LWD (Large Woody Debris)

Although we all mostly enjoy being able to trundle our nymphs along the river bed without the fear of getting snagged up on some sunken branches there is a school of thought that far from being a hindrance large Woody Debris (LWD) and also Coarse Woody Debris (CWD) is highly beneficial for the whole Eco-system of our rivers.

In the past, on most fishing clubs 'bank clearing days' fallen trees or sunken logs obstructing club waters were swiftly removed to leave trouble free riverbeds, but research has shown that the careful introduction of LWD has huge benefits to both the fish and invertebrate life of the river system and also helps reduce bank side erosion.

A small river I frequently fish in Shropshire is a very good example of the benefits of LWD. It can be very frustrating to fish but once you plot a mental map of the areas to avoid the overall fishing experience is greatly improved with higher than average catch rates.

Just two of many fish taken on both nymph & dry this weekend.

In my mind there is no doubt that this is the way forward to improve our rivers natural fish stocks and create a more harmonious balance between catching a few more fish and losing a few more flies.

More informative PDF file HERE.

Riverfly Partnership Course

I was fortunate to be able to participate in a one day course run by the Riverfly Partnership which is aimed at providing fisherman with the training to carry out controlled invertebrate monitoring of our waterways.



The whole event took place thanks to some hard work by the 'Severn Rivers Trust' in securing lottery funding to finance the 2 one day courses which were run in the picturesque town of Craven Arms in Shropshire on the banks of the river Onny.





The very knowledgeable Dai Roberts was the Riverfly representative and tutor for the day, he has a great passion for the scheme and the importance for anglers to get first hand information about the health of the rivers they fish and be able to monitor any sudden changes in the invertebrate life. Dai was also accompanied by a couple of local Environment Agency officers.



With the knowledge now gained I will now be able to add my own small contribution to the scheme which is so important if we are able to act quickly enough when our river come under threat from pollution.



I managed to fit in a few hours on a nearby small river after the course where the fish were rising briefly as I started to fish and a few were taken on both dry & nymph...perfect end to a good day.