2026 - TIME FOR A NEW CHALLENGE?

 These are my Options.

1. Catch a Towy Sewin?
2. Catch a Towy Salmon?
3. Catch a Falling Star?

Did I ever tell you about the outcome of my Delphi trip?

 5 days fishing. Saw loads of salmon but not a sniff! Gutted!!!

Delphi Lodge Fishery - here I come!

On Wednesday 30th July I will travel to Holyhead where I will stay the night prior to catching the Ferry to Dublin the next morning. I am very excited about visiting Delphi Lodge for the 3rd time!

Sea Trout Forum NOT AVAILABLE?

Recently I tried to log on to the Sea Trout Forum via the LINK on this site. To my surprise I see a message that says it's 'been withdrawn'! If this is so then I think it's a shame but realistically not that surprising I suppose as there are very few sea trout to be found now in our rivers?

Shall I leave the LINK or delete it I wonder? What do you think?

Disappointing trip to the River Eden!

When I booked the fishing and the accomodation I knew that there was a risk of low water being an issue but I took a chance! And that is how it turned out! The water levels were low and I was told that there was little hope of a salmon! To be honest I didn't even bother fishing, instead I did quite a lot of wildlife photography and relaxing and enjoyed that instead.

The river at Eden Lacy has quite a few nice easy pools to fish and while I was sat in my hide I did see a couple of big fish splash in 2 different pools. The wildlife wasn't as good as I was expecting with just a small amount of birds playing ball! Common Sandpipers were plentyful as were Grey Wagtails. Other than that there was little else to see in the way of wildlife. Obviously at this time of year 50% of most birds are sat on eggs however I do firmly believe that bird numbers are down drastically this year! During the 3 days I spent on the river I didn't see a single kingfisher!

I stayed at Eden Lacy Lodge during my stay which was generally clean and comfortable however the alocated parking space across the lane from the property was not a good idea! During the last day the farmer decided to harrow the recently ploughed field and the wind was blowing straight towards my car and the property! The soil was bone dry so my car soon became brown instead of grey! I was not happy!

A slight rise in water level on the Towy but not the Eden where I'm heading next Monday!

Not sure what to expect next week on the River Eden in Cumbria? I thought that it always rained in the Lake District but....

I suppose trout fishing may be possible or some wildlife photography? Or maybe just relax and let the world pass me by? Erm -  not easy for me!

2025 Fishing Trips Planned and booked?

I hope to have a busy year fishing this year - unlike recent years?

I'm fishing the Eden Lacy beat of the River Eden made famous by the Gone Fishing duo Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse - late April / May

I'm travelling west to Southern Ireland to fish the renouned Delphi Lodge waters in late July early August

River Tyne - Sept TBC

And who knows - a trip to the Half Moon Inn on the River Torridge may be on the cards if we get rain?

My 2025 Fishing Season?

Well, as far as the Towy is concerned I havent even bought a Permit yet! I think I will 'watch this space'! Instead I intend to focus some attention eleswhere this season.

My first sea trout of 2024!

Yes I got my first fish of the season last Saturday night! It was only about 2lb but it was a sea trout!

I could maybe have had more if the mist hadn't decended! An Otter was very active with a youngster which must be a good sign as well as a huge herd of heifers who wouldn't leave me be and were literally shitting everwhere including in the river! Don't worry about the Water Authorities dumping sewage in the river these cows were dumping big time!!!!

Stories from the Tywi?

TALES FROM THE RIVER BANK - PART 1 

Earth Day today!

 

Fantastic turnout for the BIG RIVER - LITTLE CLEANUP!

2 seniors (me and Anthony Painter) and his wonderful son called Si.

Absolutely PARR for the Course! 

Llangadog River Clean Up - NEW DATE!

Big River clean Up - Sat 13th and Sun 14th April 2024!

Please bring waders if you have them!

River Clean Up POSTPONED!

Due to the river height we have decided to postpone the Clean Up till April! A new date will be announced in due course. 

WMO State Climate 2023 Press conference! RED ALERT!!!!!

 

Llangadog Angling Limited - Pre Season River Clean Up - Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th March 2024?

Notice to all readers!

We need as many volunteers as possible so please make an effort to attend at least one day?

Smart Rivers? Maybe this is the way we should go?

What is SmartRivers?

SmartRivers is our scientifically robust, nationwide citizen science scheme that is helping to fill the evidence gap caused by cuts to statutory monitoring regimes.

Our river hubs collect and analyse invertebrate samples to provide invaluable, high-resolution data on invertebrate biodiversity and the pressures impacting wild fish.

How to enrol a hub and the commitment required

• To set up a SmartRivers hub we need a host organisation and a group of 8-10 volunteers to monitor 5 sites.
• The first year is the 'set up year' in which all the benchmarking and training takes place.
• For all rivers being added to the project, a professional scientist will come and complete an initial professional benchmark on your chosen 5 sample sites, in spring and autumn. This provides a scientific 'baseline' for your river and also helps us know what species we should teach you to identify. WildFish would be able to fund this.
• Training is two full days. Hubs are responsible for covering the training cost which is £1950 (the host organisations usually help unlock local funding for this).
• Once trained, the volunteers must sample twice a year (spring and autumn) and there are two pathways to choose from. Volunteers can 'sample and identify' where they do all the sampling and analysis themselves, or 'sample and send' where they collect the sample and post to a professional lab for identification. Sample and identify is free, whereas samples posted are £185 exc. VAT per sample. We provide the hub with a microscopes if completing your own ID, but you must obtain your own nets, buckets and sample preservative.

