The River Ayr and River Irvine bailiffs have been busy keeping an eye on things. Both rivers are receiving the unwanted attention of poachers at present but thanks to the bailiffs, several nets have been recovered and a number of people have been reported for illegal fishing/poaching offences. Last week a net was retrieved from the Milton Mill area containing 2 dead salmon and 2 alive that were released.

The River Irvine bailiffs have found new dams being constructed in the middle reaches of the river near Milton Mill. These dams are designed to concentrate fish and therefore enable poachers to remove them from the river. The bailiffs are requesting volunteer assistance to deconstruct these dams and are hoping that anglers and clubs along the length of the river will turn up to assist on Sunday 25th August at 11.30am. As the bailiffs are all volunteers, it seems reasonable to expect anglers to turn up to help after all it is your fish that are at stake. There will be a police presence on the day to ensure things go smoothly.

There have been similar constructions found and dismantled on the Lugar recently.

Now would be a good time to remind everyone that the Trust will once again host bailiffs training with the assistance of the River Ayr bailiff coordinator and possibly Jim Henderson from the Nith DSFB. Last years training proved very successful with  much increased pass rate.  Any candidates, please forward your details to Gordon at the Trust and we will ensure that you are enrolled with the ASFB and IFM. Training will take place commencing in October through to the end of November with the exams at the start of December. IFM Bailiff training manuals will be made available in advance of the training. As always, we encourage candidates to attend as many training sessions as possible as this helps with both exam techniques and learning the subject. Without a doubt, those that attend most nights are the ones that find the exam the easiest.