As you will see if you are a regular, our website is changing.
At the time of writing only the welcome page and news items are accessible. Other pages will follow as time progresses.
Some things may not work for a while or may be missing. Please bear with us as we change over from the old site to the new.
The new site is much more easily read on smartphones etc than was the old.
The Environment Agency have brought in an emergency bye-law to protect salmon stocks. From 1st August 2015 to June 1st 2016 all commercial netting will cease. This closes the net fishing two weeks earlier than normal this year.
Also, with immediate effect, rod fishing for salmon will be by catch and release only and also by artificial fly only.
Sea trout fishing remains unaffected as before the introduction of the bye-law and usual rules and methods still apply. The Association committee would however call for all anglers to be conservation minded and apply good practice catch and release wherever possible.
The full text of the by-law is here: River Dart Emergency Salmon Byelaw 2015 as made 220715
A letter to members will follow shortly.
The DAA will have a stall at the Totnes show on this coming Sunday 26th. All welcome so drop by and say hello.
Little news of any consequence. One or two salmon have been spotted and seatrout continue to enter TWP. Catches have been meagre, and up river, disease still very much in evidence.
Visiting anglers over the bank holiday weekend seem likely to encounter low water and an east wind though some rain is forcast for saturday. Anyone wishing to take a sea trout should check carefully for lesions and ulcers – particularly around the head – as early signs of disease are easy to miss.
Depressing and distressing sightings of diseased sea trout continue to make news. Please continue to inform this website or the hon sec of ongoing concerns. We can only hope that warmer water will bring new and clean fish from the tide and that in time more will be understood about this blight on our wonderful ‘springers’. A walk today on a moorland stretch gave up dippers, grey wagtails, bluebells, wild garlic and the first call of a cuckoo . . . .the usual suspects and more. All was well. . . .almost.
DFA AGM 6.30 p.m this Friday 17th at Dartmoor Lodge. All welcome. Meeting, Q and A, and buffet.
Sea trout continue to be caught in TWP with one or two good of size amongst them. Members have observed numbers running the weir (salmon included), and fish have been spotted as far up as Haliwells. Upriver angling effort appears to have been minimal so far.
Members wishing to fish Totnes weir pool from the town side will see that barriers have been erected by the developers. We do have access, and the combination numbers are the same as at Dart Bridge and Kilbury weir. Several more sea trout have been caught at TWP.
About a week ago, Paul Hetherington (Bush), caught a sea trout of around 3lbs from TWP. As far as we know this is the first (and only) confirmed fish to come off the river. With further unsettled weather forcast for the coming week conditions are more likely to favour salmon fishing.