For the second year running quality roach rather than bream provided the winning catches in the annual 40 peg contest fished on the tidal Thames at Kew, Chiswick and Barnes.
The winner was Tony Rice with a float caught mixed bag of 14lbs from Barnes netting him a cool £400. The Chiswick zone was won by last years champion Mark Brush with 12lbs of roach including a magnificent specimen of 2.04. The big bream shoals failed to show at Kew resulting in much lower than usual weights although a couple of surprise sea trout were landed.
Zones
Kew A – Martin Smith 6.08
Kew B – Tom Bolton 5.00
Chiswick – C – Mark Brush 12.00
Barnes – D – Tony Rice 14.00
Other activities included kayaking, paddle boarding, river dipping and Seine netting which turned up big numbers of small bass as well flounders and coarse fish.
The match was organised by the Angling Trust and Tidefest is sponsored by Thames Water
Dr David Solomon will be signing copies of his new book A History of Fish and Fisheries of the River Thames at Thames Tidefest on September 12th. You can come and meet the author and not only will he personally sign your copy of the book, but David is giving a £5 discount to every purchase made at the event. So come along to Strand On The Green on September 12th to get your copy and have a chat with the author.
The book itself describes the fascinating history of fish in the Thames, and the development of fisheries to catch them both for food and sport. It is lavishly illustrated with old engravings, maps and photographs, and contains a wealth of anecdotes and stories that will delight the angler, natural historian, historian and fishery professional alike. The author is both a lifelong angler and a fishery scientist, and he draws on his long experience in these fields for the background and material for this book.
Interesting stories include:-
· the numbers and price of each species of local freshwater fish used to feed Thomas Cranmer, former Archbishop of Canterbury, in the days leading up to his execution in Oxford in 1556 (pike were the most expensive);
· the long history of attempts to re-introduce salmon to the river (it held good numbers until the early 19th century);
· a thriving fishery for roach at London Bridge in the 18th century, and the interesting methods used to catch them;
· huge catches of barbel in Victorian times, made by groundbaiting with thousands of worms;
· the decline of the fishery for eels using traps and weirs
· the man with a lifetime catch of more than 800 Thames trout over 3 lb (including several of more than 10 lb). Details of availability will be found at www.fluvialbooks.com
The Thames Tideway Angling Championship has been a huge success in recent years with weights of 30lb plus winning the match and over 30 anglers competing. 2017 looks like being the biggest and best yet so get yourself booked in !
We will be fishing three zones this year; the gravel foreshore downstream of Kew Bridge on the north bank, and below Chiswick road bridge and Barnes railway bridge on the south, where there are large shoals of roach, dace and bream. Waders are essential and wading up to thigh depth is allowed within the confines of your peg. All species can be weighed in except eels. The use of an easily moveable platform or tripod is advised as you will be following the tide down. The details are below and further information will be circulated nearer the time. Good luck!
Date and Time: Sunday September 10th – Fishing 9.00 am – 2.00 pm (depending on tides)
Draw: 7.00 am Strand on the Green, Kew Bridge, London W4 3RE
Tides at Kew Bridge: High – 6.06 am. Low – 1.52 pm
THIS MATCH IS NOW SOLD OUT
For a round-up of last years event click the link below
Do you fancy a day out with the family with lots of different fun activities ?
Would you like to introduce a member of your family or a friend to fishing ?
Maybe you are a beginner or an existing angler looking to brush up on your skills ?
The get along to the Thames Water Family Fishing Day run in collaboration with Get Hooked on Fishing and The Angling Trust. All sessions are Free with fishing tackle provided and instruction from our friendly licensed coaches, plus loads of other activities for anglers and non anglers alike.
Wildlife organisations, river and environmental groups and community associations have this week announced plans for a second, bigger TideFest to be held on the Tidal Thames in London on September 20th.
TideFest is a new River Thames event which took place for the first time last year on World Rivers Day to highlight the recreational importance of the Thames to Londoners. TideFest 2015 takes place at Strand on the Green, Chiswick and at other locations along the Thames Tideway. TideFest is proud to be a partner of Totally Thames and to be supported by the Thames Tunnel Now Coalition, Thames Tideway Tunnel and Thames Water.
A wide range of activities have been planned from 10am – 6pm for Sunday 20th September including:
Stand Up Paddleboarding. Organised by Active 360 with pre-booked sessions from 11am for those new to paddleboarding, an Eco tour from Kew to Hammersmith and an evening river tour to Richmond. There will be a race at Strand on the Green at 4.30pm.
Kayak Taster Sessions by Edge Paddling where newcomers can simply turn up from 11am and try kayaking with qualified coaches.
A day out at Thames Water’s Kempton Nature Reserve – an internationally important wetland habitat with great bird life. From 10am to 5pm visitors will be able explore these urban wetlands of London through interactive activities for children, aquatic habitat species surveys and guided birdwatching walks.
A whole range of community activities and displays will be available at the Strand on the Green. The marquees on the riverside embankment will host displays on the Thames Tideway, historical artefacts collected by local archivists, painting by local artists, children’s activities and an information point with material available from environmental and wildlife groups and the Port of London Authority.
