OK boys and girls, we think you know the drill… this year’s Wild Trout Trust auction has just gone live, from today until the evening of Sunday 28 March. Which means it’s time to start planning some highlights of your fishing season around this carefully-assembled selection of fishing-related opportunities (including the urban ones which we’ve listed below!)
This charity auction is an incredibly important fundraising event for the Wild Trout Trust: every penny raised makes it possible for their team of expert conservation officers to provide practical advice, deliver hands-on improvement projects, and bring in even more match funding from other sources. The Trust has low overheads, a small staff and an ever-growing group of volunteers, so the money raised in the auction makes a real and measurable difference to our urban and rural rivers alike, even in these difficult times of Covid-19.
For the first time this year, the auction is being run on the Wild Trout Trust’s own auction facility instead of on ebay. It’s user-friendly, completely secure and data protection compliant, and it means that even more money goes to the Trust’s vital work. If you’re worried about Covid-19 restrictions, donors are prepared to carry over until next year if necessary.
Of course, the auction has a huge range of non-urban-related items and experiences to bid for… but as usual, we’ve picked out the best of the urban best, and curated them here for your bidding pleasure:
Lot 69: A selection of dry flies and nymphs for use on rivers across the UK, tied by guide and fly-tyer Phillippa Hake (whose home water is the superbly urban River Calder in West Yorkshire). All these flies are proven fish-catchers for Phillippa, and ones she wouldn’t be without in her box.
Lots 85 and 86: 2 chances to win a week’s permit for 1 rod on the Town Waters of the River Ness in Inverness, presented by the Inverness Angling Club. This beat runs right through the Scottish Highland capital, and is best fished for salmon with a fly
Lots 112 and 113: 3 days for 2 rods fishing the waters of Merthyr Tydfil Angling Association, which offers not just the urban upper Taff and the restored Taf Fechan tributary, but also beats on the Tarrell and Usk.
Lots 121 and 122: 2 permits to fish on 4 weekends of your choice (Friday – Sunday) or 4 weekday blocks of any 3 days (Monday – Friday) across the waters of the Merthyr Tydfil Angling Association, as above.
Lot 187: An ‘arty crafty angling’ experience with broadcaster and Wild Trout Trust vice-president Matthew Wright and artist Hayes Hopkinson, to be spent exploring South London’s River Wandle not far from where Matthew went to school in Croydon. Hayes will shadow Matthew and the lucky winner, and present them (at a later date) with a painting that captures the essence of the day on the urban river that inspired the whole idea of Trout in the Town.
Lot 209: 1 day’s fishing for 1 rod, hunting barbel on the Wandle with Hector Rodriguez. Hector has been targeting barbel on the fly for the last 4 years, and starred in a short film for the Wild Trout Trust’s Virtual Get-Together last year. With the chance of a specimen barbel, roach, chub or trout on these rejuvenated London waters, this will be a day to remember.
Lot 290: 1 day’s fishing for 1 rod on the River Calder in West Yorkshire with Phillippa Hake, targeting wild urban trout and grayling with simple dry fly and nymph tactics.
So… please click here to register, browse and bid early and often… and we’ll hope to see you out there somewhere on our urban rivers!
(Photo: Wild Trout Trust / Phillippa Hake)
Tags: Calder, Fly-fishing, Grayling, London, Trout, Urban fishing, Urban river restoration, Urban rivers, Wandle
