with a few fish being taken on pellet and corn at 6 mtrs and dow the edge.

Friday 14th June PM Match Deans Pools.

1 M Edge Peg 1 D21 66-08lbs

2 S Neale Stoke D43 58-04

Cold and windy afternoon with not much showing Mike caught a few down the edge on meat and corn.

Saturday 15th June High Pool.

1 A Morrison Fishermans Friend H28 78-06lbs

2 G Collett Veterans H12 60-00lbs

3 P Ward Woodlands H9 55-12lbs

4 A Jones DGL H25 41-08lbs

Andy fished worm and caster at 14 mtrs catching a mixed bag of silvers and small carp.

Sunday16th June PM Match Deans Pools.

1 T Perry Woodlands D45 84-00lbs

2 N Plumb Peg 1 D53 81-15lbs

3 R Brennan Stourport D57 80-00lbs

4 C Hopps Peg 1 D30 76-04lbs

This was a hard match with no big weights it seems that the fish have been put of the feed with trying to spawn and now this colder weather has pushed in over the past few days. However Tony fished pellet and corn at 5 mtrs to take a mixed bag of fish to 10 lbs.

Fish O Mania All Pools

1 N Watson Ghost 11 152-03lbs

2 C Obrien Hay 11 147-12lbs

3 S Ringer Arles 24 119-11lbs

4 D Ship Deans 35 118-04lbs

5 S Fry High 24 107-03lbs

Thursday 6 June Hay & Barley

1 A Weale H19 181-04lbs

2 J Iffey H17 124-00lbs

3 C Newbrook H15 62-08lbs

4 A Hampton H11 62-00lbs

Saturday 8 June Deans Pools

1 P Edmunds Woodlands D63 81-00lbs

2 P Hodge Peg 1 D35 80-08lbs

3 A Jones ------ D54 76-08lbs

4 L Hems Woodlands D57 70-10lbs

Sunday 9 June PM Match Deans Pools

1 C Hopps -------- D35 112-06lbs

2 G Lockley ------- D47 92-03lbs

3 L Cole Bilston Angling D24 69-02lbs

4 R Brennan Woodlands D27 64-14lbs

This week we have seen the fish spawning on all the pools.

Congratulations to C Hopps who won this weeks Sunday match and also drew the bonus peg boosting his winnings by a further £300.

Peg 1 A10 90-12lbs

2 D Brownhill ----- A14 89-10lbs

3 G Kirkham Woodlands A4 74-12lbs

Saturday 1 June Hay and Barley Pools

1 A Pollard ----- H11 112-04lbs

2 P Bendell DGL H5 76-06lbs

3 J Jones Woodlands H2 74-14lbs

4 A Jones DGL B13 71-06lbs

Sunday 2 June PM Match Deans Pools

1 J Arthur Maver Mids D27 150-03lbs

2 S West Storreys D25 117-00lbs

3 R Brennan Stourport D6 113-08lbs

4 C Hopps Worcester D41 112-02lbs

All the pools are fishing well but it looks like the fish are starting to spawn. Method is to fish short with pellet and corn and down the margins.

152-00lbs

2 A Darque ------- D17 123-00lbs

3 D Lewis ------- A8 112-03lbs

4 A Nelson --------A21 95-14lbs

Friday 24 May Deans Pools.

1 E Green ------ D14 134-03lbs

2 J Maddison ----- D1 112-12lbs

3 A Hamilton ------D33 99-00lbs

4 A Moore ------- D35 88-08lbs

Saturday 25 May Hay & Barley Pools.

1 L Hems Peg 1 H10 116-10lbs

2 M Cox Fiery Wholes H2 95-12lbs

3 P Bishop Peg 1 B4 86-00lbs

4 M Dunlop ------ B18 83-01lbs

Sunday 26 May Deans & Arles Pools.

1 A Morrison Fishermans Friend D12 81-14lbs

2 S Cobb Frenzee D30 70-12lbs

3 M Belridge ----- D28 69-02lbs

All pools are fishing well to pole with corn and pellet fished at 6 to 10 mtrs and down the margins later on in the match.

introduction to the life of this fascinating mollusc. He asked me to write the Foreword to his book, which I quote below because the context of the Freshwater Mussel FWM (Margaritifera Margaritifera) is perhaps more relevant today than it was then, largely because of increasing public awareness of its ecological importance.

Fred Woodward worked at the Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow in a team of distinguished natural historians and biologists. In that capacity he became a member of the European Invertebrates Survey and of the Bern Invertebrates Specialist Group, among other influential roles, including fellowship of the Linnaean Society. I remember Fred talking about the importance of the freshwater mussel and its relationship with juvenile salmonids, especially Atlantic salmon parr. At that time he was drafting the guidelines for the EU's Habitat Directorate, which ultimately led to EU legislation to protect the FWM.