If this is something you feel would be of interest to your group I'd be happy to discuss in further detail - let me know.

All the best,

Lauren

Lauren Harley
SmartRivers Project Manager

Save the River Tywi Facebook Group created and it needs your Urgent HELP!

I created this Facebook Group on Wednesday 31st January 2024 in pure DESPERATION! A week later we have over 300 Members.

I have watched my beloved river slip into oblivion over the past 10 or 15 years. I've fished it for 30 years I think and started this Blog in 2006. Runs of migratory fish have declined dramatically and these days you see very few anglers about. Rivers like this are an essential part of the eco system and in a healthy condition are essential for all creatures to survive and thrive. Without anglers Farmers will pollute the rivers with inpunity! NO FISH means NO ANGLERS means MORE POLLUTION!

The problem is huge and complicated. Things are being done. The Carmarthen Fishermen's Federation has over 500 followers and is working hard on improving habitat and restoring breeding grounds etc but still the river is DYING! The Welsh Government and the NRW are both complicit in it's destruction and that of most Welsh Rivers! The problem is all over Wales in all rivers, brooks, streams and tributories!

The aim of this Facebook Group is to gather support for immediate ACTION. We're not going to write letters! We're not going to create endess Petitions that nobody takes any notice of! In some way or other we hope to make things happen in other ways! We've all done the letters and Petitions and they don't work!

We are going to take a fresh approach if we can - an approach that displays URGENCY because if we don't ACT NOW Welsh salmon and sea trout (sewin) will become EXTINCT!

Please join this Group if you care about Salmon and Sea Trout and all things in Welsh Rivers! Please join us to save salmon and sea trout from EXTINCTION in Welsh Rivers! Time is running out!

SavetheRiverTywi Facebook Action Group 

My first trip this Season?

Yes - I spent 2 hrs on the river Thursday night untill it went very chilly. Didn't see or connect with anything! Spoke to a guy on the Llandeilo Water who said he had had 6 fish so far!

Some rain has arrived?

Something like 300mm of rain swelled te river today. A welcome watering!

It's July and I still haven't fished yet?

What an abismal season so far this year?

It's the 5th July and I haven't even cast a line! More disturbing is that there is little sign of any decent rain in the forecast? I spoke to Keith tonight who told me that he has been putting plenty of time in at Whitemill and has had little reward for his efforts!

I'm currently praying for rain in the hope that I might get some fishing in this season but who knows? The Climate Emergency is showing itself ever more obviously now, especially with this sport but still the world takes little notice!

My Granddaughter Jasmine illuded me to this beautiful poem - The River by Valerie Bloom!

The River's a wanderer. 

A nomad, a tramp, 

He doesn't choose one place

To set up his camp. 

The River's a winder, 

Through valley and hill 

He twists and he turns, 

He just cannot be still. 

The River's a hoarder, 

And he buries down deep 

Those little treasures 

That he wants to keep. 

The River's a baby, 

He gurgles and hums, 

And sounds like he's happily

Sucking his thumbs. 

The River's a singer,

As he dances along, 

The countryside echoes

The notes of his song. 

The River's a monster

Hungry and vexed, 

He's gobbled up trees

And he'll swallow you next.

Not worth fishing till we get a good flood?

According to reports on Forums and information from angling friends the Towy is super low and full of slime! So I won't be visiting until the river has a good flush. Very sad yet again but it's very clear things are heading just one way!!

Countdown to the 2023 Fishing Season!!!

Yes, as I type these words it is less than 2 hours until the new season starts! I wonder if anyone will actually fish on the first day?

Annual fishing get together!

We had our annual fishing lunch the other day at a lovely restaurant in Stratford called the Ventnor's. Sadly Rod and Vicky were unable to attend because of an unexpected funeral. Everyone was on good form and the meal was excellent! A good laugh was had by all!

The season is looming!

12 days to go!

 Lets hope that the weather is warmish?

19 days to go!

The new season is getting closer! 

The 2023 Season is not far away!

The new season is not far away now?

If you are anything like me then the prospect of April 1st and the start of the new fishing season fills you with huge excitement but also anxiety in case the season is a repeat of last years!

Lets hope that we get some water April, May and June just to keep the river fresh.

So it's soon time to dust off the rods and reels, sort out the mess of flies you left last season (if you fished that is) and check those waders for leaks?

Tight lines for 23! Here's one from 2015!

The Wye and Usk Foundation Survey Results 2022

 

Temperatures are rising at a frightening pace!

It is quite possible that the increase in temperatures globally are something to do with why the quantity of migratory fish running our rivers has collapsed, especially in the south of the UK. The rate of decline looks very similar to this chart of rising temperatures I think?

By the way this chart was taken from showyourstripes.info

More details can be found in The Climate Book created by Greta Thunberg and Published by Penguin Books.