Some disappointing news arrived in our inbox on 1st June regarding the Whiteadder Angling Association trout fishing on the stretch at Ninewells.
We received notice from Adam Stacey-Clear down in East Sussex advising us that he was the new leaseholder on this stretch for both Salmon and Trout. Adam also provide a scan copy of the lease in support of his claim. The note then went on to advise the WAA that their right to fish for trout should cease immediately as only he and "Chasing Fins guests" now had permission to fish.
WAA also historically have a trout fishing lease which should pass from Riparian owner on sale of the land. Indeed the WAA have had this stretch on their waters since inception (1930). So naturally this development came as a bit of a surprise.
To date we have not heard either verbally or in writing from the current Riparian owner who we believe resides in Northern Ireland that our lease is terminated and we are taking steps to clarify the situation with this person.
As a Tweed Commissioner I today attended the quarterly meeting to request support from the Commission as the loss of trout fishing to the WAA, local anglers and kids starting out was of great concern. I pointed out that the loss of access to trout fishing was against the terms of the Tweed Protection Order and received their full support to pursue the matter with the Riparian owner via the office of the Tweed Commission.
Now it may be that the new lease holders intent to offer access to public trout fishing at a reasonable cost and thereby keep within the Protection Order and receive the appropriate safeguards themselves from the Tweed Commission. If so all well and good but the tone of the note would suggest otherwise.
As you can imagine getting exit notice midway through a season means it is virtually impossible to track down all persons who now hold a WAA permit and let them know that the stretch is potentially out of bounds. We would estimate about 150+ tickets will have been issued so far in season 2021 from various outlets. So to have this relayed to ticket holders immediately is unrealistic.
This note on our Facebook and on our website is an attempt to get the word out about this potential loss of the Ninewells stretch. Rather than create further inconvenience to the new leaseholders we are asking WAA ticket holders to refrain from fishing/visiting this stretch at the bottom of our part of the river until we can clarify our situation. Your help and support in this aim would be appreciate and please let others know who may not have seen this communication.
Enjoy the rest of your trout fishing on other parts of the upper river