The 'Field of Dreams' hypothesis often used by conservationists is certainly bearing fruit on our river. According to members of Bradford City Angling Association (http://www.bradfordcityaa.co.uk/fly-fishing/), who have been doing lots of sterling work to improve habitat in both the river and along the banks of the Aire near to Gargrave, brown trout have started to spawn.
The majority of the 'redds', the nests where fish lay their eggs, have been created in areas where the anglers have placed woody deflectors (logs) and transplanted water weed to clean up the gravels on the river bed. This is great news as hopefully it will mean more fish and hence more wildlife like kingfishers and otters that rely on those fish, to be enjoyed by all of us.
It also bodes well for our DNAire project as it shows that if we can get salmon and sea trout back up the river to Skipton and beyond, they too will have good places in the river to spawn.
So, please keep a look out for this amazing spectacle. The photos here demonstrate what to look for; essentially cleaned areas of gravels where the stones have been turned – these may be about 1 metre or more in length. The Wild Trout Trust (https://www.wildtrout.org/) with whom Bradford City anglers have been working closely to improve the habitat, have produced a useful document to identify redds, available on their webpage of the trout lifecycle, here (https://www.wildtrout.org/content/trout-lifecycle).
However, please try not to disturb any fish that are actively spawning – even just standing and pointing from the top of the bank can be off-putting and grayling anglers that might be wading should be especially vigilant. After all, would you like to be interrupted?
With special thanks to Prof Jon Grey of the Wild Trust Trust who wrote this piece.