UFTA News

KENNICK DAY - 16 OCTOBER

The annual UTFA day at Kennick has been arranged for Saturday 16 October. Assemble at the fishing lodge for fishing to start at 10 am. As usual there will be awards for the best bag and the best fish.

SALMON SEASON EXTENSION

There will again be a two-week experimental extension to the salmon season on the Teign, covering the first two weeks of October. All anglers participating in the extension have to be registered with the Environment Agency and this is being co-ordinated by the Teign Fisheries Association. If you are interested in fishing during the extension, please contact the Secretary of the Teign Fisheries Association -- Pat Howgill, Sunbeam, Hind Street, Bovey Tracey, Devon, TQ13 9HT. Telephone: 01626 832874. Email: pathowgill@aol.com.

2010 CATCH RETURNS

Catch returns become due at the end of the season and not later that 31 October. This year, the returns will be collated and analysed by committee member Paul Brodey, but catch return forms still carry the name of Roly Stuart-Jervis. It would be very helpful if members could send their catch returns direct to Paul Brodey, Little Easton, Chagford, Devon, TQ13 8DQ.

LADY ANNE HAYTER-HAMES

The UTFA has received the sad news that its President, Lady Anne Hayter-Hames, died on 4 June. The Hayter-Hames family has a long-standing connection with the river and the UTFA, especially as riparian owners and our landlords for the top part of the Association fishery. UTFA Chairman Mike Weaver said "Lady Anne was President throughout the time that I have been on the UTFA committee and Chairman, and was someone that I always knew that I could turn to for support and advice. She will be greatly missed".

SEA TROUT CONSERVATION

Although the UTFA does not have a bag limit for sea trout, members are asked to show restraint in the number of fish that they retain. This is particularly important as we approach the end of the season and spawning time. It is recommended that large sea trout are released, as these are often females carrying large numbers of eggs - as well as school peal, which we hope will return and provide sport in future years.

AUCTION SUCCESS

Every year the Wild Trout Trust holds an auction with the proceeds going to its work in improving the habitat for wild trout on our rivers. The auction consistently produces nearly £50,000 for this work and since the start of the auction the donated lots have included a day's trout fishing on the Upper Teign guided by Mike Weaver - and for the past few years a night's sea trout fishing guided by Richard Jackson. This year the day with Mike was purchased by Alex Chard, who sent the following appreciation of his day on our fishery.

Alex Chard fishes the Teign upstream of Fingle Bridge during the day

that he bought in the Wild Trout Trust auction

Alex writes "One of my enduring childhood memories was of a family picnic on Dartmoor, taken beside a moorland stream which was overhung by rowan, rich in orange fruit. The stream tumbled over rocks cascading into a crystal clear pool which was populated by spotted wild trout. Oh, how I longed to catch those trout that seemed to vanish as if by magic as I approached the pool. More than three decades later my interest in fishing was rekindled when I picked up one of my father's rods and fished on reservoirs on Dartmoor. At that time one of the first fishing books I had bought was Mike Weaver's "The Pursuit of Wild Trout".

When I saw the opportunity to be guided by Mike on the Upper Teign Fishing Association water as part of the the 2010 Wild Trout Trust auction I decided that this was an opportunity not to be missed. A little luck and a fair sum of money secured a day's fishing with Mike, who is of course the doyen of fishing small streams for wild trout.

We had agreed that early June would probably offer the best of the fishing. As we arrived at the fishery it began to rain, which persisted all day. As I tackled up I asked Mike whether there would be any Mayfly. Mike explained that due to the nature of the stream Mayfly were relatively uncommon. Fishing being what it is, and always out to take even experts by surprise, whilst not a large hatch there was a trickle of Mayfly coming off the Upper Teign all day. This provided the spectacle of wild trout “nailing” these Mayfly 4 to 5 inches above the surface. As Mike explained, this is no mean achievement given that refraction will distort the position of the fly.

Given the conditions, rain and poor surface visibility, Mike suggested I try the "Klink and Dink" method. This is a dry fly, typically a Klinkhamer, which is tied on a short dropper, acting as an indicator fly for a nymph tied to the point. Given the rising Mayfly, I tied a Grey Wulff on the dropper and a GRHE on the point. We fished through until around 5.30 pm and this combination provided 11 gorgeous wild brown trout.

Despite the rain this was pure magic. Thanks Mike."

ALEX CHARD

HON SECRETARY

Due to other pressures on his time, Roly Stuart-Jervis has reluctantly decided to resign from the post of UTFA Hon Secretary and from the Committee. The Chairman has thanked Roly, on behalf of the Committee and the membership, for his work over the past 18 months.

     As many members will be aware, the work of running the UTFA has been well distributed around the Committee for many years, so everything will operate as normal while the Committee looks into the appointment of a new Hon Secretary. All membership enquiries should continue to go to the Membership Secretary, Chris Hall, and any requests for guest permits or the special salmon/sea trout permits for trout members should continue to go to Richard Jackson. The contact details for both Chris and Richard are provided on the Membership page of this web site. Other enquiries should go to the Chairman, Mike Weaver, until further notice (contact details on the Contacts/Officers page of this web site).

LOST LANDING NET

Matt Cooper has lost his Snowbee landing net on the night of 26th May at or around Drogo weir pool.

If found please contact Matt on 07801286128.

REGIONAL QUALIFIER - UTFA MEMBER WINS AGAIN

The Federation of Peninsula Fly Fishers held its regional qualifier on the UTFA fishery on Saturday 29 May, when 19 fly fishers competed for places in the England team. With the river so low, the fishing was always going to be difficult and the catch of 136 trout between 15 cm and 32 cm was down on recent years. The average catch was 7.2 fish per competitor.

