The Devon Angling Association

The 2019 Annual General Meeting of the Devon Angling Association was held on Tuesday 14th January at the Royal Arms in Tillicoultry with a turnout of 18 members.

Our president Bryan Anderson thanked the committee and work parties for the sterling work carried out administering the Association and maintaining the river and Glenquey. The main items of business discussed were:

• The Devon fished well all season, benefitting from plenty of water. The no-stocking policy does not seem to have impacted fishing with a number of 3lb+ fish being reported. It was acknowledged some anglers were not happy with the no-stocking policy but they appear to be a small minority. The additional water resulted in the first decent run of migratory fish for a few seasons. We were able to report to Marine Scotland 25 Salmon and 14 Sea Trout caught and returned.
• Glenquey had a more difficult season with the reservoir remaining full for most of the season and limiting fishing to the south bank. August was a disappointing month for fishing effort which has been attributed to the road closures on the A823. A total of 452 permits were issued and of the 257 returned showed that 999 trout were caught (mean weight 0.5lb with the best being over 2lb)
• The DAA have instigated routine invertebrate surveys in conjunction with SEPA and Forth Rivers Trust
• The DAA have benefitted from a site visit from the Wild Trout Trust (see post from last week where a copy of their report can be downloaded      https://devonanglingassociation.org.uk/2020/01/11/river-devon-wild-trout-trust-advice/ ) . In 2020 the DAA intend to improve access for trout to the Thorny Burn, address the poaching of the river banks and bed by cattle around Tates Tomb and plant native trees (thanks to Kenny Macaulay who secured 500 trees from the Woodland Trust. We also adopt their advise on bank maintenance and improving habitats
• The DAA continues to support Fish in the Classroom and this year the FRT have selected Muckhart Primary School.
• Kenny Macaulay has been co-opted on to the committee and will become a bailiff. Kenny has been ‘taking care’ of Dunning Glen for a few years, routinely clearing the detritus left by ‘wild campers’ and just as importantly engaging directly with campers to encourage them to gather their rubbish up at the end of their stay.

For members not able to attend the AGM the latest newsletter is available to download here

DAA – newsletter – Spring 2020

Just a wee nudge 🙂

The Devon Angling Association’s AGM will take place in the Royal Arms, Tillicoultry at 7.30pm on 14th January 2020

All members are welcome

The Devon Angling Association has for a number of years supported the Forth Rivers Trust ‘Fish in the Classroom’ programme financially and practically. In 2020 we will once again support a primary school within the Devon’s catchment.

To quote the FRT:

Fish in the Classroom is an interactive way for children to learn about rivers and river wildlife, brown trout in particular. The project runs yearly from January to March when the Trust engages with schools across the Forth to provide an interactive learning experience.

Fish in the Classroom consists of the Trust carrying out an interactive presentation to the class introducing them to rivers, the issues they face and the wildlife that use them. During the presentation, staff will introduce the children to the brown trout providing information for the lifecycle of a brown trout.

As well as the presentation, the class will receive a fish tank and brown trout eggs. The class will then get to watch the progress of the brown trout as it develops from an egg to a fry (baby fish). As the brown trout develops, the children will need to fill out the workbook provided tracking their progress to determine when they need to be released. The children will also need to keep the tank cold by placing frozen water bottles into the tank.

Once the eggs have hatched and turned into fish, the Trust will return and accompany the class to their local river where the fish will be released. Whilst at the river, an invertebrate kick sample will be carried out to identify other wildlife within the river, providing an outdoor learning experience.

Learn more here: http://forthriverstrust.org/learning/fish-in-the-classroom/

The Trust have unfortunately lost a principal funder who has supported the scheme for a number of years; they are therefore seeking support from other funders and the greater fishing community via crowdfunder appeal

If you would like to support this great scheme please donate here https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/fish-in-the-classroom-forth-rivers-trust#start

The wet autumn meant for the first time in a number of years a decent number of salmon (and some sea trout) were caught in the last couple months of the season. Final catch returns are being collated for Marine Scotland, but it looks likely at least 20 salmon were caught. Alistair Crawford has returned to his old form catching several include a fish of 11-12lb!

Members of the committee have begun base line invertebrate surveys on the river which will in due course be fed into the national database run by SEPA and provide a quantifiable means of measuring the impact of development and pollution incidents.

Alan Armstrong spotted an oil leak at Rackmill Substation, which he immediately reported to SEPA who attended and with the contractors quickly remedied the incident. This sort of incident shows the importance of vigilance and contacting the SEPA hotline (number in the permit):

SEPA Pollution Hotline 0800 80 70 60

https://apps.sepa.org.uk/EnvironmentalEvents/

Colin Smail and Bob Wright escorted a representative of the Wild Trout Trust to a number of locations on the river. They have produced an excellent report with guidance on improvements that could be made to the river to encourage trout numbers and health.

A date for everybody’s diaries, the Annual General Meeting of the Devon Angling Association will take place on Tuesday 14th January at 7.30pm in the Royal Arms, Tillicoultry

A quick gentle reminder to members holding a Salmon/Sea Trout permit, that we require a catch return by November 20 even if a NIL return

Please also note the requirement in the catch return to record the fishing effort (number of days spent on the river fishing for salmon/sea trout) and note that Marine Scotland consider 10 minutes on the river equals 1 days effort.

Catch returns can be made either on the Yellow form issued with the permit or electronically using the word or excel sheet here:

https://devonanglingassociation.org.uk/2015-catch-returns/