River Wear 2020

[greenlaner2009]

What was the date of installation of the screw lads? Do we think this is playing a massive part in smolt survival

started building late 2014 was up and running in 2016, i think it ran bits in 2015. i dont think it has any bearing on smolt survival. there is a article somewhere on the web showing the company who designs them and how they were sending rainbow trout down one and catching them again at the bottom only a very few fish even showed any sign of scale loss.

 

[Lgraydonflyfishing]

started building late 2014 became was up and running in 2016, i think it ran bits in 2015. i dont think it has any bearing on smolt survival. there is a article somewhere on the web showing the company who designs them and how they were sending rainbow trout down one and catching them again at the bottom only a very few fish even showed any sign of scale loss.

 

[Lgraydonflyfishing]

A test on the archemids screw lads

 

[Walleye]

The archimedis screw turbine used at freemans reach is suitable for use as a fish bywash, therefore a fish screen upstream of the turbine is not required, as fish can pass safely downstream through the turbine. That is from the company who designed it. Earlier in the year when i was fishing durham very early mornings i climbed over onto the turbine cage for a quick look and i just can not understand what stops a fish swimming up it

Swimming up - pockets of water come down and there is more than one turn of the screw over its length. A fish can only get into a pocket as the training edge of the blade opens up at the bottom but then the rest of the pocket is spat out by the screw, so it's impossible. The entire screw would need to be submerged for a fish to swim up and around the screw under then over the shaft in the centre. It's not possible to get up through it.

For the same reason it's possible to get downstream in one of those pockets of water as it travels down the screw. The problem is getting into one of those pockets - 60 times a minute, a blade edge comes through the water closing off the pocket and damaging, chopping, killing anything in the blades path. Sure, it won't get every fish going into it but I can't see why it wouldn't get a high proportion of fish and smolts are easily damaged.

 

[Walleye]

A test on the archemids screw lads

Interesting.
When they do the same test for a million shoaling smolts over a few week period, I'll be convinced.

Oh, and in dirty water.

2nd edit...yeah, when repeated with a million shoaling smolts over a 4 week period in dirty water and darkness, yeah I'll believe it.

 

[Sperlash]

Bottom line for the demise of the river I feel is a complicated affair from high seas netting acid rains , fertilizer run off and many other possible causes however I feel in the Wears case the Two Major Definite factors are,constant colossal gravel shift and massive predation.If the deposited eggs are literally flushed due to wonderful moor drains evacuating water @20 times its natural release rate the fish are up against an unstoppable force. The huge (10s of 1000s of tons)movement of gravel during every major flood has wiped out remaining invertabrates, literally minced and flushed to oblivion
On top of that unchecked constant feeding from predators spells its demise and pretty much reflects what we are seeing today.
I spoke to a chairman last week who runs a Weardale club and he said last year was the first year in his life sea trout didn't spawn in the main pools on his watch..What a sad state of affairs,.

 

[Bushwhacker]

I dont condone killing as a rule but the introduction of otters at a time of a collapse in eel numbers has been catostrophic to fish and water fowl,This along side the explosion of breeding inland cormorants and unchecked goosanders.has about cleaned out all mid/upper wear stocksI havent got a gun at present but would gladly invest time and effort in reducing numbers if I got a green light from defra and land owner,,
Does anyone know the outcome of a consultation earlier this year regarding changing the protected status of cormorants???

There,s plenty of Cormorants come in from the sea.I,v seen Skeens of them flying up river..15 Birds and more at times.
The young fledgelings follow the grown ups as well.Then when they find out about the easy feeding they don,t bother going back to sea.Most of them around our coast line nest on Marsden rock.

 

[Dalnashaugh]

I see that Bedburn (fishpal ) is reporting a 24lb salmon yesterday. That's some fish!!

 

[Lgraydonflyfishing]

I see that Bedburn (fishpal ) is reporting a 24lb salmon yesterday. That's some fish!!

Friend of mine had a 22lb not so long back to ?

 

[GOD]

had a seatrout about 4lb tonight, mate lost a good one. had 4 or 5 knocks tonight

 

[WearFlyFisher]

Had a 3lb sea trout last night. Also missed a couples. Didn't see many but there's still a few about for us nocturnal types lol. It was one of my mates who had the 24lber off Bedburn Estates. Big fat hen that took 45 mins to land. Awesome fish! She swam off strongly.

 

[Lgraydonflyfishing]

Had a 3lb sea trout last night. Also missed a couples. Didn't see many but there's still a few about for us nocturnal types lol. It was one of my mates who had the 24lber off Bedburn Estates. Big fat hen that took 45 mins to land. Awesome fish! She swam off strongly.

Great to hear graham a lovely fish ? ?

 

[Sperlash]

Well lads unfortunately came across a fully mature Red Signal crayfish on the wear.Managed to get it out and kill it .Funnily enough the week before I was speaking to a lad who said hed been watching a lobster (thought he was on drugs) Now I know he wasnt kidding.Must have weighed half a pound and bigger than my hand.!!

