Where Have Alder Trees Gone ??

What a surprise i had when turning up for a few hours trout fishing on a favourite small, Shropshire river. The fields adjacent to the car park were full of recently cut down trees and across the river even the local rook community seemed to be shouting about the destruction.


When fishing this particular stretch of river last year, i was sure the reason it was so prolific, even in low river conditions, was because of it being tree lined. This giving the trout plenty of cover and allowing them to feed with confidence.

In fact when fishing many small rivers along the welsh border counties it becomes obvious that the best fish holding areas usually have trees on both banks. Often more open rivers, such as the Ithon, are only worth the trip when their flows are normal or even slightly up with a tinge of colour.

The problem with letting someone loose with a chain saw to create this type of habitat vandalism is that it cannot be repaired.....trees grow very slowly!
What i fail to understand is why every tree was cut down to the base, thus opening up the water to predation from goosander and even cormorants.

By felling trees like this it can do permanent damage to the ecology of the river, as they support a community of invertebrates and therefore food and nesting sites for many species of bird.

Rant over !

I fished the river for four hours and caught plenty of trout with two beautiful out of season roach. Fishing conditions were difficult with a blustery downstream wind blowing and a bit of colour to the water. All the fish were caught on a size 16 tungsten headed pt/nymph but with no fish coming from pools where the trees had been hacked down!
Some of these pools, last year, produced some very nice fish and i hope that they will recover later in the season.