Apparently,
@unitedutilities
have pumped millions of litres of raw sewage into
#Windermere
I’m so angry I literally don’t know whether to laugh, cry or despair. I’m boiling with emotions. It’s taken me two days to write this.
This was Windermere 20 years ago - at that time,
A swimming pool full of chlorine is ‘clean.’Humans can swim in it. However, fish will die in it.
Creating chemically clean rivers for wild swimming is not the answer for fish. We need naturally clean water with a strong micro biology.
Two very different things.
#SewageScandal
PARTY LEADERS!
There are est. 4 million anglers in the UK who don’t like fishing in an open sewer💩
That’s a lot of voters.
What will you do to clean up the mess?
@Conservatives
don’t reply - we already know the answer🤡
@UKLabour
@TiceRichard
#rivers
#pollution
NEW BRITISH RECORD PIKE
A new British record pike has been caught by Lloyd Watson from Chew Valley Lake.
The fish weighed 47 pounds and 5 ounces - a trout water beast🔥
Many congrats to Lloyd who recently posted that he is a fan of Rod Race. Thankyou Lloyd and you must still be
So sad to hear about the passing of John Wilson. I met John and worked with him at Angling Shows over many years and came to like and respect him. He is undoubtedly one of angling's greats and his influence will live on. Rest in Peace, John and thanks for the memories.
With the world the way it is, how do people who don’t fish cope? I honestly think that without my fishing I would struggle. When I fish, nothing else matters and my mind and heart are at peace. If you too have the gift that is angling, you are blessed…
#fishing
#mentalhealth
NEW SERIES OF GREAT ROD RACE, FILMING SEPTEMBER
At long last and after a couple of false dawns, it’s happening.
I am delighted to announce that I have started a crowd funder which I will share with you next week.
#Theduke
is in and I’ll announce the team later today.
Following an
There are roughly 4 million anglers in the UK. That makes us potentially the biggest lobbying group outside moms!
Time to rouse the sleeping giant. Our rivers and coast are awash with filth. Time for anglers to flex our muscles and do our bit ✊🎣
#anglersunited
#pollution
I am regularly asked ‘Will you make more Fishing shows for tv?’
Here is my offer:
🎣ME AND THE. DUKE. ROD RACE 21ST ANNIVERSARY EP. TO RAISE FUNDS AND AWARENESS FOR OUR RIVERS.
🎣WE ARE UP FOR IT.
PRODUCERS AND PRODUCTION COMPANIES GET IN TOUCH IF YOU ARE INTERESTED 💪🎣
The latest issue of Trout and Salmon mag has the back story to this monster
#salmon
measuring 132.5 cm which I caught last year on our own Gaula river fishery.
Estimated to weigh around 55 pounds but probably north of ‘60’ when it entered the river😮
#fishing
#salmonfishing
THE LAST ROD RACE
Looks like we are going to have to get the band back together and make the last RR to raise awareness of pollution and to raise money for
@fishlegal
We will need production help. If you know anyone who can help with filming pls tweet and we can DM
#fishing
#tv
For me, this man was the goat🐐of fishing presenters.
Jack Hargreaves’s was a countryman through and through. His show “Out of Town” was not a pure angling show but it is the best we have seen IMO.
His style, voice and charisma - a natural broadcaster.
You can argue about Wilson
THE UNSPOKEN TRUTH ABOUT POLLUTION AND ANGLING
Despite the endless films that show turds, tampons, toilet paper etc., sailing down our rivers, there are sceptics about the effects of pollution in the angling community.
🫨When I write about pollution, I often get replies saying
I don’t think that after almost 60 years as an angler and thrills beyond imagination that I will ever quite recapture the pure excitement I felt as a kid on the eve of a fishing trip.
The night before, my dad would send me out on the lawn with a dim torch to catch worms. The
I can’t believe it but I am 60 tomorrow🤫 My life has been about the 3 F’s - Family, Fishing and Football in that order. 57 years an angler, 52 years supporting United. 30 years as a so-called pro fisherman.
To everyone who helped me live the dream and believed in me, THANKYOU x
‘What do anglers get in return for the fishing licence fee?’
