Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Friday, 30 August 2013
SFAS - Fly Tipping Success
There are a couple of sections of the Irwell between Bury and Radlciffe which have been blighted by fly tipping over the last few years.
One of our members Eric Owen has done a tremendous job, chivvying, nagging, harrassing, councilors, environmental health officers, housing associations etc into getting things cleaned up.
At long last the Bury Times have recognised that Erics been instrumental in improving things on the Irwell - something we at SFAS have known for ages
Well done Eric.
The full article can be read here.
One of our members Eric Owen has done a tremendous job, chivvying, nagging, harrassing, councilors, environmental health officers, housing associations etc into getting things cleaned up.
At long last the Bury Times have recognised that Erics been instrumental in improving things on the Irwell - something we at SFAS have known for ages
Well done Eric.
The full article can be read here.
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
An Awesome Trout
The bar has been raised yet again by Irwell fisherman Andy Boyne - with the capture of this tremendous Brown Trout which weighed in at 12lb 2oz.
What an amazing fish !
Please don't expect me to give up the location - I value my kneecaps. However, I can tell you that this spotted beast had a taste for boillies.
Over the last few years, I've seen numerous brown trout to 5lbs, I've had a couple grace my net in the 7lb bracket, seen photos of fish in the 9lb bracket - but Andys fish just blows all of these out of the water.
Has the Irwell become the Mecca for big wild browns in England ? Who knows.
Congratulations Andy on the fish of a lifetime
What an amazing fish !
Please don't expect me to give up the location - I value my kneecaps. However, I can tell you that this spotted beast had a taste for boillies.
Over the last few years, I've seen numerous brown trout to 5lbs, I've had a couple grace my net in the 7lb bracket, seen photos of fish in the 9lb bracket - but Andys fish just blows all of these out of the water.
Has the Irwell become the Mecca for big wild browns in England ? Who knows.
Congratulations Andy on the fish of a lifetime
Monday, 6 May 2013
River Gardening
One of the legacies of 250 years of pollution in the Irwell is the lack of complex plant structure in the river channel. Apart from the rocky headwaters, the water in most of the river has been too toxic to allow it to grow. However as we all know - things are changing.
Phosphate output from sewage works used to be abnormally high, which had the effect of covering the river bed in a thick layer of life clogging algae smothering anything which tried to grow, and in the lower river, a form of ribbon weed had established itself - neither of which support large amounts of river life.
However - in 2009 United Utilities started to install ammonia and phosphate removal facilities at their waste water treatment works. The effect of this is much better water quality, and previously unrecorded species of aquatic plants are now beginning to appear in the lower river.
We are now - for the first time ever beginning to find the occasional stand of starwort and ranunculus (water crowsfoot) - these more complex plants offer great spawning material for fish, provide cover for fry, provide habitat to support huge numbers of aquatic invertebrates (fish food) and provide shading and cover for both coarse fish and trout.
All in all - a very desirable thing to have in our river.
Sadly - the re-colonisation of these plants is a long and slow process - and though the sight of a couple of stands of these plants below the footbridge at Kersal Dale is a positive indicator of things to come - we have long thought that these plants need a little encouragement to speed up their re-colonisation of the river.
Our original intention was to speed this re-colonisation process during the summer of 2013 by transplanting small root balls of both speicies from up river but the Environment Agency are undertaking significant flood defence upgrades in the lower river this summer, involving lots of earth moving and heavy machinery in the river - so we have decided to delay this work until 2014.
The EA flood defence team - who wont allow us to make any in-channel improvements or plant river side trees to provide shading (which would be a great improvement fishing wise - are allowing us to transplant plants from upstream, and have offered to work with us next summer - which will be a great assistance.
So - with this in mind - when i was invited over to the River Don in Sheffield (another post industrial river which suffers many similar issues to the Irwell) by Paul Gaskell of the Wild Trout Trust, and the guys from S.P.R.I.T.E. to take part in a rannunculus transplanting session I jumped at the opportunity.
