Archive for the ‘Sea Trout’ Category

Plenty of water, fish lost and a few caught

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

The middle of July has turned out wet. With two spates in the last five days there has been ample water for salmon, grilse and sea trout to move through the river system, which is exactly what has happened. On Friday Andrew Robertson hooked and lost a very large salmon in The Bridge Pool. He played the fish for more than twenty minutes and described it as sea-fresh with a tail breadth of at least 9″ tip to tip of the tail fin.

Then, also on Friday, Derek Strachan caught and returned a beautiful sea trout of 30″ in length and an estimated weight of 7.5lbs to 8lbs. From scale readings we learned that this female sea trout is (still alive and on its way to spawning!) is nine years old having smolted after two years in the river and spent one year at sea before returning to spawn in each of the last seven years. The picture below shows Derek with the fish just before returning it to the river.

Another big Finavon sea trout

8 lbs sea trout from Finavon Castle Water

Since then, with the level of the river up and down with heavy showers in the hills, and the water too peaty for optimum fly fishing, we have caught two grilse, one nice one of 7.5lbs - his first salmon – by Simon Walter and half a dozen sea trout. Needless to say there was much rejoicing and a celebratory dram or two because Simon is the designer and maintainer of this website, which many of our readers tell us they enjoy. I caught a small grilse early on Monday in Tyndals, but on Tuesday no less than three salmon and seven sea trout were hooked and lost. I don’t find this particularly surprising because in my experience running fish in the South Esk tend to take the fly with less conviction than when they have settled into their lies in a falling river.

As I write this on 21st July the river is roaring down in a brown spate after heavy rain throughout the night. We should see more grilse in the river after this spate, especially with the weekend lay-off of the coastal nets starting at 1800 on Friday.

There are still a few days left in early August, so if you would like to rent a beat at Finavon, now is the time to contact us.

TA

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Sea trout arrive in numbers at last

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Last night, just before darkness fell, I fished through Volcano and the Flats looking for a sea trout or two. In the middle section of Volcano I had a savage take from a good sea trout of about 3lbs, but it snatched at the fly and, probably fresh from salt water, its mouth was still soft and the hook came away. Further down the pool, just below the big (17 ton) boulder, another sea trout swirled at the fly. With the night approaching and the water coloured after freshets throughout the day, I decided to take the dogs home and leave the fishing to improve overnight. If the river hadn’t been so up and down I would have stayed later, but expereience tells me that erratic water levels aren’t really conducive to good sea trout fishing at night.

Night fishing

The best sea trout fishing is at night

And improve it did, with Moray Macfarlane taking three nice sea trout (2lbs, 3lbs and 2lbs) in daylight! It is fairly obvious that the sea trout shoals are now building up in all the main pools. Places where you can expect action are Tyndals, Willows & Upper Boat, Volcano, Lower Boat, Kirkinn, Haughs, Melgund, Indies and Marcus House Pool. Over the next few days & nights we should see the catch figures increase substantially. There are beats available (£100 per night for two rods: no single rods) for the rest of the week. The night fishing for sea trout should be really good, and improving all the time.

TA

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The South Esk – A Sea Trout River First and Salmon River Second

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

The South Esk has a long and deserved reputation as one of Scotland’s great sea trout rivers. In the 1960s it was not unusual for the total catch of sea trout and finnock in the S. Esk District to exceed 20,000. In 1967 the catch was 37,000. Only the Ythan, Deveron and Spey came anywhere close to matching these catches. As far as we know, the South Esk continues to produce good numbers of sea trout smolts, although recent years have seen a decline – possibly from competition for redds and juvenile habitat with salmon. Whether it is this, or marine mortality, which seems more likely, the last five years have seen a severe, but not unprecedented decline in numbers of returning adult fish. Nevertheless, the South Esk remains a top sea trout river.

Tail of Indies Pool at Finavon on the South Esk

I have often been asked why the South Esk is so much more productive as a sea trout river than its close neighbour the North Esk. As always with sea trout, there is no easy answer. The river has all the habitat requirements of the sea-going version of Salmo trutta L. – the brown trout, from gravelly upper tributaries to the deep pools and dubs with their quiet, alder-overhung tails. I have seen shoals of 200 – 300 sea trout averaging two and a half pounds in the Dam Pool at Kintrockat, similar numbers in the Boat Pool at Finavon. But the most impressive show of sea trout that I have seen anywhere is in the Garden Pool at Inshewan. Less than a decade ago this single pool produced over 350 sea trout to night-fishing rods.

Unlike the great sea trout systems of the Western Highlands – Stack, Maree, Shiel, Eilt and Na Shealagh, there are few big sea trout caught on the South Esk. The century average is just over two and a quarter pounds and the biggest I have ever heard of was a twelve pound fish caught at Inshewan. Sea trout of 5lbs and heavier have never been common.

Until recently the coastal nets South of Montrose continue to take a heavy toll of the South Esk’s sea trout stocks, in May June and July each year killing 2,000 to 3,000 fish, in addition to 6,000 salmon and grilse. But now the netsmen have agreed to return their catch of sea trout alive to the sea and none will be sold. We should see more fish in the river as a result. For anglers visiting the South Esk in June or July to fish for its sea trout, there is a culture of night fishing. There is a group of 50 to 60 anglers who home in on this little river to fish for sea trout through the short summer nights, and witness the heavy splashes and spreading ripples made by these mysterious fish against a sliver of light in the night sky.

The South Esk is defined by its sea trout. The essence of this little river is the experience of waiting beside a tree-lined pool at dusk for the colour to drain from the landscape and for the bats to start their incessant search above the water for flying insects. The lines of alders against the sky with the dark pools at their roots, and the slow, sometimes imperceptible, draw as a sea trout takes the fly, represent aspects of an angling culture that very few rivers can sustain, and the South Esk is one of these.

