[Mike Barrio]

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[Mike Barrio]

Any more details available for this event? ........ I haven't noticed any updates anywhere.

[Sandy Nelson]

Its this saturday and sunday, Ł30 for the 2 days fishing.
Contact Frank at Hendsersons as per leaflet above to see if there are still any spaces.

Sandy

[Hamish Young]

Which in turn makes me think this is less of a 'festival' than the predecessors..... so the question one might ask would be, why ???
I'd expect there to have been a more significant social media 'push' than there has been 

[James Laraway]

I went to the ‘original’ deveron festival a few years ago where there was a free lottery for tickets and the chance to fish some amazing beats( I fished Eden). You had to pick up your tickets from the festival site and it was lovely. The trout festival looks like a non festival trout fishing weekend ?

[Allan Liddle]

It's a lot more low key than the others but still popular and a great chance to fish some excellent water for not a lot of money.
Deveron, Bogie and Isla Rivers Trust and Frank Henderson working hard to raise awareness of how good quality and how available the trout fishing is on the Deveron which is the main reason the Festival is still going.

Initially it came about to help the Trust gain a lot of scale samples across a wide range of the river, but now it's evolved to enabling access to many who know the river and are keen to fish 'new' beats, those who haven't tried it yet and others (like me) who enjoy the 'craic' from likeminded troot bums.

There's an informal tying evening in the Turriff British Legion Lounge on Saturday night with Yours Truly (unless I'm still out chasing Rod Benders) with the chance to chew the fat and talk all things Deveron troot.

So yup it's not a full scale Festival (doesn't have to be, nor is it trying to be) but it is shaping up to be a cracking wee event for all who are coming.  Like everything else in life, it'll be what you make it and if it's not for you then simply don't come 

[Mike Barrio]

Thanks for the extra info Allan

[Ali Mcewan]

Lets be honest though, it's all a bit of a farse, what ever happened to the beat "draw" on the first morning?those in the know, pick the beats they want to fish well in advance, while everyone else is left with the, lets say, lesser beats.. 
People who had there name down have been missed out,  & from what I hear beats have been over booked this year. 
It's promoting the river to a select few, while it's getting known to others for the wrong reasons.

[Allan Liddle]

Hi Ali

That's not the impression I've got and as someone loosely helping out organisers you would have thought I'd have got first dibs?
There are less beats this year because many of them weren't fished at all, or only over one day last time so only fair these areas should get a bit more focus.

This is the Deveron we're talking about remember, there aren't any beats that are head and shoulders above any other, weather conditions, water height etc. mean that there is the chance of trophy trout through the entire system, in fact I am fishing on two of the lowest beats this year as I know the potential on both and the fact they are hardly ever fished for trout.

Yes I agree that it is disappointing if some have been allowed to pick water but the idea is for visiting anglers to experience a lot of the river they generally can't access; or don't fish.  In other words if the same guys head to the same bits then surely it's these guys that are missing out?  You can't learn about a river if you don't fish all of it.

Farce is a strong word and I take issue here I'm afraid, the Trust are working hard to promote the river, but if anglers would prefer not to support this and instead gripe / attack the efforts of those that do then it's return to the high quality trout river that no-one knows about it's been for some time.  Happy days for me then as i'll get to play about on it chasing unfished for Rod Benders all the more 

[Frank Henderson]

Fellow Anglers.
 
This discussion has been brought to my attention and I would like to clarify the situation .
 
The weekend is a Trout fishing weekend. The term festival is a hang over from the Salmon fishing festival that took place many years ago where anglers were allowed  to fish for free.
 
Unfortunately there are not many beats on the Deveron where Sunday access is allowed for trout fishing. In the past this weekend was confined to a select few beats and “invited” anglers organised by a fishing individual  where scale samples were provided to the Deveron,Bogie and Isla Trust.
 
Last year this was taken over by the Trust and rolled out to cover nearly all the river. A charge was levied for the fishing and an evening presentation. This change upset some.
 
This year the Trust staff are busy with surveys and tracking and were unable to devote time to the event.  It was agreed that the event would continue – if yours truly was willing to organise it in a smaller format.
It was further agreed that a limited amount of social media would be used to publicise the event and as Henderson’s Country Sports were attending the Scottish Fly Fair being held in Stirling  in March it would be promoted to that audience.(circa 1000)
 
 
The river can only handle a limited amount of anglers – as combat fishing does nothing for anybody.   
 
On the subject of a draw- the Salmon festival had a draw but never on the morning- and the Trout Weekend has an allocation of beats. The only “picking” of beats is done by me when I allocate the fishing. The closest to anglers picking their beat would be where several anglers are coming together in one vehicle and wish to be together, this will be accommodated whenever possible- or adjacent beats allocated.
 
The Deveron has big trout from mouth to headwaters- I can assure you there are no “lesser” beats-  tracking research by the Trust has proved this point- popular perhaps but not lesser.
The purpose of these events are to show all the river and prove that the rest of the river is as great as the “popular” beats
 
I know of no one who has their name down and has missed out- indeed this weekend has not yet taken place and no one last year was turned away.  Last year we had 15 anglers take part and this year as of this morning we stand at 25.
 
No one has been asked to pay upfront this year and it is taken in good faith that those booked will turn up or at least telephone to cancel.
 
I can assure all, whether you agree or disagree with the format that the only person who would know if beats are overbooked, under fished, who is fishing where and how that has been arrived at – is me. 
 