Armed with my passport so i could cross the border, and some barmcakes so that I'd have something to eat when i got there - I took a trip to Yorkshire - the darkside of the Pennines.
The lads from S.P.R.I.T.E. had already transplanted some root balls of Ranunculus using ladies stockings to hold their balls together - this had me worried - but was apparently quite an effective method of protecting their assets- but to my relief on this occaision they were going to use hessian sacking to do the job - a but coarse - but as hessian quickly rots down in water - a much more environmentally friendly way of doing the job.
Take a look at these pictures of the mornings work
work in progress
And how it looked after an hours work - these three foot long stands will be 20ft+ by the end of the summer, and will be covered in beautiful white flowers every spring.
Many thanks for a great day on your river - it looking good.
It will be a great project to replicate on the Irwell
Sunday, 28 April 2013
What A Cracker
What a cracking fish from Drinkwater Park Lake - well done Ian Goodwin - a strong contender for our fish of the year competition 2013.
Ians had some great fish from Drinkies over the last 12 months - Pike to 16lb, Bream and Tench to 6lb and now this lovely carp at 21lb10oz.
Not a bad list of fish for a lake which supposedly has no fish in it !
Ians had some great fish from Drinkies over the last 12 months - Pike to 16lb, Bream and Tench to 6lb and now this lovely carp at 21lb10oz.
Not a bad list of fish for a lake which supposedly has no fish in it !
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Floating Islands For The Old River
On a wild and windy day - 16 of our members generously gave us their time, to help construct 12 more cormorant cages and 4 floating islands.
We now have a total of 17 cormorant cages in the Old River, each one will be topped with a floating island.
The cages look like this
If you take a walk around the Old River - you can see the location of each of these cages as there is a small bright marker float.
Over the next few weeks - each cage will be marked by a floating island - we made 4 yesterday - three have been left in the pub beer garden so that the plants can get established without the attention of water birds - we have put one in place so that people can have an idea of what we are trying to achieve.
1 down 16 to go !
Many many thanks to those members who gave their time - very much appreciated.
We now have a total of 17 cormorant cages in the Old River, each one will be topped with a floating island.
The cages look like this
Over the next few weeks - each cage will be marked by a floating island - we made 4 yesterday - three have been left in the pub beer garden so that the plants can get established without the attention of water birds - we have put one in place so that people can have an idea of what we are trying to achieve.
Many many thanks to those members who gave their time - very much appreciated.
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Anti Cormorant Cages For The Old River
Over the last few months, the Old River has been plagued by cormorants munching down on our newly stocked fish.
Outrageous!
So as were not allowed to shoot them, or trap them, the only thing we can do is create fish refuges - to enable our fish stocks to hide from the black death.
(if your not a fisherman - please don't think us anglers don't like water birds - WE DO ! we love to see the herons, grebes, kingfishers etc which are natural predators on our waterways - we are just the first people who suffer from the new version of the black death - the invasion of sea birds which can eat up to 3lbs of fish per day- and wipe out whole fish populations - which in turn sustain the kingfishers, herons grebes etc. Once the fish have been wiped out from a lake, a lot of water birds also move on).
So - if we allow cormorants free reign on our lakes and rivers - we might as well pack it all in and take up knitting.
The only solution open to us it to construct fish protection refuges - in which our fish stocks can swim into in order to escape the unwelcome attentions of this alien predator.
16 people attended our work party today, and in 2 hours we constructed 5 fish refuges which we hope will help to effectively shelter our silver fish populations from cormorant predation.
With alot of help from our local environment agency officers - and using sheep/stock fencing and silage netting - we created our refuges and placed them at the Boathouse pub end of the Old River in mid channel between pegs.
We also took the opportunity to put up the first of our new club signs - in addition to this blue sign, we also have put up a new wooden notice board at the Boathouse end of the Old River, so that we can keep people up to date with match dates, work partys and other events.
In the near future (9th April) we are going to hold another work party where we will cover these fish refuges with floating islands - to act as further habitat improvement for our fish stocks and also to act as markers where the cormorant cages are located.
