Fishing for the truth about angling in Scotland
TUNE in at 8:30 tonight to BBC-1’s Panorama when reporter Richard Bilton gets his teeth into the background behind the parlous state of fishing in the Clyde estuary. He talks to Professor Callum Roberts, co-author of the recent damning scientific report on over-fishing, as well as Howard Wood chairman of COAST, the Community of Arran…
Continue ReadingIT all started simply enough. Difficulty in seeing the end of the fly rod never mind a head-and-tail rise 40 metres away, meant it was time for a new pair of glasses. That’s when the trouble started, as the next episode of Not Exactly Fishing reveals.
Continue ReadingInshore creelers petition for 3-mile trawler ban COMMERCIAL fishing in the Clyde estuary is on the verge of extinction according to an alarming report just published by scientists. The study blames dredging and bottom trawling combined with ineffectual fisheries management by successive governments for precipitating what they call an “ecological meltdown.”
Continue ReadingFURTHER evidence of healthy grilse and salmon runs emerges from Sutherland where the Oykel produced a record-breaking return for July with a staggering 730 fish. In a month of fluctuating spates producing near-perfect conditions, 12 rods accounted for 286 fish between July 12 and 17 alone. Richard Donkin’s entertaining blog has more details. Of course…
Continue ReadingTHERE WERE encouraging signs from the Tay system last week of greatly improved salmon runs. The recorded catch total of 211 was nearly treble the previous week. Water levels dropped back steadily and the lower river produced more than half of the total catch. Almondmouth and Coupar Grange topped the returns with 44 and 31…
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