Payment Instructions: Individual £60 per person or £110 a pair or £200 a team of four

Please send your completed entry form to:

Email: mike@severnriverstrust.com or Post: SRT, 4 Dunthrop Road, Heythrop, Chipping Norton, Oxon, OX7 5TL

Pay here using PayPal

Download a full size copy of the map here

The Environment Agency have requested our assistance by calling in any abstraction or irrigation going on in the red restricted catchments, (see the attached map). In addition please report any dried up water courses or where it appears people have put in illegal impoundments/dams to aid abstraction. Please call the EA Hotline 0800 80 70 60 number to report these observations together with a grid reference and or as a good a description of the location as possible, as this makes investigation a lot easier. However please be advised not to tamper with any irrigation kit, pumps or dams that you may observe. Simply record the location and call in. The Environment Agency will provide feedback and deal with it if it proves to be illegal. The map will be updated on a weekly basis, so please check our website for updates, www.severnriverstrust.com on a regular basis.

One of the simplest methods to assess a fisheries performance is through catches during organised fishing matches.  This study examines Match Catch returns for the River Severn within three sections between Cressage and Holt Bridge from 2004 to 2011. 

Catch per unit effort (g/angler/hr) have been analysed and results show the coarse fisheries of the River Severn are relatively stable, with periodic changes in angler success.  Overall, the fisheries attain a Fisheries Classification grade of at least A3.

Angling effort has concentrated on barbel (Barbus barbus) and chub (Leuciscus cephalus) with bleak (Alburnus alburnus), dace (Leuciscus leuciscus) and roach (Rutilus rutilus) dominating some fishing matches. 

In isolation Match Return cards do not allow for a detailed analysis of individual matches and improved collaboration between the Environment Agency and anglers is recommended.  Particularly as changes in angling success may be attributed to a number of factors that cannot be determined through these returns

Future returns will be collated by the SRT. The return form is available here for download

This should be completed after every match and returned to severnriverstrust@btconnect.com or admin@severnriverstrust.com

John Love -30lb Severn salmon

This is the largest salmon caught so far this season from the Severn. The fish fell for a small flying C fished by Severn regular John Love. It is the front runner for the Shakespeare Oracle XT competition for the largest salmon caught and released from the river in 2012.

The fish was not weighed, but it was estimated at over 30lbs by four witnesses including very experienced salmon anglers.

If you have any pictures of salmon that you think might beat this and would like to enter them for the competition and win a Shakespeare Oracle XT salmon fly rod, then e-mail them to Tom Rigby by clicking the link on Tom’s name

Tom Rigby

Tom’s regular blog on all things salmon on the Severn can be viewed here

At the Teme fishery’s meeting 3 April 2012 Teme anglers were advised the river is now lower than at the same time during the drought of 1976. Groundwater levels are far lower than back then after three winters with low rainfall. Any rain now is unlikely to make any significant difference to summer levels as a whole. All licensed abstraction other than emergency’s suspended (unfortunately many on the Teme have abstraction as a right and the EA has no authority over these, it takes an act of parliament to change).

If any angler witnesses any abstraction that you feel may be illegal ring the usual EA report line 0800 807060 (Freephone, 24 hour service) , give OS reference if possible. The EA should come back to you within 24 hrs to let you know if it is allowed.

Watch the SRT web site for updates over the coming months.

The barbel Society has kindly agreed that we can make available the first report of a piece of research being conducted for them on the Teme, Hampshire Avon and Kennet.

GROWTH RATES OF BARBEL BARBUS BARBUS FROM 3 RIVERS IN ENGLAND (46) click to download a copy

The report by Bournemouth University Centre for Conservation Ecology & Environmental Sciences is a preliminary report comparing growth rates of barbel caught by anglers on the River Kennet, Teme and the Hampshire Avon. Individual reports from each of these river can be seen here

• Hampshire Avon (25)
• River Kennet (29)
• River Teme (45)

The research is ongoing and the SRT hopes to work with the Barbel Society and Bournemouth University to extend the research on the River Teme in our catchment.

The SRT director Tony Bostock fishing one of our beats.

Afon Cynllaith (Tynewydd Beat)

Delightful Afon Tanat tributary epitomizes small stream Trout fishing. Some good pools, fast runs and fair easy wading. The fish are free rising responding well to either small dry flies, wet flies or nymph tactics.

Afon Banwy (Llangadfan – River Bend Beat)

Excellent Brown Trout fishing with a mixture of pools and fast challenging runs. Mainly wide and open river, once fished on a fairly regular basis by the Rev. Edward Powell, Shropshire’s favourite angling parson of Orange Otter fame. Good head of wild Brown Trout and Grayling, with the occasional late run Salmon.

Afon Mule (Upper Maenllwyd Beat)

Super small upper Severn tributary, with a mixture of pools and fast runs, well wooded but stretches of open easy accessible water. The wooded reaches can become overgrown by midsummer, but clearance work is planned in the future. Good head of wild Brown Trout.