EAST LOTHIAN
ANGLING ASSOCIATION
EAST LOTHIAN
ANGLING ASSOCIATION
Annual
General Meeting
Thank you for buying a
permit and supporting fishing on the River Tyne.
You are invited to the
Annual General Meeting of the ELAA at 7.30pm on Monday 24th January 2005 in the
Town House in Haddington. On the agenda will be important issues on the future
management of the fishing on the river. The AGM is your opportunity to have
your say. Make sure your voice is heard.
After 2003, which was one of the driest for many
years, the 2004 season also started with fairly low water levels. However by mid-summer the picture had
changed with a series of hefty spates which kept water levels high throughout
most of the season. This meant that
when the water was not a dirty brown torrent, there was some excellent fishing
to be had, although it was again noted that the hatches we would normally
expect to see in the summer did not really get started – especially lacking
were the large numbers of blue-winged olives.
Spate at East Linton
Some 680 permits were sold in the 2004 season, which
represents around a 30% increase in permit sales over the 2003 season.
There were a number of reports of sizeable fish taken with at least 6 anglers
reporting catching brown trout of over 2lbs.
The high
water conditions from mid-July onwards also helped get large numbers of sea
trout into the river, and the same
conditions also spread them right through the river, which might have made them
more difficult to find. Even so, there
were reports of 15 caught, of which, encouragingly, 10 were released. The best
reported was 4.5lbs, although anyone who fishes the Tyne regularly will know
there are much larger sea trout in the river to be caught.
In 2004 the Association gained access to the fishing
at Tyninghame, on both banks from the Knowes Weir down to the North Berwick
road bridge, and on the south bank only from the bridge down to the John Muir
country park. This is a really
interesting stretch of river with great
potential. We think it was probably
responsible for a number of the extra permit sales. There certainly was a great
deal of fishing effort there throughout the season, and there were plenty of sea trout to be seen. The fishing at Tyninghame will continue to
be on the permit for the 2005 season.
High tide upstream of the
John Muir park
Wild Trout Trust
The Association organised an advisory visit to the
river from the Wild Trout Trust. The visit took place on 16th July
and was carried out by Ron Holloway of the WTT accompanied by a number of
interested Association members. A
number of areas on the river were studied, starting at the Birns Water and
ending up at Knowes Weir. Overall the
report was very encouraging about the state of the river and gave us some
useful pointers for the future. A copy
of the report can be found on our website at www.elaa.co.uk.
Ron Holloway of the WTT (right) and Committee members at Birns Water
Management Plan
The Committee has put together a management plan for
the river Tyne over the next few
years. The plan is based to a large
extent on the recommendations from the WTT, but also reflects our own views on
issues such as maintaining access to the fishing. The plan will be on the agenda for the AGM and we would welcome
your views. If you are not able to
attend you can write to the secretary with your views or email via the website.
A copy of the plan is attached to this newsletter. Please take a minute to read it through.
The river was stocked twice in 2004, with 675 fish between 9” and 11” being put
in at various locations in April and the same again in August, producing a
total of some 1350 stocked fish altogether.
The fish came from a new supplier and although they are not marked in
any way, a number of anglers commented on the good condition of the fish.
All anglers purchasing a season ticket were asked to
complete a Catch Return to indicate how many of these stocked trout and other
fish were caught. The Association again
offered prizes in a draw of all returned cards but only 14% of anglers returned
catch cards. It is very important that we are able to assess the distribution
and size of the fish and we have a legal obligation to report on migratory fish
caught. The Catch Returns are the main way of doing this, so we would urge
everyone to complete and return a card next season.
Fishery Maintenance
The good news is that at long last East Lothian
Council are doing some work to improve the fish pass at the Cascades. This is very welcome and is undoubtedly due
to the letters and reminders to the
Council from Association members over recent years. We hope the end result is a fish pass that will allow migratory
fish access to the upper river throughout the season.
Committee members continued to clear stretches of
the river bank to enable access to the fishing. As well as the undergrowth, fallen trees and flood debris that is
to be expected, there continues to be a disappointing amount of litter left on
the banks. Please do not leave discarded nylon and beer cans etc on the banks
as this gives the Association a bad name and could lose us the fishing. Take
your litter home. If you see litter, pick it up and bin it – don’t just leave
it. Discarded nylon, especially, can injure wildlife.
Work starts at last on the
Cascades fish pass
Join the Committee
If you’re interested in helping look
after the fishing on the Tyne, why not join the Committee? Just come along to
the AGM and put your name forward.
Without the work of the Committee there would be no Association, and
maybe no access to fishing on the Tyne.
See you on 24 January at the AGM.