Salmon and sea trout assembling for spawning

Early December is the usual time for migratory fish to be spawning on the Tamar system, with the sea trout normally starting a few days ahead of the salmon. This video shows both salmon and sea trout in a tributary river, many of the salmon have actually paired up and are lying together. Some fish exhibits spots of white fungus, often on their heads or fins, and while a little distressing to see, this is quite normal on fish whose bodies are virtually exhausted. All the nourishment laid down in their tissue, which has sustained the fish during their long fast in fresh water, has now gone to the eggs and milt. Their reserves are at an all-time low, and many of these fish will be dead only a few days after laying their eggs. 

These fish are the few which have survived for three, four or five years to reach their natal spawning streams. A journey from a pea-sized egg buried in the gravels, two years as a small fish in the river, being preyed on by herons, cormorants, goosanders, not to mention trout, eels and other creatures, even insects such as dragonfly larvae. And then a trip across the Atlantic Ocean, with everything from bass and cod in the estuaries, to tope, sharks and who knows what other predators in the deeps. And this without mankind, whose nets and longlines await the fish in their Arctic feeding grounds. 

The journey back from the ocean is no less fraught with danger, culminating with dolphins and seals in the inshore waters, and yet more men with nets, legal and otherwise, in the estuaries. Within the river, rod fishermen are now more aware than ever before of the problems faced by this iconic fish, with rods at the Arundell Arms now releasing all of the salmon we catch.

 Which leaves these fish in the tributaries to fulfill their whole life's purpose. Note the large numbers of smaller brown trout, hugging the river-bed immediately downstream of the pairs of salmon. They too have to live, and a meal of salmon eggs, grabbed at the very moment of spawning, is a valuable source of nourishment for the trout in an otherwise frugal time of year. 

As a Buddhist, would you return to this life as a salmon?

Ladies of the Autumn

River levels at Lifton have been very high following Storm Angus, but the weather has now settled into a very dry spell, allowing the water to clear, and levels to fall back to a point where Grayling fishing has once again become possible. It was necessary to fish in the'Czech nymph' style with heavy tungsten- beaded nymphs. Note the multi-coloured braid section above the leader, which helps to give a visual indication of what is always a very subtle and fast take. Along with some out-of-season brownies, a very lively sea trout also fell to the nymph, as can be seen on this video.  

Storm Angus

Storm Angus, the first named storm of this winter, swept through Devon overnight last Saturday, flooding roads and houses, felling trees, and, quite naturally of course, disrupting trains. The Tamar peaked at around 8 feet on Sunday morning, not quite enough to inundate the flood plain here, but enough to precipitate strange events _ the Loch Ness monster, following the Scottish referendum, then Brexit, and now Trump, has finally had enough of the Highlands, and has gone walkabout. As you can see from the photo, here is Nessie, exploring the Tamar at Polson gauging station.

Nessie in the Tamar

Hartley weir on the river Lyd. The spate had dropped significantly by the time this photo was taken, but was still at a more than adequate height for fish to run. Nothing was seen in around 20 minutes of observation, but the river has held sufficient water for the previous ten days, and many salmon and sea trout will have ascended in that time. ( Watch the video in our last blog to see fish running on much less water than this). We expect to see redds being cut by the end of this week.

 

Hartley weir the week before, young Dan playing his first grayling. Dan caught two grayling that morning, both on nymph in the pool below the weir.

Dan's father Alex admiring the boy's fish.

A happy lad

Spawning run

The catchment of the river Lyd, the main salmon nursery of the Tamar system, has been woefully short of water for most of this autumn. A spell of heavy ( but short-lived) rain overnight on November 8th put the river up by several inches, and although this hardly qualifies as a significant spate, it was certainly enough to precipitate a small run of salmon. Having been bottled up for many weeks in the deeper pools lower down the system, the fish were very keen to take advantage of any extra and water move up towards the main spawning grounds, as this video shows.

Watch closely in full HD.

Autumn Colour

The dying days of the 2016 salmon season saw a few more fish being landed at the Arundell Arms. All of them were well coloured but otherwise in good condition, and had obviously been lying low for some time in the beats on the lower river. Water levels fell back to no more than a decent trout fishing height, but the careful use of a smallish fly did the trick. Our present conservation measure of fly only and 100% catch and release does not seem to be doing us any undue harm, and the fish will surely repay us by spawning the next generation.

One for the boss - an eight-pounder for Adam Fox-Edwards from Tunnel Pool.

A plump five-pound hen fish for Rob Mason in Quarry Pool.

A delighted Rich Pullin, with his first ever salmon, a nice hen of 27 inches taken in Snipe Pool.