At present, the location of the fish refuges is given away by small red and white marker floats.
The 5 refuges we created this morning - are only the start of the project.
We anticipate creating up to 25 refuges and floating islands along the entire length of the Old River.
Which will be a massive habitat improvement - resulting in better fishing over the coming years.
If you can lend a hand - your more than welcome to join us on the 9th April.
Outrageous!
So as were not allowed to shoot them, or trap them, the only thing we can do is create fish refuges - to enable our fish stocks to hide from the black death.
(if your not a fisherman - please don't think us anglers don't like water birds - WE DO ! we love to see the herons, grebes, kingfishers etc which are natural predators on our waterways - we are just the first people who suffer from the new version of the black death - the invasion of sea birds which can eat up to 3lbs of fish per day- and wipe out whole fish populations - which in turn sustain the kingfishers, herons grebes etc. Once the fish have been wiped out from a lake, a lot of water birds also move on).
So - if we allow cormorants free reign on our lakes and rivers - we might as well pack it all in and take up knitting.
The only solution open to us it to construct fish protection refuges - in which our fish stocks can swim into in order to escape the unwelcome attentions of this alien predator.
16 people attended our work party today, and in 2 hours we constructed 5 fish refuges which we hope will help to effectively shelter our silver fish populations from cormorant predation.
With alot of help from our local environment agency officers - and using sheep/stock fencing and silage netting - we created our refuges and placed them at the Boathouse pub end of the Old River in mid channel between pegs.
In the near future (9th April) we are going to hold another work party where we will cover these fish refuges with floating islands - to act as further habitat improvement for our fish stocks and also to act as markers where the cormorant cages are located.
At present, the location of the fish refuges is given away by small red and white marker floats.
The 5 refuges we created this morning - are only the start of the project.
We anticipate creating up to 25 refuges and floating islands along the entire length of the Old River.
Which will be a massive habitat improvement - resulting in better fishing over the coming years.
If you can lend a hand - your more than welcome to join us on the 9th April.
Sunday, 17 March 2013
A Few Hours On The OId River
Not fishing - unfortunately - but many thanks to Phil Clayton and John Polding who gave me a hand this morning rebuilding 7 more pegs, ripping out rotten timbers and replacing them with new.
I'm really pleased with the results - not bad at all for 3 duffers.
It was also good to see no cormorants and 4 people fishing.
Once I got back to base, I took Diddy Duddy for a stroll round Drinkwater Park, Waterdale and Kingfisher.
No one fishing on Drinkies, but 3 groups of kids on Waterdale and Kingfisher all catching roach and perch on light waggler gear. Fantastic to see, and exactly why Salford Friendly don't charge for membership and encourage people to fish.
I'm looking forwards to seeing kids get similar rewards on the Old River, but I think that's still some way off yet. Lets see how it fishes once summer arrives.
I'll post up some pics of our handiwork with the tools later.
I'm really pleased with the results - not bad at all for 3 duffers.
It was also good to see no cormorants and 4 people fishing.
Once I got back to base, I took Diddy Duddy for a stroll round Drinkwater Park, Waterdale and Kingfisher.
No one fishing on Drinkies, but 3 groups of kids on Waterdale and Kingfisher all catching roach and perch on light waggler gear. Fantastic to see, and exactly why Salford Friendly don't charge for membership and encourage people to fish.
I'm looking forwards to seeing kids get similar rewards on the Old River, but I think that's still some way off yet. Lets see how it fishes once summer arrives.
I'll post up some pics of our handiwork with the tools later.
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Carters Treasure Map
If you're from out of town - here's all you need to know about fishing in Salford
Tight lines and wet lips
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Irwell Salmon - Still A Long Way From Reality
I woke up this morning to watch a news story on Breakfast TV about a proposed £90million sewage upgrade in Salford - and how United Ultilities were proud to be improving water quality in the Lower Irwell and Manchester Ship Canal to such a level that it would enable species such as bream to re-colonise the water ways......
