Having fly fished the yorkshire rivers this past two years, I cannot help but notice the huge decline in many of the rivers. I used to go fly fishing in the rivers of yorkshire quite a lot during the 70s, 80s and nineties, but left fishing for 10 years. Having returned to fly fishing the rivers, I have noticed a massive decline. I used to go with my dad and uncle on the wharfe at Poole, boston spa and Linton and when I started fly fishing all those years ago as a young girl, when everyone around me was chucking in maggots, including my uncle and dad, I was casting a milbro fibre glass rod, with a masterline and a diawa reel, in between em, with six flies I had bought from a tackle shop, gold ribbed hairs ear, greenwells and those cow pat flies. I caught dace and graylings on the dry fly and big grayling at boston spa. I also can remember my dad and uncle catching 120 plus brown trout at Poole on the wharfe in the early 70s, erm on maggots. Although, maggot chucking never appealed to me much.

Since returning to this spectacular river and other west and north yorkshire rivers, with all the modern tackle, I and we, catch naff all. It seems that the rivers have almost become devoid of fish. I have noticed the disappearance, to a great extent of the once prolific water crows foot weeds. I wonder what has caused this decline on our once great rivers.

Ironically, the once heavily polluted, dead rivers like the south yorkshire Don, Dearne and Rother are teaming with fish, and you can see trout rising all over the place on the upper river Don.

With the demise of heavy industry, why have the once great rivers, like the Wharfe, Ure, Nidd, Swale etc gone so downhill fish wise, when there appears to be less polution from mills, foundarie, coal mines, chemical works ?

Has anyone got any answers or even have a clue to what has really happened cos well the EA don't appear to give sufficient info on the subject. Although we pay them quite a bit in licence fees.

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I can't kill fish ohhhhh.

It could be that the fish have moved?.... think about all of the years we have had floods/drought etc.... Banks erode and depths change... Cormorants are responsable as well as Goosanders for decimating fish stocks. Just a thought?

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Before you cast the fly, make sure you can handle the fish! Vuoi imbrogliare? Poi Non competere! (If you want to cheat, then dont compete)

Maybe, but I don't buy the cormorant, goosander, heron, kingfisher, otter reason as the full answer, cos the once polluted rivers like the ones suggested, have had an increase in fish numbers and this has been alongside the Cormorant and goosander increase and as one fisher stated, the cormorants wouldnt go where there are no fish. I have a funny feeling that there is something else getting into or already in these rivers preventing the eggs and fry from surviving. It's not just the trout and grayling in the rivers either, chub, barbel, dace, roach etc which seem to be disappearing as well. What about those signal crayfish ? Is it sheep dip ? I am still puzzled.

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I can't kill fish ohhhhh.

With so much fly fishing now maybe with the maggot boys gone there is no food.

the rivers have been maggot fished for years during the decline lol. It's only in the close season that maggots are banned on a lot of the waters but even where there are no maggots used, or have ever been used legitimately, the rivers have still gone down the pan at an alarming rate.

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I can't kill fish ohhhhh.

Like you I used to catch loads of trout at Poole/Arthington during the '60's, '70's and '80's.

I'm fairly sure leeds ASA used to regurlarly stock this stretch but don't do now. I agree they can be hard going these days.

Maybe S Yorks rivers were stocked as part of the reclamation.

Like he says.....stocking used to be a big thing but isnt now

There are lots of diiferent pollutants in rivers. Many of them dont give a tell tale sign like the major fish kills.

I beleive one of the worst problems is called by hormone pollution..There are many leads on this on the web heres just one...

BBC News | HEALTH | Tracking sex hormone pollution

This has caused problems all over the developed world. In the USA I am sure I read that it has caused alligators to actually change sex...

So dont drink the water guys,,,

Incidentally I fish many moorland streams that above any possible sources of pollution and unlike lowland rivers they seem to be pretty much as they always were...

andrea.....

i fish pool alot during the winter ,the trout granted are few and far between these days but i can assure you there is still loads of grayling to be had just this last winter i had plenty with an odd brownie making an appearence aswell ,as for coarse fish the dace from pool do seem to of dissapeared as i used to regularly get 20lb bags of dace from the long sweeping bend below the bridge ,pool also has some big chub in its length having taken them on bread and maggot at times when ive focused solely on the chub, the best times to fish is when it has a little water in after a flood and fining off ,but i can assure you the fish are there

---------- Post added at 02:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:25 PM ----------

yep its the estrogen .

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WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RIVER, TAKE NOTHING, AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINT'S!!!

THA CAN TELL A YORKSHIREMAN ,BUT THA CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH !!

I don't accept the decline is universal- I have records going back 30 years and although the fishing has changed on my rivers- Swale, Cod Beck and Rye it is absolutely not worse. Fewer dace, bigger chub perhaps but suspect biomass is the same. I had plenty of 20 plus fish days last year and this year have already had brownies- all wild-of 1-15, 2-0 and 2-5 in three trips. Also more salmonids seen , spawning lampreys etc- it is not all doom and gloom. Big hatches of grannom too..