Sea Trout

slowburner

It would be useful to hear if any anglers have observed a similar run on the East coast - where there are no salmon farms.

SeaFields

slowburner wrote: »

It would be useful to hear if any anglers have observed a similar run on the East coast - where there are no salmon farms.

I know on the west coast (Galway / Mayo) that this is a big problem but down south west is it to the same extent?

Any seatrout I've caught over the years have had one or two lice on them.

Northclare

I have fished the Feale and the Rivers in the west of Clare and never seen sea lice on seatrout.

Northclare

I have fished the Feale and the Rivers in the west of Clare and never seen sea lice on seatrout.

fisherking

The geography of Clare doesn't lend to salmon farmingi think the posters "west coast" means Galway mayo where there are bays inlets and plenty of nuisance fish farms......
Farmed salmon are the pigeons of the sea!!!!

Northclare wrote: »

I have fished the Feale and the Rivers in the west of Clare and never seen sea lice on seatrout.

blackstairsboy

Getting on for trout time now. Have enough flies tied to last the season. Talk around here is that the bigger fish have begun to run and are in the rivers. A lot of lads reckon it will be a good year like last year which was according to older lads like the late 70s early 80s. I will keep you posted when fresh fish are being caught.

fisherking

Looking forward to putting that to the test!!

What part of the country ?south ?west ? East?

blackstairsboy wrote: »

Getting on for trout time now. Have enough flies tied to last the season. Talk around here is that the bigger fish have begun to run and are in the rivers. A lot of lads reckon it will be a good year like last year which was according to older lads like the late 70s early 80s. I will keep you posted when fresh fish are being caught.

realrebel

fisherking wrote: »

Looking forward to putting that to the test!!

What part of the country ?south ?west ? East?

blackstairsboy wrote: »

Getting on for trout time now. Have enough flies tied to last the season. Talk around here is that the bigger fish have begun to run and are in the rivers. A lot of lads reckon it will be a good year like last year which was according to older lads like the late 70s early 80s. I will keep you posted when fresh fish are being caught.

I was out last night in cork for the first time this year I landed 1 and lost 2 more due to me forgetting my net
There seems to be a few big fish in the river I was fishing
I was going to fish the agrideen last week but was told there is no fish there yet by a club member so it varies from river to river I say

rushnaldo

Can anyone explain why some seatrout when cooked have pink meat and others have white meat? A few guesses as to the reason are some say the white meat is a spent fish that is not eating and ready to spawn, others say the white is a fish that was up river like a black salmon but as i say all are just guesses? Can anyone help explain the reason? thanks

slowburner

rushnaldo wrote: »

Can anyone explain why some seatrout when cooked have pink meat and others have white meat? A few guesses as to the reason are some say the white meat is a spent fish that is not eating and ready to spawn, others say the white is a fish that was up river like a black salmon but as i say all are just guesses? Can anyone help explain the reason? thanks

It's all down to diet.
Fish that eat a significant quantity of crustaceans (shrimp etc.) and molluscs (snails etc.) will have pink flesh. I think it is a reaction to the calcium in the shells of the prey, but I could be wrong.
Juvenile sea trout and salmon generally don't get these sources of food until they reach the sea.
Similarly, spent fish have been away from this source of food for long enough for their flesh to turn white again.
The same thing applies to brown trout. Where gammarus sp. (freshwater shrimp) and freshwater snails are abundant and freely taken, the fish will have pink flesh. Rivers with a large stock of small trout are generally too poor in these food sources to give the fish pink flesh.
Ferox or cannibal trout often have a whiter flesh than would be expected for a trout of this size, although it has been shown that chironomidae form a much more significant part of their diet than was previously known.
I think the relative associations in diet have been studied in the distinct trout populations of Lough Melvin.

Here's a curiosity.
Back in the 1950s, an Irishman published a (now lost and forgotten) paper on this subject. He kept a stock of trout - I think the stock came from Lough Ennell originally - in a pond in south county Dublin.
He fed the trout different foods and recorded which foods were associated with changes to the colour of their flesh. As far as I know, this was the first time that the causes of pink flesh were identified scientifically.
You can have a look at the remains of the pond next time you are in the the Dundrum centre.
How times change.

cuddlycavies

Yep, thats bang on slowburner.

Northclare

This is going to be some year for the sea trout.
They are already in the lesser known rivers in Clare.
I was out in the *?/*& River last night on the tidal stretch,and the fish are lining up to head up the river, it's like the halcyon days of the 60's and 70s.
Or looking over the weir bridge in Galway during the 80's at all the salmon,but these are Clare seatrout in A river that thousands of cars pass over every day.

blackstairsboy

Ya the same is being said down here they reckon it will be a bumper year like last. Something from the 70s and 80s which is really exciting. I listened for many years to old lads reminiscing about the bygone days when the rivers teemed with the trout for the few weeks at the end of June and beginning of July.

slaneylad

blackstairsboy wrote: »

Ya the same is being said down here they reckon it will be a bumper year like last. Something from the 70s and 80s which is really exciting. I listened for many years to old lads reminiscing about the bygone days when the rivers teemed with the trout for the few weeks at the end of June and beginning of July.

hi blackstairs, have they started running the slaney yet. when would you expect the main run to start? cheers

fisherking

I'm loving this thread....
Tick tock tick tock......

blackstairsboy

slaneylad wrote: »

hi blackstairs, have they started running the slaney yet. when would you expect the main run to start? cheers

Big fish have probably run but there is no point in fishing for them really. There would be very small numbers spread over a lot of river. Most likely would be caught on a salmon fly during the day while salmon fishing. I have not heard of any fish caught yet but have been doing some salmon fishing and been chatting to a lot of lads who would know the score.
Very early run last year so will be thinking the another fortnight tops before there is fresh fish in.
Watch this space.