 

[WearFlyFisher]

Well lads unfortunately came across a fully mature Red Signal crayfish on the wear.Managed to get it out and kill it .Funnily enough the week before I was speaking to a lad who said hed been watching a lobster (thought he was on drugs) Now I know he wasnt kidding.Must have weighed half a pound and bigger than my hand.!!

That isn't good news at all. Those things eat everything and breed like wildfire. We need to keep an eye out for them and kill everyone we see.

 

[Whenty1]

Well lads unfortunately came across a fully mature Red Signal crayfish on the wear.Managed to get it out and kill it .Funnily enough the week before I was speaking to a lad who said hed been watching a lobster (thought he was on drugs) Now I know he wasnt kidding.Must have weighed half a pound and bigger than my hand.!!

Not many places they ar’nt now , that’s it once they in don’t think there’s any way of getting rid of the bloody things , maybes get a licence n net them is about the only way I think but really even lots of netting don’t make much difference !
The big ones are really good eating with a bit of garlic butter on top of ur steak ?

 

[Lgraydonflyfishing]

Maybe one last good spate in the forecast lads

Well lads unfortunately came across a fully mature Red Signal crayfish on the wear.Managed to get it out and kill it .Funnily enough the week before I was speaking to a lad who said hed been watching a lobster (thought he was on drugs) Now I know he wasnt kidding.Must have weighed half a pound and bigger than my hand.!!

Not good at all where abouts was this? I've seen them for years when still water fishing but never on my time on the wear

 

[Lgraydonflyfishing]

hear the gaunless is full to the hilt with them

 

[Dalnashaugh]

The Tees is full of them ( as are the reservoirs at top of Teesdale ) so I suppose only a matter of time they would get into the Wear. I doubt anything can stop them once established. Also, if the Tees is anything to go by, the EA are reluctant to issue trapping/netting licences for fear that they will catch the native crayfish which are doomed once the signal crayfish get in, think red and grey squirrel.

 

[Lgraydonflyfishing]

The Tees is full of them ( as are the reservoirs at top of Teesdale ) so I suppose only a matter of time they would get into the Wear. I doubt anything can stop them once established. Also, if the Tees is anything to go by, the EA are reluctant to issue trapping/netting licences for fear that they will catch the native crayfish which are doomed once the signal crayfish get in, think red and grey squirrel.

Yep reservoirs are packed full of them I was once fly fishing on the dam wall at grassholme and there was 2 polish blokes next to me spinning (really nice guys too) and had a massive sack, think half dumpy bag size, in the water with some tins of cat food in it. I said what are you doing. He said I own a restaurant and I want the crayfish for it haha. I said fair enough pal, he must of took close to a thousand while i was there and every now and then he would fling another tin of cat food in. Surprised the bailiff never clicked on like. Not ment or illegal to transport live crayfish without licence.

 

[GOD]

resys and stillwaters are full of them, i bet they love fish eggs. 1 more problem for the fish stocks

 

[Lgraydonflyfishing]

resys and stillwaters are full of them, i bet they love fish eggs. 1 more problem for the fish stocks

I've never seen one on the wear have you mate? Wonder where the lad found it. Loads in my local the gaunless mind you

 

[Isisalar]

We've got them down here everywhere. The only solution is to trap, trap, trap and trap again. At least on the Wear they won't be taking flies. Down here some people shrink wrap their bottom baits. They devour a lot of fish eggs too.
One of my coarse clubs sells them to the local Chinese restaurant and the club gets a bit of income.
A local reservoir was harvesting them and taking out 5000 lb weight a week and selling them to Tesco.
Evil things.

 

[Lgraydonflyfishing]

We've got them down here everywhere. The only solution is to trap, trap, trap and trap again. At least on the Wear they won't be taking flies. Down here some people shrink wrap their bottom baits. They devour a lot of fish eggs too.
One of my coarse clubs sells them to the local Chinese restaurant and the club gets a bit of income.
A local reservoir was harvesting them and taking out 5000 lb weight a week and selling them to Tesco.
Evil things.

Yeah used to do that a bit when I course fished over middelton st George way had to be done or wouldn't last 2 mins would have tiny scissor marks all over the boilles like little surgeons knifes

 

[big albert]

Well lads unfortunately came across a fully mature Red Signal crayfish on the wear.Managed to get it out and kill it .Funnily enough the week before I was speaking to a lad who said hed been watching a lobster (thought he was on drugs) Now I know he wasnt kidding.Must have weighed half a pound and bigger than my hand.!!

Signal Crayfish has become a plague in Britain

 

[big albert]

hear the gaunless is full to the hilt with them

I contacted the environment agency about them years ago.

There are several research projects being undertaken to look how best to control or eradicate signal crayfish.

Unfortunately there are currently no effective controls that would apply to rivers such as the Tees.

A possible solution to your problem would be to fly-fish.

I hope that helps.

Regards

Paul Frear