CORMORANTS AND ROACH - AGAIN!

a Linch Hill roach in it's prime - 3/3 of redfin silver

Many of us anglers love fishing for roach, preferably big ones and there appears to be an increasing enthusiasm for ‘silver fish’ as folk grow tired of hauling out endless ‘pasties’ from muddy carp puddles. I know that is provocative but you can’t beat a beautiful redfin can you. What’s more, fishing for them can provide endless variety in both techniques and the waters in which they flourish so it’s a win win situation - or is it?

no wonder they can swim fast - look at the size of those feet

No angler can have missed the increase in cormorants these last few years

and you only need to be a keen roach angler to feel the tears welling up when remembering the superb roach fishing that we once enjoyed. Down here in the South you could pick almost any steady glide on the rivers Avon and Stour and in good conditions expect to catch pound plus roach and not too infrequently, two pounders. Good fish still survive but anything over about 10ozs have become a lot rarer.

Some folk still believe that cormorants are not a significant cause of the decline in these silver fish numbers and while we can all accept that many factors are responsible such as abstraction, pollution, habitat loss and increasing extremes in our climate, cormorants do eat fish! 

 a superb Stour brace - 2/9 roach and 2/5 perch

On the River Stour in Wimborne we used to catch big bags of big roach over a pound with two pounders a regular occurrence. My best was 2/9 and best bag 47lbs, including several two pounders ... and others did even better, our famous local postman Owen Wentworth landing several bags of over 100lbs! The cormorants arrived and there are hardly any roach there now ... a coincidence or what?

the dramatic decline in our fishing on the Stour at Wimborne, compiled carefully from match returns

Hitler didn't make it here but the cormorants did!

the invasion since 1970 and they are still increasing

inland breeding pairs have increased too

Cormorants numbers have increased dramatically as these scientific graphs indicate and recent counts suggest that about 23,000 cormorants visit our shores from the continent every winter. As each one eats about a pound of fish every day, you have to ask whether 23,000lbs of fish removed from our waters every day is sustainable? 

nowhere has escaped the invasion, the Fenland drains I've been exploring are being hit badly

a small survivor but only just

They do catch small fish of course but nature’s rules of ‘effort vs. reward’ dictate that big fish provide a better reward for the effort expended. If you doubt they can tackle pound plus silver fish, just scan through this selection of my horror story catches from this past year.

a badly bitten 2/1 rudd

horrible wounds

this 1/12 nearly had it's tail bitten off

even the monster aren't immune from attack - this 3/9 rudd shows recent bad damage from those lethal beaks

the other side of the 3/9 with old war wounds by the dorsal

this near two pound Avon roach was nearly a goner

the good old days - a brace of two pounders from the Avon below Downton

a more recent two plus from above Downton ... alas, mostly gone now

One of my local rivers, the Hampshire Avon was once legendary for it’s roach fishing and over the years I have been lucky enough to catch lots of twos … and even a three from these iconic waters, so you can imagine the alarm when EA fish surveys in 2008 indicated that roach were almost totally absent from the famous middle reaches.

Bob's legendary middle Avon roach catch for 'A Passion for Angling' in the early '90's with ten over 2lbs and I caught three more twos to 2/10 before we even started filming, with Chris adding one of 2/5 when we'd finished - happy days!

the EA survey of the Avon showing the virtual disappearance of roach from the middle reaches - Britford on the left

This was the catalyst for the start of The Avon Roach Project by Trevor Harrop and Budgie Price. Both of them are fanatical roach anglers and felt they couldn’t just sit back and do nothing … there’s a lesson for us all there … so they decided to try to re-create the once flourishing and self- sustaining populations of roach throughout the Avon. After small beginnings the project has grown to industrial scale production and thousands of true Avon roach have already been restocked into many once famous stretches. You can read all about their work on the projects website and blog. – http://www.avonroachproject.co.uk/

netting one of the nine stews with the help of the EA

a couple of future two pounders here perhaps?

one of several sparkling young roach caught in this years charity match

Cynics suggest we are wasting our time and just feeding the cormorants but nature has wonderful powers of recovery and anglers are already catching small roach from swims where they haven’t seen roach for years. 

