The start of a sea trout career

You may remember the 4½ lbs brown trout caught by Luke’s young son Ruben while fishing for salmon with his dad back in March.

More recently, in the first week of September, Ruben caught his first fly-caught sea trout at night.

Reuben’s first night-time  fly-caught sea trout.

Caught on an up-river beat, the fish had been in for a couple of months and weighed 1¾ lbs.

How has Totnes weir pool fished?

Since fishing restarted last month, TWP has fished reasonably well, with a decent number of sea trout caught up to 5 or 6 pounds.

In May, about 400 fish passed through the fish counter, mainly sea trout. In June about 150 had been counted at the last check.

Of course the fishing in TWP will now tail off as the fish move upstream.

Oddly, given their prevalence over the past few years, no sea lice have been seen on fish and no fish with saprolegnia fungus infestations have been reported. Could this be some effect of lockdown or is it just coincidence?

Another good brown trout

This lovely approx 2lbs brownie was caught by member Ben Beardsworth just above Abbotsmead recently. The image is a bit dark, as the photo was taken in crepuscular light.

Ben tempted the fish with a size 14 BWO and says it was quite an acrobatic character, leaping about 3 feet in the air.

Fishing to reopen

You may be aware that fishing in England is to reopen on Wednesday (13th May). Our water will be open to members but please note that we will not be issuing day tickets for the moment and that the Duchy fishing on Dartmoor remains closed until further notice

Of course, Social Distancing of at least 2 metres must be strictly adhered to on the river bank, just as it must elsewhere. Presumably interactions between more than two people from separate households are similarly not allowed.

Good luck.

The Angling Trust’s proposal to the Government to get us fishing safely again

Some of you already will have received the following from the Angling Trust but for those of you who have not…

When We Fish Again –
an important update from Jamie Cook

We’ve now submitted our proposal to the Government to get us fishing safely again and wanted to share them with you. This is a phased plan to see angling permitted as a safe activity for mental and physical wellbeing during the COVID-19 crisis. It’s a powerful case as to how and why angling should be at the front of the queue when the lockdown restrictions are reviewed.

I encourage everyone to watch our video and read the summary report we have provided so that everyone is clear on the detail of our proposal.

In sharing this I want to be absolutely clear that restrictions on angling have not yet been lifted – that decision must remain with the government in order to align with the national effort to combat the transmission of COVID-19 and support the work of our public services.

WATCH THE VIDEO AND READ OUR SUMMARY REPORT