A worried Tom Crockett playing his first-ever salmon, also in Snipe Pool

A triumphant Alexander Jones with Tom's fish safely in the net.

A view of Tom's fish in the net.

The distinctive long-snouted profile of a cock fish in spawning livery.

The fish was a six-pounder - it may look small but bear in mind that Tom stands at 6 foot 8 inches

The killer fly - a bright red shrimp pattern with boar-bristle tails.

Tom now in relaxed mode, with celebratory cigar. Snipe Pool in the background. 

October Salmon

Some decent rain hit the Tamar catchment recently, and salmon fishing has at last become a reality after two months of stagnation. A very Autumnal video, the plops in the water are not rising trout, but falling acorns.

David Pilkington tries a cast at the neck of Snipe Pool on Beat 8A

The fish nears the net

....and is safely netted

Flecks of red and gold on the gill covers show that this grilse had already been in the river for a few weeks

An admiring glance before release

The old bugger can still do it!

Safely on her way to spawn

Late September - a time of change

Apologies to our regular blog readers for lack of material recently. This has been due in part to a busy period teaching beginners, often in less than favourable water, and to lack of material! The past seven weeks have been rainless and rather devoid of great excitement. The closing days of the trout and sea trout season are now looking very unsettled, and we look forward to some back-end sport with the salmon.

Waiting for the 'green to go out of the grass' before starting sea trout fishing up on Beat 3 of the River Lyd

Full moon and mist in the Lyd valley

How to ruin your night vision ( by not using a red light when changing flies).

A typical September 'harvest peal'.

Would you like to play a little game of skill? How many sea trout can you count in this photo? Bear in mind that they are well known as the 'grey ghosts'.

Did you get all 21? If so, well done!

This video shows a shoal of sea trout on the Lyd, doing what sea trout do best in the day, which is not much at all. Note the fish in the top left corner rubbing its side as it scootles around the pool (new word for the English language) showing its silver flanks. Sometimes this flashing is the first thing one sees when scanning the pools to find a shoal of peal. Watch fullscreen in HD for the best viewing.

Hartley weir, River Lyd, dead low water, Friday 23rd. September

Just over one inch of rain overnight. Sunday 25th. September. Not actually very high, at this level trout fishing would be fine if the water was less coloured. No salmon or sea trout were seen running at the weir, but more rain predicted soon will certainly get them on the move. This first rise of water after almost two months of  no rain is too little and too soon for the fish to respond in any numbers - watch this space!

Running sea trout

A sight to gladden the heart. Sea trout running the river. Enjoy!

Watch in full screen HD.

Summer Silver

Wimbledon is not the only place in the country where it has been raining. Lifton has recorded just one dry day in the last 23. Salmon and sea trout are now entering the Tamar system in increasing numbers, encouraged by the good flow of water. Some smaller fresh school peal are also running, and have been caught as far up the Lyd as the Weir Pool on Beat 3.

A selection of night caught sea trout.

A  ten-and-a-half pounder from the Tamar. If salmon could swim backwards, this one might have escaped from Alexander's net.

The Oxford Pictorial Dictionary's choice for the definition of smugness.

The sheer perfection of a fresh Atlantic salmon

Early Summer

Devon seems to have missed the rains which fell elsewhere in the country. Rivers are now very low, trout well fed and proving challenging in the tranquil flows. Despite the low water, a few good sea trout have made it to the main beats of the river Lyd.

A huge brown trout from Tinhay lake. Having been seen feeding on the newly stocked rainbows, we thought this one was better out of the water. 28 inches,  nine and a half pounds - one big brownie!

A small olive spinner. Trapped and dying in the surface film, these flies are easy meat for the trout. The fish can become preoccupied with them and become very fussy about both pattern and presentation.

In the net at 0200hours.

Four and a half pounds of fighting Devon sea trout, taken by Alexander Jones from the tail of Donkey pool on a Gurgler.
The first of many for the season ahead, and a good fish to beat.

Late May..hatching flies..sunshine...even a salmon!

A small spate last weekend moved a few salmon, our first fish of the season is now on the books. Fly hatches are really improving. Mayflies, Black Gnats, Yellow Sallies and a variety of olives are hatching by day, with the first of the evening Caddis hatches now under way. The very best time to be trout fishing is at last upon us.

David putting a line across the tail of Quarry Pool in search of a salmon. 

A long-winged salmon tube fly.

The tail of Oak Tree Pool.

Success! A very fresh 30-inch ten-pounder. The single-hooked Black Pennell (visible in the fish's jaw) came out very easily. Measured in the net, this fish never left the water.

Olive and Mayfly spinner dancing beside Quarry in the evening light.

A fine example of a nicely strimmed bank.