NEWS

May 2nd 2012 There has been a difficult start to the 2012 season with the one of the wettest Aprils on record. I recorded 112.5mm of rain in my garden on the North Downs compared with just 2.5mm in April 2011. The (thirty year) long-term average for April on the North Downs is about 53mm. In fact, on average, April is one of the driest months of the year in this region. On average, there is significantly less annual rainfall at the downstream end of the catchment (ca 660mm) compared with the upstream end (ca 855mm).

In any event the rain has been welcomed by gardeners and fishermen alike and has certainly improved the look of the river over our fishery.

Oct 5th 2011 The trout fishing season ended on the Darent on Septemeber 30th. Catch returns indicate that a record number of fish have been caught with the average catch per visit exceeding 3 fish for the first time for at least 10 years..

July 28th 2011 Revised figures, following some late catch returns from the Roman Villa beat, indicate that May was not so far behind April after all. However, fishing effort was lower in June, perhaps associated with the rainfall which totalled 100 mm on the North Downs at the Western end of the catchment - that is about double the long term average for June. Continued rain into July helped to maintain the river flow and there were some good bags at the Roman Villa despite the poachers.

Jun 18th 2011 After a record number of visits to the river in April, fishing effort slowed during May - no doubt assiciated with the weather and condition of the river. Nevertheless the average catch was 3.55 fish per visit with no blanks recorded. Notably, several small wild fish were netted. alan Gaunt continues to record good catches at Furlongs Farm. Other members should really give it a try.

May 18th 2011 The season has started with unusually warm and dry weather continuing from late March. Members have already seen a few mayfly although most catches have been on nymphs, GRHE being the favourite. Several members have tried the Furlongs Farm beat already with bags of four or more brown trout being recorded. Preston Farm was slow at the beginning of the month but picked up towards the end. As usual most members favoured the Castle Farm beats and the total recored catches there reflected that. The Roman Villa beats have been plagued by poachers but we are pleased that the police hace intervened at least once and the Environment Agency are also keen to apprehend offenders.

March 7th 2011 To complete the project caried out by the NWKCP in January, Martin Sutton arranged for several tons of coarse gravel to be laid in the sidestream at Preston Farm. Andrew Alexander kindly used his JCB to move the 1 ton bags but not without getting stuck in the meadow. Fortunately club members were available to help dig out the JCB.

Andrew Alexander moves a ton of gravel	Gravel placement	The end result
Oh Dear!	What shall we do?	We're in a bit of a rut!

January 27th 2011 During January and February the North West Kent Countryside Partnership (NWKCP) are carrying out habitat improvements to the side-stream at Preston Farm. This follows the fish survey carried out by the Environment Agency in October when many brown trout fry were observed in parts of the stream. Evidently it is an ideal "nursery area" for fry. The NWCP consists of volunteers - many of whom are retired - who are co-ordinated by permanent staff based at the headquarters in Dartford. The organisation is funded by Sevenoaks District Council, Dartford Council, Kent County Council and the Environment Agency.

The work consisted mainly of clearing debris and re-structuring river banks with faggots and spiling, thus facilitating a better flow regime along the length of the stream. This should, in time, result in less silting and a better habitat for fry whilst retaining cover from predators..

Silted area cleared	View upstream of the entrance gate	View downstream of the entrance gate
Bank revetement at river junction	Bank revetement along side-stream	There is still work to be done!

October 3rd 2010 August was unusually wet with more than twice the long-term average rainfall over our catchment in West Kent. the fishing was evidently not too good either with the average bag below 2 fish per visit - quite the lowest for any month for several years. September saw a great improvement; nearly twice as many fish were caught with the average bag in excess of three fish. Rainfall for September was close to the long-term average.

August 3rd 2010 Very hot weather continued into July. Nevertheless catches were good for those who ventured to the river bank with an average of over 3 fish per visit. However, with virtually no rain for six weeks, the river level has become as low as we have seen it for some years.

