Forth District Salmon Fishery Board – annual public meeting

Posted on May 24, 2017 by gowens2013

The  Forth District Salmon Fishery Board are holding their annual public meeting on Wednesday 31st May 2017 at Dunblane Cathedral.

Public begins at 7pm and the agenda is:

  1. Appologies for absence
  2. Minutes of the last meeting – open session only
  3. Matters arising therefrom
  4. Reports
  • Clerks Report
  • Teith Bird Count and walk overs
  • Lanrick Weir fish pass counter report
  • Redd Count report
  • Wild Fisheries Reform Lite – whats left of the reform process
  • Revaluation update

At 8pm they will be a talk presented by Dr David Summers from the Tay DSFB giving a talk on ” Re-watering the River Garry”  (SSE restoring flows to the River Garry in Perthshire which current loses much of its flow to the Hydro-electric schemes.

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Get PLUCKING ……… help control Himalayan Balsam

Posted on May 8, 2017 by gowens2013

Alan Graham made a great post on the home page encouraging all anglers to get plucking ……. Himalayan Balsam!

So why and how?

The river is blighted by two principal invasive plant species ……….. Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam. On the upper river the main problem are isolated but significant stands of Japanese Knotweed which we hope we can deal with through the Fisheries Trust Finns Project or if necessary with our own resources.

From Vicars Bridge downstream while there are areas of Japanese Knotweed (some of which were treated by the Ochils Landscape Partnership) the main problem is Himalayan BalsamWhile the flowers are a fabulous source of nectar for honey production it is highly invasive, exclude traditional bankside plants but providing no real root structure to protect the banks from erosion in spate.

The Association work parties expend enormous energy each year trying to cut as much of the infestation down before it has time to seed. There are isolated pockets of Himalayan Balsam particular tight to the banks (away from the mower and strimmers) were our anglers could make a huge contribution by plucking any Himalayan Balsam plants they come across ………. just ten minutes on every trip by every angler could make a huge difference.

Waiting for a rise two years ago I came across this stand of Himalayan Balsam (downstream of Rackmill) in the early spring:

Literally five minutes of plucking later:

Deeply satisfying …….. the joy is there are virtually no roots so it is very easy to pluck

Grab the plant close to the ground and simply pluck. Throw the plant into a heap well above the river (it’s high moisture content ensures it rots quickly). There is no real effort involved and you get the satisfaction of knowing having expended hee-haw energy you have made a real contribution to the River Devon’s health and the work of the Association

Now is the perfect time to get plucking!

 

 

Posted in DAA News, River Devon miscellaneous, River journal | 1 Comment

Glenquey – access to the North Bank

Posted on May 8, 2017 by gowens2013

At the home page there have been a few comments about accessing the north bank of Glenquey (right hand side as you look up Glenquey Reservoir from the dam). While there is a short cut crossing the spillway at the dam, the Association cannot advocate it is use.

We do advocate access to the north bank either by the long route around the south bank to the head of the reservoir (which will involve a great days worth of fishing in a variety of water conditions) or via the footpath below the dam from the car park  [a ten minute or so  walk, see below]

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Early May update

Posted on May 8, 2017 by gowens2013

A wee bit of an update on the Devon and Glenquey now we are a few good weeks into the 2017 season

Though I haven’t seen it yet I understand that Alan Liddle has written a two page feature on fishing both the Devon and Glenquey in the latest issue of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying [June 2017] …….. I know from personal communications that he is a real advocate for our waters!

The river is currently suffering from the unusually dry spring and is really getting down to bare bones, the early season spates becoming a distant memory. Bait anglers have still having good sport with some impressive +2lb brownies being landed. Warmer days have brought fish to the surface improving sport for the fly fisher, but the low water has made them super spooky. There have been some wee Sea Trout caught (in common with other rivers on the Forth System) and disappointingly a Rainbow Trout has been caught in the lower river.

A quick reminder if you do catch a Rainbow Trout, please remove it from the river.

While this weather may be great for getting the lawn in condition and muckshifting …….. we really need a few weeks of rain!

At Glenquey the water remains relatively high, the Osprey is back and anglers have enjoyed some really grand fishing. In April there were 46 returns made, reporting a total of 166 trout caught (3.6 trout per visit, but that masks a few anglers that blanked and one angler who managed in +25 trout ……. he lost count!). Total weight was 108.5 lbs (showing a typical mean weight of 0.65lbs

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Lost floating net – Taits Tomb and downstream

Posted on May 7, 2017 by gowens2013

One of our anglers, Cailean Moore, has lost their floating net used to release fish (Leeda scoop net with grey foam insulation he had fitted to it’s frame)  downstream from Tates Tomb where he had parked

If you come across it contact the DAA directly or see Cailean’s comments on the home page.

Posted in River fishing, River journal | 2 Comments

Lost fly box – Fossoway Beat

Posted on May 5, 2017 by gowens2013

If anybody comes across a double sided clear and black fly box on the Fossoway beats and would like to reunite it with it’s owner please email thedaa@talktalk.net; we will then endeavour to reunite it with its owner.

