News

16 May 2010, Restocking. 440 brown trout between 10 and 12 inches (some perhaps a little more) were introduced to the Tawe. Drops were made at Cinders Pool, Pontardawe Leisure Centre, Trebanos, Clydach, Ynystawe, Ynystanglws and Tircanol. There was a good turnout of helpers and the fish were therefore spread quite widely, well above and below the dropping points. This will be the last stocking of the year. We had intended to stock three times (in March, May and June) but we had difficulty obtaining supplies so we’ve had to reduce the number of times whilst still spending the planned amount of money.

9 May 2010, Builth Wells. Five members attended and had a good day on the Wye. Despite a cold and gusting north easterly wind, the fish were feeding hard on good hatches of Olive Uprights and Ray Lockyer did well on dry fly, while Mike Pascoe did well on deeply fished bugs. Difficult to know which Ray enjoyed more- catching a few fish or finding a dun of the uncommon Turkey Brown!

8 May 2010. Member Anthony Ford has supplied this picture of an amazing 8lbs 4oz brownie caught on a Rapala in Ynysforgan on 8th May. Anthony has also had several sewin up to 4lbs in the last couple of weeks!

18 April 2010, Llandegfedd. A mixed day, with some finding it harder than others. Seven members weighed in: winner with the heaviest 2 fish bag was Richard Hooper with 16lb 5oz (inc time bonus); second was Paul Osborne 11lb 14oz (inc time bonus); third was Ray Lockyer 5lb 14oz; fourth was Mike Pascoe 5lb 4oz; fifth was Gary Davies 4lb 2oz; sixth was Paul Edwards 2lb 12.5oz; seventh was Zuhair Majeed 2lb 11oz. Pics show Steve and Wayne not sure where the fish are, Zuhair practising C&R from a distance and the boys in the pub afterwards.

14 April 2010, Tawe Disabled Fishers safari to Ty’n-y-Graig. 18 members attended and most caught fish - 35 were taken in all and the best bag of 11lbs 8oz was caught by D Williams, with T Shipton again not far behind with 11lbs 4oz.

12-18 April 2010. This next week is 'Tick Prevention Week' when BADA UK are running a campaign to raise peoples awareness of the problem of ticks that can be picked up by anyone using the countryside. Ticks can carry a variety of infectious diseases, the most common of them being Lyme disease. A leaflet providing information on avoiding / dealing with tick bites can be found here (PDF 300KB) and more details can be found on the BADA UK website at www.bada-uk.org.

28 March 2010, Junior Competition. The planned event at Ty’n-y-Graig was postponed. Watch this space...

17 March 2010, Tawe Disabled Fishers safari to Papermill. 13 members attended and most caught fish - 29 were taken in all and the best bag of 19lbs 11oz was caught by M Edwards (best fish 8lbs 8oz), with T Shipton not far behind with 16lbs 1oz.

12 March 2010, Annual Dinner. The annual dinner at the Red Lion Hotel Morriston, organised by Spencer Williams, was enjoyed by 68 members, family and friends. Life President, Ray Lockyer, presented trophies as follows:

Len Edwards Shield for Clubman of the Year - Phil Jones
Spencer Williams Shield for the angler with most points at club events during 2009 - Richard Hooper
EPH Hopkin Cup for the angler with the highest aggregate weight at club events during 2009 - Richard Hooper
Jack Oliver Shield for the best catch on fly in the Junior Competition - Jordan Roberts
Mark Evans Trophy for the winner on the 2009 trip to Brenig - Paul Edwards
Powell Pandy Bowl for the winner on the 2009 trip to Elan Valley - John P Rees
WFFA Luron Shield for the winner on the 2009 trip to Llandegfedd - Paul Osborn (fished with Ray Lockyer)
HR Jones Shield for the winner on the 2009 trip to Draycote - Spencer Williams
MFL Cup for the winner on the 2009 trip to Builth Wells - Phil Jones
Graham Boat Shield for the winner on the 2009 trip to Llandegfedd - Mike Pascoe (fished with Ray Lockyer)

8 March 2010, Remarkable start to the season. The River Tawe trout season opened on 3rd March and members were soon amongst the brownies that were stocked on 1st March, with gold heads fished deep apparently proving most successful.

What was remarkable, however, was the number of salmon caught in the opening days - kelts, of course (fish which have spawned but not yet returned to the sea). Mark Evans of HR Jones in Clydach reported that members calling in the shop had caught or witnessed the catching of at least 20 kelts on the opening day and more were caught in the following days. Some were said to be in good condition, suggesting they hadn’t been in the river long, but others were long and thin, albeit quite silver - typical of “well-mended” kelts. As this is an unusual occurrence, it’s worth stressing that these fish must be returned unharmed - the salmon season doesn’t start until 20th March; when it does, byelaws require salmon to be returned until 16th June; and the law requires the return of kelts at any time. It would be nice to think that these fish might return to spawn a second time but it’s unlikely - even if they make it back to sea, the odds are against them surviving another round trip to the North Atlantic.

PS. Advice from Fisheries staff at the Environment Agency. Kelts are not to be included in catch returns at the end of the season, as to do so would distort the annual catch statistics. Make a note on your catch return, if you like, about the abundance of kelts at the start of the season but don’t include them as part of your catch.

1 March 2010, John Rees Ponty. Members will be sad to learn that John Rees of Pontardawe, Life Committee Member and stalwart of Tawe Disabled Fishers, passed away on 28th Feb at the fine old age of 92. Our condolences go to his family. His many friends in the club will miss him. More...

1 March 2010, Restocking. 360 brown trout between 10 and 12 inches (some perhaps a little more) were introduced to the Tawe. Drops were made at Cinders Pool, Pontardawe Leisure Centre, Trebanos, Clydach, Ynystawe, Ynystanglws and Tircanol. There was a good turnout of helpers (mainly pensioners!) and the fish were therefore spread quite widely, into the runs above and below the dropping points.

Ray Lockyer making one of the first drops at Pontardawe

One of the buckets being filled at Ynystawe and one of the fish acclimatising after introduction

Ray Locker counting and checking quality. And John Graham tickling a fish to encourage it to move off!

Kevin Bolton and Terry Shipton at Pontardawe

19 February 10, Auction. Once again a hectic evening of buying and selling at the Vardre RFC. The auctioneer, Ray Lockyer, rattled through over 200 items, some of which had belonged to a former member who had died during the year and as ever members readily paid good prices for these items. A further 56 lots were sold at an average price of about £10 and many bargains were had.

January 10, Newsletter. This can be seen here...

News for 2009...

News for 2008...