derby county angling

[mainstream]

is there anybody out there who-

a) is a member of the lower derwent run by dcac.
b) is a full member of the dcac who also likes to course fish rivers
c) is thinking about joining the lower derwent run by dcac
d) is anyway involved with the running of the dcac in anyway shape of form


if there is ! it would be interesting to hear your views on the firstly the state of the fishing on the lower derwent around borrowash , secondly the handling of the current situation by the dcac, and finally if anyone has approached the club about the current situation on the river derwent please let us know what response you received
regards nigel
lower derwent member for approx. 40 years
full member for approx. 17 years
not a member after this season probably

 

[flightliner]

Obviously something is giving you concerns about the dcac, any chance of elaborating on them , I'm not in any way involved by the way !

 

[carlosd]

is there anybody out there who-

a) is a member of the lower derwent run by dcac.
b) is a full member of the dcac who also likes to course fish rivers
c) is thinking about joining the lower derwent run by dcac
d) is anyway involved with the running of the dcac in anyway shape of form


if there is ! it would be interesting to hear your views on the firstly the state of the fishing on the lower derwent around borrowash , secondly the handling of the current situation by the dcac, and finally if anyone has approached the club about the current situation on the river derwent please let us know what response you received
regards nigel
lower derwent member for approx. 40 years
full member for approx. 17 years
not a member after this season probably

Interesting to hear your views/issues with this club as it's very local to me.

I've only been a member with the Earl of Harrington which is a fantastic club where the organisers and member pull together to look after there waters.

Carlos

 

[nottskev]

I have had the DCAC Lower Derwent card in the past, but don't hold it now.

I have had the card for the adjacent fishery on the river for a number of years. I recently contacted the controlling club to ask whether my experiences were typical: for the past two seasons I and a friend, who lives next to the river, has fished it for decades and knows it inside out, have caught practically nothing beyond small grayling, and other species such as roach, dace, chub and barbel have been conspicuously absent.

The club official confirmed that this was also their experience, and their bailiff's too, and contacted the EA for comment. The EA reply said they had been approached with similar concerns by all three clubs which control the Derwent from Derby to the Trent confluence.

The EA in their reply stated that: water quality has improved and grayling are a good sign; fewer chub and barbel may indicate changing habitat favouring trout and grayling; previously higher numbers of barbel and chub may have reflected artificial stocking; avian predation may have increased , but this would affect the grayling, too. They implied that further investigation of fishery performance may be prompted if a current barbel study does not shed light.

There was no mention of the absence of other species, such as roach and dace.

I'm not sure what kind of information you are seeking, but that's a summary of our recent experience on the Lower Derwent. It's a beautiful river, and I'd like to fish it more often, but we've found floatfishing, under even the most favourable circumstances, only produces catches of maybe a couple of dozen small grayling and nothing else, and going for bigger fish is just a recipe for a long wait and probable disappointment.

My reply to the club asked whether they would, by themselves or in concert with the two other clubs concerned about fish stocks in the river, consider pressing the EA to investigate further. (The EA prefaced their own comments, summarised above, by saying thy would be only speculation as they have no concrete evidence beyond anecdotal catch reports from anglers.)

I haven't had a reply to my question. I would be interested to hear if anyone is pushing the issue forward.

 

[carlosd]

I have had the DCAC Lower Derwent card in the past, but don't hold it now.

I have had the card for the adjacent fishery on the river for a number of years. I recently contacted the controlling club to ask whether my experiences were typical: for the past two seasons I and a friend, who lives next to the river, has fished it for decades and knows it inside out, have caught practically nothing beyond small grayling, and other species such as roach, dace, chub and barbel have been conspicuously absent.

The club official confirmed that this was also their experience, and their bailiff's too, and contacted the EA for comment. The EA reply said they had been approached with similar concerns by all three clubs which control the Derwent from Derby to the Trent confluence.

The EA in their reply stated that: water quality has improved and grayling are a good sign; fewer chub and barbel may indicate changing habitat favouring trout and grayling; previously higher numbers of barbel and chub may have reflected artificial stocking; avian predation may have increased , but this would affect the grayling, too. They implied that further investigation of fishery performance may be prompted if a current barbel study does not shed light.

There was no mention of the absence of other species, such as roach and dace.

I'm not sure what kind of information you are seeking, but that's a summary of our recent experience on the Lower Derwent. It's a beautiful river, and I'd like to fish it more often, but we've found floatfishing, under even the most favourable circumstances, only produces catches of maybe a couple of dozen small grayling and nothing else, and going for bigger fish is just a recipe for a long wait and probable disappointment.

My reply to the club asked whether they would, by themselves or in concert with the two other clubs concerned about fish stocks in the river, consider pressing the EA to investigate further. (The EA prefaced their own comments, summarised above, by saying thy would be only speculation as they have no concrete evidence beyond anecdotal catch reports from anglers.)

I haven't had a reply to my question. I would be interested to hear if anyone is pushing the issue forward.

Interesting, what other 2 clubs may I ask?

Carlos

 

[nottskev]

Derby County and Earl of Harrington angling clubs.

I entirely agree that EOH is a great club.

 

[carlosd]

Derby County and Earl of Harrington angling clubs.

I entirely agree that EOH is a great club.

