Fishing

After what surely must be one of the dryest summers on record, the long overdue rain finally arrived 12th October. This allowed salmon that had been building up in the estuary to enter the river. Up until that time, they had been creeping in singly or in pairs and had tended to stay in the lower river around Lostwithiel. Whilst we will have to wait for the Fish counter figures to be sure, we believe that the run was one of the biggest for many years, with over forty fish caught up and down the river in just three days. Sixteen salmon were taken at Wainsford leading up to the weekend of 15th, four to Rod Spratley from Guernsey, all on flying "C" or rapalla.

When it was realised that so many fish were moving through, some rods switched to fly which proved very successful. The majority of the fish were grilse of around six pounds weight and fitting the profile of Hatchery returners. Best fish landed weighed fifteen pounds and Wainsford rods lost several fish of that size or larger. The main run appears to have moved on up river but there have been sightings of large numbers of silver fish in the estuary which will move into the river with the current good levels of rainfall. Those of you booked into Wainsford up until the end of the season (15th December) should make sure you bring your fly rods as well as spinning gear. The Hatchery broodstock collection starts on 1st November and we have a supply of pike nets for holding fish. All anglers fishing the Fowey should check every salmon caught to see if it is fin-clipped. Some such fish have already been caught and provide proof to the many doubters that hatchery fish survive just fine at sea.

Hatchery

The Wainsford Hatchery currently holds 120,000 salmon fry, 70,000 of which will be seeded out in 2005 throughout the Fowey system. These fry come from salmon caught by the rods and donated live to the hatchery. After being kept healthy until gravid, the fish were stripped and returned alive to the river. If any survive to return they will probably be well over 20lbs but keen to avoid the hatchery “experience” again!!

Many thanks to the anglers that donated fish or supported the voluntary hatchery financially.

Those of you who read Trout & Salmon will have read of the exploits if Jimmy Davidson, reported in the March issue. Jimmy had caught an Atlantic salmon in every single month of 2004 and needed a December fish to complete a remarkable feat. Best read the article but the “bottom line” is that he had a Fowey fish within 4 casts. This after having to make two visits to the mighty Tweed in November! Both Trout & Salmon and Todays Flyfisher carried interesting articles about Wainsford in their September issues. The large sea trout on the front cover of Todays Flyfisher was caught by guest Jim McBride on fly in Deep Run. Jon Beer went away with a healthy collection of sea trout pictures, mainly due to son Jeff being home from Uni!!

Cornish Links

Please find below a list of links to other Cornish Websites to show a selection of what the county can offer its visitors.

Please click where indicated and the site will open in a new window.

Cameltrail The Camel Trail, a disused and resurfaced railway line, runs from Padstow to Poleys Bridge via Wadebridge and Bodmin. It follows the route of the river Camel and you can walk, cycle, ride horses or just sit and watch the abundant wild life.

National Maritime Museum The new, international attraction on Falmouth's waterfront is destined to be one of the UK’s leading tourist destinations. It offers a mix of hands-on displays, world-renowned boats and associated video footage, maritime heritage and interactive entertainment.