April was fairly quiet, with not too many fishers venturing out. there were however one or two fish about with Scott Campbell catching 3 sea trout one Thursday evening all about the 1 1/2 lbs mark down at the Lyne foot tidal stretch near Metal Bridge. He went back the next night to land a 2 lb fresh sea trout. Salmon kelts lingered a wee bit longer down there , with several being caught and returned during the first part of April.
Rods around the Canonbie reported seeing small advance parties of sea trout moving through including a brace of bigger sea trout in the 8 lb range which splashed into the tail of Dead Neuk one morning. Generally little effort was put in and nothing further was caught bar kelts until right at the months end when Jackie Allan of Cumbria landed and returned a brand new 8lb salmon from the Moat on a spinner.
A few early sea trout were running the Liddle also ,with Colin Rutherford of Yorkshire,
having a good 2 pounder follow in and turn away at the last second. He subsequently hooked another fresh fish only to lose it at the net.
Fishery staff Iain Bell and Peter Kinstrey will be issuing scale sample packets to rods with a request for SEA TROUT scales from any sea trout landed. Iain said we need about 200 samples of a minimum of 6 scales up to 10 scales, gently scraped (or plucked with tweezers) from each sea trout. with a length measurement recorded to the nearest half centimetre, from tip of snout to middle fork of tail) . Anglers are asked to carry a suitable stiff tape measure for the purpose together with a pencil to complete the catch /location details on the packet. Any ELF or other Scots side local anglers are welcome to contact Iain at the Esk & liddle fishery Office 013873 81951 for advice on sampling and packets.
The E.A. will also be coordinating some sampling on the English side, together with smolt and Parr research throughout the catchment.
The E.A. will also be coordinating some sampling on the English side, together with smolt and Parr research throughout the catchment.
These efforts are part of a prelude to the proposed Celtic Sea Trout Project. Involving both sides of the Irish sea in England, Wales, Eire, Northern Ireland and Scotland to look at life history, environmental effects, marine ecology, stock structures and distribution.
Iain said, that by next month we will know whether the project received its full funding support, but meantime it is essential that we don't miss out on samples from early season fish. Sea Trout are also being gathered for sampling in the salt water environment on a catch and release basis by conservation conscious haaf netsmen.
Hopefully by mid May it will be full steam ahead on what may prove to be the most exciting and holistic look at Sea Trout and what we can do to aid their long term proliferation that these Islands have seen.
With good 30 ft tides at the end of April and a decent amount of rain forecast, given a little heat, prospects for early sea trout are encouraging.
