Monthly Archives: November 2016

The Angling Trust has written to the recently appointed Water Minister, Dr Thérèse Coffey MP, to urge her to fulfil promises from previous Ministers to reform the water abstraction licensing system and afford better protection to our precious rivers.

The Angling Trust, alongside conservation and fisheries NGOs, has been calling for a reform of abstraction licensing policy for several years and the government announced last December its intention to do this, but there has been little or no progress subsequently and there are worrying indications that the promise to act is going to be broken.

The current regime, which is the national system that approves water being taken from the environment for use by the public, businesses and farms, was formally created by the Water Act of 1963, by amalgamating previous licences into a single permitting regime.

At the time, this was done with little or no consideration of what level of abstraction our water bodies could actually supply without causing harm to wildlife. Today, a third of river catchments in England and Wales are either ‘over-licensed’ or ‘over-abstracted’ according to Environment Agency figures, with more water taken out than the environment can sustain. Furthermore, around 600 water bodies are at risk of failing to meet EU Water Framework Directive standards due to low flows resulting from abstraction.

There are some promising indications of change. Earlier this year the government consulted on proposals to bring a raft of damaging abstractions into the licensing system that were previously exempt from any control, under the banner of New Authorisations. This will include highly damaging trickle irrigation, water transfers between water bodies, and dewatering of mines, quarries and engineering works.
However, a far more fundamental change is required if the UK is […]

2016 started off with a new regional organiser (me, Andy Degville). My first regional meeting was held on April 2nd, at the Doveridge Club. I gave an introduction talk regarding myself, providing a brief fishing history, with particular emphasis on my recent barbel exploits. Paul Floyd, who gave a great insight into his fishing roots, all the way from Australia, and his more recent successes regarding barbel fishing, provided the main talk. As always, we had a raffle with some great prizes, plus the Hook Bait company and Specimen Angling attended with a selection of their wares.

November 20th was the date of the second meeting for 2016, at the same venue, again with the Hook Bait Company and Specimen Angling in attendance. The format was slightly different; instead of two talks, we had one talk and a fishing discussion. Simon Asbury gave the talk, a really interesting and thought provoking presentation, with some excellent under water footage. I facilitated a fishing discussion, which involved some good audience participation, with some very experienced barbel anglers sharing some of their ‘ways of fishing’.

A couple of clubs worth a mention with plenty of good waters within the Staffordshire Region are the Burton Mutual Angling Association & the Stoke Angling Society. The BMAA have nine miles of rivers to fish, including the River Dove and the Upper Trent. Some very big fish have come out of the BMAA stretches on the Dove; including the current river record at 18lb 6oz. Barbel Society committee member Simon Asbury had a 15lb 1oz Barbel from the Dove in 2016.

Though not as prolific as the lower Trent, there are still some very good fish in the BMAA Trent waters. I know of […]

Well this is proving to be a tough years fishing for the Anglian Region. Undoubtedly not helped by the low clear river conditions, and now as the New Year starts the very unsettled cold weather. Without doubt the Nene (fish to 18lb), Lea (fish to 16lb) and Ouse (fish to 15 lb) have fished better than other rivers in the region such as the Stour, Yare and Waveney.

Further 90% of the fish seem to have come to 10% of our members. Blanks have been the norm for many … but ‘perseverance’ is the key. That said, some, understandably, have no doubt kept their captures quiet. A sign of the times with the circuses that can turn up overnight. One notable capture however, was that of Gary Johnson’s 19lb 4oz fish which has been accepted by the BS as the new river record for the Nene. Congratulations Gary.

Three fish-ins have taken place on three different rivers. Our idea (John and Chris) was to offer members a choice around the Region. The first was on the Nene, 21st August, and is fully described by John in Barbel Fisher Issue 42. The second was on the Ouse, 15th October. Sadly, following a change in weather we only had a single Pike to show for our efforts. The third was on Kings Weir in early December but following some severe frosts again the weather was against any Barbel being put on the bank. However, members were offered a variety of venues throughout 2016, some taking advantage to fish new venues and the all-important banter between attendees made up for the lack of fish. Further, the bacon butties and tea was well received: thanks Chris. Our thanks go to […]

Well here’s an update for a region which has not seen much action at all, for some years now.

I have been corresponding with Des Richardson (Former R.O) and we are hoping to “liven-up” the region for 2017.

I have been touching base with our local Environment Agency representatives, Bristol Avon Rivers Trust, some of our local angling clubs, and attending our local area Angling Trust meetings.

I am especially interested in the Research & Conservation element of our Society, and it`s work for the preservation of our rivers, and the angling we all love. I am also keen that we all can share our knowledge, experience, and common ground, through meeting up socially.

There will be a meeting/R&C fundraiser to come (details to follow) which will be the first chance for many new members & local non-members to get together.

We are all aware that many of the few Barbel rivers we have in the region have all been affected with lower Barbel numbers. But, on a positive note, there is much work (and research funding) going into this from the societies perspective, and also from that of those other organisations we are working with. So the future for the region is looking much brighter than perhaps four years ago!

To all those who fall into this region or would like to pay the area a visit, or give any input, please do not hesitate to make contact, and we shall be able to make arrangements. And for those Society members (Countrywide) who wish to contribute or share anything, the same truly does apply.

Let’s look forward to a new year in Barbel fishing for our region, together with the Barbel Society!

Tight Lines,
Shaun Nurse.