Avon futures

It’s a numbers game of course and the laws of nature decree that some of the small roach will survive to become big roach.

thousands have been released into once famous roach stretches of the Avon

digging out refuge areas

Creating habitat is the key and many landowners in the valley are supporting projects that will enhance the survival of all fish species, along with it’s associated wildlife.

prime habitat for wildlife

 bitterns moved in to take advantage of increasing fish populations

The cormorant threat has remained high on the agenda and a project document that I contributed to - “Biodiversity in Danger” was the catalyst for a petition demanding change.  This was delivered to the then fisheries minister, Richard Benyon, along with it’s nearly 20,000 signatures and with the support of the Angling Trust and Martin Salter, we got the law changed so that there is now more and better protection for our fisheries from the ravages of the ‘black death’. You can't beat a good dose of team spirit to get the job done.

ex. Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon having his ear bent by Trev and Budgie

Administering this new initiative are three full time Fisheries Management Advisors, [FMA’s] employed by the Angling Trust and funded by anglers’ Rod Licence revenue. Colin Barker, Richard Bamforth and Jake Davoille are the ones responsible for implementing the new area licences and encourage everybody to work together to tackle the problem.

behind us was the scene of the mass cormorant attack the other day

In an attempt to help, Trevor Harrop and I made a film for the Angling Trust called ‘Cormorants vs. Roach’ and it can be viewed on the Trust’s Website : http://www.anglingtrust.net/page.asp?section=1031

We made it to inform viewers and encourage support for the FMA’s work and we hope everybody will get behind them to make the new scheme effective. Jake Davoille is the main man in our area. I met him on the Avon recently while he was trying to turn words into action … and it’s working. Fewer cormorants means more roach and only last week was an example of how effective the scheme can be.

Britford dawn - a beautiful place that still supports a thriving roach population

At dawn, immediately behind where we were filming on the Avon at Britford, the carrier was black with cormorants, keeper Stuart estimating a total of between 120 to 150 packed into an area of a few yards. They weren’t there for long!

the tireless protector - Britford's keeper Stuart Wilson and Misty

With predation now at a critical level, all the local river keepers gathered in the area and made sure the birds learned that they aren’t welcome. They haven’t landed in the area since, so it’s a fine example of how the FMA’s can help co-ordinate our efforts to protect our fisheries.

a big bar of silver - the result of keeping the cormorants at bay

Please support them and the Angling Trust … and if you’re not a member, please join. It’s your best chance of making a difference and helping to ensure we have lovely big roach to catch in the future. 

So please do something … simply support these initiatives or even just be positive about the future. There are signs that in several rivers their roach shoals are returning. So if we all pull together maybe those glory days of watching a float trotting down a river and sliding under to the pull of a big roach will once again make a dream become reality.

some of the silver beauties are still out there

Details of the FMA’s can be found on the Angling Trust Website :

http://www.anglingtrust.net/page.asp?section=1031

THE GLORIOUS 16TH - 2014

this is one it eat earlier

It’s 04.30 in the morning of 23^rd June and time to reflect on my golden opening … and I’m up at this lovely time of day, not because I’m about to cast but because there is a ‘playful’ otter just outside the window, trying to eat the last of our minnows. Bless!

waiting for the glorious 16th

It reminds me of my opening day at a lovely little crucian lake up near Shaftesbury where an otter visited during the early hours of the 16^th, trying to catch before I had even cast in. Luckily the lake I was fishing has an electric fence round it but the lake next door has been drained for dredging and there were the tracks, leading through the mud to the last remaining carp in the puddles that are left before passing my swim by the lilies - but on the other side of the fence. What a shame we have to fence off bits of the countryside to protect our precious fish.

