2011 provisional catch figures

The provisional rod catch for 2011 stands at 332. This figure is based on returns up to mid February. It represents a significant improvement on catches in 2009 and 2010 which like last year suffered from low water. It would be a mistake to try and isolate a single cause for this upturn, but good catches of 2SW fish across much of England and Wales in 2011 suggests that the 2009 smolts may well have found favourable currents after the leaving the rivers. This could keep down marine mortality and boost rod catches.  

This catch is another indicator of improving stocks after the collapse in catches in the late '90s.

The 2011 catch was 180% of the 1998 figure. Yet since the late 90's the number of anglers has declined by more than two thirds. This suggests strongly that the stock is increasing. If we look at catch-per-unit-effort we can see the trend over the last decade or so more clearly.

Flows impact very strongly on the distribution of the rod catch with the navigation weirs on the lower river accounting for the majority of fish in low water years. This pattern was again evident in the 2011 catches. The lower river is a very long stretch of river, but the effective fishing area is made up mainly from a handful of weir pools. Over 65% of the fish reported from below Stourport actually came from just one such hotspot: Diglis weir at Worcester. 


Prior to 2009 the catch from below Bridgnorth would've been considerably higher in a drought year. However, changes of ownership at one particularly productive low water fishery has led   to a big reduction in catches. This is due to less rod effort and highly productive water remaining un-fished. 


The graph below represents fish reported to me for the T&S monthly report. It isn't exhaustive, but I believe it does give a broadly accurate picture.