Since Trout in Dirty Places was published in 2012, we’ve noticed virtually no changes to the fishing regulations on any of the featured 50 urban rivers across the UK. Naturally, the real world had to catch up with the printed page at some point (after all, working as a kind of continuity blog for the book […]
Author Archive
January 11 2016
Urbantrout sidecasts: Monday 11 January
Cleaning up after the floods: 25 volunteers from the Mersey Basin Rivers Trust tackle debris in Bury’s Springwater Park “Flood management is more or less where medicine was in the 17th century: unscientific and irrational”: George Monbiot tackles Permanent Ineligible Features (PIFs) and farming subsidy public spending that ‘rushes rivers into our homes‘… … and […]
January 2 2016
Film night: Natural flood risk management in Stroud
As one of the warmest and wettest Decembers on record spills over into a grey and soggy January, and flood risk management in urban areas continues to polarise the national conversation… … it’s easy to feel kinda helpless in the face of epic natural disasters like the Irwell floods that recently took out the 200 […]
December 15 2015
Happy Christmas to all our readers!
It’s that time of year again (even if some of us are still waiting hopefully for the white fluffy stuff to arrive) and Urbantrout is here to wish all our readers a very fishful festive season. (Don’t forget… the Urbantrout shop will be taking orders for cosy Christmas beanies and hoodies, as well as caps, […]
December 8 2015
Urban river futures: Deconstructing Desmond
As large swathes of Scotland and northern England start the mopping-up process after Storm Desmond ripped through the British Isles over the weekend, some frankly terrifying photos have continued to emerge, showing a whole new side to some of our best-loved urban rivers. It’s one of those clichés of environmental consciousness that we all live […]
November 19 2015
Pic of the day: Lest we forget…
It’s already gone kinda viral across several social media channels… but now this astonishing shot of rubbish pulled out of the Wandle has also appeared in the Wandle Trust’s full report on Remembrance Sunday’s community cleanup… … we reckon it’s well worth reposting here for the record. On this evidence, the Plough Lane (aka Barbel Alley) stretch of […]
November 3 2015
Urban fishing gear review: Vision Urban wading boots
Camouflage takes on a whole new level of meaning when you’re fishing urban rivers. You’re not just trying to hide from the fish, you may also be trying not to stand out too much from the rest of the human population – whether you’re hopping on and off public transport, grabbing a beer or a burger, […]
October 12 2015
Urbantrout sidecasts: Monday 12 October
Manchester’s urban river restorationist Mike Duddy wins the Wild Trout Trust’s Wild Trout Hero award 2015 The BBC goes exploring London’s unseen rivers (and how they’re still affecting parking restrictions on the borders of different boroughs!) How was #Bagmageddon for you? England’s new plastic bag tax could raise £730 million for good causes over the […]
October 1 2015
Urban river restoration: New strength in numbers for grayling in Chesterfield’s Rother
For those of us who like to make a note of future fishing prospects on our urban rivers (not to mention small but significant rewilding stories for our favourite inner city ecosystems!) here’s a good one for the diary. On 25 June this year, according to Brian Clarke in the Grayling Society’s latest newsletter… … the […]
September 25 2015
Cleaning up the Mersey Basin: Urban river cleanups for World Rivers Day 2015 and beyond
Inspired by the success of community cleanup events on urban rivers all over the UK (including the Don, Cale, Slea and Wandle), the Mersey Basin Rivers Trust has announced a new series of last-Sunday-of-the-month river cleanups across the Manchester area. Cleanups will run from 10.30am until around 2pm, and heavy gloves, hot drinks and cake […]
