Having been very closely involved in bringing World Rivers Day to south London for the first time in 2008, there’s nothing that gives the Urbantrout team more pleasure than seeing this international celebration of rivers flourishing more and more widely every year across the UK.
While we joined fellow urban fly-fishers Dom Garnett and Charles Rangeley-Wilson at the Wandle Piscators’ angling fair (where, rumour has it, one new junior club member even caught a trout just outside the William Morris pub at Merton Abbey Mills) …
… the Slaithwaite & District Angling Club also epitomised our fish where you live philosophy by running their annual friendly fishing competition on the urban Yorkshire Colne.
As usual, this competition helps to monitor populations of trout and grayling in this much-loved (and much-abused) urban river, with entry fees divided between the club and the Calder & Colne Rivers Trust.
12 anglers took part in this year’s event, split equally between beats above and below Slaithwaite in the morning, and switching over for the afternoon session.
By the end of the day, 272 trout and 23 grayling had been caught, measured and carefully returned to the water.
The overall competition was won by Robert Brown, while Sheena Goode lifted the huge, shiny Walter Moorhouse trophy for best-placed club member, and the prize for the biggest fish went to Ben Tunnacliffe for an awesome 55cm brown trout.
We’ll call that a solid 22 inches in old money – an astonishing way to celebrate World Rivers Day on a recovering urban river!
For more details of the competition, check out this thread on the Fly Forums, and organiser Mick Pogson’s own photo gallery.
(All photos: via Mick Pogson)