Blood pressure rose considerably - FFS there have been bream in the Lower Irwell and MSC since the early 1990s despite the best efforts of United Utilities to wipe them out via regular sewage leaks into the river.
So....... outraged of North Manchester fired off an email to BBC news ......... see below
Have just seen your piece about how United Utilities are going to clean up the
Manchester Ship Canal to such a high standard as to allow species of fish such
as bream to survive in the water.
I nearly choked on my breakfast.
Did United Utilities pay you to broadcast such outrageous disinformation
????????????
For your information - species of coarse fish such as roach, bream, pike, perch,
tench, carp, gudgeon, sticklebacks, minnows etc have been thriving in the
Manchester Ship Canal for the last 20 years - DESPITE the best efforts of United
Utilities to wipe them out through the regular discharges of untreated waste
from their so called "Water Treatment Works" and the 106 combined sewage
(untreated) outfalls on the 19 miles of the River Irwell between Manchester and
Rawtenstall.
United Utilities are THE biggest polluter of waterbodies in the North West of
England - and its a smack in the face to all ecologists, anglers and lovers of
wildlife throughout the region to allow them airtime to boast about future,
uncompleted project which is no more than their statutory obligation to
undertake.
Why didnt your reporter use the opportunity to ask why migratory fish such as
Salmon, Sea Trout and Eels are unable to access the River Irwell and be seen in
Salford and Manchester City Centre - even though Salmon have returned to the
lower Mersey system???
The last Salmon caught in a Manchester River was 1856 - we could have them
return tomorrow if fish passes were fitted on the Manchester Ship Canal.
The MSC is now clean enough to support migrating salmon - so why are United
Utilities allowed to come on tv and boast about returning bream (which can live
in quite polluted water).
Angling is the UKs largest participation sport in the UK - and is ignored by the
BBC.
Salford Friendly Anglers are the worlds oldest angling club - based in Salford
since 1817 - have nearly 1000 members - and is ignored by the BBC
2.3 angling rod licences were sold in the UK last year - meaning that 1 in 20
people go fishing. There are alot of people in the North West with a very good
idea of the state of pollution in our waterways - and will not be pleased with
the air time you have given UU.
Isnt the BBC meant to be unbiased ???
Hows about a program or a piece showing pollution United Utilities tips in our
river 24 hours a day !
see the photo on this link for a very good example.
http://www.wildtrout.org/tint/action-irwell-and-salford-friendly-anglers
Regards
Mike Duddy
About 20 minutes later i got invited to Media City to give my side of the story - which can be seen here
There is no evidence that i have yet to see that shows United Utilities doing anything other than the bare minimum for our North Manchester waterways.
Blood pressure rose considerably - FFS there have been bream in the Lower Irwell and MSC since the early 1990s despite the best efforts of United Utilities to wipe them out via regular sewage leaks into the river.
So....... outraged of North Manchester fired off an email to BBC news ......... see below
Have just seen your piece about how United Utilities are going to clean up the
Manchester Ship Canal to such a high standard as to allow species of fish such
as bream to survive in the water.
I nearly choked on my breakfast.
Did United Utilities pay you to broadcast such outrageous disinformation
????????????
For your information - species of coarse fish such as roach, bream, pike, perch,
tench, carp, gudgeon, sticklebacks, minnows etc have been thriving in the
Manchester Ship Canal for the last 20 years - DESPITE the best efforts of United
Utilities to wipe them out through the regular discharges of untreated waste
from their so called "Water Treatment Works" and the 106 combined sewage
(untreated) outfalls on the 19 miles of the River Irwell between Manchester and
Rawtenstall.
United Utilities are THE biggest polluter of waterbodies in the North West of
England - and its a smack in the face to all ecologists, anglers and lovers of
wildlife throughout the region to allow them airtime to boast about future,
uncompleted project which is no more than their statutory obligation to
undertake.
Why didnt your reporter use the opportunity to ask why migratory fish such as
Salmon, Sea Trout and Eels are unable to access the River Irwell and be seen in
Salford and Manchester City Centre - even though Salmon have returned to the
lower Mersey system???