I cannot think of a benefit. Our rivers are in an awful,poisoned state. Time to boycott the rod licence ?
Pls share this tweet and yr thoughts
#pollution
#rivers
#fishing
#coast
🎣✊
Just a reminder to Severn Trent and Staffs water of what the Severn should look like. This shot, from the nineties, shows the swathes of ranunculus streamer weed on the surface.
Ranunculus filters a lot of impurities from the river but it has not appeared in any quantity since
I’ve been gardening today at the house I grew up in on the Severn in
#Shropshire
🏡
This is the view from my old bedroom
#window
. The house dates back to the mid seventeen hundreds.
Our family home since 1974, the Severn flows past the bottom of the
#garden
I’ve always loved
Today’s
@thetimes
👇
I have said this before but our message is resonating.
This is the first time in over 50 years of fishing that I have seen the public and mainstream media take a healthy interest in our rivers. Well done
@Feargal_Sharkey
et Al
#rivers
#pollution
#coast
Fishing on the upper Severn back in the nineties. Water clear. Nice little patches of ranunculus. No chicken farms, caravan sites or sewage pipes belching liquid poison into the river.
#pollution
#rivers
MASSIVE PIKE FROM CHEW VALLEY RESERVOIR
What a pike! The fish weighed 44-7 at the time of capture and it is the fish of several lifetimes. The captor, Nicholas Gahagan is probably still in shock!
#fishing
#predatorfish
#pike
#fish
These days like to release salmon without taking them completely out of the water during unhooking and photography.
👉Unhook the fish in the net and then lift for a quick pic before holding the fish, head upstream in decent current and release👌
#fishing
#salmonfishing
A big Norwegian male salmon. This is a wild
#salmon
-
a
#gaula
fish. Deep, thickset and look at the size of the wrist and tail 🤩
It’s a fishing dream to catch such fish, especially on a fly rod!
I caught and released it on our home pool a few years ago and we still get fish
I see that you can now buy underwater cameras to watch your swim.
When I look at bait boats, drones and fish cameras I assume that people selling them just don’t have an angling soul. Fishing requires at least some skill on the part of the angler.
Or am I wrong?
#fishing
#tech
Anglers pay over 20 million quid to the government in Rod licence revenue. What we expect in return is simple:
Clean, natural safe water.
We want the water safe for fish not for a few human beings to swim in.
@EnvAgency
- you are not delivering.
#fishing
#pollution
ROD RACE UPDATE❤️🔥
✅ FILMING: September 2024
✅ RELEASE: first quarter 2025
✅ CREW CONFIRMED: Matt Hayes, The Duke (presenters), Johnnie Chappell (head cameraman), Mark Barrow (
@UnderwaterMedia
), Rich Lee (exec producer), Tom Balaam (fundraising). More to follow…
✅TRANSPORT:
As I have said before, farmed salmon is one of the most toxic food sources on the planet. Salmon farming is seriously damaging the worlds dwindling stocks of wild Atlantic salmon.
Let’s get it off the table. Thanks to
@WildFishCons
💪🎣
#salmon
#salmonfarm
#wildsalmon
#rivers
DEATH OF THE WYE - RIVER IN CRITICAL STATE😢
Please watch this if you love Britain’s rivers!
A very sad but accurate and concise appraisal of the river Wye from RiverActionUK
Thanks to Jeremy Wade for his support and contribution (lovely to see him getting involved).
Excellent
The River Wye can’t take much more of this 💩💩
On a day when our rivers face grave threats from govt plans to ditch river pollution rules, we investigate how the government's abandonment of critical environmental regulations is killing one of the nation's favourite rivers. 🧵
I grew up in the urban chaos of the
#blackcountry
and I was a street smart kid. I moved to the countryside and never went back. Now, when I go to the city I feel like 🐊Crocodile Dundee
I am at peace when I am on a river bank. Here I am in my own backyard 💪🤷♂️
#fishing
#angling
One of the many magnificent pike I have caught from
#Windermere
❤️
We simply cannot allow this iconic lake to die because of pollution and yet, it seems that we are doing just that. It’s tragic and totally unacceptable.
