Was out flyfishing the other day and have noticed that the indian balsam or himalayan balsam is everywhere, years ago it was railway weed which is still about but not in the vast quantities it used to be in.

It seems to be most rivers have the same problem with himalayn balsam.

DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF IT PERMANENTLY?

Please advise as its taking a number of my flies each time I go out.

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For me the futures bright and its wild as nothing else comes close.

You and your mates better get pulling on it mate

The Pirate.

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The RHS aren't fans of the stuff http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...ayanbalsam.asp

I remember seeing something about it on Countryfile. See if you can get involved with a balsam ripping day

PPs dead right mate pulling it and burning it is about all that works.
The local Eden rivers trust up here have a few days targeting it each year with volounteers but it's a pretty thankless task as it is spreading so fast.
The words peeing into the wind spring to mind.

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"A glint of sun has warmed the air,The flies will soon hatch out, To lure and tempt from their deep lair, The bonnie speckled trout." SKB tackle supporter. I love Furled Leaders.

we had an organised pull in this catchment this summer, with natural england supplying a vast number of volunteers, where we targetted 4 hot spots on the Nadder.

If you want to get rid of it, Start from top of river (no point pulling if seeds are going to come down again in years to come), pull it from the roots before it flowers (may-ish?). Repeat this process for a few years until it no longer appears. I believe it's a bi-annual so in theory the best case scenario is that you have to do it 2 years running. Assuming you don't get every plant and that seeds come downstream from other stands you may have to do it for a few years.

Good luck!

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ugly casts catch fish too
http://nadder-diary.net

Its also making your river banks erode quicker [making the river overwide and slowing the flow] and outcompeting the native riparian plants.

Malcolm has it about right. HB is a cunning plant as it out-competes every other plant on the river bank, it cuts out the light to other plants and apparently its nectar is more appealing to bees/hornets etc so it can be pollinated easier, again the other plants suffer. As its roots grow alot shallower, the die back in winter renders the river banks susceptible to erosion from the river so when it spates as there are very few other root systems present in the bank to stabilise it. If you feel like popeye in May, get pullin!

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Ironically quite a bit of HB spread is as a result of people trying to get rid of it. Get advice from SEPA or SNH about disposal.

It's quite rampant on the banks of the Frome in Dorset, despite best efforts of riparian owners and the Dorchester Club... the problem seems to be inaction on stretches that aren't much fished when coupled with the plant's tough nature.

Anyone else think Himalayan Balsam smells like fried chicken ?

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