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The Second Largest Sea Trout from Finavon in Nearly 140 Years

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Stop Press – An 8lbs hen sea trout in excellent condition was caught on Saturday 29/8 in the tail of Indies Pool. This beautiful fish is the second largest sea trout from Finavon in nearly 140 years of records.

If fish are able to live long enough to grow to this size, and during their lives return many times to the river to spawn, there must be something going right in the environment! The important thing about this fish is its condition: I have not seen a better fish than this one, and it fought as well as a salmon of double its weight.

We normally would not kill a sea trout of this size (the best sze for eating is 2lbs to 3lbs) but it was badly hooked in tghe gills and was bleeding profusely, giving it no chance of survival. Reluctantly therefore I despatched the fish.

TA

The 8lb Sea Trout from Indies Pool

The 8lb Sea Trout from Indies Pool

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The River is in Excellent Ply

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Water conditions have been perfect over the last week and we have caught some nice two sea-winter salmon, with Andrew Bett catching and releasing a 17lbs fresh fish in Marcus House Pool. After the excitements of the previous week when Simon Walter lost two double figures salmon in Boat Pool and Tollmuir Pool (We think both were closer to 20lbs than 10lbs) we ended up on the last day of July with a respectable 45 salmon for the season to date. If we get water and fish the catches should rise quickly from now until the close of the season at the end of October. As far as sea trout are concerned we have had 79 for the season so far and there are no shoals of sea trout or fresh run fish to brighten things up. At the rate things are going I think we may struggle to reach our five-year average for sea trout this season.

As I write this update on 3 August the River is in excellent ply and big fish are running through but not in any great numbers. The grilse have not yet appeared but with more rain forecast I expect this to change in the next few days.

Gennady Zharkov, Chairman of Russian Salmon Fund, Fishing Red Brae Pool

Gennady Zharkov, Chairman of Russian Salmon Fund, Fishing Red Brae Pool

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We are Ready to Welcome in the Summer and Autumn Salmon and Grilse

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

It is great to see sea trout in the river in better numbers than for some years. Cortachy, about 6 miles upstream of Finavon, has been catching lots of sea trout, and every one of them of course passed through Finavon’s pools. But high water has meant that the big shoals have moved upriver. At Inshewan (3 miles upriver) Colin Gibb tells me that there are also good numbers of fish, both salmon and sea trout.

We are now awaiting the arrival of the grilse, hoping that the nets don’t take too many of them before good numbers can get upriver. We are still catching the odd salmon and, with a mid July total of 33 salmon and 64 sea trout we are ready to welcome in the summer and autumn salmon and grilse.

We were told by the BBC that this was going to be a long hot summer. So far it has  been a cool rather damp one. If the water continues to flow at a good level into August and September we can expect to see good numbers of fish. Here’s hoping!

Deep Wading Upper Boat Pool

Deep Wading Upper Boat Pool

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The Most Encouraging Signs of an Improving Sea Trout Run for Five Years

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

The last week has seen the most encouraging signs of an improving sea trout run for five years. The quality and numbers of sea trout already in the river is as good as we would have expected ten years ago.

It will be  interesting to see if the numbers continue to increase into July, or whether they fade out as they have in recent seasons. Sea trout are now present in good numbers in Indies, the Boat Pool, Haughs and Volcano. If the shoals continue to build up as they are now we can expect some good sport in late June and July.

There are still plenty of salmon running  after last week’s spate and, although we only caught two, there are fresh fish in all the main pools.

Yesterday I caught a 5lbs sea trout in Harry’s Bar. It was unusual in that it took in the middle of the day, but this was an aggressive fresh cock fish in prime condition, obviously having enjoyed excellent feeding at sea. It took a size 16 silver double blue charm.

When wading across the tail of Indies, I disturbed a shoal of about a dozen sea trout which then swam up into the main dub of the pool; a sure sign that fish are beginning to hold up in the main pools.

The most exciting fishing of all in my opinion is now just starting. You begin to fish at dusk, not knowing whether it will be a fresh -run sea trout of three pounds that will take your fly and give you a hair-raising struggle before you net it, or whether it will be a salmon, perhaps a twelve pound fresh fish which quietly takes your fly as the light is fading. Playing a fish like that into the dusk is a real ‘Finavon experience’! It happens three or four times a year, and always surprises the fisherman concerned.

7lb Sea Trout from Craigo Stream Pool (Returned)

7lb Sea Trout from Craigo Stream Pool (Returned)

There are still some days available in July if you like fishing at night  …well, at this time of year it doesn’t get fully dark.

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Last Week Saw 10 Salmon and 2 Sea Trout Caught at Finavon

Sunday, May 24th, 2009

Last week saw 10 salmon and 2 sea trout caught at Finavon. As is normal before the end of May, Milton Beat fished best, but fish were seen and caught on all four beats. The sea trout were in exceptionally good condition, and we had three salmon over 10lbs.

As I write this bulletin on the 24th of May, the river is running down after a long period of high water. Restrictions on killing sea trout and salmon end on the 31st of May, but we will be asking our rods to continue returning fish until the end of June. This is because of the widespread concern about spring salmon stocks and the continuing low numbers of sea trout.

Prospects for the coming week, beginning on 25th May are good, and it will be interesting to see if the sea trout continue to show in Finavon’s pools. If we get more water we should also see more late-running spring salmon.

Beeches Pool from the Aqueduct - Milton Beat

Beeches Pool from the Aqueduct - Milton Beat

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