Posted in DAA News, River Devon miscellaneous, River fishing | 1 Comment

March going on early April

Posted on April 8, 2017 by gowens2013

So we are nearly four weeks into the season; I have seen just one rise on the upper Devon and have yet to get so much as a wee tug. Hey ho.

Others are having much more luck!

Up at Glenquey on Friday, Alan Graham ended up with eight fish including this fella and lost a few more:

Another of our members Mark was up at Glenquey in late March and to find a the reservoir mirror flat and fish rising.

He took full advantage managing to land an impressive 18 fish, two of which measured 12″, three 11″ and the rest all 9″-10″

His first fish was caught on the dry, a small Griffiths Gnat and thereafter he relied on a black epoxy buzzer hung ten inches under a klinkhammer …….. landing fish on the buzzer and the klink!

It comes as no surprise that early success on the river went to the bait anglers. There have been some impressive fish caught including this beautiful specimen caught by Alan Baird last week

The prize fish though has been caught by Mick Berney, his first fish of the season was a magnificent 3lb 8oz fish which he showed off on the ‘Fishing in Scotland’ Facebook page:

Mick has something of a track record of landing big Devon Brownies including this superb 4lb 8oz fish caught a few years ago.

Posted in DAA News, Glenquey fishing, Glenquey journal, River fishing, River journal | Leave a comment

Very early season news

Posted on March 24, 2017 by gowens2013

The season on the Devon and Glenquey has finally opened, so an early update and starting with a wee bit of sad news

The Devon Angling Association were saddened to hear the announcement that Roger Dalton had passed away.  Roger from Rumbling Bridge was a long standing member of the DAA and had served with considerable dedication on the committee for numerous years. He only stood down a few years ago when he had almost reached the age of 80! The Association pass on their deepest sympathy to Roger’s family and appreciation for his work for the Devon Angling Association.

Little news as yet from the river, though a number of anglers have been out for a cast including two fishing without a permit who the bailiffs intercepted and ejected. I for one got my first cast on Saturday 18th on frankly a miserable cold day where I didn’t get so much as a tug …….. but there were at least four other anglers out on the upper river; hopefully they had more sport. I guess the good news for Spring fishing is that there is plenty of water in the river now, Castlehill (and I think most of the reservoirs) are full and the ground is pretty saturated; so hopefully we will avoid the sketchy bare bone conditions of April to June 2016.

The season’s opening day at Glenquey found a (relatively) remarkable number of anglers on the reservoir …… ten anglers on a Wednesday! Despite the difficult wind conditions, fish were caught. Jim Milne managed three fish including one of about a 1lb and Alan Graham managed to net a fish. Their secret appeared to be using weighted damsel/streamer type patterns and fishing very deep (Alan Graham was allowing 40 seconds before beginning a retrieve). The first couple of days of the season were probably the best on the opening ten days as subsequently Winter has since revisited the Ochils with a bit of a vengeance!

Work parties have been somewhat decimated by a variety of seasonal flu bugs …….. but the work has continued. Work has been done to repair stiles, removing fallen lumber from the river, clearing obstructions from a few of the more remote sections of the river and rebuilding the steps at Rumbling Bridge.

It is really great to get feedback from anglers on the Devon and at Glenquey ……. so don’t be shy, tell us your news (comments to posts, comments on the homepage or drop us a line, perhaps with photos, to thedaa@talktalk.net)

Happy casting

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Upper river – A91 road closure from 20-03-17 for ten days

Posted on March 18, 2017 by gowens2013

The A91 will be shut for ten days at the old Fossoway Bridge for approximately ten days from the 20th March, to effect repairs to the bridge parapet which was damaged in a RTA. I expect access will be maintained to the hatchery and Fossoway Lodge so we should still be able to access the river by the bridge, regardless where the road is actually closed on either side.

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Salmon and trout parr – new Season is nearly here

Posted on March 13, 2017 by gowens2013

Well the new season opens on the 15th; the last couple of weeks has provided plenty of fresh flushes of water including a decent spate ……. hopefully this may have encouraged trout to begin feeding?

Best of luck to all our members and visitors in the 2017 season!

The DAA would like anglers to watch out for salmon parr; we are a little concerned about the apparent lack of salmon parr observed by anglers last year (they are normally something of a pest at certain times for the trout angler). Through the season the RFFT will be carrying out their routine electro-fishing surveys of the river but it will be useful to get any anecdotal observations you may have. We will include a short online survey to the website once the season is underway.

Identification of salmon and trout parr can be a wee bit tricky so for advice take a look at this page:

http://www.fishingnet.com/parr_recognition.htm

Salmon parr can normally be distinguished from young brown/sea trout by:

  • the more streamlined shape,
  • deeply forked tail, longer pectoral fin,
  • lack of orange on adipose fin,
  • smaller mouth, sharper snout,
  • only 1-4 spots on gill cover (often one large spot),
  • well defined parr marks.

We would also be grateful of any records of smolts caught (time and location). Very little is known about the smolt runs in the Forth catchment and the RFFT are trying to build up a more detailed understanding.

Tight Lines

Posted in DAA News, River Devon miscellaneous, River fishing, Uncategorized | Leave a comment