Trout in the Town:

The figures from Saturday's friendly grayling match show that the very strong year class of fish avoided being badly impacted by floodwaters around the 07 period... There are also decent numbers of juveniles around and just one or two older fish. Hopefully the very strong class of 25 to 27 cm fish will produce decent numbers of fish surviving to 3 and 4 years old over the next couple of years.....

Those splendid chaps up on the Lancs. Colne have been busy again over the winter since our initial Practical Visit. Here they are finding a good green use for the whole of the local council's dumped Xmas tree collection: Completing their brash bank revetments to protect the single line of mature trees that are clinging on in the grazed surrounding fields (these are on the opposite bank to the first set of works). How did you work off your festive season surplus calories?? :)

12 anglers (brave and true) met on a frosty Sunday morning this weekend. Their purpose? To seek out, catch and record the grayling living between Hillfoot Bridge and Winn Gardens on the urban river Don...The stakes were (not) high (£5) the rewards great (£40 for most fish and a tenner for the biggest fish). Oh - and we hoped to meet new angling friends as well as provide accurate records of the presence of different age-classes of game fish (in a section of river that is not monitored in conventional ways). They came from far and near - with 3 raiding nomads heading down from East Lancashire to challenge the locals (in the event, fairness was ensured by fishing the event as pairs - one local paired with each visitor). The proof that local Trout in the Town Group "SPRITE" are justified in their passion for clearing up and protecting their local urban river can be seen in the results: 102 grayling between 14 and 35cm in length were caught - with by far the most numerous categor...