The last Salmon caught in a Manchester River was 1856 - we could have them
return tomorrow if fish passes were fitted on the Manchester Ship Canal.
The MSC is now clean enough to support migrating salmon - so why are United
Utilities allowed to come on tv and boast about returning bream (which can live
in quite polluted water).
Angling is the UKs largest participation sport in the UK - and is ignored by the
BBC.
Salford Friendly Anglers are the worlds oldest angling club - based in Salford
since 1817 - have nearly 1000 members - and is ignored by the BBC
2.3 angling rod licences were sold in the UK last year - meaning that 1 in 20
people go fishing. There are alot of people in the North West with a very good
idea of the state of pollution in our waterways - and will not be pleased with
the air time you have given UU.
Isnt the BBC meant to be unbiased ???
Hows about a program or a piece showing pollution United Utilities tips in our
river 24 hours a day !
see the photo on this link for a very good example.
http://www.wildtrout.org/tint/action-irwell-and-salford-friendly-anglers
Regards
Mike Duddy
About 20 minutes later i got invited to Media City to give my side of the story - which can be seen here
However - I got chopped and edited so much that despite getting my point across about the potential for the return of Salmon the Irwell system - the BBC /. United Utilities love in unsurprisingly never got a mention.
There is no evidence that i have yet to see that shows United Utilities doing anything other than the bare minimum for our North Manchester waterways.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Old River - Febuary Match Results
3rd Feb - 15 fished
1st Paul Smith 3lb 2oz
2nd Pete Harford 2lb 12oz
3rd Pete Roys 2lb 8oz
17th Feb - 11 fished
1st Mike Duddy 2lb 14oz
2nd Barry K 6oz
3rd Geoff 1oz
3rd Ken Wright 1oz
Both matches much tougher than expected - both won from the same peg on bread punch.
Skimmers not showing yet.
Forthcoming matches on the 3rd, 17th and 31st March - everyone welcome.
1st Paul Smith 3lb 2oz
2nd Pete Harford 2lb 12oz
3rd Pete Roys 2lb 8oz
17th Feb - 11 fished
1st Mike Duddy 2lb 14oz
2nd Barry K 6oz
3rd Geoff 1oz
3rd Ken Wright 1oz
Both matches much tougher than expected - both won from the same peg on bread punch.
Skimmers not showing yet.
Forthcoming matches on the 3rd, 17th and 31st March - everyone welcome.
Saturday, 15 December 2012
Drinkies Clean Up
Many thanks to Barry, Duncan, Karl, Ian, Paul, and Nick who turned out this morning to lend a hand on our Drinkies litter pick.
Judging from the fact that we found an old Corona bottle amongst the rubbish we found we reckon that this was the first time anyone has done a thorough clean up since the late 1970s
Many hands make light work, and in less than an hour we had accumulated over 20 bin bags of litter.
The areas behind the pegs now look respectable - and hopefully we wont get the blame for what was obviously litter left by the general public rather than specifically by anglers.
If we can keep the place clean and tidy - we can keep it free.
Judging from the fact that we found an old Corona bottle amongst the rubbish we found we reckon that this was the first time anyone has done a thorough clean up since the late 1970s
Many hands make light work, and in less than an hour we had accumulated over 20 bin bags of litter.
The areas behind the pegs now look respectable - and hopefully we wont get the blame for what was obviously litter left by the general public rather than specifically by anglers.
If we can keep the place clean and tidy - we can keep it free.
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Old River Work Party
Last weekend saw the first of three work parties we have planned on the Old River during winter 2012/13
A freezing start had us worried that not many would show up - and we were only expecting half a dozen or so victims/volunteers to turn out - so we were very pleased to see 16 members show up - all keen to help us bring some old fishing pegs back into play.
A VERY big thank you to all those who gave a bit of their time on a very cold and frosty morning.
Our immediate objective was to cut back the overgrowth around 5 pegs where access and fishing have become impossible.
The old phrase many hands make light work - didn't really hold true as some of the pegs were so overgrown it was very physically demanding to cut back the overgrowth.
