River Swift Restoration 

Restoration work on the river began in the early summer of 2005. The river had been largely left to its own devices before then, although the club had been stocking and fishing since 1999.

It became all too obvious that improvements had to be made if better fishing was to be had.

Armed with a review from an Advisory Visit from the Wild Trout Trust, a small but enthusiastic group began to work.  Commencing at the northern end of the club's beat of approx. 3miles, the last 3 summers have seen a tremendous difference in both the environment and fishing prospects for members.

The following section gives a very brief picture of the work carried out by the team:

The reed beds have been controlled in the upper areas, some through scything. However, far more effective in the long-term has been improving the current and digging out of the beds.

Scything

Where there has been a lack of cover for trout, hideaways have been created.  Riffles and rocky obstructions have also provided shelter for the fish.                   

 Hideaway in Mill Field

                                        Dam & Riffle in Mill Field

As well as improving the habitat, 3 sub-strate egg boxes have been placed in the river to try to create some "home grown trout".  Sponsored by Gazeley Properties at Magna Park, 5000 eyed ova have been placed in these boxes in the last 2 years.  We hope that the resultant fry will develop into mature adults and breed using the improved gravel beds as redds.

Installing Egg Box

Egg Box & Filter

                                 Shoring up the bank

                                    A well earned break

A further Advisory Visit by the Wild Trout Trust in 2008 has confirmed how much of an improvement there has been.  This has encouraged those who continue to work on the river.

Controlling the effects of cormorant predation

The club's still waters have seen an increasing number of cormorants invading, and steps had to be taken to protect the financial investment made in trout stocking each year.

The use of  gas gun bird scarers and scarecrows has been partially successful, as has the move to stocking much bigger fish.  Stocking big fish is expensive and even these are sometimes scarred from attacks by cormorants.

What was needed was some form of protection.  With this in mind we turned to the idea of making fish refuges.

The club has contructed a number of these fish refuges.  Information from Defra indicated that cormorants quite like the floating type of refuge as the birds can stand on them to dry off while waiting to dive for more food.  With this in mind the club Chairman designed a mesh cage that could be submerged. The refuges were then covered with a dark plastic cover to keep down weed growth in the refuge.  Each refuge measures 3m  x 3m x 1m.  They were then sited in the pools and made visible by means of buoys.

It may be too early to judge the effects, but sightings of cormorants on the water have been less than formerly.

             Completed Refuge                                     Locating Refuge

Water Vole Conservation

In conjunction with the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust our club has been assisting in controlling the water vole's main predator, the American Mink.

Water voles, once a common sight on our lakes, are the fastest declining native mammal in Britain.  In the last 3 decades mink predation has been a significant factor in their decline.

In Warwickshire, until now, water voles are only known to have survived at 2 sites - Coventry City Centre and Wolvey (although not on our lakes).  However, much of the county has not yet been fully surveyed.

We have deployed mink rafts on all lakes and on our beat of the River Swift.  These rafts are used initially to identify the presence of mink in the area.

Mink Detection Platform

A basket filled with clay is inserted in the tunnel of the raft.  Mink exploring the raft will leave footprints in the clay.  Upon identification the basket is replaced with a trap.

To date we have trapped 2 mink on 'Mallard' at Copston Magna and 1 at Wolvey.  Whilst many rafts have had other footprints left, there is no other evidence of mink at our sites.  A footprint on a raft on the River Swift is believed to be that of an otter.

A recent site survey by a representative of the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has now confirmed that we do have a small colony of water voles at the eastern end of 'Mallard'.