Untitled Document

July 2009 - On sale
June 12, 2009 Only £3.10

FEATURING...

Summer-holiday salmon – Grilse know-how and little gems for low summer flows courtesy of Joe MacDonald.

Nymphs on the swing – Charles Jardine explains the stillwater angler’s art of ‘odging’.

Fish finder – On holiday? Looking for new waters or new fishing experiences? Peter Lapsley has the answers.

Sewin masters of Wales – The favourite sea trout patterns used by the locals on Wales' top rivers, including a Dan's Butcher for the Aeron (Dan Evans) and a Macrel Coch for the Conway (JO Jones).

The coast is clear for bass – How and where to tackle them.

Crisis? What crisis? – Is the call for total catch-and-release of springers a panic measure?

The wild trout’s wish list – Neil Patterson’s flip-over fly that solves the flippin’ sippin’ trout problem of summer evenings.

Bob’s your uncle... – ... and trusted friend. Geoffrey Bucknall's top-dropper flies are the most potent of them all.

Sandison’s Scotland – Lochs to fish before you die; Clyde anglers counter quarry; Good news for Glendoe; Wise old trout fooled.

Going the distance with heavyweight flies – David Wolsoncroft-Dodds has advice for casters of large, bulky pike and tarpon flies.

Textbook Tying – Mick Huffer demonstrates how to tie and fish the Gorgeous George, the current darling of Irish lough fishing.

Fly of the Month – Charles Jardine ties his improved General Emerger.

Trout in the Tuscan heat – Tim Griffiths finds excellent trout and grayling sport in the interior of Italy in August.

Knit your own waders – Mike Harding says Archimedes was right.

The wild trout's wish list -
NEIL PATTERSON says it’s time we knew about a small fly that solves a whole load of flippin’ fly-tying problems

Find out what Neil will be looking out for in July which will prompt him to tie on a Patterson Flipper. Also, follow his tying instructions and the crucial stage of the tying process in the July 2009 issue of Fly Fishing and Fly Tying.

SHORT TAKES :: News & Views

Shad get protection

Allis and twaite shad, which migrate into British rivers will currently be making their freshwater journeys through the rivers such as the Wye, Usk, Tywi and Severn in order to spawn. During this migration into the rivers from the sea, although they do not feed, these members of the herring family can be caught on small, bright, flashy flies. However, anglers who deliberately fish for shad on these rivers are breaking the law. These rivers are designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest as a consequence of their shad runs, and they are therefore a protected species.

Doon campaign to secure flow

Ayrshire’s River Doon, made famous by Robert Burns in his song Ye Banks and Braes, also happens to be one of the best salmon rivers in Scotland. It’s a fantastic little river which in past seasons has produced almost 2,000 salmon a year to rod and line, but it is on the brink of disaster. It is allegedly the intention of ScottishPower (owned by the Spanish utility company Iberdrola) to reduce the current flow from 45 million gallons per day to 28 mgd, ie a reduction of almost 40%. It is believed that the Doon currently already loses in the region of about 30% of its water due to hydro-activity. The new reduction will be due to a proposed redirection of flow down the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee, where an extra generating turbine is to be installed. A reduction of this magnitude would have significant and detrimental impacts on migratory and non-migratory fish stocks.

Anglers up and down the river are extremely worried about the drastic reduction in the quality of the fishing. Club members at Drumgrange and Kerrs, which is near the top of the river are particularly worried that the proposed flow reduction will effectively kill their club.
With the present flow the Doon is unique among other Ayrshire rivers in that it allows salmon to enter and run much of it without a spate and can be fished when other rivers in the area are totally unfishable.

Local angling concerns have now organised a petition which all interested parties can sign to help harden a campaign against the new developments.
Sign the petition at: www.flyfishing-and-flytying.co.uk/ and click on Forum and then Fishing-Scotland

Anglers and RSPB join

The frosty relationship between anglers and bird groups appears to be thawing as both parties see similarities in their goals, and this is demonstrated in the launching of the Our Rivers campaign which sees the RSPB working together with the Angling Trust and the Association of Rivers Trusts.

In conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) it is demanding more ambitious government proposals under new EU legislation in order to protect Britain’s rivers.
The countrywide consultation process, conducted through The Environment Agency’s (EA) regional management plans, is criticised for not engaging those bodies who hold vital ‘on the ground’ information, such as anglers, community groups who look after rivers, and those who rely on the river for their business, as plans are laid for the rivers’ development in the future.

Our Rivers aims to address this concern by providing a far more straightforward way for people to pass on their unique local knowledge to the EA.

This is being done through the use of a website (www.ourrivers.org.uk) which enables people to submit their views. Information gathered through the website will be presented to the EA and Ministers as a formal request for action – to which they now have a legal obligation to respond.

Riverfly volunteers identify pollution

Diligent work by a Riverfly monitoring group in Wales has led to a successful £6,000 prosecution of a polluter. Rhymney River Flylife Monitoring Group noticed a decline in the biological quality of the water and the insect life it supported. This triggered an investigation by EA Wales which revealed Permethrin, a chemical insecticide, was falling into the river through airborne sawdust from treated timber at Kingspan Off Site Limited.
Dai Roberts, Coordinator of the Rhymney River Flylife Monitoring Group, said: “Our rivers are under increasing environmental pressure and this result shows the contribution that voluntary groups working in association with the Environment Agency can make”.

Angling Trust states its case on canoeing

The newly formed Angling Trust has adopted the line of both the government and the Environment Agency on the thorny issue of navigating inland waterways. The issue is becoming an increasingly contentious topic as canoe and fishing interests continue to clash on rivers throughout the country, and the Trust is putting its weight behind the creation of a voluntary access agreement on all appropriate rivers. The Trust’s statement has been galvanised by action by governing bodies of canoeing, who “are frequently mis-stating the law on navigation on rivers in England and Wales and thereby encouraging conflict”.

The Trust highlighted that it would not advocate navigation or canoeing agreements on rivers where there is potential for environmental damage to the river; on small rivers where there is likely to be a significant risk of conflict between paddlers and anglers; and on those where riparian owners, whose permission needs to be sought in law for access agreements, would suffer unreasonable interference with the enjoyment of their property.

For full details of these stories and more read the July issue of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying magazine.

OLIVER EDWARDS' ESSENTIAL TIPS
Episode 3 Oliver Edwards guides you through his techniques for fishing a deep diving shrimp. You can buy the Essential Skills DVDs by visiting www.essential-skills.tv

The Essential Challenge
Are you creative in your tying? And are your designs useful fishing flies? Then get your vices and bobbins ready for another innovative fly tying competition.

The May issue of FF &FT has a code which you'll need to access FREE materials from The Essential fly website.

Updated 28.04.09

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