Your comments and opinion on game-fishing matters
Wild success
I particularly enjoyed Jim Murray and Mike Blackmore's article in the December issue, concerning the state of our chalk streams.
I am the outgoing secretary of a small fly-only club in Lincolnshire which, although not a chalk stream, is a limestone river that faces many similar challenges; in particular, increased abstraction due to the growth of Grantham as well as agriculture, silt and phosphate run-off, and nuisance factors such as poachers and avian predation.
Five years ago, the committee took the decision not to stock and to allow areas to develop naturally, as described in Jim and Mike's article. Our catch rate has since increased by 2.5 times, and last year’s daily rod average was the highest in the club’s 50-year history.
Members are catching truly wild brownies and grayling. This success has been based on intelligent river management conducted by a skilled and committed river keeper and committee, similar to that described in Jim and Mike's article. This isn't simply a “hands off and just let everything go wild” policy, but careful management of natural obstructions, the creation of protected nursery pools, and effective communication with members. They appreciate that catching wily fish doesn’t involve wading up the middle of the river or casting from well-pruned river banks, but working with natural obstructions and bank growth to outwit what can seem to be the completely outwitable.
A key element of our work has been to develop constructive working relations with the Angling Trust, Wild Trout Trust, local rivers agency, and Environment Agency because we are all working towards a similar objective of improving wild fish numbers through effective habitat management
