Rivers are often surrounded by trees, and naturally, from time to time, larger branches or even whole trees will fall into the river. These days there is a fine balancing act required between maintaining a clear channel to mitigate flood risk and allowing the ‘large woody debris to remain in the river. Why would you let it remain? Well, large woody debris can actually be very beneficial for the wildlife in the river, including the fish! They create variations in flow, provide cover and also food invertebrates which the fish and other creatures rely on.
On their website the Wild Trout Trust state:
‘Remember, there are multiple benefits of having LWD in your river: cover for fish from predators, local scour which improves depth variety and cleans spawning gravel and retention of leaf litter which supports fly-life and improves trout food, to name but a few. So even if the newly fallen tree does cause a bit of inconvenience from an angling perspective, think long and hard before reaching for the chainsaw and winch!’
There is more information on large woody debris on the wild trout trust website here: https://www.wildtrout.org/
Note: Picture is a stock image for illustration purposes only