Conveners Reports for 2009 Season
Cruives Report 2009
Not the most spectacular season to talk about. Spring fishing was poor with no fish recorded at all by members and when walking the beat I never even saw an angler on the river in the early months.
The first fish reported caught was in March – a single sea trout that was returned to the river. A few more sea trout were caught up to the end of May and all are recorded as returned .
The dearth of salmon continued and it wasn’t until July that the first grilse was reported. Sport picked up in August and for the remaining 3 months 32 salmon and 52 grilse were reported plus a further 10 sea trout. The catches were well down on previous years overall but we did have continual rain and constant rises in water level which are not the best conditions for the beat which fishes best when levels are low.
In the summer some repair work was carried out to the edge of the bank down at Snuffies and at the time consideration was given to possible provision of a walking platform on the sloping bank making it easier for anglers and it would prevent erosion of the bank. It would however be a big project and made difficult due to lack of vehicular access to deliver materials to site. It has however been put on the wish list.
Down at Benzies pool I have had concerns for several years now about anglers climbing the steep bank when leaving the tail of the pool. Things were made worse a couple of years ago with damage and a part collapse of the high bank in one of the big floods.
A site inspection was made and a suitable site chosen for a stairway which was once again designed by Alec Paterson and manufactured by Stuart Fleming. A very substantial stairway is now in position making it very much safer for members.
Access down to Bekkers pool behind the former Donside Mill has been difficult this past year with the amount of work going on, but pedestrian access was still available through the site. Even though we were allowed vehicular access in the past , in terms of our Title Deeds our access rights are for pedestrians only. Once the housing development is completed however it is hoped that we will once again be able to get much closer to the river with our cars.
As mentioned in my Presidential remarks there are plans for a major Hydro Scheme at the site. This is to consist of 3 turbines on the south bank with the intake just upstream of the Cruive Dyke. The plans are to divert 85% of the river water taken from the summer mean level through the system which would leave 15%, a mere trickle of water in the actual river for migratory fish when the river is running at summer level. A fish pass through the system was considered to be of a poor design and to expect the whole run of fish for the whole of the Don to go through a narrow fish pass so close to the tide is just unthinkable. There were also other major flaws in the design which I need not go into. The EU Water Framework Directive is intended to improve river classifications and this development would go directly against the aims of the EU legislation and would actually result in a reduction in the classification score. The site of the proposed development is also bang in the middle of what is currently a plantation of Japanese Knotweed- probably the largest on Donside as it has been allowed to grow undisturbed for many years . This is an invasive species and a controlled noxious weed for which large sums of money are being granted to eradicate it. Specialised treatment over a period of time- normally about 3 years - is required to deal with it. Even a small fragment of the weed is enough to take root and spread this nuisance plant. Due to it being a controlled species no work should be allowed in the area until it has been eradicated. This has been brought to the attention of SEPA who are the body responsible for granting an abstraction licence and also the planning authority. Jamie the biologist for the Don Trust has been very helpful and has catalogued all the possible problems with the site for the authorities, which has given them lots to think about.
Heres hoping for a better fishing season in 2010.
Nether Don
The pattern was much the same as the Cruives with no spring fish. The first Grilse were taken earlier in May but only 2 fish. For the period June to October the catches were 9 salmon,22 Grilse and 28 sea trout. This was the fishing on the upper part of the beat within Seaton Park.
There were some poaching problems on the beat, both at Seaton Park and at the Estuary. The culprits were mainly of east European origins and were seen off by the River Board Bailiffs who were called to attend
The estuary filled up with finnock in the summer months. Some days the water seemed to be full of fish right from the sea all the way up to the Bridge of Don with fish jumping about everywhere. Normally they are easy to catch when present in such numbers but for some reason they were difficult to catch on most days as we had long periods of clear sky and bright sun. When it clouded over with a breeze to break the water surface it was different but that just seemed to happen on the odd occasion. Things were also not helped by the number of seals patrolling up and down the stretch. Some days there were 6 seals constantly going up and down between the bay just above the river mouth to the neck of the pool below the bridge.
Robert Dey
Ythan Season 2009
Sea trout and finnock catches from our beats on the Ythan remain generally low.
The change to our rules for 2009 that all finnock fishing was to be carried out on a catch and release basis has been welcomed and supported by our anglers.
The recommendation to return as many sea trout as possible has also been heeded, with a return rate of just over 97%.
Machar Pool
Sea trout were caught from June to October, but mostly in September and October – only 51, but ten more than in 2008.
Finnock, for the most part, were caught in September and October – 124 in total, twice what we caught in 2008 –is this the start of a much hoped for recovery?
Ardlethen
Finnock were caught in February / March and in October – numbers were quite modest.
Sea trout were caught from July onwards – most in August.
The first salmon and grilse were caught in August, and fishing improved gradually through September and October.
Despite the beat being largely unfishable for the last two weeks of the season due to very high water levels, Ardlethen still produced around 90 salmon and grilse, second only to Upper Parkhill in numbers landed.
Belmuir
Having access to this beat proved to be a blessing during the high water period at the end of October – at least we had somewhere to fish.
Although only one sea trout and less than a dozen finnock were recorded, salmon numbers were in the upper teens. This may not be very many, but the rent and river board assessments are fairly inexpensive.
Methlick
For most of the season water levels were on the low side and until mid October, other than some Spring finnock, fishing was quiet.
During the last two weeks when the river rose, large numbers of anglers were present and quite a few salmon were caught.
River Ythan Trust
Action is ongoing at present to form a charitable trust for the Ythan similar to that that has been established for nearly all other river systems in Scotland.
The aims are, without going into detail, are similar to that of the Don Trust, with which you are probably familiar.
The first stage, the application to register a company with Companies House has been carried out; I was advised only this morning that the application has been successful, effective from yesterday’s date.
Good wishes and tight lines for the coming season.
Alec Paterson.
Works Report 2009
The ADAA Newsletter that you all received in recent weeks will have given you a feel for some of the works carried out in the last year.
The commitment given at last year’s AGM regarding further improvements at Ardlethen, the replacement of the bridges on the approach to the footbridge and other new bridges and walkways throughout the beat have been delivered, as has the provision of a new footpath.
At the new Parkhill Trout Fishery part of the footpath was dug out and surfaced using stone chips. Further repairs to the footpath are proposed this year. A landing jetty was built to provide safe access to the boats.
Sometimes it seems we go three steps forward and two back, the fence at the gate Stuart erected in the summer on the access road down to the SEPA Gauging Station at Upper Parkhill has been cut several times since installation.
The massive floods in November have caused serious erosion at the north bank of the Top Streams at Lower Fintray and the path between the Cothal Pool and Fae-Me-Well at Upper Parkhill has been almost washed out.
The floods have also caused problems at Methlick – the mouth of the Little Water and the east side of our footbridge foundations are severely eroded and will require the use of heavy plant to repair.
The bridge has been tied back as best we can until weather conditions are suitable for plant access.
Loirston continues to be a major problem. As far as I recall no significant algal bloom appeared this year, but the aquatic weed reappeared with a vengeance. Straw sausages to control algae were installed in April and herbicide to control weed growth in early May.
The summer period was fairly dry and grass cutting of the banks was successfully kept on programme.
During the recent terrible spell of bad weather we have not been idle – the Bothy Workshop has been reorganised internally with additional concrete floored area, new workbenches, storage facilities; has also been completely rewired and provided with new lighting and power outlets.
We have received` assistance from various volunteers, especially on the Lower Don, Ardlethen and the Bothy: this is much appreciated.
Thank you.
Alec Paterson. January 2010