River Forth Fisheries Trust – Spring 2016 newsletter

Posted on April 2, 2016 by gowens2013

Our friends at the Trust have published their latest newsletter covering their wide scope of work and exciting projects throughout the catchment

http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d609b5fce77f392cee5505b8e&id=e007c93904&e=724fc538e8

 

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The Devon’s other anglers

Posted on April 2, 2016 by gowens2013

In my experience the most likely mammal you are likely to encounter in the river other than other anglers, are dogs! I have even been knocked of my feet by an over exuberant Labrador (thankfully towards the bank, avoiding a soaking). Around Dollar and Tillicoultry I have often come across mink scurrying about in the riverside trees and bushes, and occasionally in the river fishing. I know that there are otters on the river, I see their scat but have only caught momentary glimpses of them.

Mick Berney had much more luck this week and was able to snap this lad playing in the river:

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This area has been a bit of a mink hotspot in the past. One of the good things about the otter is that they will not tolerate completion from mink and their presence will generally drive down the mink population.

Thanks to Mick for sharing the pictures

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Glenquey on the opening day of the season

Posted on March 16, 2016 by gowens2013

Naturally enough some of Glenquey’s most enthusiastic regulars (Ian, Alan and Donald)  took advantage of the new early start of the season at Glenquey and turned out on Tuesday for the opening day of the season at the reservoir.  By all accounts with the a steady east wind blowing in from a frigid North Sea conditions were a tad bit cold.

By all accounts this is the first trout of the season caught at Glenquey by Alan Graham

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He ended up catching a further three trout and lost another three (using a tungsten beaded black nymph) all from the north bank!.

He wasn’t alone the other lads also manage to  land fish!

A great start to the season that bodes well for the warmer months!

 

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Opening of the 2016 season

Posted on March 14, 2016 by gowens2013

Well tomorrow is Tuesday 15th March and is of course the opening day of our 2016 Season 🙂

Permits have been distributed to all the usual outlets (see https://devonanglingassociation.org.uk/about-3/permits-2/ )

The day is set fair, perhaps a wee bit of haar early on, then it should be bright with a gentle east wind (though not t-shirt weather). The river looks in pretty good nick and you never know the sun might encourage a few short hatches!

In the unlikely event you catch a spring run salmon please remember all salmon must be released.

A big change this year will be that Glenquey opens for 2016 on the same day as the river. Work parties have been busy clearing shrubs and trees along the north bank opening up more areas to cast when the reservoir is full

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If you are spending time on this bank during the season, you can help the work parties while waiting for a rise by bringing along a handsaw!

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I am pleased to report that work parties spied a few fish rising out in middle of reservoir last Wednesday.

If you have success on the river or at Glenquey, then feel free to send us your photos/tales and we will post them here.

Best of luck for the 2016 Season 🙂

 

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Engineering works downstream of Vicars Bridge

Posted on March 7, 2016 by gowens2013

Anyone travelling along the Dollar-Muckhart road or on the back road from Vicars Bridge to Blairigone will have noticed the large scale excavations underway by the track that runs down to the river by Mains of Blairingone

Mains of Blairingone - 060316

These works are being undertaken by contractors employed by the Coal Authority and are very much for the benefit and protection of the river. The Devon Angling Association are delighted that these works are being undertaken now, having made a number of representations to the Coal Authority over the years.

So what’s going on?

Well the area between the plantation and valley side has for about the last twenty years has been a passive water treatment facility, helping to clean iron contaminated water from old mine-workings before it reached the Devon. It was installed following a serious outbreak of minewater from an old adit in the vicinity of Mains of Blairingone in 1994 which had resulted in serious pollution in the Devon. Anglers alerted the Forth River Purification Board when up to 2km of the Devon downstream became coated in Ochre (the characteristic orange gunge). The small burn it discharged into was rendered devoid of all life over 800m. What had caused this rapid deterioration could never be established but the finger was pointed at British Coal who at the time were working the Lambhill Opencast Coal Site at Blairingone. As was their policy at the time they denied liability for pollution but worked with the Forth River Purification Board to deal with the problem.

The solution was to capture and pipe the minewater under the Blairingone road were it is allowed to flow down a purpose built cascade, before flowing into the shallow lagoons which were allowed to be populated with reeds, rushes and other wetland plants

Cascade

I will save you a chemistry lesson, but essentially the problem with the minewater begins with Fools Gold (Iron Pyrites) which is commonly found in coal, ironstone and shales. It oxidises in contact with air, and as it does it produces heat which accelerates the oxidation (which in certain circumstances can lead to spontaneous combustion in coal, which resulted in some tragic accidents in collieries).  In oxidising the Iron Pyrites is converted to Iron (Fe2) Sulphate which is solvent in water. When the mines are abandoned and the water table rebounds to its natural level, that water dissolves the Iron Sulphide in the first instance Iron (Fe2) Sulphate and then Iron (Fe3) Sulphate. When the soluble iron remerges and comes into contact with oxygen again, it rapidly oxides forming Iron Hydroxide which is the orange gunk known as Ochre.

The cascades are designed to oxidise the soluble iron, which is then carried by the stream and fed into the “reed beds” which filter the water to collect all the iron before the clean water is discharged into the Devon. The system has been very successful in cleaning the water and returning this section of the Devon into a very healthy stream.

We were becoming concerned that the effectiveness of the reed beds was diminishing as the lagoons filled with sediment and that the bunds were not as substantial as they may have been. It is therefore really pleasing that the Coal Authority are taking a ‘belt and braces’ approach to renovating the treatment system.