#pollution
#fishing
#pikefishing
Fishing on the Wye 20 odd years ago. The water looks clean and clear. We must not abandon her. She will run clear again one day because we will not stop fighting those who wish to do her harm.
#rivers
#pollution
#wye
LEST WE FORGET
The nineties.
Fishing on the Severn and trundling baits between banks of flowering ranunculus.
Since then, the pollution has changed the river. The river runs with recycled and ‘grey’ water nowadays and days like this are in the rear view mirror
#rivers
#pollution
I’ll be on
@GBNEWS
tonight to talk about fishing, the environment and the current
#pollution
crisis.
The interview should air between 8.30 and 9.00pm on the
@LozzaFox
show.
💪🎣
The common
#carp
#record
for the U.K. has gone.
Kieran Duff with a 66lb common carp from a Bucks lake. Caught last night using
@DNABaitsUK
That’s the
#pike
and
#commoncarp
records both broken within a few weeks of each other. 🫨💪🎣
The duke on his throne. Clearly upset about not being in the
@anglingtimes
currently most influential angler list which appears to be ranked not by popularity but by how much wedge you might potentially bung into the ad fund.
My army of
#waterkeepers
would cover the U.K.
Each river catchment would have a head keeper with a team in support. Brief: protect, monitor and improve your patch at all costs. Zero tolerance to pollution, total focus on habitat. Zero bullshit tolerated 💪🎣
#pollution
#rivers
Richard Walker once described perch as ‘the biggest fish of all.’ It was a fine summation of the shock of looking down on a perch that fills your landing net. Wonderful fish 👌
#fishing
#predatorfishing
#perch
New Ultimate Rod Race Series - Crew
Following my announcement earlier today that we are filming a new series of Rod Race (ULTIMATE ROD RACE) in September.
I would like to welcome Mark Barrow to the crew.
Mark will be filming the underwater footage for the series.
I am
TO EVERY WATER COMPANY
Freshwater fish contribute significantly to the overall biodiversity of river ecosystems. They come in various species, each adapted to specific environmental conditions. This diversity helps maintain a balanced and resilient ecosystem. Nature comes first.
Ever since I was a little boy, I have been gripped by a fascination with fish and fishing. The desire to protect fish has always burned as strongly as the desire to catch them.
Often times, I have asked myself ‘have fish been better or worse off as a result of me becoming an
And it’s a Happy New Year from me and decade of new optimism from him!
Seriously, thanks to everyone who has supported us this decade. May your fishing dreams come true in 2020
#NewYearsEve
#Fishing
#matthayesfish
Went fishing in the U.K. last week for 1st time in 2yrs. I didn’t catch anything big but I spent time with close fishing friends blowing away the lockdown cobwebs. IT WAS MAGIC. AS ALWAYS.
#fishing
#fishinglife
Rivers - is it time to protect every brook stream and river in this country and take it out of government control?
The patient is dying and the doctor is having a fag round the back with the nurses.
Neither of the two halves of the uni-party will fix this.
Think outside the
Can anyone tell me why
#theduke
is not in the
@angling_times
list of the current top 50 INFLUENTIAL ANGLERS.
I find that rule astonishing and shows how far out of touch with grass roots angling they really are.
#fishing
#angling
#Anglers
are the original grass roots pro-fish, pro-nature activists. We’ve patrolled our river banks and coasts for years, keeping the waterside clean and reporting pollutions. We are self-funded, highly motivated & in many cases, best friend for aquatic environments.
#fishing
What do you think of me hosting a live social media broadcast in conjunction with
@FishLegal_
🤔
The idea is to highlight the plight of our rivers, discuss just how bad the pollution situation is and where we need to focus our efforts next…
Who would watch the live and join in?