July 13th 2010 Despite the hot sunny weather for the latter part of the month fishing activity for the moth was up compared with last year. Members averaged more than 2 fish per (recorded) visit. The only member venturing to Furlongs Farm, Alan Gaunt, netted 5 and 6 fish on two visits.

June 28th 2010 Colin Lambert, Mark Daley and Alan Gaunt assisted with stocking Preston Farm and Roman Villa on June 28th.

Deciding what to do!	Paul Davis - our fish supplier from Harrietsham. Paul's family have been our suppliers for two generations	Alan Gaunt stocks some brown trout at Preston Farm

June 16th 2010 The weather improved in late May and the first mayfly led to improvements in catches. Members averaged over 3 fish per visit but this was still not as good as 2009 and the number of visits (213) was substantially less than 2009 (283).

A cause for concern is that, up to the end of May, no member had recorded fishing at Furlongs Farm at all this season. Castle Farm is still firm favorite and - it has to be said - easiest!

June 6th 2010 Ten members attended the working party at Castle Farm and enjoyed dry but humid weather despite earlier forecasts of heavy rain. They were surprised to find the river level very high. Evidently the localised thunder storms during the night had impacted the catchment although only about 5mm of rain was recorded at Westerham Hill.

Herbie & Colin cutting burr reed on CF "A". The result was a very nice pool leaving enough reed downstream to accelerate the flow..	How to pose for a photo!	What shall we do next?

May 11th 2010. April fishing was disappointing with hardly any rising fish and catches similar to 2008 following a bumper April last year. From the same number of visits, members recorded catching only 153 fish compared with over 231 last April. The return of the northerly wind in early May has again kept members away from the river. Beat Manager Peter Farina had not fished at all until May 10th although one newly retired beat manager has been seen on the river bank most days! The catch return for April will be an under-estimate, however, because the clipboard from the Roman Villa beat, along with some catch return sheets, has been stolen.

Apr 19th 2010.

The club received a further Advisory Visit from a Wild Trout Trust consultant sponsored by the E.A. Previous Visits have been by Vaughan Lewis. This time the consultant was Andy Thomas (right) who moved to WTT from our local E.A. office about 18 months ago. Here Martin Sutton listems to Andy Thomas while Colin Lambert takes notes. On the far left is E.A. fisheries scientist, Peri Karageorgeopoulos who, despite hailing from Greece, fishes in the England fly-fishing team. Next to Andy in E.A. Fisheries Specialist, Ben Lord. The visit was one result from our recent briefing meeting with the E.A. at their Allington Lock office.

Apr 3rd 2010. The new season is just into its thrid day over the Easter holiday and conditions have not been ideal for fly fishing. Earlier in the week the river was a veritable torrent, almost topping the bank in several places and the water was coloured as a result. Although the gale-force wind has subsided there is still a cold breeze to make casting tricky.

Keith Wallington has taken on the difficult task of dealing with poaching. There were signs of an increase last season fueled, perhaps, by the higher level of unemployment compared with previous years. In the next week or two Keith will be contacting members asking them to complete an on-line survey about their experiences with poachers on our fishery. He is also re-establishing our contacts with the local police and will work closely with our landowners.

Oct 26th 2009. Hadlow College students of fisheries management electrofished the Roman Villa beats on October 26th to remove pike. there were many fewer pike than two years ago and none over 10lb. Those removed were released live in Sundridge Lake with the appropriate authroisation from the E.A. The lower biomass of pike compared with two years ago means that fewer trout will have been consumed by these predators. Studies by the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratories indicate that pike removal from a chalkstream trout fishery does lead to reductions in the need for stocking and to significant financial savings. (Reference: R.H.K. Mann, 2006, J. Fish Biology, Vol.27 pp 227 - 234).

An unexpected hazard turned out to be a team of a dozen Husky dogs which now appear to be regularly exercised with a wheeled "sledge" along the river bank.

Nick Pierpoint of Hadlow College returns a large eel	Huskies by the Darent!	Electrofishing at Roman Villa