Yesterdays rise is now dropping off but did introduce a lot of colour from the Irfon and this will now be reflected in downstream areas so this is likely to be an issue.  Looks set for dry settled weather for a week now.  If not many fish then, well........................Who knows?

Report of a 5lbs 10oz sea trout from Winforton by Terry Ward on an 11cm Rapala.


See below the latest from WUF.   Its so inaccurate it makes you want to throw up.
They too seem to think that the 'Consultation, will be a foregone conclusion so why bother having one. Thats one thing they got right at least.  It;'s a complete farce!!
Everyone now seems to want to be in the anti stocking lobby, even those in NRW and WUF who supported the SNR scheme., designed to get more smolts out to sea considering they suggest that poor sea survival is one of the main causes.. Is that so or are so few smolts being produced naturally there are not many going to sea anyway?  Will they attempt to measure what they say they are producing naturally. Will they f===.

No one wants to be seen to be out of step on current thinking despite all the credible hard evidence otherwise.  All the Glasgow career researchers gave us was a lots of ifs and maybe's but not one scrap of evidence. Bit like WUF really.They now denigrate stocking when they did it for years and even claimed success especially on the Arrow. That was either a lie but if not why do they now rubbish it. Expediency, self interest, the thirst for cash and grants, it's the usual fare We say it so it must be true is the mantra but on investigation its often pure spin.
As for the silly survival graph they have no idea how many wild smolts were involved in the first place,

One things for sure WUF wont be getting the money or the volunteers that gave freely to the SNR scheme which we don''t give up on quite yet anyway.

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Wye & Usk Foundation News Update Hatchery News Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has announced the results of their review of hatchery operations in Wales and has invited responses to their recommendations. Included in the consultation documents is a long list of some of the pieces of research that show hatcheries to be, at best, ineffective along with papers clearly setting out the facts, logic and rationale behind the proposals. They are essential reading. Often there have been clear reasons for setting up a hatchery but in 1974 when the first one was commissioned on the Wye, there were none: the five year average catch was the highest ever recorded. Since that date a succession of rearing schemes failed to halt the next 30 years of decline in salmon numbers. Nonetheless, this never dented the faith many had in these schemes. NRW have therefore been very courageous in these proposals, challenging what are some extremely entrenched beliefs. Although it might be argued that given the weight of scientific evidence the cessation of stocking is long overdue, historically, changes to any fisheries management or byelaw have invariably been watered down to get past a minority of vociferous critics. This time the new organisation has gone with the evidence and honoured the sustainable principles enshrined in their name. There will inevitably be counter arguments but the science, results and especially the economics of hatcheries does not support them. The only way of restoring Wales's rivers will be through dealing with the causes of problems and NRW's proposals signal the end to the short term approach.  Hen salmon artificially stripped in a hatchery. Would it have been better to let her spawn naturally? Comparison of survival rates of wild and hatchery reared smolts. The latter's marine survival rates are simply too low to justify taking fish for stripping in recent times.  If this also leads to a better understanding of how rivers and fisheries 'work' then there will be additional benefits but having in place real and sustainable solutions funded from the savings made by these proposals will deliver what we all want: healthier environments, functioning river systems and more fish. View NRW's consultation here. To read more about hatcheries, including their history in the Wye and Usk, please click here. All the best from WUF.