Dear
@Tesco
your supermarket chain is selling chicken that is farmed on the banks of the Wye. Your actions by selling this tainted food are helping to bring one of our greatest natural resources to its knees. Proud of yourselves? Be part of the solution, not pollution✊🎣
Looks like me and Mick will be filming the Last Rod Race series in autumn (COVID permitting). Full details on my FB page (matthayesfish)
#Fishing
#RodRace
This is heartbreaking. My favourite fishing lake in the U.K. one of the few lakes in the British isles to have a population of arctic char and we treat it like this 😥
#windermere
#pollution
I went to the “love windemere” event at brockhole yesterday
Incredibly depressing lots of handwringing lots of shoulder shrugging, and yet every single day United utilities discharge sewage 2200 times
The environment agency have NEVER prosecuted UU in the LDNP - UTTERLY USELESS
Surprised and disappointed to hear that
@RickSteinRest
are accused of taking bluefin tuna in Cornwall, which have been carefully nurtured back from the brink of extinction and selling them in their restaurants.
There is more than one side to every story and I await their
At the moment I’m standing on the river bank firing balls of ground bait laced with maggots into the passing boat of the
@EnvAgency
It’s time to get constructive.
What do we need do to fix our polluted rivers and coast?
#pollution
#fishing
#rivers
#coast
#angling
A black and white of me in the Rod Race van, 2002.
On going talks about another series. Very keen to link it in with
@FishLegal_
and look at fundraising possibilities to help them carry on the fight on our behalf
#TheGreatRodRace
#fishing
I can confirm that
@ChrisGPackham
was genuine when he voiced support for our upcoming
@FishLegal_
live.
I know this because he has confirmed it in a DM.
I will not reveal the contents of our exchange for obvious reasons. However, there was no hostility. Just mutual respect.
I
FISHING IS STILL AN ADVENTURE AFTER 60 YEARS!
I still get excited before a fishing trip and I was positively buzzing when last week I joined the Duke at his boat for a spot of bream and tench fishing. Eating and sleeping on the boat and fishing off the jetty - it’s dream stuff!
This is a
#wild
Atlantic Salmon from our water on the
#Gaula
river in
#Norway
. Take a good look. This is nature’s perfection.
Farmed salmon, designed and created by man are genetically inferior. Nature is always best 💪🎣
#salmon
#fishing
Fishing is a gift for life that anyone can enjoy! It does not matter what background, level of ability or disability, ethnicity etc., It's also brilliant for improving mental health and everyone is welcome! Spread the word!
#fishing
#giftforlife
The loss of Ranunculus, AKA water crowfoot is a sign of an unhealthy river. The ranunculus harbours invertebrates that fish feed on. What’s worse is that it’s loss and the addition of nitrates in fertilisers triggers algal blooms which are toxic
#rivers
#pollution
#wye
#severn
NOTE TO POLITICIANS
There are an estimated 2-4 million anglers in the U.K. and you have shafted us over water
#pollution
What do you think that we are going to do at the next election?
Anyone got a bigger lobbying group🤔
Clock is ticking - sort the Wye
#pollution
#rivers
#coast
The ‘elver men’ of the
#river
#Severn
fish for baby eels using traditional hand held nets on pitches handed down from generation to generation known as ‘tumps.’
The elver men catch eels on the river at night and then drive the eels to a special station in Tewkesbury where the
These were caught in March last year as glass eels 2 years old they are between 100 - 250 grams now in the wild 90% would of died and any surviving it would take another five years to get this size there is no adult eel fishery on this river anymore happy eel days
My trip back to Blighty last week yielded mixed results. Really poor weather spoiled my day perch fishing with the Duke but a couple of evenings on the Severn produced some really nice chub (to over 4 pounds) and barbel to 10-4.
I used simple tactics, touch legering meat in the
I don’t believe in
#netzero
but I do believe in doing the right thing by the environment.
Net zero is a road to nowhere.
It will bring down this and future governments until we restore democracy. It will stop us doing other more important environmental projects.
Can anyone
Big big announcement 📢📢📢📢
Please welcome to the team , fishing legend the “god father of fishing”
@MattHayesfish
! 🙌🏻
he is now an ambassador for fishingthemind 🎣🧠
Welcome to the family Matt 🎣
Really good to have you onboard !
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY REWARDING FAILURE ON AN EPIC SCALE WHILE RIVERS DIE
The
@EnvAgency
deputy director gets an OBE for “flood risk management, equality, diversity and inclusion” I find this astonishing and at the same time typical of our country. THIS IS AN INSULT TO ANYONE THAT
I'm honoured and humbled to have been awarded an OBE in the
#NewYearsHonours
. This is, however, really a recognition of the importance of the work we all collectively do in these fields to make the world a safer, more welcoming and inclusive place. Thank you for all you do too.
