David Bradley

Sad news. Hugely underrated slide guitarist and songwriter. Britain’s answer to Ry Cooder. And what about that voice 😢 bbc.co.uk/news/live/c0q5…

Just 5 mins from home, but it’s been years since I last fished the Severn and caught a barbel. I’d forgotten the immense power and speed of these fish, even though they were just small ones tonight up to about 5 or 6lb

@cerivthomas Fantastic, Ceri!

Red letter day on a mountain llyn in remotest Ceredigion. A brace of 3lb+ fish the highlight, of what was an action packed day in the rain and wind. #fishinginwales

@MerryAlbright @DaveThroup @Feargal_Sharkey The Onny (part of the Teme catchment) is the same. I’ve never seen it in this state before. I can’t imagine the grayling and trout surviving in this. Photo courtesy of Severn Rivers Trust

@Feargal_Sharkey The River Arrow (part of the Lugg catchment) is beyond green too. Heartbreaking.

And we do this so others can profit. What have we become.

I’ve never known the river this low and for so long. Lentic habitats are developing. This follows the biggest flood ever recorded in October 2024. I don’t know how the wonderful populations of trout and grayling can survive these conditions 😥 facebook.com/share/16S96Duf…

I think we went to the only place in the UK that didn’t have a heatwave this weekend. Blaenau Ffestiniog was cold, wet and windy. Perfect weather for fishing the mountain llyns and many good fish were caught #fishinginwales #flyfishing #wildtrout

It’s hard to believe that so soon after one of the wettest years on record, the UK is now staring into the face of drought. The weather over the next 2-3 weeks will determine how this plays out and we need to act now on important lessons learned in 2022 apemgroup.com/strengthening-…

Beautiful and slightly eerie on the river tonight as the mist descended, everything went quiet and the fish stopped rising, just before darkness #dryflies #wildtrout #flyfishing #shropshirehills

@DireStraits77 Gifted to Jeff Healey who did a wonderful job 🎸

Dire Straits - Think I Love You Too Much Yes, I'm not alone You're sittin' right there How come I get the feelin' You could vanish into the air I love you more than anybody else, baby Yes, I'm an easy touch Baby, baby I think I love you too much If I picked you up You'd slip right away If I locked you up You'd find a way to make me pay You're gonna hurt me more than anybody else, baby Yes, I'm an easy touch Baby, baby I think I love you too I think I love you too much Yes, I'm not alone You're sittin' right there How come I get the feelin' You could vanish into the air I love you more than anybody else, baby I'm an easy touch Baby, baby I think I love you too much

Not the biggest, but one of the best conditioned and difficult to catch trout of the year from this little river. Good hatch of medium olives, swarms of black flies and a few large brook duns had the fish in feeding mode this afternoon #shropshirehills @flyfishing #wildtrout

@the_river_nomad We do, but don’t know when we’re going to get them 🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️🌧️

@the_river_nomad The dream 🎣😎🍻

@BIGBASSINTHESM1 For sure. Although it’s relatively warm and dry in the UK for this time of year. Lovely but a bit eerie too 🤔

Back on home water with dry flies and jet lag, straight back from LAX 😎🎣 #shropshirehills #flyfishing #dryflyaddict

@symeew13 Andy Powell

Who comes to mind when you see a Flying V?

@the_river_nomad Yep, all on a single nymph. A few LDOs fluttering, but nothing to get the fish to the surface

The #wildtrout season has started on the #Shropshirehills rivers 🎉🎣

@MattHayesfish Thanks Matt, I love exploring Shropshire rivers as I know you do. I fished the River Rea today in the first week of the new season. A river I know you also know and love 🥰 Plenty of good trout on nymphs 😉🎣

@dbflyfishing Just checked out some of your adventures on Shropshire rivers. Fascinating. You have caught some very special fish there, David.

You are looking at the litmus paper test for a river’s ability to support life. This is a beatis nymph and it dwells mainly in clean, flowing water. Pollution is insidious because the real damage it does can’t easily be observed. Aquatic creatures support the fish life in the river - without them, the fish will starve. Mayfly nymphs are extremely sensitive to changes in water and environmental conditions. Their decline points to a much bigger problem coming down the line. If we are looking for a template for a waterways we must make them clean, not chemically clean like a swimming pool, but naturally clean and packed with organisms.

@MattHayesfish Closer to home, the yellow mayfly, Potamanthus luteus, was extremely rare and in the past 5-10 years has really expanded in the middle Severn. These were on my car and in my bedroom one morning a couple of years ago in Bridgnorth

@MattHayesfish Hi Matt, yes, it does seem completely counter-intuitive in the face of all the reports of river pollution in the UK. Here’s a link to the research for you to check out ceh.ac.uk/press/inverteb… Improving trends have slowed in the past decade though…..