The status quo remains regarding river conditions. Very low on upper beat, moderate in middle beats and still water on the lower beats and big tides.

One fish reported yesterday from Wyesham, 10lbs apparently and another lost.

No idea who caught the fish, on fly, they seem to be nameless at Wyesham?

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LATEST. Report of a 25lbs fish from Holme Lacy No 4 today The really good news is it was caught by one of the Wye's most dedicated and enthusiastic salmon anglers ie, Kenny Powell Well deserved especially after his amazing recovery from a life threatening fall on the river last season. Well deserved Kenny!!

Another fish reported this time a fresh ten pounder from the Golden Mile for Bob Mason on an Allies Shrimp conehead. See below.

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The below might be of interest to you Many millions being spent by the EA on various Severn weirs, making fish passes for shad in particular. Rather more activity from them than our own NRW that's for sure, but even here no reral mention of salmon. Shad are the IN species it seems???

Welcome to our March newsletter

The weather may have just turned cold again, but in the recent warm sunshine it felt distinctly spring-like and that has given us a little giddy feeling in anticipation of the shad run. The twaite shad might be back on the river in a month or so now - or less if warm weather returns for the spring tides!

There has been plenty to keep us occupied in the meantime, before the May fish make their return to the Severn. April tours of Diglis fish pass are live on the website, we are recruiting our shad counting volunteers, and we also are getting ready to open the Unlocking the Severn exhibition at The Hive in Worcester. One of the highlights of the month however has been receiving the amazing Shad Flag Competition entries – just a tiny fraction of which are shown above.

There’s lots of ways you can get involved with Unlocking the Severn this month. Read on to discover how...

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

We're starting to see fish swimming past Diglis fish window once again! Book your tour now.

We released April tour tickets last week and still have some remaining. The tour includes all the hidden heritage secrets of Diglis Island, the fish pass and underwater viewing gallery. Do hurry if you want to book, they are being snapped up quickly!

We have been publicly advertising our April tours through our website and our social media channels. There are still some tickets remaining, however they will not be around for long. Follow the link below to our brand new webpage (which has more information about the tour) and book your place.

We will be using this webpage for tour updates now, so do keep an eye on it for ticket releases and updates. We are currently releasing tour bookings in monthly batches, so May's tickets will go on sale in April.

BOOK HERE!

In May we will be running 'fish pass only' tours.

In May, our visitor offering will be a little different – completely focused on the fish pass. We know that lots of young children are super keen to visit the fish pass for their chance to spot some wild fish. So, a visit in May could be a better option for families with young children who are less interested in the history of Diglis Island.

May's fish pass only tours will go on sale in April. Keep an eye on our website and social media for key updates.

Help us monitor the May fish migration!

We are currently recruiting citizen scientists to help us monitor the twaite shad's migration. Volunteers will come and help us count the shad at Upper Lode Weir in Tewkesbury.

The shad counting volunteers play an important part of our project every year. The data they collect from Upper Lode gives us real-time insights into the shad run and helps us estimate the number of fish migrating upstream on the River Severn for comparing year-on-year.

If you would like to join this citizen science effort, and like the idea of spending time by the beautiful Severn Ham meadows, follow the link below.

Become a Migration Monitoring Volunteer!

We will also be at Tewkesbury Friends of the Earth ‘Eco Event’ at Tewkesbury Town Hall, on 16th April. Come and chat to us to find out more about volunteering.

The Travelling Exhibition returns to Worcester

Friday 8th April - Monday 6th June
The Hive, Worcester

Come and discover the River Severn as a wild, watery highway for fish, and take a glimpse into the underwater world hidden beneath the river’s surface. Our Travelling Exhibition arrives at the Hive in Worcester, in time for the twaite shad's migration along the River Severn!

The exhibition is free. Find out more HERE.

Careers in Conservation

Find out about the wide range of careers available in the river conservation sector. On Thursday 7th April our partner Severn Rivers Trust is hosting an afternoon of talks from professionals working within this sector.

Find out more

PROJECT UPDATES

Shad Flag Competition - over 1000 entries!

Thank you to everyone who took part in our Shad Flag Competition!

We were overwhelmed by the response – and absolutely thrilled to received more than 1000 entries in total! There were so many fantastic designs, it made selecting just a few for our commemorative shad flag a very difficult task indeed!

A particular thank-you to local schools that got behind this with their students. We will be contacting you with some more information about how your entries did soon.

The winners will be announced publicly at the start of the shad run, when the flags have been printed, but we had to share some of the fin-tastic shad designs we received.

World Fish Migration Day is on the horizon

Save the date! World Fish Migration Day is happening on Saturday 21st May. This is a global initiative, highlighting the plight of migratory fish and celebrating the efforts of river restoration and conservation projects.
Unlocking the Severn will mark the occasion with an open day at Diglis fish pass. And we have a special way that we will ask you to show your support for migratory fish. Stay tuned!

New home for sand martins at Diglis

Did you know that the River Severn is used as a navigation pathway for migrating sand martins? We noticed that these birds were nesting in the drainage outflow pipes in Diglis Basin, which become a hazard to nesting pairs and their chicks during heavy rainfall.

Led by Waterways Environment Apprentice, Aaron, we teamed up with Worcester Environment Group and the RSPB to build a nesting colony box on Diglis Island. Read all about this exciting project HERE.

VOLUNTEERING UPDATE

Help us 'Spruce up the Severn' at Alney Island

Diglis Fish Pass Volunteers

A huge thank you to the brilliant volunteers giving us a hand cleaning the window in our underwater viewing gallery. This job is so important for our scientific monitoring and for our tours. We hope you're enjoying seeing Diglis Fish Pass from an entirely new angle too!

We are currently fully booked for this volunteering opportunity, however there will be plenty of chances to get involved later in the year.

Green Team

We've seen more amazing work from the Green Team on Diglis Island this March! At the start of the month, they tackled the flood recovery of the workshop and island. It required a lot of hard work to remove the silt – so a big thank you for their special efforts. Green Team have also tidied and cleared all the debris from the old barge. This will prevent rubbish from entering the river and make the area safer for both people and wildlife. Lastly the path stabilisation project was completed, making the island safe and enjoyable to walk round.

A big thank you to all of the Green Team volunteers for a very productive month!