Mayfly time!

[chuby]

Well done Anderoo.Nice pics,nice looking stream as well.You are very fortunate to have it

[Anderoo]

I'm really interested in the possibility some of these trout aren't brownies now - it had never occurred to me. Is is really possible that slamon or sea trout could make their way right to the centre of the country to these little Thames tributaries?

 

There is a fly fishing club somewhere on the river that used to stock brownies but I don't know where it is exactly, and whether there's anything to stop most of the fish getting to other stretches. I heard recently that they've stopped any stockings now as the wild trout are doing so well (there are plenty of them!).

 

But looking through old photos it's clear that there are 2 'types' of trout in the river - the dark brown ones with big round spots and then the more silvery ones with less pronounced spots. Below are all the photos I have of these trout (some on the fly others accidents while trotting).

 

I would be very interested in everyone's opinion about these fish - brownie, salmon, sea trout, or other!

 

1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

4.

 

5.

 

6.

 

7.

 

8.

 

9.

 

10.

 

11.

 

12.

 

13.

 

14.

 

15.

 

16.

 

Any help?

[Steve Walker]

Some corking trout there, Andrew!

[Anderoo]

Some corking trout there, Andrew!

 

Cheers Steve - brownies you reckon? I always assumed they were.

[Nicholas S]

Terrific fish Andrew! I would say that most of those were Brownies, the first two pics could be Sea Trout but if you regularly catch silvery trout then I would assume that there is a strain of Brown Trout in the river that are naturally quite silvery. The odd good sized silvery trout gets caught on the stretch of the Kennet I fish and a lot of people have said they are Sea Trout. It's also possible that they are Sea trout that managed to get upriver but then got landlocked I guess but hopefully someone more knowledgeable will provide further input. An interesting question though! N

[Steve Walker]

Cheers Steve - brownies you reckon? I always assumed they were.

 

I think so - the phenotypic plasticity of brown trout is amazing, but if it has been stocked in the past it is also possible that you have more than one genetic strain living in there.

[Worms]

I think so - the phenotypic plasticity of brown trout is amazing, but if it has been stocked in the past it is also possible that you have more than one genetic strain living in there.

Yes, my thoughts too.

 

I think that all of those fish are Browns (with possibly a couple of sea trout thrown in for good measure as Nicholas S says) except the last fish. It just doesn't look very trout like! No red spots, crosses instead of black spots, forked tail with a wrist and a short mouth. The latter is a difficult one to be sure of as when the mouth's open the relative distance between eye and mouth can be hard to judge. In salmon the mouth does not extend back past the eye, in browns/seatrout it does.

[Anderoo]

Well, this has got interesting! Thanks for everyone's input. Any further thoughts from anyone?

 

I guess I need to take better photos and get more clued up on what to look for. I've never caught a salmon or sea trout so I wonder if I can now claim I have

[arbocop]

Must fish that stretch sometime! It's just too far for me to travel for a day out.

[greg long]

the white edges to the fins of the silvery looking trout would suggest it is a brown trout, probably the colour effects are the result of the feeding combined with differring strains from stockings. Sea-trout usually have very dark fins and no white edge. (the white edge suggests to me a hint of Loch Leven in there) Trout will often travel ten or twenty miles from where they are stocked in a surprisingly short period.