AVON ROACH

a perfect Avon roach and probably a project offspring

Roach – a favourite fish for many and certainly for me and though they have suffered declines on many rivers, not least the iconic Hampshire Avon, they are making a comeback, even on this most famous of waterways … and you might ask why?

Bob's famous catch of two pound Avon roach in 'A Passion for Angling'

With something as complex as a riverine ecosystem there is never a  simple answer to any question. No doubt the dreaded flocks of cormorants have had a devastating effect on the roach population ; the relentless weed cutting probably had a negative impact too. Then there is the general lack of flow compared with the good old days. When first faced with this powerful rush of deep water, anglers would be daunted by the challenge, me included … but once the challenge was faced, the rewards of numerous big roach were there to be won.

In the early ‘80’s I made a film for BBC 2’s legendary series called ‘The World About Us’ on the Hampshire Avon and Longford’s river keeper Tom Williams. I looked at it recently and the thing that struck me most, apart from the numerous fish was the impressive volume of water and weed in the river. The many carriers in the water-meadows had flowing water in them too, providing invaluable nursery areas for young fish, including roach.

The carriers have fallen into disrepair now and the main stream is a sorry remnant of a once fast and lush river and if you add the increasing number of chemicals running off the fields, then it is no wonder that fish populations are suffering, especially with the loss of so much good habitat. There are no doubt many other factors that have contributed to the declines but not to be daunted by the challenges ahead, Trevor Harrop and Budgie Price decided to act instead of just whinging like most of us do. 

 stews where the one year olds are grown on - the diggers in the background are digging out the lake where the roach will grow even bigger

 finished pool slowly filling up with rain water - a future home for breeding yet more roach, paid for by fund raising gigs.

Their success in creating the Avon Roach Project and raising and releasing tens of thousands of roach into the river has received well deserved acclaim and even more importantly, anglers are beginning to catch roach in places which for many years has been unheard of.

some of the thousands of mature roach released into the Avon

Because these places are the very spots where Trev and Budgie have been releasing roach for a number of years, it’s tempting to suggest that these are indeed the fish that they have so painstakingly raised from roach eggs gathered from the river. There will always be doubters of course, those that suggest the increase in roach is just a result of natural recruitment and that all they are doing is feeding the cormorants … but whatever the reason, let’s celebrate that at least some roach are back in the Avon and that catching them is more of an expectation now than a surprise.

Trev enjoying a few hours doing what we like most of all

Only last week, Trev and I decided we’d put our skills to the test and see if we could find a true Avon roach. We tried in an area where releases had taken place, just to give ourselves a better chance of course and bingo, we caught the most perfect specimens on traditional trotted bread flake.

fin perfect Avon roach - only eight ounces but a two pounder one day maybe

With their lead being followed on several other rivers, the breeding of roach has become a successful way for roach anglers to make a difference and we can be thankful that Trev and Budgie have had the sheer bloody mindedness to rise to the challenge. As they are well aware, nature will never thrive without good habitat in which to live and these last two years or more have seen an increasing number of habitat creation projects undertaken by them with the support of the Environment Agency too and it’s thanks to their relentless hard work that they are slowly transforming a once famous river back to it’s former glory.

 backwater cleared by the Roach Project to provide juveniles with a safe haven

There are numerous examples from around the world that prove that nature, given half a chance will fight back and we should all be grateful for that and support those who are prepared to make the effort.

If you want to learn more about the project then please visit their website and blog. I made a couple of films for Trev and Budgie about the project, Keith Arthur and Tight Lines have done the same and links to these can be found in the Film Footage flag on their website : http://www.avonroachproject.co.uk/

… and to read and see more, visit their blog : http://www.avonroachproject.blogspot.co.uk/

CAUGHT IN TIME - CARP FISHING WITH CHRIS YATES

Chris happily escaping from reality

You can’t beat being alongside Chris Yates when he explores a beautiful 40 acre lake in deepest Wiltshire.

Chris with all the specimen carp gear he needs

His approach is intuitive, his ability to stalk the large carp exceptional, his patience legendary. But is his ancient tackle up to the task?

This one hour film follows Chris’s quest for his first ever twenty pound carp from a beautiful estate lake. This is ‘reality TV with a difference, the camera capturing those moments in time that only happen once – the few successes - and many failures!

the beautiful Fonthill Estate lake

As we all know, there is never enough time to go fishing and Chris juggles the demands of looking after his family while trying to spend as much time as possible at his favourite carp water, his sanctuary and escape from reality.

grass snake wrangler

What follows has become something of a classic and as with ‘A Passion for Angling’, the film captures the magic of the natural world that we surround ourselves with when we go fishing. We filmed for only seventeen days and when we finally triumphed on the last day we went to the local pub to celebrate. Our pints of London Pride were the best beers we’ve ever tasted.

charismatic creatures of our watersides

 mallard are just one of many species of duck at Fonthill

As Barry Richards wrote on the ‘Fishing Magic’ website : “If you enjoyed ‘Passion for Angling’ then you’ll enjoy ‘Caught in Time’, perhaps even more so as I did myself. In short, the film sequences are brilliant” … another critic wrote : “.. much enjoyed … not a lot happens then everything happens – just like fishing.” … and another … “Caught in Time is another masterpiece, my favourite yet, a carp anglers dream becomes reality”. The film was made several years ago but carp fishing of this sort is timeless.

ancient bait tin but deadly methods

close to a crisis

a big, glorious, golden common

Chris perching on the Stour

The film is intended to be the first of a series with Chris … an attempt to re-invent the fishing diary. We have actually started the second one … perch fishing on the River Stour with three pounders in the can already but since then, life has got in the way.

