Severn Piscator

That’s very kind, thank you.

I’m trying to rediscover my social media mojo, I don’t seem to be posting as often as I used to.

Yes. The lifecycle of the eel is just incredible. They deserve a much better welcome when they reach our shores.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I’ll start with the hashtag plan and see if we can find more likeminded folks. 👍

I’ll post some Severn eel stuff over the weekend and see if we can get something going. #eels

Yes!! That would be fabulous but I wouldn’t have a clue how to create one.

Why do I go lave net fishing?? It’s certainly not just about the catching. Early doors in the estuary in June, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

I was scanning a box of river pics this week and was delighted to find this one. Tom Wildin (centre) my great grandfather, on the Queenstown 1931. Colliery wagons in the background at the upper dock in Lydney.

Severn shrimp were once a prized food. At the close of the salmon fishing season a fine mesh would be hung on a lave net frame, the net would the be ‘driven’ through the shallows. Fussy to prepare but easily the best food to come out of the estuary. There are now only two Severn shrimpers.

There will certainly be elvers in the river in March/April/early May, please get in touch around then and I can give some details.

If you’re over Gloucestershire way next spring, please drop me a message. I took a couple of people out to see them early this year.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We need to find better solutions, until that happens assisted migration (capture on the river side/release on the stream side) is a must. Last year myself a friend and I were given permission for one stream, next year we want more. Eels deserve better. 4/4

Sadly, we have found a way to stop them and they can no longer become dispersed among many the streams, brooks and ditches on the river. Tidal flood (clapper) gates, sit on the entrances to almost all of the streams which meet the river, blocking their access to hundreds of miles of waterways. 3/4

This description of the arrival of elvers into the river from The Journal of the Society of Arts 1879 is wonderful.
It ends, “nothing seems to stop them; they go onward and onward, over weirs, rocks, or any obstruction, until at last they become dispersed among the brooks and tributaries.”2/4

In a few months time, millions of elvers will be nearing the end of their journey from the Sargasso Sea. Many will enter the Severn estuary, they can make for truly a special sight. Sadly we don’t welcome them with open arms.
(If you didn’t think elvers could get any cooler, look under UV.) 1/4

It’s so depressing to see how far they have declined. The fishery played a part in that but certainly isn’t the main factor. Sadly I can’t see us doing enough to reverse the trend.

Notable salmon captured on the Severn in 1892. There’s a note stating that no very large fish were taken, 48lb being the heaviest!
My great-grandfather Walter Prosser was the bailiff at Lydney.

It’s easily the greatest book written on the Severn! Brian Waters understands the people, the customs and the wonder of the river. His writing on the lave netting is magical.

July 1961. Howard Harris and to my knowledge the last sturgeon caught with a lave net.

I was brought up with tales of sturgeon in the estuary and have hoped throughout my time in the river that I might see one.

CRY FOR THE WYE
Why do we campaign? For many water campaigners, the main concern is the profiteering water companies that discharge vast volumes of sewage into our rivers and seas. For #SavetheWye our target is agricultural pollution. Thread.

Looking forward to following your adventures here!

Next time that I’m down that way I’ll have to have a look.

What a fabulous picture! I was chatting with a Cardiff based coracle maker at the March for Clean Water, hopefully meeting up with him again sometime soon.

Thanks Andrew.

Outside of salmon fishing season shrimps are my main target (a forgotten local delicacy) but I’ll happily waffle on about anything that swims in, walks by, floats on or crosses over the gorgeous Severn estuary. I hope some of you find it interesting. 5/5

Lave netting for salmon is simply the best form of fishing. It requires a intimate knowledge of the river, physical ability, skill and sometimes a degree of courage. Once hundreds of men fished this way, this year I know of only two. The lave net season runs June-31 Aug. 4/5

Draft netting was once practiced throughout the length of the river, I loved fishing this way. The nature of draft netting gives plenty of time for chatting and the telling of stories. I was very lucky to have fished this way with some old rivermen, who knew the river in better times. 3/5

The Severn fisheries fall into three main categories, fixed engines, draft nets and lave nets. A very brief look of each. Fixed engines, covers three forms of fishing: Pic.1 Putts (no longer fished), 2 Stopping Boats (no longer fished), 3 putchers (EA restricted). 2/5

I’ve a recently moved over here from the other place, so a little bit more about this account.
I’m aiming to raise awareness of/celebrate the fisheries of the Severn estuary. They were once part of the fabric of riverside communities but are probably going to disappear completely 1/5

Here’s my favourite explanation on what happens to conger eels on a cold night.

“You see, sir, the congers comes up to the top of a frosty night to look at the moon, gets nipped by the cold, and can't get down again.”