Catch Reports Appeal from Ribble

OK Ribble anglers, now's your chance to do something positive about the Ribble seal(s).

And you don't have to reveal the exact location.

Graham - I know I can be a bit dumb and I'm happy to help but I'm not sure how this will help and what benefit the ribble anglers will receive from this.

Surely what is done is done. Perhaps the only good I can see from trying to find out just how much damage has been done will be that we may be able to act quicker, with official backing next time something happens.

Is this the purpose do you know ?

Gary there's more than just the seal, John Weedon emailed me the following letter. And yes Gary I do see it as being helpfull in being able to act quicker, with official backing next time something happens.

Dear Angler.

Bio-diesel, these words should set alarm bells ringing in those of us who care about our sport, our fish, and our rivers. Bio-diesel first came to our notice after the three incidents last summer, incidents that wiped out miles of fishing leaving carcasses of dead and dying fish floating or gasping for breath. We don?t ever want to see this again!

This letter is to bring you all up to date with how things have progressed since last summer?s incidents and to remind us all to be vigilant to protect our rivers.

The RFC is working very closely with both the E.A. Pollution Teams and also their Environmental Crime Team and through this working relationship have learned more of how things are progressing. Some of what we have learnt must remain confidential as it is still ongoing with possible important leads being followed.

What came out of a recent meeting was just how vulnerable we are in our area which is called the M65 Corridor. In this area there are 159 licensed producers of bio-diesel, who work within the strict guidelines of the law and Customs, but, at least double those numbers are thought to be producing illegally. These are the people who are more likely to pollute our watercourses and these are the ones we want to catch.

Bio - diesel can be produced on farms, small haulage yards or backstreet garages. If it goes wrong, rather than pay to have it correctly disposed of, they dump it anywhere out of sight, namely surface water drains which feed into out watercourses.

Over the past two weeks we have had one confirmed incident at Paythorne where one hundred gallons was dumped off the Settle road. Luckily for Bowland Anglers it missed going in the surface drain, which fed into their waters but was left on the grass verges of the road. Another incident was thought at first to have caused a malfunction at Clitheroe?s Sewage Treatment plant, which shut down due to large deposit of fatty globules in the system. This incident is still under investigation, but it did cause a problem on the Edisford Hall waters.

None of us are safe, not even the river Hodder with its fragile and important spawning becks. Remember this pollutant can be manufactured anywhere and has to be disposed of somewhere, usually in a quiet place.

I urge you all to be vigilant as you travel around the valley. Take the registration number of any large vans, tankers, or any other vehicle parked suspiciously. It does not matter if it leads nowhere since it is better to be safe than sorry. Ring the E.A?s emergency number 0800 80 70 60 and ring me on 01200 423314 as I now have a direct line to their crime officers. They need to be informed as soon as possible to collect any forensic evidence, which could be traceable.

We do not want to see any other angling association members have their waters polluted as did Clitheroe A.A. and Ribblesadale A.A. last year and if we have another dry summer we are all vulnerable. Let us try to catch these people and make an example of them in the courts to let others know if they pollute our rivers they will face the consequences.

John Weedon's email also included information on catch reports so far which, along with a reference to the FM venue reports seems to indicate a fairly healthy state at present despite the seal and pollution incidents -let's hope that is a realistic picture.

I have to agree with John C. but I would add that in this "peculiar" summer weather that we are "enjoying" at present it is difficult to gauge how good/poor catches are.

Surely there is nothing to realistically measure catches against though except migratory fish returns?

Not so, Ian, I have very detailed records for 246 sessions on the Ribble from 2002 onwards and there are accounts of 1311 sessions over a similar period posted on the FM Ribble Venue Reports.
What you are looking for are general trends one year to the next. I don't think the Seal has made much difference. Now pollution, that's an entirely different ball game and so far the course fishing on the lower Ribble has not been affected in the last five years.

This report concerning bio-diesel appeared on FM on 21st June.

"I don't think the Seal has made much difference"

why do you say this John?....I know a lot of people who think exactly the opposite...

Gary, my opinion is based on talking to the lads who are/have been fishing the areas where the seal was, reading the FM Ribble Venues Report and informtion posted on the PAAS web site. Quite rightly, in my opinion, PAAS who control a large part of the area affected by the seal do not allow any publicity and FM members who post on the Ribble Venue Forum don?t post the locations of their catches, so actual hard documented evidence is not available.
We wont know the real affect the seal?s had, by taking this years breeding stock, for quite a few years and by then other influences such as extreme high water levels shortly after the breeding season and pollution will be thrown into the pot.
Having said all that Gary I would certainly have preferred a much speedier resolution to the seal incident.
The danger that worries me by far the most is that of our so called licensed Bio-diesel manufacturing plants scattered around the Ribble catchments area, now mismanagement of that really is worring.

I hear what you are saying John but I'm also speaking to guys fishing the areas affected by the seal(s) and they are reporting that catches are OK in general, but the bigger fish are scarce or none existant...

It seems to be the seals have picked off a lot of the bigger specimens as an easy meal. I for one think the damage is a lot worse than people think.

Just as a matter of interest, and I apologies if you?ve read this before, I?ve extrapolated the following data from the FM Ribble Venue Reports
Chub
2002/3 above 5lb ? 18, above 6lb ? 1 from 108 sessions
2003/4 above 5lb ? 27, above 6lb ? 2 from 216 sessions
2004/5 above 5lb ? 66, above 6lb ? 5 from 263 sessions
2005/6 above 5lb ? 56, above 6lb ? 5 from 316 sessions
2006/7 above 5lb ? 38, above 6lb ? 1 from 333 sessions
Barbel
2002/3 above 10lb ? 5, from 108 sessions
2003/4 above 10lb ? 10, from 216 sessions
2004/5 above 10lb ? 24, from 263 sessions
2005/6 above 10lb ? 22, from 316 sessions
2006/7 above 10lb ? 27, from 333 sessions

Not sure what this tells us John...

I think the biggest problem we have at the minute in terms of drawing any comparisons, is the freekish weather.

I had some bream from a stillwater at the weekend and they still had spawning spots.

I doubt we'll get a true picture until we get more seasonal conditions.

The Ribble has fished well enough for me so far, but different. Far more Chub and far fewer barbel compared to the last 2 seasons. But like I say, it's hardly been your average summer.

When did we last have an average Summer?

John, am I reading it correct, you did 333 sessions on the ribble last year?

True, I don't suppose there is such a thing Baz, but this has been the wettest and coolest I can ever remember.

So it's below average in my experience.

i know this might be a rare occurence but im in complete agreement with barney on this one , the 9lb plus stamp of fish are no where near as abundant as they have been in the past. IMHO.
And whilst i have been thinking the same as barney my results seem to back this up.

>John, am I reading it correct, you did 333 sessions on the ribble last year?<

No Eddie the session are those done by the all the FM members who post on the FM Ribble Venue Reports. Eddie I can only manage about 6 or 7 trips a month.

Gary, it tells us that over the last two years the number of Chub caught over 5lb are decreasing but the barbel are still on the up.

My own records shows exactly the same trend.

Cheers John.