     Each competitor fished for 3.5 hours and the winner of the competition and the Snowbee Perpetual Trophy was UTFA member Pete Kempton from Exeter. He was fishing above Fingle Bridge and caught 20 trout with a combination of dry fly and nymph - but it was the nymph that took all of his fish. His catch was double that of his nearest rival.

    The six anglers with the best catches now go on to the National Final on the Dee at Llangollen in August, where the top five anglers will win places in the England team. Another UTFA member, Andrew Gooding, who won the qualifier last year, has already been selected to represent England in the European Championships.

UTFA members who competed in the Regional Qualifier.

From the left: David Long, Pete and Christine Kempton, Darren Everitt and Andrew Gooding

EWAN CLARKSON   1929-2010

The UTFA lost an old friend and supporter with the sad news of the death of Ewan Clarkson, who died on 19 April. Ewan was a long-time member of the UTFA and spent many nights on the river in pursuit of sea trout. He also served on the Committee for many years. Some of our older members may remember that Ewan once contributed a regular piece in Trout & Salmon under the pen name of Spindleberry. He was a professional author who specialised in animal books. A celebration of Ewan's life and his funeral took place at the Crossways Woodland Burial Ground near Cheriton Bishop on 26 April, when the UTFA was represented by Mike Weaver.

CATCH RETURNS

Scrutiny of the catch returns for brown trout reveal that in 2009 there was little fishing effort outside the popular stretch between Drogo and Upperton. This means that it is difficult to get a true picture of the trout stocks elsewhere on the fishery. In 2010, trout fishing members are asked to find time for one or two visits to the stretches above Drogo Weir and/or below Clifford Bridge and then to provide accurate catch returns – including the time spent fishing.

BANK CLEARING COMPLETED

The four bank clearing sessions have now been successfully completed and members are thanked for turning out for this essential work. The first two sessions took place on 6 and 20 February and, although only six members turned out on each day, an overgrown stretch below Sharp Tor and the right bank at the top of Fingle Weir Pool were cleared. For the third session, on 6 March, more than a dozen members participated and both banks of the top half of Chagford Weir Pool were cleared. The final session on 20 March tackled the left bank below Drogo Weir, including the removal of the old willow tree that had been extending over the head of Piddledown Run for many years.

Bank clearing at Chagford Weir Pool on 6 March

WEB CAM AT FINGLE

Members and visitors can now check on the state of the river by using the new web cam at Fingle Bridge. The camera looks down on the river from a camera on the Fingle Bridge Inn and provides an up-to-date view of conditions, without having to travel to the river. Go to http://www.finglebridgeinn.com/upper_teign/live.php

VOLUNTEERS WANTED

The Teign Fisheries Association is still looking for volunteers to participate in surveying the small tributaries of the River Teign, to identify their potential for restoration as spawning and nursery streams. Work on restoring streams has already been done but more surveys are necessary before rehabilitation work can be extended. Volunteers will receive training from the Westcountry Rivers Trust, so that they can identify those stretches of tributaries that could benefit from work. If you are interested in volunteering please contact the TFA Secretary,Pat Howgill - telephone 01626 832874 or email pathowgill@aol.com.

ANGLING TRUST

The UTFA as an association is a member of the Angling Trust, which has been formed by an amalgamation of six main angling bodies to campaign for the protection and enhancement of angling, to fight pollution, abstraction, all forms of undesirable exploitation, and anti-angling campaigns. Government is only influenced by bodies which have a large membership operating on a wide range of concerns. UTFA as a club is entitled to various benefits, including liability insurance cover, as well as various offers and discounts. However, these benefits do not extend to individual UTFA members. To take advantage of benefits it is necessary to become an individual member of the Angling Trust. The cost of Angling Trust membership is £20 per year, and full details and a joining form can be found by going to the Angling Trust web site, www.anglingtrust.net

KNOWING THE BYELAWS

One of the UTFA rules states that anglers must be aware of and conform to the national, regional and local byelaws of the Environment Agency. As a result, some members have asked where these byelaws can be found. If you have a copy of the Get Hooked Guide to Angling in South West England you can find this information in the Environment Agency section at the beginning of the guide - or go to the Get Hooked web site (www.gethooked.co.uk).

ORVIS

The Orvis Company, Inc. is pleased to have the Upper Teign Fishing Association as a member of the Orvis Affiliate Network. We have agreed to ship products and provide customer service for orders we receive through special links on www.upper-teign-fishing.org.uk. We hope you enjoy our broad assortment of products.

REMINDERS TO MEMBERS

Parking at Clifford Bridge. In the past we have received complaints that cars have blocked access to the forestry track at Clifford Bridge by parking in front of the gate. This problem may well have been caused by walkers but we would like to ensure that no blame falls on the UTFA. Please ensure that you never park in front of the gate at Clifford Bridge or, indeed, any other gate or vehicular access point.

Mill End (Dogmarsh) Weir Pool. Members are reminded that as part of our arrangement with the Bovey Castle Hotel, guests from the hotel have priority at Mill End Weir Pool. If you are fishing at the weir and a guest of the hotel wishes to fish there please move on to another location if so requested.

Steps Weir Pool. The UTFA only has the left bank at Steps Weir Pool. To avoid any conflict with the owner of the right bank, members must ensure that they do not wade beyond the middle of the river when fishing this pool.

ORVIS OFFER

Members of the UTFA can now get 10 per cent off the price of tackle bought at the Orvis shop in the Cathedral Yard, Exeter. To take advantage of this splendid offer you must produce your UTFA membership card when making a purchase.
Important, this offer is only available through the Exeter shop and not through the affiliate link above, or on the links page.