Why are freshwater mussels (FWM) important?

My own interest in Margaritifera Margaritifera stemmed from living on the banks of the River South Esk in Angus, which was famous for the quality of its FWM pearls. In the 1980s it was still legal to collect pearls by opening up the shell of the living mollusc, invariably killing it in the process, and occasionally finding a pearl inside. South Esk FWM pearls were highly sought after, so much so that the late Queen Mother was given a necklace of a selection of the purest irridescent and graded pearls.

Quite often we would find heaps of opened shells beside the river, with dead mussels rotting and stinking in the summer warmth. It was obvious to me, even before I met Fred Woodward, that the plundering of the river's stocks of FWM could not continue if they were not going to become extinct.

Hence, when Fred asked me to write the foreword for his book, this is what I wrote:

"The freshwater mussel is a biological indicator of the health of our rivers. It is also the prized quarry of pearl fishermen, and in Scotland there is a common right to fish for them. There are few such privileges given to the ordinary person, above the rights of the riparian owner, and it is significant, as public access to Scotland's wilderness areas is now a major political issue, that we now know that this practice is no longer sustainable, if the Scottish pearl mussel is to survive.

Traditionally the pearl fisher killed every mussel in the search for the elusive and valuable pearl. It is this, in the context of the longevity and slow growth of Margaritifera Margaritifera, which made it obvious to Scotland's small group of professional pearl fishers that they needed to devise a method which did not involve killing the mussel. This they succeeded in doing by developing tongs which prise open the shell-halves sufficiently to allow inspection and removal of a pearl from the mussel's mantle without harming it. Unfortunately, it was impossible to communicate this method to the much larger number of amateur pearl fishermen, and it therefore became necessary to introduce legislation in 1989 to protect the animal by making it illegal to kill them, or interfere with them in any way.

Fred Woodward is the champion of Margaritifera Margaritifera. His interest in its natural history, its exploitation by man since pre-Roman times, its global context and the politics needed to ensure its survival, are the subject of this book. His main concern is for the mollusc's wellbeing, and yet he manages to introduce an elegaic sympathy for the Scottish group of professional pearl fishers, Bill Abernethy, Peter Goodwin and the McCormack family. It is well worth reading Peter Goodwin's book, 'The River and the Road - Journal of a Freshwater Pearl-Fisher' (Hale 1985 ISBN 0 7090 2341 3) which describes the lives of pearl fishers, an activity which sadly but understandably no longer exists.

The 1992 Rio conference on the global environment highlighted the issue of biodiversity, and it is therefore important that each threatened species has its champions. Fred Woodward's commitment is much more important than championing the cause of a single species however, because his holistic approach has much in common with the Scottish biologist and philosopher, Patrick Geddes, in the way he invites us to think globally and act locally. Margaritifera Margaritifera is more than yet another threatened species or biological indicator; ultimately it is a measure of our commitment to sustaining our environment."

Since 1993 the EU has introduced Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to protect fragile species such as the FWM. Because of the mollusc's relationship with juvenile salmon, which are hosts to the FWM's larval parasite (Glochidia), it is the relationship between the two species which has become the target of EU conservation efforts. In salmon rivers where the freshwater mussel still exists, SAC status is predicated on the wellbeing of both species in that particular ecosystem - the freshwater catchment.

TA on 6/5/2013

G kirkham Browning G11 122-00lbs

2 C Newman Woodlands G5 75-08lbs

3 J Stone Woodlands G18 74-02lbs

Saturday 4th May Hay & Barley Pools

1 R Brennan Stourport H19 141-10lbs

2 P Edmunds Peg 1 H7 99-02lbs

3 T Perry ------ H11 68-00lbs

Sunday 5th May Deans Pools 35 fished.

1 A Taylor Mosella D36 132-14lbs

2 M Beteridge WMT D64 125-08lbs

3 R Jeeps Peg 1 D34 123-10lbs

4 A Morrison ----- D56 88-10lbs

The water has warmed up and the fish are on the move. The fish are being taken short at 8 to 10 mtrs and down the margins the bait is pellet and corn.

M Westwood Bilston Angling D55 79-08lbs

Saturday 23 fished Deans Pools

1 M Cox Fiery Wholes D6 78-08lbs

2 D Brownhill Peg 1 D24 55-02lbs

3 J Stone Woodlands D8 48-12lbs

4 A Haywood Hozelock A/C 48-00lbs

Sunday 21 fished Deans Pools.

1 W Panting Midland Bears D24 96-14lbs

2 A Christie Woodlands D55 92-06lbs

3 C Senter Browning Spa D27 89-14lbs

4 B Hobbs Browning D30 87-06lbs