I've never found it hard to pull out the likes of, Roach, Perch, Pike etc saying that I fish between the river gardens and the railway bridge near Alvaston Park.

So by what I understand people are finding it hard to pull anything out?

 

[mainstream]

thanks nottskev, that is exactly what I was hoping to hear ,
this is how the dcac thinks ,
we the (common river course anglers) know all too well the river is just about devoid of all the amazing barbel and chub that we used to catch, they have lived their life and died with nothing following them on its left the river empty apart from a few trout and grayling, in a recent email to the club expressing my concerns about the state of this once amazing fishery and enquiry about what the club intended to do to redress the situation , the reply that I received was,
they know the banks were in a state of disrepair and the pegs needed attention and once a new site supervisor had been appointed would put that right ,
as to the river being devoid of fish its the fact that not enough anglers are fishing there and the fish are looking elsewhere for food ,
what does that say about the people running this club

 

[mainstream]

if there is anybody out there reading this that is involved with the running of the club do me favour and drag your head out of the sand and perhaps have the guts to come on this forum and answer a few questions ,

 

[carlosd]

if there is anybody out there reading this that is involved with the running of the club do me favour and drag your head out of the sand and perhaps have the guts to come on this forum and answer a few questions ,

Sounds like they have lost a concerned angler

I suppose they need to take a look at the Neighbours EofH and see the effort they put it and maybe then more people will take pride in fishing there water.

As for stock levels on the club waters (EofH river derwent) I don't believe there is a major problem if any at all, there's always Facebook Updates of catch reports

Carlos

 

[thecrow]

they have lived their life and died with nothing following them on its left the river empty apart from a few trout and grayling,

I am just astonished that the club gave such an answer, most of my fishing on this lovely river was on the Ambaston stretch.

A few years ago after packing up (I am not safe enough on my legs to fish alone at night) I landed 17 barbel for my son in the space of 3 hours, they ranged from 5lbs up to around 8lbs they were all taken from the swim below the fallen tree snag swim, so to say there was nothing backing older fish up was imo uninformed rubbish.

The fishing at Ambaston in my experience deteriorated over 2 seasons, there could be multiple reasons but some that I believe were part of the demise were.

After heavy rain the river would at times turn some very unnatural colours, this I believe was pollution caused by a.n. other taking the opportunity to get rid of god knows what.

Very heavy prolonged flooding forcing fish downstream into the Trent where once there they found conditions suited them and didn't return to the Derwent.

The lower part of the Ambaston stretch was rarely fished, the banks were overgrown and access was very difficult, despite this my son and his mate fished down there a lot until they started to see otters down there which coincided with a fall off of catches.

The river went in 2 seasons from a place I could almost guarantee catching chub and barbel to a place where it was a waste of time fishing for anything, I haven't been back since.

 

[nottskev]

The river went in 2 seasons from a place I could almost guarantee catching chub and barbel to a place where it was a waste of time fishing for anything, I haven't been back since.

It's tragic, isn't it, Graham? Before I lived down here, I used to drive down from the Northwest to fish. My best catch was 26 chub, more over 4lb than under, before lunch, when I ran out of bait. Now I live here, I wouldn't bet on catching a chub at all, and I have had nothing but little grayling below Derby.
A friend moved to be near the river when he retired, for the chub, barbel and general coarse fishing! Imagine what a sickener that is. My recent inquiries show that the EA can't comment on fish stocks, other than "speculation", and a controlling club, perhaps more interested in selling premium carp lake tickets, are apparently not interested in asking them to investigate further.

 

[mainstream]

It's tragic, isn't it, Graham? Before I lived down here, I used to drive down from the Northwest to fish. My best catch was 26 chub, more over 4lb than under, before lunch, when I ran out of bait. Now I live here, I wouldn't bet on catching a chub at all, and I have had nothing but little grayling below Derby.
A friend moved to be near the river when he retired, for the chub, barbel and general coarse fishing! Imagine what a sickener that is. My recent inquiries show that the EA can't comment on fish stocks, other than "speculation", and a controlling club, perhaps more interested in selling premium carp lake tickets, are apparently not interested in asking them to investigate further.

the dcac are in denial about the state of the derwent , in my last email to them I asked the question ,
if someone contacted the dcac requesting information and advise about the fishery with a view to joining the lower derwent membership what would be your advise be , depending on your reply
and with this in mind are you not legally bound to inform the current members about the state of the river , to help them decide whether to join again ,
, isn't there a law against selling something that's unfit for purpose
for some strange reason they have stopped answering my emails now

 

[SteveBelper]

Apologies for resurrecting this old thread but I was researching becoming a Derbyshire County Angling Club member and it popped up in the results.

I have just taken early retirement and taken up angling again after a 30 year break and am looking to expand my access to local waters

I was lucky enough to fish the Borrowash stretch back in the 80’s when it was a prolific water so it was an obvious place for me to look at again

i am already an Earl of Harrington member and have recently fished their Borrowash stretch with no success (could be me of course)

Has anyone got any more recent information on whether the difficulties described above back in 2018 still prevail

i have heard anecdotal evidence of similar problems in the Derwent around and downstream of Duffield where previously decent catches have all but disappeared

cheers for any updates that people might have