Aliens 2 When it comes to identifying and dealing with aquatic invasive non-native species, can there be anyone better equipped than a bunch of motivated, knowledgeable anglers? Well, sometimes, yes. But everyone has to start somewhere, and it never hurts … Continue reading →

In autumn 2010, fear of aquatic INNS hit Britain’s national headlines when the colourfully-nicknamed ‘Killer Shrimp’ were found in Cardiff Bay, Grafham and Eglwys Nunnyd reservoirs. By spring 2012 they’d spread to the Norfolk Broads Continue reading →

Trout tank trilogy: part 3 24 February Remember that trout habitat chart from the Wild Trout Trust’s “Survival Guide” in my article last September – with recommendations for the structures, depths and speeds of water preferred by trout at different stages of … Continue reading →

Trout tank trilogy: part 2 21 January The trout eggs started hatching today! There’s an almost-metallic tang in my nostrils as I flip the lid of the aquarium for its morning inspection, with a rim of white foam on the … Continue reading →

Trout tank trilogy: part 1 17 December The tank arrived this afternoon. The door-bell rings, and there’s Gideon with trout tank and beer chiller number 20, the last spares from the “Trout in the Classroom” project this year. After all, … Continue reading →

Trout and Salmon in the Classroom Apparently, education can be a tricky business at the start of the 21st century. Health and Safety, those three little words we were talking about last month, don’t just mean effort and administration for … Continue reading →

Staying Safe Health and Safety. Who’d ever have thought that those three little words – so caring and friendly – could strike such terror into the heart of someone who wants to Get Stuff Done? But at the start of … Continue reading →

Zero tolerance and the art of urban river cleanups This month, let’s start our thoughts about rivers with a little word association. What’s the link between a river full of rubbish, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and the Big Apple, and an … Continue reading →

Rock-turning for experts When you picked up a fly rod for the first time, there were probably several things you never thought you’d learn to do – and that’s if you’d even heard of them. First, there was certainly the … Continue reading →

Cracking the code In days of yore, O Best Beloved, there were many ways of measuring the quality of a river. There were chemical scores, apparently, and there were aesthetic scores, and there were biotic scores aplenty. But there still … Continue reading →