the posts some real quality tying). For non-Facebook users wanting to get in contact with Scott email thedaa@talktalk.net and I will endeavour to connect you.

 

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Fishing around the Forth

Posted on January 20, 2020 by gowens2013

Today is the launch day for Fishing around the Forth a brand new website developed by the Forth Rivers Trust, Forth District Salmon Fishery Board, in conjunction with angling clubs and fisheries to promote and encourage angling throughout the Forth Catchment

The project has worked with clubs and owners of fisheries around the Forth to create an online hub where anglers interested finding out more about the opportunities to fish can do so in one place.

Fishing around the Forth is also not for profit. This means that any funds raised via the website such as booking fees and selling advertisement space will be spent keeping this site up and running continuing to promote the great opportunities to fish around the Forth.  Any income generated above the costs of running Fishing around the Forth will be used to promote the sport of angling in the Forth.

The project was awarded just under £60,000 in 2019 from Leader, a European Union regional development fund, to help build the foundations for promoting angling opportunities throughout the Forth.

Currently, the project involves rivers and natural lochs which flow into the Forth estuary and Firth of Forth. We have plans to expand this as Fishing around the Forth grows

The website can be found here https://www.fishforth.org/

Apart from a great description of the Devon Angling Association fishery, there is some cracking drone filming of the Devon and surrounding area (complete with a few rising trout!) https://www.fishforth.org/rivers/river-devon/devon-angling-association/

There are also opportunities to purchase online permits for some fisheries (which is something  the DAA will be exploring with the Forth Rivers Trust) and for the first time permits to fish for Sea Trout in the Firth of Forth.

Its a great website which perhaps will encourage anglers to come to the Forth catchment rather than the Tay, Clyde or Tweed??

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