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Sea Trout - by Chris Turnbull
Club Dinner 2007
MEMBERSHIP
PLEASE NOTE
Fees remain unchanged for 2007 but please note that the deadline for joining the club or renewing your membership is 31st March 2007.
Any late applications will be returned to sender and late applicants will be required to purchace a full season permit from one of the local outlets at extra cost.
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A nice photo from Twm Twm of a salmon clearing one of the many natural obstacles on its spawning run this Autumn.
High water at Cenarth, Sunday, 26thNov.
A.G.M. 2006
The two byelaw changes listed below have been adopted by the club -
1) "All brown trout caught on TTA waters must be returned to the water"
2) "All sea trout caught on TTA waters after 31st August must be returned to the water"
The second byelaw may be lifted if the committee consider that the sewin stocks have increased signficantly.
Click below for
Revised Teifi Fish Counter Statistics
Acoustic track from fish counter, courtesy of R. Davies from the EA.
Bank Maintenance
The bank maintenance team has been working hard since the beginning of the close season and will continue to meet up on all Sunday mornings until the 2007season. We meet at 9am at the club hut at the car park in Cenarth. It would be nice to see some new faces, you will be very welcome.
John Holt is the new leader of the team as Clive Shaw has decided that it's time for him to pass on the mantle. I'd like to take this opportunity on behalf of the club to thank Clive for the many years of hard work which he has put in to keeping the fishing we enjoy to be free of the many obstructions that nature puts in our way. Working with Clive has been an inspiration and an education, all the boys on the team who have worked with him have a deep respect and admiration for his tireless work given freely on behalf of the club, he'll be a very tough act to follow, thank you Clive.
Clive Shaw and John Holt
Fishing ceases on the Teifi and its tributaries today, 17th October, we hope that you had a good season despite the low water earlier on.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO POST YOUR CATCH RETURNS A.S.A.P.TO
Mr. ANDREW THOMAS, Penrhiw, Cynwel Elfed, Carmarthenshire,
SA37 6SP
If you've lost yours, don't panic, there's a form that you can print off here
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Welsh River Trials
Some of the boys entered the trials for entry to the Welsh rivers team in September, click for the report
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We've finally got some water............ here are some cracking photographs of salmon leaping up the falls, taken at Cenarth on 3rd October, 2006 by Melvin Grey. Many thanks Melvin.
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NEW BYE LAW PLEASE NOTE!!!!!
In the furtherance of the TTA's commitment to conservation we have banned all fishing on our major tributaries, the Cych and the Ceri from 30th September. This byelaw has been put in place to conserve spawning fish, we hope that you can remind club members and visitors that these changes are now in force.
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Unfortunately, despite virtually zero fishing potential for salmon during August and most of September and a large increase in the percentage of fish "caught and released" the Environment Agency has not granted an extension to the fishing season on the Teifi this year. Fishing will therefore cease at midnight on the 17th of October.
Please remember that bait fishing finishes on the 7th of October and from the 8th - 17th of October fly fishing and spinning are the only permitted methods of fishing.
Please take care to minimise the stress caused to red fish, return them promptly and unhook them in the water if possible.
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Club member Mick Pickford spotted an Osprey in the Teifi estuary this week (late September) and I quote "I saw an Osprey hit the water and take a decent fish in its talons" The sighting was confirmed as likely by the RSPB and later supported by a separate sighting later this week.
Ospreys migrate from their summer in northern Britain and return at a leisurely pace (apparently taking a snack from the Teifi en route) to over winter in Africa.
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Congratulations due to Roberto Fraga!
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Water Quality
The Teifi at Pentrecwrt,August '06. Photograph by Steffan Jones
Early August saw a virtual halt to fishing on the Teifi for around two weeks, in short it turned pea green and visibility through the water was reduced to two feet at best. Water flow was abysmal and the temperature of the river reached seventy degrees Fahrenheit.
I contacted the EA office in Lampeter to see whether they could conduct some tests to determine whether any unusual element in the water was causing this problem. I'm very grateful to Gareth Jones for instigating these tests and giving me permission to publish the results on our web site and to Jon Willington who undertook the field work.
Here are the conclusions -
" Following your conversation with Gareth Jones regarding concerns over
the Teifi I undertook a sampling programme on 8 August 2006. Samples
were collected from the following locations:
Afon Cych at Abercych
Afon Teifi at Cenarth
Afon Teifi upstream of confluence with Afon Cych
Afon Teifi downstream of confluence with Afon Cych
The samples indicated that water quality was excellent at all four
sites. The quality would be classified as Grade A under our General
Quality Assessment criteria and Grade 1 under our River Ecosystem
criteria.