MY PLAN TO CLEAN OUR RIVERS
☑️ Clean a river from source to sea, including estuary
☑️Choose significant but manageable small river to start (Windrush)for eg.,
☑️Roll out to bigger river (Wye?)
☑️Create template
☑️Roll out across UK
☑️New regulator and regs
#pollution
#rivers
Raw sewage? What next? Perhaps we could release some radioactive waste into the Wye or the Thames?
It’s no longer out of sight, out of mind. The callous regard that the water industry shows, the gaslighting and the endless virtue signaling won’t spin them out of this. We know.
Baby eels are known as ‘elvers.’ Born in the far off Sargasso Sea, they drift on the oceanic currents for almost 4000 miles before they enter the rivers, streams and waters of Britain.
A fully grown mature eel can live to over 70 years and is one of nature’s miracles💪🎣
The river test is historically the river of Skues and Halford. It has shaped fly fishing history. Its pure, clean waters have teemed with fish for centuries. Now the test is full,of shredded toilet paper, sanitary towels, hormones, chemicals and worse.
Where once chub lurked
NEWS: WE’RE GOING TO TRIAL
@SouthernWater
pleaded ‘not guilty’ to criminal charges we’re bringing against them for polluting the
#RiverTest
.
FISH LEGAL v SOUTHERN WATER 2024. The fight is on.
It was a busy day for
@SouthernWater
in Southampton Magistrates Court yesterday (1/4)
In 2002 Mick and myself made ‘The Great Rod Race’ series. 30 days to catch and film 42 UK freshwater species.
On
#windermere
we caught char the traditional way with one of the last of the ‘char men’ Derek Bell
Char are almost extinct on the lake now😢😡
#pollution
#lakedistrict
I’m an old fishing dog. I used to say that I could ‘smell’ water.
I was speaking metaphorically of course.
Trouble is, today I really can smell water 😵🤢
#pollution
#rivers
#water
I’ve had a busy day on X. It seems that the world is waking up to net zero and I am glad. Had I stated my scepticism on here two years ago, I would have been cancelled.
To quote a fishing phrase ‘the worm is turning.’
#netzero
#pollution
Fishing can't cure the world's problems but it does put them in perspective. It's the best tonic when you are feeling down.
Fishing embraces every age, background, belief, ability or disability. All welcome. It's THE sport for modern times 💪🎣
#Fishing
#MentalHealthMatters
Have we still got it? 🤣🤣🤣You bet we have. Over 20 nice bream and some tench on the float the other day.
Bait is pictured. I’m a big fan of the Dynamite Red Krill ground bait- mix it soft and fluffy and feed a golf ball size lump around the float every cast.
For bream, use the
Zero tolerance. We cannot trust the water industry.
Sad that anglers are now having to police our waterways too but frankly it’s time to take the gloves off.
This is only the start…💪🎣
RIVER POLLUTION AND ULTIMATE ROD RACE💪🎣
It’s been 23 years since we made
#TheGreatRodRace
and now we are about to set out on a journey across Britain’s
#waterways
to film
#UltimateRodRace
- a six part series of fishing challenges on U.K. waters.
Speaking out about pollution,
THE DECLINE OF THE WYE SALMON
Robert Pashley is probably unknown to most of you. He was the most successful salmon angler the Wye has ever produced and arguably the most prolific salmon angler of all time.
He averaged over 300 salmon a season to his rod. His record was almost
It’s easy to look off a bridge, see a few waterfowl paddling about and assume that the river below is healthy. Who cares if the things below the surface are thriving?
Anglers, that’s who. Join the fight against the
#pollution
of our waterways and
#rivers
#pollution
🎣💪
Fishing is a gift for life.
It’s about chasing dreams, making friends and finding peace with nature.
As the years pass its ability to provide moments of calm in a hectic, sometimes crazy world becomes more valuable.
Cherish it. Pass it on…💪🎣
#fishing
#life
#nature
#outdoors