Yet again, John P donned his waders, and cleared out the rubbish blocking the exit stream through the swamp - resulting in a 3 inch drop in water levels over 3 hours. I think that keeping this channel clear is going to be a key feature in the management of this water - as it prevents the water from the moss backing up into the Old River, helping us maintain steady water levels, and maintain dissolved oxygen levels within the water.
Our next club work party will be Saturday morning 9am the15th Dec at Drinkwater Park. There's alot of litter in the bushes behind some of the pegs so we will be undertaking a thorough litter pick - please bring a pair of gardening gloves.
Our next Old River work party will be Sunday the 27th Jan 2014 where we hope to re-board the freshly uncovered pegs.
By lunchtime it was mission accomplished on the work party and the Pike lads were patiently sitting behind their rods. El Blanko (Ian Goodwin) finally caught a pike after hours and hours of trying. Only a tiddler - but as you can see from the smile on Blankos face - they all count.
Those of us with more sense had a pint in the pub! Especially after getting to grips with this stuff.
Thanks again to everyone who turned out.
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
Restocking Drinkwater Park & River Irwell
Using the money our members raised during the course of this years restocking fund matches, and a very generous grant from the East Salford Community Committee - we have been able to purchase 2000 Crucian Carp to restock into Drinkwater Park Lake.
We bought 1500 4-6" fish and 500 6-8" fish which were all stocked last Thursday afternoon.
Over the last 18 months - Salford Friendly with the help of the EA and the Forestry Commision have managed to stock 10,000 roach and rudd into Drinkies.
We've managed to repair the dam wall at the far end of the lake, to enable the lake to revert back to its normal depth (we reckon that its about 6 inches deeper) which on a lake with an average depth of about 3feet makes a huge difference in the fishes ability to over winter.
We have also added aprrox 40 hessian sacks filled with well rotted horse manure to give the fish fry something to eat- our efforts were richly rewarded by the sight of huge shoals of fish fry in the margins this summer.
And now the final piece in the jigsaw - the return of Crucian Carp to what was once the areas best Crucian Carp waters.
Many many thanks to all involved, Especially - Paul Carr, Ian Hayes, Phil Lee and East Salford Community Committee.
Over the previous 4 or 5 years - there has been hardly anyone fishing Drinkies - but this summer local anglers (and quite a few not so local) have been returning - some great carp, bream and tench have been coming out, together with some great silvers sport for those using wag and mag tactics. Most encouraging of all, is the numbers of local juniors who are now getting the same chance to learn how to fish on a local lake offering good fishing - the same chances we had when we were kids.
In 2013 - we will be looking to start a Monday evening Junior anglers coaching event - we're looking to improve fish handlng and fishing technique and set our youngster off on the right path. If you have any youngsters who want to start fishing - we'll be announcing full details in April.
Restocking The Irwell
In winter 2011, the EA stocked 500 small barbel into the Irwell in Salford - telling us that this was the start of a long term project to improve fish stocks in our river. In truth 500 fish - a drop in the ocean? a token gesture? however they assured us that this was just the start of a long term project
So imagine our delight this winter 2012 as various last minute phonecalls have seen us being invited to attend different episodes of this years re-stocking programme.
In the last couple of weeks, we have witnessed nearly 10,000 roach, dace and chub being stocking in the Irwell in and around Salford. Again only small fish 1+year age bracket - but its a tremendous boost to angling and the river in general.
Ian Hayes of the EA has promised more fish restockings in the winters of 2013,14 and 15 with similar large numbers of 1year+ age bracket fish.
When you combine this with the proposed construction of fishing pegs in the lower river as part of the forthcoming flood defence upgrades its all looking good for the future of angling in Salford.
The best news always comes last - one of the main deterrents to angling on the Irwell is the off putting effect of the large amounts of sewage debris which still washes down our river following heavy rainfall. Riverbanks are often still coated in disgusting amounts of sewage litter such as nappies, tampons and wetwipes and this still gives the impression that the River is still heavily polluted - even though its not.