Separate samples collected for the identification and quantification of
algae were sent to our Ecological Appraisal Team for analysis. The
report stated that:
'There were no major differences between the four samples. All had low
numbers of algal species typical of flowing freshwaters. No species was
present in unusually high numbers.'
Therefore we have concluded that there are at present no concerns over
the quality of the water in the Teifi in and around these locations. I
hope this goes someway to answering your queries."
I can't fault the service which I received from the EA which was prompt, courteous and helpful and once again I'd like to express my thanks to all concerned for offering such an efficient service. None the less it's very difficult to comprehend how the water pictured above can possibly described as Grade 1 or Grade A. The general opinion amongst anglers was that the water was "minging" which seemed about right.
The results of the tests are listed below.
"Regarding the chemical analysis all sites were almost identical. The
results were as follows, all given as < due to the detection limits used
in the lab:
Biochemical Oxygen Demand: <1.5mg/l
Suspended solids: <6mg/l
Ammonia: <0.5mg/l
Orthophosphate: <0.5mg/l
The algal results were as follows:
LLBIOLX000046001 Teifi at Cenarth - Flagellates 80/ml, Scenedesmus sp
10 colonies/ml, Ankilodesmus 10 /ml
LLBIOLX000046002 Teifi d/s confluence with Cych - Flagellates 30/m
LLBIOLX000046003 Teifi u/s confluence with Cych - Flagellates 80 /ml,
Scenedesmus 10 colonies/ ml
LLBIOLX000046004 Cych at Abercych - Flagellates 130 /ml, Scenedesmus
10/ml, Pediastrum 10 /ml"
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Pictured below.......... part of the tree discovered earlier in the year by divers in the run at Cenarth, extracted today, 16th August. Estimated at weighing around three tons this must represent a record catch. Pictures from Bob, and I quote "who says there're no whales in the Teifi".
Rio Tinto share prices set to fall.
APPEAL TO THE MEMBERS OF THE WELSH ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT
From
THE FEDERATION OF CLWYD ANGLING CLUBS
The document above is a well written and thoughtful criticism of the way in which Welsh rivers are policed. Although not specific to West Wales I'm sure that the issues raised will strike a chord with our members. Click the text to access the document.
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Cenarth
Although July's record breaking high temperatures are gradually evaporating what's left of a very low river at least some satisfaction can be taken from the ideal conditions which are enabling the work to clear the build up of stone that was choking the river below the falls at Cenarth.
The deep gullies in this area are ideal for salmon and sewin to rest in prior to ascending the waterfalls and removing the flood bourne stone from these lies will aid their progress in ascending the Teifi to spawn, not to mention the fishing.
Many thanks to Clive Shaw for organising this job, much appreciated by the Cenarth regulars.
Bacterial Kidney Disease
Britain's second case of BKD has been found at Brongest Trout Farm which is located on the Afon Ceri, one of two major Teifi tributaries on club waters. BKD can kill large numbers of fish where dense populations exist such as those found in fish farming environments but wild fish can also contract the disease.
This disease is serious and was first identified in wild salmon in 1933 on the Spey and the Scottish Dee, it is notifiable under EU law and the movement of fish from Brongest has been banned.
The TTA committee were concerned at the report of this outbreak and have consulted scientists from CEFAS and the Welsh Assembly who have assured us that there is no cause for alarm. While this is reassuring it still leaves a certain uneasiness and we think it best that we should keep an eye open for any fish displaying any of the symptoms associated with BKD which are uncannily similar to the after affects of a good night out. From the DEFRA web site -
"Clinical signs include a swollen abdomen, protruding eyes and bleeding at the base of the gills. Any suspicion of this notifiable disease must be notified to the Government."
If you do see any wild or stocked fish in the river showing these symptoms you must contact the Fish Health Inspectorate on 01305 206673 / 74 . We'd be obliged if you could contact a committee member as well.
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Lost any Tackle at Cenarth?
The TTA recently received a request from the Cardigan Sub Aqua club to dive at Cenarth which we readily agreed to. As a result we we were surprised to discover, thanks to the dive, that there's a submerged tree wedged across the river, approximately between Flat Rock and the Gully. What won't surprise anyone is that the tree is "festooned with fishing line".......
The divers also collected a couple of buckets of lead,( no surprises there either) and I suppose that if you'd like any returned they'll put it back where they found it!
