Almond Fly Sampling

At the end of 2007, two of the Club Members attended a River Fly Identification Workshop held at The Tweed Foundation hosted by Kenny Galt (Trout and Grayling Biologist) and Craig Macadam from Bradan Aquasurveys Ltd. The purpose of the day was to teach anglers how to take a basic kick sample and from this identify the general species found.

Since the workshops, these members have been carrying out monthly samples, recording the findings to compile a picture of how the numbers of invertebrates within the Almond change over the year. Gathering this information will help us understand the general health of the river. But additionally should the river suffer a pollution incident we will be able to sample and gauge the result against the annual record to determine the scale of any damage.

Members are welcome to come along to see how the kick sampling is done and see what was found. Those members that have already done so have been keenly interested in the wide variety and number of bugs that are in the river. If you would like more information, or would like to watch a sample being taken then please contact the Treasurer at treasurer@fishalmond.co.uk or the Secretary at secretary@fishalmond.co.uk.

The Riverfly Partnership’s website is an excellent source of information for anyone wishing to know more about the Angler’s Monitoring Initiative.