The charity Get Hooked on Fishing will be holding a series of fun, angling related activities on the foreshore aimed at children and newcomers to the sport from 10am to 4pm.
The prestigious Thames Tideway Angling Championship takes place from 9.30am to 2.30pm at Strand on the Green and Barnes. 50 top anglers from across the UK will be taking part and spectators are welcome.
On the Foreshore there will be children’s activities including river dipping, water testing and games designed to explain and increase understanding of what’s going on in the river run by the environmental charity Thames21. A series of highly informative Archaeological Walks and tour of Oliver’s Island will be held in the afternoon from 12 noon onwards at Strand on the Green.
The London Wildlife Trust is once again offering people a rare chance to visit their nature reserve on Isleworth Ait. (Further details to be announced)
At 6pm the SoTG Sailing Club hold their annual TideFest Challenge Trophy competition. Spectators welcome.
The River Thames Society is organising four one hour boat trips around the Tideway islands leaving from Kew Pier on the historic Thames launch the Windrush. Guided commentary included. Trips leave at 11am, 12.15, 1.30 and 2.45 (advance booking required)
TideFest organiser Martin Salter from the Angling Trust said:
“This is an event that keeps on growing and which aims to help reconnect Londoners with their river. The Thames holds 120 different species of fish and is home to a tremendous array of birds and other wildlife yet far too few people are aware of what an amazing resource we have on our doorsteps. With work on the Thames Tunnel about to commence we can look forward to a brighter future for this great river and loads more opportunities for people to enjoy what it has to offer.”
Debbie Leach, Chief Executive of Thames21 said: “There are great opportunities to use and enjoy the River Thames, to learn about it and understand what it provides for London, for nature and for the community. As the Thames becomes cleaner, these opportunities will only grow and Tidefest is the perfect day for us all to celebrate this.”
Gordon Scorer, Chief Executive of London Wildlife Trust added:
“It’s good to see all the groups who’ve been working so hard for a cleaner Thames coming together to celebrate the importance of London’s river and promoting the fantastic recreational and wildlife opportunities that are here right in the heart of this great city.”
Thanks to the generous sponsorship from Tideway Tunnels and Thames Water all the activities are either free or offered at a substantially reduced rate. Check website or Facebook page at http://thamestidefest.net/ or http://www.facebook.com/thamestidefest for details where advanced booking is required.
Following the hugely successful 2015 event, we are proud to announce that the date for a bigger, better, 3rd Thames TideFest Angling Championship has been announced. The prestigious event, organised by the Angling Trust and Thames Water, will be held on Sunday, September 11th, 2016 on the tidal Thames in London.
The match will extend upstream to Ham, an area renowned for big bags of dace and bream, in addition to the existing sections at Strand on the Green at Kew and downstream at Barnes. With just 20 pegs in each zone, anglers will have a lot more room between pegs.
As well as the pools payouts the competitors will share £1,000 in prize money, split over the three zones, thanks to sponsorship from Thames Tideway Tunnel and Thames Water. All ticket monies will be donated to the angling charity Get Hooked on Fishing.
Martin Salter, Keith Arthur and Will Barnard with a cheque for the ‘Get Hooked on Fishing” charity, raised at Tidefest 2015
Despite bright sunny conditions and low flows the river fished well in this year’s match and bream to 7lbs showed throughout, together with some huge dace at Strand on the Green and some quality roach at Barnes.
Andriks Lekstutis took first place with 31lbs 13ozs of slabs from just below Kew railway bridge at Strand on the Green while Tackle Up proprietor Nigel Newport from Fleet in Hampshire recorded the top weight at Barnes of 21lbs 8ozs
Tidefest Angling Champion 2015 Andriks Lekstutis proudly showing off his winners trophy.
Angling journalist and Thames regular Keith Arthur said: “I am delighted to hear that plans are in hand for an even bigger and better event next year, bringing a section of semi-tidal Thames at Ham into the match and with it lots more activities on the ample grassland next to the river. The way the river has fished this year, 2016 should be even better. One of the big surprises for me was the appearance of some serious roach on the downstream section at Barnes. Next year the pegging will be more generous so I expect even more fish to be caught.”
TideFest organiser Martin Salter from the Angling Trust said: “It has been great to see so many people out enjoying the river right in the heart of London and for angling to be at the centre of celebrating the fabulous potential of the Thames. Including new sections upstream allows us to cater for a minimum of 60 anglers, and maybe more in the future, whilst giving everybody a bit more room to maximise the potential from their pegs.”
Will Barnard, Angling Development Manager for Thames Water said: “Thames Water are pleased to be supporting the Thames TideFest Championship and to be promoting angling opportunities in London. The tidal Thames is already a good fishery but it will only get better once the new Tideway Tunnel is built and the water quality improves still further.”
Will Barnard of Thames Water get’s ready for the weigh-in
This year’s TideFest raised £225 for Get Hooked on Fishing.
To book a place for next year’s TideFest contact Ron’s Tackle, 465 Upper Richmond Road West, London SW14 7PU. Telephone: 020 8876 4897 or email sandra.drew@anglingtrust.net