I have always played with a straight bat- and that has always upset some . If the river is getting known to some for the wrong reasons – then political agendas between anglers and rivers should be ignored- its about the fish – a precious resource that we are trying to encourage greater enjoyment from.
 
This weekend  has nothing to do with previous salmon festivals , at the moment over 60 permits for trout or salmon are available daily on a first come first serve basis outwith this weekend and I hope that everybody who comes along enjoys their time on the river .
 May I take this opportunity to  thank those who by taking part are supporting the river.
 
 Frank Henderson
Henderson’s Country Sports.

[Hamish Young]

Thanks Frank, always good to get detail from the source 

Personally I'm slightly perplexed as to why there would be a 'cap' on social media mention of the event - counter intuitive in my view as on the whole it's free advertising.

When you consider the Scottish Fly Fair (a super idea which I boycotted for entirely personal reasons) was probably one of the most heavily advertised pre-season events in the 'Scottish' calendar and attracted around a thousand visitors over the duration of the event... it strikes me the Deveron Trout Festival would have had an equally high awareness/low turnout.

Just my view of course, and I'm sure the decisions made were for the right reasons - bugger all to do with me at the end of the day

Wish the event the very best for this year and for many years to come.

H

[Ashley Thomas]

This is the Deveron we're mean that there is the chance of trophy trout through the entire system

This is something that I learnt a lot about at last year’s evening, amazing to think the migration some of those huge tagged trout made twice in the year from the upper reaches to near the mouth and back again! Fascinating to find one or two were also leaving the river and returning 

Ash 

[Allan Liddle]

Fellow Anglers.
 
This discussion has been brought to my attention and I would like to clarify the situation .
 
The weekend is a Trout fishing weekend. The term festival is a hang over from the Salmon fishing festival that took place many years ago where anglers were allowed  to fish for free.
 
Unfortunately there are not many beats on the Deveron where Sunday access is allowed for trout fishing. In the past this weekend was confined to a select few beats and “invited” anglers organised by a fishing individual  where scale samples were provided to the Deveron,Bogie and Isla Trust.
 
Last year this was taken over by the Trust and rolled out to cover nearly all the river. A charge was levied for the fishing and an evening presentation. This change upset some.
 
This year the Trust staff are busy with surveys and tracking and were unable to devote time to the event.  It was agreed that the event would continue – if yours truly was willing to organise it in a smaller format.
It was further agreed that a limited amount of social media would be used to publicise the event and as Henderson’s Country Sports were attending the Scottish Fly Fair being held in Stirling  in March it would be promoted to that audience.(circa 1000)
 
 
The river can only handle a limited amount of anglers – as combat fishing does nothing for anybody.   
 
On the subject of a draw- the Salmon festival had a draw but never on the morning- and the Trout Weekend has an allocation of beats. The only “picking” of beats is done by me when I allocate the fishing. The closest to anglers picking their beat would be where several anglers are coming together in one vehicle and wish to be together, this will be accommodated whenever possible- or adjacent beats allocated.
 
The Deveron has big trout from mouth to headwaters- I can assure you there are no “lesser” beats-  tracking research by the Trust has proved this point- popular perhaps but not lesser.
The purpose of these events are to show all the river and prove that the rest of the river is as great as the “popular” beats
 
I know of no one who has their name down and has missed out- indeed this weekend has not yet taken place and no one last year was turned away.  Last year we had 15 anglers take part and this year as of this morning we stand at 25.
 
No one has been asked to pay upfront this year and it is taken in good faith that those booked will turn up or at least telephone to cancel.
 
I can assure all, whether you agree or disagree with the format that the only person who would know if beats are overbooked, under fished, who is fishing where and how that has been arrived at – is me. 
 
I have always played with a straight bat- and that has always upset some . If the river is getting known to some for the wrong reasons – then political agendas between anglers and rivers should be ignored- its about the fish – a precious resource that we are trying to encourage greater enjoyment from.
 
This weekend  has nothing to do with previous salmon festivals , at the moment over 60 permits for trout or salmon are available daily on a first come first serve basis outwith this weekend and I hope that everybody who comes along enjoys their time on the river .
 May I take this opportunity to  thank those who by taking part are supporting the river.
 
 Frank Henderson
Henderson’s Country Sports.

Excellent post Frank and puts a real perspective on the event and the desire to promote the fantastic trout fishing this high class river has to offer.

[Hamish Young]

Did any forum member fishing today at the festival get some 'special loving' from a large golden retriever on the Avochie beat

H

[Sandy Nelson]

Not sure about Labs

Weather was glorious but not quite fishing conditions, ah well never mind.

It was a tough couple of days with the fish found hiding in just a couple of runs on each beat, but we did find a few.



Plenty small stuff and a few nices ones to boot.





Nothing huge landed, but one or two destroyed some very strong hooks

On sunday the Olive Uprights stareted to Hatch, but even they failed to bring much to the surface.



Still there were fish to be found if you walked and explored the beat, again most of them all hiding in one run.



No monsters, but enough to make the day feel like it was worth battling the wind for.

So a couple of nice days fishing on Beats not that easily accesible at other times, its always fun exploring new water and thats what the weekend is about for me. Many thanks to Frank for keeping it going this year and hopefully we got a few scale samples for the Trust, so they can keep their research going.

Sandy