The Warwickshire Avon at Marlcliffe looking her resplendent tree-lined best in the height of Summer. The banks lined with colourful trees, bushes and reeds full of wildlife and plenty of Willows helping to combat erosion.
A short amble downstream and we reach the lock island, another haven for wildlife. I have seen Kingfishers aplenty down here feeding on the fry that take shelter in the roots and reeds, Swans nesting and nurturing their ugly ducklings, and even a family of Mink.
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| 2015 |
Even in the depths of Winter it is still a lovely place to be, maybe even more so when the banks are less crowded.
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| 2015 |
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| 2016 |
So who's idea was it clear the whole far bank of every tree and the whole island as well!! Rumour has it that the Avon navigation trust are trying to make the river deeper to enable bigger boats to be able to travel upstream to Stratford. I'm no expert but surely the bankside clearing will only increase erosion and therefore the widen the river making it shallower? or is it not that simple?
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| 2016 |
The weir height has been increased with loads of rocks added to the slope. This will increase the depth of the water above but surely it can only be a temporary measure as the first few floods will soon wash these down the slope.
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| Rocks on the weir |
The island is now a shadow of its former self. It is not easy to tell from the photo but the bank is now a bolder-strewn wasteland with sharp rocks stretching well out into the water. I am sure the Barbel will return to spawn as they always do but I implore anyone fishing for them in these swims to use really strong tackle. Any fish that are landed will probably have mouths full of hooks from lost battles where the hooklink has sheared on the rocks. This whole exercise has not been done without any thought on fish safety whatsoever. A beautiful area has been decimated and cannot be the haven for wildlife it has been. I will be looking for pastures new come next season. Rant over!
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| My (former) favourite swim |
Anyhow I did manage to wet a line in a banker swim much further downstream. Chub were the target and I landed a couple of them.
One four pounder and a smaller one fell to a lump of last years cheesepaste. An enjoyable bit of fun in the Winter sun.
What a mess ! I thought they were putting fish passes everywhere these days, not blocking weirs with more rocks. Pity, I like that area as well. Are you still getting the club book ?
ReplyDeleteI probably will renew as it is not the work of the BAA and besides I want to get to grips with Barton this year, plus a few of the other local stretches. Definitely will join yours this time if I can
Deletegot a form waiting for you if you need it
Deletethat sluce /mill race will be clear now thay cut that lot back
DeleteI read some where they,the rich boaters,want to make the river navigable from Stratford to Warwick but the boaters as a little test put an application for a small boat launch just downstream of Warwick but it was turned down.
ReplyDeleteThis has been done so the bigger boats can get further upstream, at the moment only the smaller ones can get through, great more boat traffic-just what we need!!
DeleteCarnage.
ReplyDeleteSummed up perfectly!
DeleteAt least it wasn't a working party from an angling club! I remember a wonderful swim that ran down to bushes on the river wensum. Resident shoals of decent roach and the occasional chub made it a wonderful swim to trot with a stick float. I turned up one day and the bushes had gone! When I asked the bailiff he said that a fishing work party had removed the bushes because they made it difficult to fish the swim! Needless to say I didn't renew my membership!!
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you Chris!!
DeleteBit of piss take. It's a shame they don't consult on these matters.
ReplyDeleteBloody Hell Joe,
ReplyDeleteIt's unrecognisable now! What a mess!
If you want some superb Avon fishing without boats give me a shout. "Possibly the best fishing on the Warks Avon"
John
Hi John, sounds interesting!! Tell me more please!
Deletechattertoncj@yahoo.co.uk
Hi Joe,
ReplyDeleteDid you ever get to the bottom of who did this? Was is EA or EA contractors? There appears to be a bit of campaign brewing against the EA who are doing similar nationwide in the guise of flood improvement but it's not exactly wildlife friendly. Cheers, Lee