News

Wild Trout Trust members should now be receiving this year’s issue of our annual journal, and we hope you enjoy it as much as ever!

Salmo Trutta 2024 goes large on the physical structure and function of our waterways, and we’re particularly grateful to David Sear for contributing our lead article on this subject: why restoring our rivers’ physical habitat is so important.

We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to many other big names who’ve contributed thoughtful words and spectacular wild trouty images: Steffan Jones (for our amazing front cover shot), Paul Procter, Richard Noble, Sir Andrew Baird, Gösta Serlachius, Malachy Tallack, Jamie Stevens, Andrew King, Dylan Roberts, Eoin O’Gorman, Simon Tilbury and Craig Ballenger, as well as our very own Jonny Grey, Denise Ashton, Theo Pike, and ace designer Rebecca Hawtrey who’s laid it all out so stylishly.

The UK’s environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), has just issued a damning report on the government’s ongoing failure to protect our rivers, lakes and coastal waters.

As part of its remit to monitor how well environmental legislation is working in practice, the OEP has conducted a review of key legal provisions contained in the Water Framework Directive and their implementation by Defra and the EA.

The report concludes that the current target, requiring 77% of waters to reach good ecological status or potential by 2027, is likely to be missed by a wide margin.

This year’s annual WTT 3-Fly Challenge will be held at Meon Springs on 15 June 2024, and it’s always an eagerly-awaited day on the water.

As in previous years, our 3-Fly Challenge is a friendly event that’s as competitive (or not) as you choose to make it.

Proceedings start with breakfast before moving on to fishing, using one of three flies which will be provided for you on the day. The competition is all a matter of skill, judgement and sometimes luck, with points awarded according to the fly used and the weight of the fish caught. Lunchtime is always a cheery affair, with an auction as well as the official prize-giving.

Update: in case you missed the premiere on Sunday 21 April, The River Nar: A Chalkstream Restoration is now available to watch on YouTube HERE. 

You can also find all the other videos via the Sportfish Spring Spectacular events schedule HERE.

The 2024 Sportfish Spring Spectacular takes place online this weekend, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April, and all of us at WTT are looking forward to watching the premiere of a beautiful new film with our founder and Vice-President Charles Rangeley-Wilson as part of the festivities.

Thanks to so many generous donors, bidders, members and supporters, our Spring Auction 2024 has been a huge success.

We are completely overwhelmed by your help in raising an amazing £89,259 by the time bidding closed last night – money that we’ll put to good use for wild trout and our rivers and lakes. Thank you so much.

We have 6 lots still available (as below). If you're interested, please email your bid(s) to Chrissy via office@wildtrout.org by 5pm on Tuesday 2 April and we will accept the highest bid received. In the event of identical bids, the first one received will take priority.

Kings College London have created a guide that provides comprehensive, practical advice on how to use legal tools to protect rivers. It is called 'Rights of Nature Toolkit: How to protect Rivers in England and Wales’.

The guide includes a very useful summary of relevant existing UK legislation, details of regulatory bodies and statutory liabilities, how to gather information and a (fictional) case study. Good to see WTT's Trout in the Town Urban River Toolkit mentioned as one of the resources too.

In very simple terms, we advise anyone who sees pollution in their river to report it as an incident to the Environment Agency in England, SEPA in Scotland and NIEA in Northern Ireland on 0800 80 70 60. The number for Wales (NRW) is 0300 065 3000. Take photos, ask for an incident number and ask for updates. Even if no action is taken at the time, getting the incident 'in the system' will help for any future action, legal or otherwise.

The lovely River Monnow saw some of WTT’s earliest river restoration projects, and key people like Patrick Lloyd at the Monnow Rivers Association (MRA) are still very closely connected with us.

In order to raise funds for important ongoing projects like eradicating Himalayan balsam and mink from the whole Monnow catchment, the MRA’s annual charity auction for 2024 is now running on the Fly Fishing Forums until 10pm on Sunday 10 March.

There are 54 lots available, such as fishing days on the Monnow and elsewhere, specially-tied flies and even festival tickets.