The Wild Trout Trust's Spring Auction 2024

If you enjoy an outdoor lifestyle and appreciate the different seasons as they come and go, there’s no better way to find interesting year-round sporting opportunities than by taking part in a charity auction, and bidding on exclusive fishing and shooting days that might be difficult to access any other way. 

Pictured above: A recent WTT project installing ‘tree kicker’ habitat structures in the River Frome – to benefit fish, birds and insects 

Thanks to our generous supporters, the Wild Trout Trust’s Spring Auction is one of the longest-running events of this kind. With more than 300 lots, it’s designed to be affordable for everyone, with guide prices from £8 to £1500 and includes fishing for trout, salmon, grayling, charr, bass, pike, barbel, carp, roach and more. There are also shooting days, and collectables like artwork, signed books and flies by renowned tyers like Peter Hayes, Gareth Lewis and Dave Southall.

RAISING FUNDS TO IMPROVE OUR RIVERS

WTT’s Spring Auction is our single most important fundraising event of the year - helping us to continue funding our countrywide team of Conservation Officers to provide advice and practical support for fishing clubs, landowners and anyone else who wants to improve our rivers and lakes for wild trout and all the other species which share their home. (Find out more about WTT at www.wildtrout.org ). 

We work with volunteers to put wood and gravel in rivers, plant bankside trees, fence off riverbanks, take down weirs, and install fish passes so fish can move around freely to fulfil their life cycles. We also use our website, social media and printed material to spread the word about ‘making rivers messy again’ and we work with our sister NGOs to influence thinking on issues that impact our rivers and their trout from agriculture, sewage, commercial fishing and fish farming.

The money we hope to raise through our auction will be wisely used to help make all this vital work possible, as well as keeping our team equipped with tools like chainsaws and waders, and getting practical projects off the ground by leveraging more funds from other sources. We keep our overheads to an absolute minimum (for example, our staff all work from home) to maximise the amount we spend on practical improvement of habitat for wild trout.

EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITIES IN THIS YEAR’S AUCTION 

As usual, this year’s WTT Spring Auction features an exceptional selection of fishing-related opportunities, including chalkstreams and salmon rivers. But there is also a wide range of lots relating to shooting and other aspects of the sporting life. Here’s a taste of what’s on offer this year:

1. One day for 2 rods, wild trout fishing on Ross Brawn's private mile-long beat of the River Itchen near Winchester, including lunch with Ross. Much of this beat has been beautifully improved, providing interesting main river and intimate and challenging carrier fishing. (Guide price £400)
2. A bottle of Renais Artwork Limited Edition gin, cultivated in France, distilled in England. The creation of Renais by Emma and Alex Watson was inspired by their childhood memories. This limited edition has a label printed with illustrations which were designed, painted and inscribed by Emma. It is a modern interpretation of a heritage product – a 21st-century gin with roots that go back generations. (Guide price £60)
3. One day for 2 guns, rough shooting in North West Wales. Away from the formality of traditional driven game shooting, North Wales offers some of the very best opportunities for walked-up shooting. Breakfast, coffee, packed lunch and refreshments provided. Guns may bring their own dog, or a suitable gundog can be arranged. (Guide price £400)
4. An opportunity to acquire ‘Chasing Gold’, a new, original artwork by Sam MacDonald, whose work has become increasingly collectable. The background is patinated brass with a brown trout tail leaving the frame and a brown trout head entering the frame, both in pewter and gold leaf, beautifully depicted. (Guide price £500)
5. ‘I’m A Fly-Fisher Get Me Out of Here!’ Join WTT Vice-President Matthew Wright, Fishing legend George Barron and Fish Camp Fail author Ben Jailler, for a truly terrifying angling adventure in wildest Wales, on a lake where wild brown trout are not the only spooky inhabitants.  Be prepared to camp out overnight, cook under the stars and quite possibly fight off werewolves. Should the party return from the Welsh hills alive, you can expect the whole nerve-jangling experience to be committed to print by Ben for the general enjoyment of others, plus receive a box of hand-tied flies from George. A once-in-a-lifetime 24-hour trip, but possibly not for the faint-hearted… (Guide price £350)
6. Two different chances to fish the Derbyshire Wye on the Haddon Estate, guided by either Andy Buckley or Ieva Breiteryte. Andy is more than just a fisherman and guide: he knows Haddon’s water like the back of his hand, while Ieva is an experienced angler and fishing blogger who is keen to promote female participation in angling. (Guide prices £920 or £800) 

HOW TO TAKE PART IN THE WTT AUCTION

All these lots, and many more, can be found on our special auction website at auction.wildtrout.org  - where we run the auction ourselves to keep costs as low as possible.  
Browsing is open now, with bidding from 15th to 24th March 2024.

Happy bidding – and thank you for your support!