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Is the River Thames sick? Thick brown algae...


tiddlertamer

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I don't mind the lack of flow, certainly after the last couple of summers, but the algae is a problem. Fished the Severn and Avon last week and it was much harder than it should have been there too.

Tim

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I don't mind the lack of flow, certainly after the last couple of summers, but the algae is a problem. Fished the Severn and Avon last week and it was much harder than it should have been there too.

 

Now I'm not blaming algae but it seems that everyone all over the country has been struggling on the rivers for several seasons. IMO it is due to the floods back a few years ago but Poles and Otters seem to be taking much of the blame. Has anyone found their river has actually improved in the last few seasons?

 

Would be nice if we could have a little more water inthe Thames though!

 

Rich

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I haven't lived here long enough to see a pattern, but it is amazing what you can suddenly catch with little effort when conditions are spot on. I think the fish are there all right, you just need to get the timing perfect.

 

The floods definately had a big impact on the rivers though. The most credible reason I've heard is that they filled the rivers with trillions of micro organisms, which the fish became preoccupied on, making them near-impossible to catch for quite some time. On a match-fished stretch of a river (can't remember which one - anyone jog my memory please?) everyone was blanking following the floods, and they feared all the fish had been washed away and died. In desperation the organisers allowed bloodworm and joker - and suddenly everyone was catching again.

 

The other big impact has been the unstoppable march of the crayfish.

 

On the Thames specifically, gravel extraction on a huge scale has significantly reduced the flow over the years, something which the EA is slowly putting right, together with restocking of barbel where this has been a success. The nearest weirpool to me had over 400 tons of gravel taken out about 15-20 years ago, and it's the same story all along the river.

 

Water abstraction has been another huge blow to some rivers. For example, the town of Witney used to get all its water from the little river Windrush, which used to be packed with big dace, big roach, barbel, perch, you name it. Over the years, Witney quadrupled in size, and the river was brought to its knees. Now Witney gets its water from Farmoor reservoir, and the water levels are back to what they used to be, but the barbel have gone and so have most of the other fish.

 

And people blame otters...

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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That's interesting...I nearly had a go in one of the weirpools at the weekend and decided against it. When the river's this low and slow and full of ravenous bleak, I think all you can do is wait for rain, as you say!

 

Once things are looking healthier I'm looking forward to doing some traditional bream fishing - soft quivertip rod, cage feeder, worms and maggots :)

 

I was at the big weir for Sandford lock. It looks really good but fishinblokes I've met down there say its quite hard.

You local to Oxford then Anderoo? I've only just got back into fishing last season and regret all the years I've lived here and not fished any of the lovely rivers/pits etc we've got here. And there's so much of it just on the 3 club tickets I've got. In one season I've been out fishing at least once a week on average and barely scratched the surface. I've never struggled like this last month though even though I'm new to fishing big rivers.

 

Good interesting stuff about the gravel digging. I'd never considered what that would do.

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Quote Anderoo The other big impact has been the unstoppable march of the crayfish.

 

They still have not infected my local bit but are closing in from upstream and down and this may well be the last season before they arrive :angry: ,that weirpool at Sandford is a lovely looking bit of water and the pub aint bad either .

Is the river still brown??? may give her a go soon if this rain helps river flow/levels steve.

We are not putting it back it is a lump now put that curry down and go and get the scales

have I told you abouit the cruise control on my Volvo ,,,,,,,bla bla bla Barder rod has it come yet?? and don`t even start me on Chris Lythe :bleh::icecream:

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Quote Anderoo The other big impact has been the unstoppable march of the crayfish.

 

They still have not infected my local bit but are closing in from upstream and down and this may well be the last season before they arrive :angry: ,that weirpool at Sandford is a lovely looking bit of water and the pub aint bad either .

Is the river still brown??? may give her a go soon if this rain helps river flow/levels steve.

 

Yes, still brown here, Steve, but not as bad as it was a week or two ago. I am waiting for it to look better before fishing it.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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Yes, still brown here, Steve, but not as bad as it was a week or two ago. I am waiting for it to look better before fishing it.

 

Bet after that downpour the Thames gets turned into a raging torrent by the weekend from one extreme to the other :wallbash: ,Staying on the boat tommorow so digging out 6oz watch leads in anticipation of conditions and poss Barbel sport steve.

We are not putting it back it is a lump now put that curry down and go and get the scales

have I told you abouit the cruise control on my Volvo ,,,,,,,bla bla bla Barder rod has it come yet?? and don`t even start me on Chris Lythe :bleh::icecream:

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Bet after that downpour the Thames gets turned into a raging torrent by the weekend from one extreme to the other :wallbash: ,Staying on the boat tommorow so digging out 6oz watch leads in anticipation of conditions and poss Barbel sport steve.

 

On the contrary, it doesn't seem to have made any difference to the flow, all it's done is to stir up all the algae and make it a thick brown colour again. Looks worse than ever <_<

 

And we had a lot of rain yesterday...

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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The river season should really run from 1 September to 14 March, save us all this annual headache! :D

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

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