I got in on the act as we both caught three pounders

I made ‘Catching the Impossible’ for Channel 4 with Martin Bowler and Chris is writing books like there’s no tomorrow. So whether we ever get out there with a camera again remains to be seen. Trouble is, we prefer fishing to actually filming fishing so we’ll see. But for now, I’m going roach fishing on the beautiful Hampshire Avon.

perfect silver 

The film can be ordered at our Passion for Angling and Caught in Time Website - http//www.passionforangling.info/ 

a little film with lots of magic

this first episode is called 'Summer Days'

BRITFORD BEAUTY

you've got to be there before dawn, even on a 'no hope' frosty morning - magic

If you are a mad keen roach angler like me there is one place you have to visit before the river season ends and that is the famous Hampshire Avon … and if you hope to catch a roach, your best bet is at Britford.

there are still shoals of big roach at Britford

a pair of mute swans with just one cygnet left - the others got 'ottered'

Dawn is always a magical time and there is nothing better than to watch the sun coming up and the wildlife starting to stir. It is also a good time to see rolling roach ... and if you know where they are you might just catch them, though I never hold my breath.

what beautiful creatures they are - don't you just love 'em

Those who fish for roach will be well aware of the demise of the once legendary shoals of Avon roach and there are now very few places on the river where you stand a chance of making contact. The Britford stretch is probably the best river in England for a big one and that’s thanks to the relentless protection they receive from the LAA’s river keeper, Stuart Wilson.

guardian of those glorious redfins - Stuart Wilson with camera shy Misty

predator eats predator © Stewart Canham

once only a coastal bird - not any more © Tunnicliffe

near two pounder damaged by a cormorant downstream of Britford

Tireless in his pursuit of the ‘black death’, Stuart is a diamond, as hard working, friendly and helpful a guy as you could ever wish to meet … and his attitude rubs off on those who visit, for the atmosphere is one of camaraderie among those who seek the elusive silver ghosts. So the friendly character of those around you is one of the best reasons for just ‘being there’.

what a lovely chubby spot

a sad end to our 49 year old Monterey Cypress

it was a magnificent 70 feet tall - what a crash!

I couldn’t visit much this last winter due to the gales ripping eight huge trees out of the ground in our garden, so lots of clearing up to do. But when I was beside those crystal clear waters I did manage to catch a few, including a beautiful male grayling of 1/11. It took a long time to recover from the violent fight it put up, so if you’re lucky enough to catch a good ‘un, do take your time in releasing it and only do so when it is strong enough to swim off strongly.

grayling recovering in the flooded shallows

And while I’m banging on about fish welfare, why is it that so many who visit feel compelled to use a keepnet? We love our roach but then subject them to the cruellest imprisonment. Many of the roach I saw caught were missing many of their scales and had frayed fins … and no surprise when they have been trapped in the strong flow for up to eight hours.

cormorants or keepnet damage - what's the difference

There were several anglers too who commented on catching roach that weighed 1/15 instead of the magical 2lbs. Now if those roach had been free to feed instead of incarcerated, maybe many of them would have put on that extra ounce and become fish of a lifetime! The LAA are never going to ban the use of keepnets for roach, even if they should, but we could all do our bit by not using them, or restricting their use to a few minutes while waiting for Stuart to come and take a trophy shot. I no longer use keepnets because they damage the very creatures that we treasure most. Ask yourself why you use them. Why?

classic Constable country

Enough of that. I had a great few days on the river and not just with the fish, which included several roach to a little short of the magical two pounds, along with that bonny grayling and a fat chub of 5/3. Apart from some warm friendships, the other highlights were of the feathered variety. A peregrine in full stoop, kestrels, buzzards, sparrow hawks, a red kite and that rarest of sightings, a goshawk circling above the Downs. Unlike so many species in the UK, they are increasing ... but only slowly due to illegal persecution.

powerful hunters © Tunnicliffe

I spent two years making a film about gowhawks for ITV and the Americans called ‘Phantom of the Forest’ so was able to assure Stuart that it was indeed a gos when he suggested I was wrong! What powerful birds they are, so impressive when they bring down male pheasants in full flight, a highlight of my film.

called the 'seven whistler' after it's call © Ching

There were plenty of those delightful water rails creeping about, snipe and lapwing on the flooded water-meadows too and I was surprised to hear whimbrel calling from the marshes so early in the season. They were on their way from West Africa to their breeding grounds in Scotland or Scandinavia but the birds that surprised and excited me most were a pair of hawfinches, spotted in the trees opposite my swim on the final day of the season. They are getting increasingly rare, their breeding numbers  having fallen by 75% in the last 25 years, so I counted myself extremely lucky to have seen them, even though Stuart has seen hawfinches there in the past.

you don't want to get bitten by that beak © Ching

Just as ‘the magic hour’ was gloaming and to put the icing on the cake, I caught a roach of over a pound trotting to the tail of my swim on the ‘last cast’ … though a few more casts followed after that success!

the perfect end to the season

There wasn’t a mark on this immaculate roach, almost as if it had never been caught … and to put the season to bed I saw two barn owls and a tawny owl on the way home. Now how long is it to June 16^th - I can’t wait.

a perfect sunset to end the season