             

not long to midnight now

I arrived at the lake on the 15^th and after a careful walk round to assess where the fish might be, I set up in the ‘Vole Swim’, named for obvious reasons and with lilies on the left and overhanging willows on the right. I raked a narrow channel in the thick weed and noted that there was very dense potamogeton at pole lengths end … tough weed and trouble with a capital “T’ if I hooked a tench!

A little bit of groundbait  and small pellets were offered as a gift to the fish gods, along with a few casters and dead maggots and by dusk there were encouraging signs of activity in the depths below. Anticipation was mounting and as if to celebrate the start to the season, a barn owl flew at head height past the window of my VW camper as I brewed a cuppa. It was so close I could have almost touched it as it looked at me carefully as it passed, a moment indelibly printed into my brain for life.

I sat by my swim at midnight but decided to delay that magical first cast until dawn when all the senses are alert and the world is waking up. I just love that first light when all the birds start singing and the sky begins to shape the lake with it’s reflections … and I didn’t have long to wait for a bite, for as I was easing out my knob of paste, a small rudd grabbed it. Several more of a reasonable size slid over the net and with the water being crystal clear, their glorious colours made sure it was a golden start.

aren't rudd beautiful

Bubbles were rising frequently from the mud, so I knew something bigger was on the cards, hopefully a crucian  and when the float slid under and the fish was hooked, it circled for a second or two, as crucians do but then it woke up and tore off into the dense weed. Obviously a hefty tench … but I will never know for the hook pulled. The same thing happened again a few minutes later so I selected a new top kit with stronger elastic.

I was getting tiny bites which I felt sure were crucians and after a winter trotting a flooded Avon for roach, I’d forgotten just how sneaky crucians can be. I adjusted my tiny pole float to hang in the surface tension, with a No10 stots just off bottom for a tell-tale and felt sure that would result in the first crucian of the season but when it finally disappeared, yet another tench tore off and completely trashed my carefully assembled rig. Curses.

stretched elastic and nerves

Twenty minutes later, and with even stronger elastic, I had a new rig with the bait just touching bottom and hoped that by edging under the overhanging tree to an area that had received no bait, my soft hooker pellet would avoid the tackle wrecking tench and find a hungry crucian – and it worked.

During the next two hours I managed to miss several tiny bites but also landed six lovely plump crucians, four over two pounds with a best of two pounds six ounces. What a lovely way to start the season.

a perfect golden start

I had several small rudd and another crucian over two and had already lifted my rig out once when in the clear water I saw a large golden tench enter the swim. When it came into the swim again I couldn't resist seeing if I could land it and it promptly broke my pole! I knew this fish from the past when it had broken a rod ... they do go a bit these golden ones ... and realised my stupidity even before I hooked it, so it was time to pack up and lick my wounds. It had been an enjoyable start to the season, even if I was left wishing that I could have landed one of those tench.

the tackle breaking terror

Anyway, I had work to do because I had foolishly volunteered to make a film with Trevor Harrop for the Angling Trust about Avon Roach and their predation by cormorants. Trevor had given a very successful introductory talk at one of the Trust’s Fishery Management Advisors meetings about the Roach Project and Trust roles in changing the cormorant protection laws and the suggestion was for Trevor to appear at every meeting. This not being practical, the next best thing would be a film of him giving the talk so I stepped up to do the honours.

how many takes?!

Several takes later the filming at Britford was complete but as Trev said, we were both suffering from sun stroke by the time it was in the can. What with his fluffs, plane noise, dog’s barking, wind gusts and clouds obscuring his face it’s no wonder I want to give up filming. It drives you mad! After making more than sixty wildlife films ‘Repetitive Strain Syndrome’ is getting to me.

still smiling - or relieved it's in the can?

Three days editing followed before the film was finished … and if you visit the Avon Roach Project or Angling Trust’s websites you can decide if it’s a job well done. Roach certainly need all the help they can get if they’re to recover in our rivers and lakes. The Angling Trust is doing a great job now and I believe all anglers should support their work. In the meantime, catch one for me … I'd better go and check the otter damage, then do some gardening.

pretty but only a few minnows left

 

roses round the door

 

beautiful - and they smell good too

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