Think the main problem is a parasite of some sort (originating in Japan ?) and the decline is pretty much everywhere.Think I’ve only caught one eel in the last ten years.

there seemed to be an explosion of eels around walton,shepperton and chertsey this year,and not just bootlaces, some around the 2lb mark.

FBlues has been talking about this decline for 3 years at least!! They are the bottom of the food chain for many water birds (including the black death) as they are easy to swallow.

98 percent drop in elver returns not eels in the river was the message on radio five tonight….. Remember the elver blooms on the Ribble in the 70’s….. they would black out the margins of the river….

One massive reason……The “Black Death”….CORMORANTS.

@bigoldbigbutt wrote:

there seemed to be an explosion of eels around walton,shepperton and chertsey this year,and not just bootlaces, some around the 2lb mark.

I see you have been on this site since 2003 mate.You seem to know about the Walton area of the Thames,surely we have met on the banks sometimes?…..Did you fish the Thames champs?.
Sorry….but just curious.

dont think weve met mick,dont match fish anymore, just love the Thames be it angling , boating or just walking along it.

ive fished for elvers on the severn for many years now the last 2 years have been the worst with many of us not catching more than a few hundred all season (feb-may) the catches have been dropping for many years now but the last 2 have been the worst not just in england but in spain portugal and france where they can commercialy fish 4 elvers with trawlers u can only use a hand held dip net in the uk. what i do find strange is we havnt been catching eels on rod and line for a few years but iv,e had loads from the severn and glos canal this year! who knows they are a mysterious fish????