Archive: 2022 News
Tuesday 6th December 2022: Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Annual General Meetings are your chance to hear about what your committee has been up to in running the society, to ask questions and to put forward ideas for the future. The 2022 AGM will see the resumption of this important milestone after covid caused the postponement of AGMs in 2020 and 2021. It will be held in The Bishop Blaize, Market Square, Richmond on Tuesday 6th December, 2022, starting at 8 pm. All members of the society are welcome to attend, with full members being eligible to vote.
It would be helpful if anyone intending to come along could let secretary Phil Brown (01748 833822) know at least a week in advance as refreshments will be served at the end of the meeting.
November 2022: Habitat Improvement (see photo above)
Anglers fishing at Red House Farm are asked to be careful not to disturb willow whips which have been planted as part of the society’s river habitat improvement drive. The whips are between pegs 17 and 18.
In recent months the society has carried out a range of projects designed to improve habitat on several stretches of water on which fishing rights are owned or leased. The programme builds on a survey in 2021 by the Wild Trout Trust which included suggestions on how habitat could be improved to benefit both fish and their food sources.
One of the most successful interventions has been tree hingeing which anglers on the riverbank may have come across. This involves selecting a suitable overhanging bough on a bankside tree, willow works well, and partially sawing through the branch to allow it to drop into the water. The bough, which is often secured by strong wire to its parent tree, continues to grow providing refuge for juvenile fish and improving habitat for invertebrates in the food chain.
New planting, such as the willow whips at Red House Farm, also improves habitat by helping to secure banks. The shade provided also helps to keep water cool, increasingly important as global temperatures rise.
The society’s habitat improvement drive has increased contact with not only the Wild Trout Trust but also similarly motivated bodies such as the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, Woodland Trust and the estate managers of MoD land.
Relationships with local landowners have also developed positively as they are consulted during project scoping and their permission gained before work is carried out.
Collaboration with the regional Environment Agency team has also strengthened. The fact that the society demonstrated it was keen to carry out habitat improvement was instrumental a mid-Swale restocking programme being launched at Red House Farm last winter with over 2,000 juvenile barbel from the EA’s national hatchery being released into the river.
As well as continuing work on our waters on the Swale, we are hoping to develop a programme of improvements on Skeeby Beck, which will be built around a report from the WTT following a survey visit in early November.
Work so far has been carried out by a few stalwarts on the society’s committee. If such projects are of interest you and you are willing to lend a hand then get in touch with secretary Phil Brown
October 2022: Do you have a Legal Background?
There have been several occasions recently when the society's committee has had to deal with issues about which it would have been extremely helpful to have had input from someone with a legal background.
The committee wonders whether there might be members of the society with appropriate experience who might be able to assist, either by joining the committee or being on hand to offer legal advice when required.
If you are able to help directly, or know of someone who might offer assistance, please get in touch with secretary Phil Brown.
Sunday 25th September 2022: Coarse Match on River Swale
Committee Member Peter Fietsch is organising a coarse matches on Sunday, 25th September. The waters at Hagg Losh, Red House Farm and Great Langton will be reserved on these dates.
Please contact Peter using the link below if you would like more information and/or express an interest to participate.
13/14 August 2022: England Fly Fishing Match on River Swale
R&DAS were honoured to host some of the top fly anglers in the country on our waters over the weekend of 13-14 August; you may have noticed signs asking members not to fish at Red House Farm, Hagg Losh/Sand Hole and Easby during those dates.
The event, part of the “England Elite Performance Pathway”, was one of 4 such events to select who will represent England in the 2023 world championship in Slovakia (the other events are on the river Ure, river Dee in Wales and Llyn Brenig reservoir in Wales).
14 of the country’s best fly anglers, including 2019 World Champion Howard Croston, competed over two days on R&DAS waters, which were divided into 7 pegs. The format of the event was 7 anglers were fishing at any point in time, with the other 7 acting as “controllers”, whose responsibility is to accurately measure all fish caught and ensure the strict “FIPS Mouche” rules are followed.
Each angler fished for 1 hour in their allocated peg, before moving to their next peg. Anglers spent a morning or afternoon each day fishing, and a morning or afternoon each day controlling. This means each angler was actively fishing for 7 hours over the weekend.
Unfortunately, conditions were extremely challenging, with a very low river and blue skies/bright sunshine and temperatures nudging 30C.
Despite these challengers, the anglers showed their skills with a cumulative catch of exactly 100 fish over the 18 cm minimum size limit (with many more caught below that).
- 76 grayling, the largest of which was 41cm. Most of these were 25-35 cm in length.
- 22 brown trout, the largest of which was 50cm/20”. Very impressive when the very fine tippet used by the angler concerned is considered.
- 2 small chub
This equates to just over one fish per angler per hour (as 14 anglers each fished for 7 hours, 7*14=98). Considering the river conditions and weather these are remarkable catch levels and clearly show the incredible level of skill these top anglers have.
The competitors thanked R&DAS for the opportunity to fish our waters. Several anglers commented that they have seen many fish that simply weren’t feeding due to the conditions.
We hope that they will return when the conditions are more favourable and that R&DAS will be considered to host similar future events.
July 2022: Report from a visiting member from Singapore!
A member who live in Singapore, Lindsay Wood, recently spent 3 weeks in the UK and took the opportunity to fly fish our waters. He was kind enough to send us a wonderful summary of his experiences, which we wanted to share with our members
July 2022: Bank Access between Red House Farm and Hagg Losh
On behalf of all members, the R&DAS committee thank the owners of Red House Farm for allowing our members to traverse the bank-side between Red House Farm (Pegs 13-20) and Hagg Losh (Pegs 11, 11A and 12) by walking along the bank side behind the caravan park and Farm building and through designated access gates.