Kayak Guru

The maine and brown flesh is full of sea-trout

Kayak Guru

The Ilen in skib fishes well for sea trout form March onwards

fisherking

How did people get on
With all the rain in my river the fishing was thinned out but the quality was there
Very few under 2lbs
And fatter than I have seen before
I won't claim a reversal of feeding at sea but they were all in excellent condition.....
Drift nets ?
Maybe... Not sure....

fisherking

Did last year live up to the hype for you?

Mr Bumble

Very slow year on Lough Currane last season. High water from June onwards and only started to drop off in early September. Caught this one on September 19, 7lb 3oz. Had to work very hard for it and any fish caught. One a day if lucky but that usually a decent one in the 3lb to 5lb class. Very few juniors around which was a worry but water was so high it was impossible to tell whether they were just legging it straight up to the upper lakes on the floods or hanging around but just put off by the endless downpours.
Signs already good for this season despite cold. Two lads out at the weekend took two 2lb fresh fish on the drift. This weekend and next week should see first of the really big ones showing. Very big salmon on the move in Currane. Lot of big fish about. Best 20lb so far but others @ 19lb, 17lb and 15lb.....Dividend of nets off finally showing in spring salmon numbers and size....

SeaFields

Lots of sea trout being reported around the south west coast too at the mo so hopefully the omens are good for coming months.

Mr Bumble

They're getting them in the Laune on the club water and below the bridge in Killorglin. The Inny has a run at the moment too and that despite very low water but rain the last few days should improve things. Was talking to someone on the Flesk this mornin and he says water perfect but no fish...might take a bit more to get a flood going on other rivers....i reckon this weekend and next week could be very good indeed for sea trout and salmon in the southwest. Lads have been catching them throughout the winter off the east coast too and I know some of the Connemara lakes had a big surge July.August last year. Touch wood but it does look like they're back - at least for the moment or until Deenish or that big pile of crap in Galway Bay is developed.

fisherking

We should be in the thick of it now
How are people getting on round the country
Ok season so far for me
But expected more....

Mr Bumble

Must say, Currane a disaster so far this season (and not great the previous two either) and people very worried. No sign of 2lb fish and juniors way, way down. I've fished it top to bottom now since April and had one good day and one half decent. The rest produced a handful of trout caught.....salmon seem to be still there in numbers but from what's being said, they're not safe any more. All salmon caught since start of the year fresh......no stale fish caught which is not normal and points to one thing..the ones that haven't run to the upper lakes ended up on a plate.!!!! Talk of the lake being netted.
The hot weather is confusing the story since nobody really knows whether fish came in and went straight to the bottom. Water was like soup and is still about two or three degrees too warm for decent fishing. September will tell a tale and spawning a more definitive one. If fish are just very late, they have to start running in the next few months but it looks bad at the moment..........

Zzippy

Mr Bumble wrote: »

Must say, Currane a disaster so far this season (and not great the previous two either) and people very worried. No sign of 2lb fish and juniors way, way down. I've fished it top to bottom now since April and had one good day and one half decent. The rest produced a handful of trout caught.....salmon seem to be still there in numbers but from what's being said, they're not safe any more. All salmon caught since start of the year fresh......no stale fish caught which is not normal and points to one thing..the ones that haven't run to the upper lakes ended up on a plate.!!!! Talk of the lake being netted.
The hot weather is confusing the story since nobody really knows whether fish came in and went straight to the bottom. Water was like soup and is still about two or three degrees too warm for decent fishing. September will tell a tale and spawning a more definitive one. If fish are just very late, they have to start running in the next few months but it looks bad at the moment..........

Didn't the fish farm at Deenish get permission to expand production last year? There's your problem, right there...

Mr Bumble

It will have an impact at some point but nobody certain about this season. Not sure when the Deenish farm strated to grow but this is the third bad season in a row and it's the absence of fish running which is putting a spotlight on the poaching now more than normal....if there's 35,000 sea trout running, it' easier to ignore but if someone pulls a net through a bay on the lough, they can wipe out two or three generations

Slasher

Mr Bumble wrote: »

Talk of the lake being netted.

You mean someone is netting fish on the lake? You may be right, but it seems unlikely. Currane is a small lake and there are a lot of people with eyes on the lake. Unless, people are netting at night time, of course.

con___manx1

Slasher wrote: »

You mean someone is netting fish on the lake? You may be right, but it seems unlikely. Currane is a small lake and there are a lot of people with eyes on the lake. Unless, people are netting at night time, of course.

that's exactly when they would net it when no one is around the dirty feckers

Mr Bumble

Currane is certainly not a small lake....maybe small by corrib standards but it is a big slab of water......and of course at night......look at the shoreline at night and you'll see just how few eyes actually are on the lough....even in the daytime. The trippers were in for the Charlie Chaplain fest last week and the place was hoppin...every houe on the north shore was lit up....but that was for a week....normally you'll see a dozen houses lit up.....so no, far from a lot of people watching it other than than the wrong ones.....the entire southern shore has about a half dozen houses from the Castle to Capal and about the same all the way back into to the head of glenmore which (i think) is about 11k in and winds along the shore for at least half of that...it also skirts Capal lake which gets a lot of the very big sea trout and I don't know what the story is there....it's very isolated so vulnerable but it is a small lake and I think would be much harder to net. The Eastern shore is entirely unwatched and a net was found early in the morning off burnt island last week. Both rivers have traditionally had a problem....small streams with big volume of fish, A I said, is the bad run from the sea which is throwing a spotlight on the damage the poaching is doing