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Wild Fisheries (Scotland) Bill/Draft Wild Fisheries Strategy

Posted on February 20, 2016 by gowens2013

Members and visitors are urged to visit and contribute to the latest consultation of the Wild Fisheries Review:

https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/wild-fisheries-reform-team/draft-wild-fisheries-strategy

The document takes some reading but the proposed regulations will probably result in fundamental changes to angling in Scotland.

The associated consultation provides you with an opportunity to influence these changes:

https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/wild-fisheries-reform-team/draft-wild-fisheries-strategy/consultation/intro/view

 

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Looking forward to the new season

Posted on February 20, 2016 by gowens2013

The new season is now only 24 days away and I am sure we are looking forward to fishing our favourite pools, hot spots at Glenquey Reservoir and exploring the subtle changes in the river caused by this winter’s many spates!

There are a few important changes that members and visitors need to be aware of for the 2016 season.

  • Due to regulations imposed by the Scottish Government all Salmon/Sea Trout fishing in 2016 will be compulsory catch and release
  • The season at Glenquey Reservoir has been extended from 15th March to 6th October 2016. In previous years work parties working at Glenquey during March have occasionally seen early season hatches and rises, so it may be worth an early season punt! One word of caution, please take care on the access road in the early season!

Meantime the work parties have continued the hard graft of clearing the north bank of Glenquey Reservoir:

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It’s only ……

Posted on January 27, 2016 by gowens2013

……. 48 days to the start of the new season!

At times in the last week it has almost felt like April (though to be fair it has on some days felt like January too, all on the same day).

The regular bouts of heavy rain have unleashed a series of significant spates (the likes of which the Salmon anglers were dreaming of in September and October) last week continuing the pattern of the winter.

Time will tell what impact these spates have on the both the Salmon and Trout spawning success?

The one positive is that groundwater in the Ochils is being recharged and the reservoirs mostly recharged, which hopefully will give us another great start to the trout season. The saturation of the ground can be evidenced by the Devon’s current response to rainfall events in the upper catchment compared to lower end of the river.

Impact of rain 26/01/16 at downstream of Castlehill Reservoir:

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when compared to the SEPA gauge in Glenochil over the same period (note how the Devon rises a metre in just over 3 hours at Castlhill, but how much smother the rise is away downstream at Glenochil)

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That all said there clear signs of Spring on the river bank such as these Snowdrops photographed by Alan Graham earlier in the week!

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Mean time the boys from the work party have been back up Glenquey, bushwhacking along the north bank opening up more opportunities for access to that side of the reservoir. By the time they reached there, Spring had disappeared and Winter had returned with a new dusting of snow

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Not long now 🙂

 

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Braving the elements – work parties !

Posted on January 20, 2016 by gowens2013

A bit of cold and snow does not put of the regulars of the DAA work party getting on with preparing the river for the new season

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For the last two Wednesday the guys have been clearing the winter’s spate debris from the river around Marchglen. This often unheralded work helps keep the banks accessible to anglers and the burns accessible to spawning Salmon and Trout.

If you have time on Wednesdays to help out, please do not hesitate to get in touch via the website or the Secretary.

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DAA AGM – 12th January 2016

Posted on January 16, 2016 by gowens2013

The Annual General Meeting of the Devon Angling Association was held at the Royal Arms, Tillicoultry on Tuesday 12th January 2016.

20 Members attended and contributed to a lively interesting meeting.

David Mudie, the association’s Honorary Secretary reported to the meeting on the activities of and issues effecting the Association during the 2015:

  • Membership of the associations remained steady at 449 (compared to 453 in 2014) with a drop in adult trout season tickets being off-set by a modest increase in junior members (£5/season) and salmon/sea trout season permits
  • No Salmon/Sea Trout were caught on the Devon in 2015 due to prolonged dry period during the late summer. The only spate came in the closing days of the season (and the rain has pretty much not stopped since!)
  • Glenquey had 424 visitors (284 members and 140 visitors). From the catch information on the 62% of tickets returned, 931 fish were caught with an average weight of 11oz.
  • River and Glenquey were stocked twice during the season. The committee have debated at length the issues around stocking and are committed to improving the spawning opportunities for trout and salmon on the river. In line with the requirements of the Scottish Government trout will be triploid (ie non-fertile fish)
  • The impact and issues relating to the Scottish Government’s Wild Fishing Review. We have been advised by the Forth District Salmon Board that all salmon and sea trout caught must be returned. The DAA rules will be amended to reflect these changes
  • DAA work parties have been busy on the river clearing obstructions, fallen trees, repairing stiles, installing bridges, cutting back vegetation to allow access. More recently a big effort has been put in to clearing vegetation on the north bank of Glenquey to open more access for fishing (this has been physically very demanding work)
  • The DAA fulfilled our obligations under our lease from Scottish Water and completed extensive repairs/maintenance to the boat house at Glenquey.
  • No changes to permits/ticket prices in 2016.

Officers of the association were appointed for 2016 and the committee appointed (I will explain how the DAA operates in a post before the start of the season)

The meeting was then opened to the floor.

  • There was an interesting discussion on the impact of the Wild Fishing Review on fishing practice on the River Devon. Some of the issues discussed included revisions to permitted fishing practice to allow safe return of fish and the whole range of conservation issues relating to Salmon in the river and in the Forth (smolt migration, Cambus weir, scientific measuring of fish migration, Scottish Governments classification of rivers etc)
  • The Hydro-electric scheme currently under construction downstream of Crook Of Devon was discussed. There was some concern expressed particularly about the level of abstraction but it is understood that abstraction can only begin at a level greater than the current permitted compensation flow from Castlehill Reservoir.
  • There was proposal made from the floor by Mr Alan Armstrong that the season at Glenquey be extended to align with the Brown Trout season. This was approved by the meeting and it is now intended that the Glenquey season will operated from 15th March until 6th October for the 2016 season.

 

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