So imagine our delight to be contacted by United Utilites asking us how WE think that they can improve the river, and where we think the worst areas of sewage contamination are found.
We're highlighting the 3 sewage outfalls at Ramsbottom, Bury and Bolton waste water treatment works, and also a couple of CSOs (Combined Sewage Overflows) and have site meetings arranged on the 17th Dec with the people most able to make change.
United Utilities have a 5 year rolling capital plan - where they spend money from our water rates on environmental improvements - lets see if we can get them to spend a good proportion of it on the Irwell.
The simple screening of these overflows to allow liquid but not solids into our river isn't an expensive process and will make an immediate difference to the aesthetics of our river.
We bought 1500 4-6" fish and 500 6-8" fish which were all stocked last Thursday afternoon.
Over the last 18 months - Salford Friendly with the help of the EA and the Forestry Commision have managed to stock 10,000 roach and rudd into Drinkies.
We've managed to repair the dam wall at the far end of the lake, to enable the lake to revert back to its normal depth (we reckon that its about 6 inches deeper) which on a lake with an average depth of about 3feet makes a huge difference in the fishes ability to over winter.
We have also added aprrox 40 hessian sacks filled with well rotted horse manure to give the fish fry something to eat- our efforts were richly rewarded by the sight of huge shoals of fish fry in the margins this summer.
And now the final piece in the jigsaw - the return of Crucian Carp to what was once the areas best Crucian Carp waters.
Many many thanks to all involved, Especially - Paul Carr, Ian Hayes, Phil Lee and East Salford Community Committee.
Over the previous 4 or 5 years - there has been hardly anyone fishing Drinkies - but this summer local anglers (and quite a few not so local) have been returning - some great carp, bream and tench have been coming out, together with some great silvers sport for those using wag and mag tactics. Most encouraging of all, is the numbers of local juniors who are now getting the same chance to learn how to fish on a local lake offering good fishing - the same chances we had when we were kids.
In 2013 - we will be looking to start a Monday evening Junior anglers coaching event - we're looking to improve fish handlng and fishing technique and set our youngster off on the right path. If you have any youngsters who want to start fishing - we'll be announcing full details in April.
Restocking The Irwell
In winter 2011, the EA stocked 500 small barbel into the Irwell in Salford - telling us that this was the start of a long term project to improve fish stocks in our river. In truth 500 fish - a drop in the ocean? a token gesture? however they assured us that this was just the start of a long term project
So imagine our delight this winter 2012 as various last minute phonecalls have seen us being invited to attend different episodes of this years re-stocking programme.
In the last couple of weeks, we have witnessed nearly 10,000 roach, dace and chub being stocking in the Irwell in and around Salford. Again only small fish 1+year age bracket - but its a tremendous boost to angling and the river in general.
Ian Hayes of the EA has promised more fish restockings in the winters of 2013,14 and 15 with similar large numbers of 1year+ age bracket fish.
When you combine this with the proposed construction of fishing pegs in the lower river as part of the forthcoming flood defence upgrades its all looking good for the future of angling in Salford.
The best news always comes last - one of the main deterrents to angling on the Irwell is the off putting effect of the large amounts of sewage debris which still washes down our river following heavy rainfall. Riverbanks are often still coated in disgusting amounts of sewage litter such as nappies, tampons and wetwipes and this still gives the impression that the River is still heavily polluted - even though its not.
So imagine our delight to be contacted by United Utilites asking us how WE think that they can improve the river, and where we think the worst areas of sewage contamination are found.
We're highlighting the 3 sewage outfalls at Ramsbottom, Bury and Bolton waste water treatment works, and also a couple of CSOs (Combined Sewage Overflows) and have site meetings arranged on the 17th Dec with the people most able to make change.
United Utilities have a 5 year rolling capital plan - where they spend money from our water rates on environmental improvements - lets see if we can get them to spend a good proportion of it on the Irwell.
The simple screening of these overflows to allow liquid but not solids into our river isn't an expensive process and will make an immediate difference to the aesthetics of our river.
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