Obese Trout
September 20, 2010
Well with all this rain, suddenly I find myself with a little more time allowing me to get a blog post done. Our survey season is looking a little bit tight, as we are running out of time (before spawning begins) and still have quite a large number of sites we would like to cover. We’ve covered all the way to Skirden beck at Sawley but still have, the “upper Ribble” to cover. I’m now praying for a few nice days to bring the river levels down, but have to admit I was pleased to see the high water, as it has given us a nice “flush out” and allowed fish to get moving through the whole system.
Despite last weeks rain we did manage to get out on Friday, where we covered Skirden sub catchment. We found a real variety of fish, and in some surprising places. The major disappointment however was finding another weir that is impassable to fish. Although I would like to think we’ve found them all now I know in reality there are hundreds left. If you don’t believe me, think of all the pipe bridges and river crossings there are/must be on the catchment. On even the smallest stream. If you’ve been out electro fishing with me you’ll appreciate that even the smallest streams (including some of those that dry up) are used by trout and salmon to name but a few.
But on a more positive note I would like to share with you a picture of a trout, a truly obese trout, usually this is a term used for over weight hatchery reared stew pnd fish, however this is as wild as can be:
This “little” fella although only 8 inches in length was doing his best to push the 1lb mark. He had found himself a little tributary with good; cover, water quality and food supply. This brook was our most diverse for fish species last year. This year was no disappointment with the highest number of Chub, Dace and Minnow larvae I’ve ever seen. And when we netted the trout I asked to see him immediately as I thought he had a deformed mouth, as it turned out he had a 2″ minnow down his throat! If he stays put this is going to become a monster of a fish!
What was a real pleasure was that whilst measuring this fish, some walkers (who were out on a nature walk) came over to see what we were up to. They could not believe the numbers and diversity of fish that had come out of that short section. It gives me immense pleasure in showing people, and sounding completely patronising, opening their eyes to a whole new under water environment. Whilst I always try to take in the surrounding landscape my attention is always grabbed by streams and rivers, looking at the different habitats, imagining the different inverts, crayfish, fish and possibly otters that maybe within that area! Although the river never stands still we have to if we want to appreciate the true beauty of our rivers and streams.
Finding time to post…
September 7, 2010
Well I can’t believe it’s been as long as it has since my last blog, but with good weather I have been keen to take advantage on the surveying front. We have just about finished the Hodder and found some brilliant results, plus a few sea trout that have snuck into some feeder streams very early. The numbers of salmon juveniles on the Hodder have been better than I expected and one satisfying thing is that the numbers of parr (1 + juveniles) are really high tallying up with last years high fry numbers (0+). The Ribble upto Clitheroe is also nearly done and we have completed over 200 surveys so far and are hoping for a good run in September to take us over the 300 mark… not looking so good as I look at the rivers right now.
Projects have forged ahead with Stock beck fully completed, gravel addition just look fantastic, thanks to the Wild Trout Trust for their help with planning this out. The A59 has just one minor tweak and is all but completed. Barrowford 3 started yesterday and we hope to see that complete by 2nd week October.
One of our most exciting surveys was on Eel beck, where previously above a weir we had found no fish for 2 years, we removed the weir this year and trout have already started to move up the stream!
Our River fly partnership recorders are still furiously sending in reports and it is good to see all are showing a similar trend, as numbers of inverts are dropping off in the Autumn as expected.
I’ve completed my first pin point farm plan, but as yet haven’t handed it to the farmer who asked us to carry write the plan. I’ve got a fair few more to do yet, but finally completing one feels good.
Oh and quite importantly we have secured the first part of a significant grant for carrying out work to improve the rivers Brun and Calder in Burnley, fingers crossed we can secure the rest in due course!
With that I will end as it’s good to end on a high note, and in all honesty that covers it. Once I’m back in the office I’m sure my usual regular posts will restart with plenty of news and a few rants!
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