Branch News
Himalayan Balsam Pulling Parties
As we all know, Himalayan Balsam is an invasive species and has no place on our river banks. They out compete the native flora and in winter die back, leaving banks bare and susceptible to erosion. On other rivers such as Eden and Monnow they have got rid of them by having ‘pulling parties’. On some clubs they also have a rule that members should pull up at least 50 plants every time they go fishing. If you pull up Himalayan Balsam (very easy apparently) it kills them.
Ilkley Angling Club has taken the initiative and is having a pulling party and have been advised by Wharfedale Naturalists that they carry this out end of June and again end of July and this is the best date for Wharfedale. They reckon this needs repeating for the next 2 years before it is properly eradicated.
We have been requested that members of Myddleton, Bradford AC and No.1, Addingham, Bolton Abbey, ABB, Grassington AC and Kilnsey to let us know if they would be interested in coordinating the same type of exercise on the same day to minimise the amount of seeds etc. coming downstream.
We cannot see any reason why this idea/scheme should not be extended to other rivers not just locally but nationally. Please talk with your club members and fellow anglers and encourage them to pull.
From Leslie Magee, Secretary, the Freshwater Ecology Section of the Yorkshire Naturalist Union.
The balsam is an easy plant to control. It is an alien annual plant which sets seed late in the year. In the spring seedlings can be cut very easily with a hand scythe or a long-handled scythe. Plants will not regenerate but seeds will be washed down stream from further upstream during high water levels in autumn. The plant is abundant near tributaries such as the Washburn so that seeds are always being washed downstream. I always take a hand sickle whenever I visit the river and clear my usual fishing stands and they remain clear. I have in the past recommended to clubs to provide sickles for members willing to clear areas. However members prefer to spend their time fishing rather than doing a bit of clearing. I sympathise. Cutting in Springtime is an easy task, cutting later in the year is hard work.
Leslie Magee
River Wharfe Riverfly AMI Workshops
Once again the West Yorkshire branch of the S&TA and the Wharfedale Riverfly AMI will be running two AMI workshops. These will take place on the River Wharfe on 28th & 29th of April 2012. Although the location has yet to be finalised the two workshops are as follows:
Sat April 28th 2012
One-day monitoring workshop
This one-day monitoring workshop, will again be hosted by Rob Smith our regional Flylife coordinator and delivered by Stuart Crofts the Riverfly accredited tutor, together with a local EA Ecology Contact. This workshop will provide a wide-ranging review of all monitoring techniques and will include short presentations, practical demonstrations and active involvement by participants at the riverside. All participants will receive a guide to the monitoring methodology River invertebrate monitoring for anglers published by the Field Studies Council and have chance to try it out for themselves. Each workshop is limited to 12 participants.
Sun April 29th 2012
One-day Refresher & Support Day
This support day is again run by our regional Flylife coordinator Rob Smith and Riverfly tutor Stuart Crofts, with the presence of an EA ecologist, both experts with a wide knowledge of freshwater invertebrates and their habitats. This day is intended as refresher workshop for existing monitoring parties, and will cover the full AMI methodology. It is also a useful opportunity to develop new skills to support current monitoring works and crucially, provides an opportunity to bring together nitoring groups to build confidence and enthusiasm for their on-going work, and discuss any issues, with qualified experts.This support day will be tailored to the requirements of the individual participating groups so there is no standard format for this day. It is expected that there will be an element of practical field work, including a tutored refresher of the monitoring methodology. The day will focus on a variety of topics, such as species identification, adult riverfly sampling, invasive species, and help to maintain and enhance on-going the monitoring regimes.
Fish of the year competition 2011
Neil Hickman with a golden trout taken on 17th September 2011
The Winner is Mike Bossomworth
I've only been fishing four times this year, although I did catch my best ever 3.5lb wild brown trout just above Kettlewell in very low water. So miracles do happen!
It is still the best ever wild brown trout that I have caught. Hopefully you can see that it was caught using a split cane rod (Hardy Palakona) and Hardy Perfect reel. It is synthetic fly line however. Don't know the name of the fly but it had obviously been feeding on Incident crayfish as it had two claws in its stomach when I dressed it.
Fly Tying and Natural History Exhibition - Bracken Hall, Baildon
Members will be interested to know that there is a new new Autumn to Spring exhibition at Bracken Hall, Baildon. The exhibition features North Country Fly fishing and the way in which our traditional northern wets flies seek to mimic the natural insect. The exhibition brings together objects from Bradford council’s vast Natural History collection, including images of freshwater animals found in many of our areas rivers and streams and their human-made copies. The famous ‘North Country Files’ were tied to mimic the natural food of our local fish in northern streams and they are seen by many as a perfect copy of nature itself! The exhibition runs until April and will be of interest to anglers and nature lovers.
We now have a new meeting venue as from 12th October we will meet at Ilkley Bowling Club, albeit the room is slightly smaller, it is warm and the beer is cheap.
2011/2012 Branch Meetings at Ilkley Bowling Club
Behind Nidd Vale Motors on the junction of Skipton Road and Church Street, Ilkley, LS29 9EW, 01943 605002
Click here to find the new venue
Broughton Show 2012 Cancelled due to the Olympic Torch passing through Skipton
On Sunday 24th June 2012 we intend to have another great show at Broughton, in 2011 we managed to raise about £200.00 for the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue and the Cave Rescue Organisation. We were also very pleased to have Mike Harding on the stand complete with two pairs of tying glasses.