Clive Shaw is currently finalising arrangements to remove the gravel which was washed from the car park in the floods, so there's a chance that the machine involved in the work could be used to remove the tree.
Photos by Bob Bird
Yet more on the Sewin Challenge!
The champions. From the left, Pete, Ben, Jez & Joe
Top fish - Ben Phillips 5 lbs 5 oz, 2nd top fish - Pete Davies, 3 lb 0 oz
Top bag - Jez Moore 3 lb 12 oz 2nd top bag - Joe Scourfield 2 lb 2 oz.
Anglers are reminded that the committee advise that brown trout which we stock are not to be killed.
POACHING
Regular poaching with nets continues to be a problem throughout our waters. A net - one of many found this year - was discovered and destroyed on the evening of the Sewin Challenge. The poachers knocked a visiting angler to the ground whilst escaping after having been confronted.
The EA hotline is meant to deal with these situations, please phone them on 0800 80 70 60 so that at least the incident is logged. For a quicker response - the control room of the EA hotline appears to have difficulty with knowing which country the Teifi runs through - please phone Gino Vassami our Bailiffing Coordinator on 07976 467 469, Gino will then arrange for our local EA bailiff to attend.
Les Roberts, our EA bailiff is kept extremely busy due to the unrealistically large amount of river which he is expected to watch over, so an immediate response is not always forthcoming. Les will always deal with the problem promptly when his schedule allows.
Please note that it's unwise to pull a net from the river without having been given the authority to do so by the Environment Agency, you may find yourself being suspected of having set the net yourself.
Remember that contacting the EA can be undertaken on a completely anonymous basis, no one needs to know your name if you choose to withhold it. Each reported incident is acted upon, and the greater the number of reported poaching incidents that are logged the better the club's case for more bailiffs becomes.
Club Fishing Team
Llys Y Fran - a visibly shocked Colin Chapman lands two fish for Mr. Lucky, Bob Bird.
Anyone interested in fishing in some friendly matches against some of our neighboring clubs can contact Mr. Edgar George. No blankers!
Details listed in Contacts
Line up for this year's competition -
Click for More Photos from the 2006 Sewin Challenge
2005 - the usual suspects!
Anyone who enjoys a nice quiet evening out should consider participating in the 2006 Sewin Challenge.This year it will be held over two nights, June 30th and July 1st. Meet in Cenarth car park in time for the off at 9 pm, finish 5am!
Fly only.
Three Horseshoes, Cenarth
Sheep Dip
On behalf of the club I would like to thank our Vice President Edgar George who has worked extremely hard with the Welsh Salmon and Trout Association and the Anglers' Co-operative Association to bring about a suspension to the sale of the deadly chemical Cypermethrin which has killed so many of our young fish .
Used in sheep dips to control insect borne diseases this synthetic pyrethroid also has a destructive effect on the invertebrate life in the rivers which juvenile fish rely on as a food source. Just a few drops of this powerful chemical in a small stream can kill all the invertebrate life in the system and once this food supply for the young fish is wiped out the newly hatched fish are unable to grow and subsequently they starve to death.
As a result of this tributaries along the Teifi have literally been devastated, the Afon Ceri, for example, has been hit really hard by Cypermethrin pollution, it looks clean but it is to all intents and purposes a dead river until the next insects arrive on the wind and colonise the river again. Until this happens the fish which still run the river will breed in a stream which no longer has the food to sustain the fry that hatch after spawning.
The effects of this chemical operate at a level which is not immediately visible. One does not see dead fish floating downstream after Cypermethrin enters a water course, quite simply the food for the fish disappears and the fish disappear too. Prosecutions undertaken by the EA indicate that pollution from just a few sheep drenched with sheep dip which have crossed a stream can wipe out all the invertebrate life for several kilometers downstream. It is obviously wrong that such a deadly chemical which can destroy the life of a river can be allowed to be used and the T.T.A. actively support the action to have Cypermethrin withdrawn for good.
The use of DDT in agriculture was banned in Britain 1984, long after it's negative impact was discovered, it was banned in the USA in 1973. Let's not stand for this level of inactivity again, Cypermethrin should be banned now, not later.
The use of Cypermethrin still continues but we have won a major battle in the fight for clean rivers by having it's sale temporarily suspended pending discussion. Well done Edgar, we have a lot to thank you for.
An unexpected win for the boys!
Web Site
As you've probably noticed there's a new domain name for the club,
I hope that you like the new look and find the domain name easier to remember.