Rainbows ...

[Adz]

That's the one! Not a million miles from Lancashire I suppose ;-)

 

Cheers for clearing that up MJB,

[Cranfield]

On each occasion I was fishing with a friend and we both thought they were rainbow parr.

Having looked at the pictures, I am not so sure.

[Vagabond]

MJB:

I'm pretty certain that the Derbyshire Derwent has the only breeding population of Rainbow Trout in the U.K.

...and the Derbyshire Wye (a Derwent tributary).

I had one or two from Monsal Dale many years ago.

 

Wasn't there talk of some steelhead in a Scottish River about a year or so back ?

- I'm sure it was on AN that I read it.

[Tog]

Rainbows have been breeding in the Test / Bourne for over 100 years, Plunkett-Green mentions it as do loads of other's.

Hant's Avon, Sure are a lot of small (and large) 'Bows to be seen (esp after floods) and the top end is good for their redds, maybe if the waters good enough for the Salmon then the 'Bows may move in?

[Dan G]

River Derbyshire Wye/Derwent is a definite - I too have caught wild rainbows from monsal dale. That strain has a lot of small spots, especially on the head. I'm sure the Test probably does have wild bows too, but I can vouch that the wye rainbows are wild.

[Tog]

The 'wild' strain 'TestBourne' 'bows are very spotty almost to the point of looking 1/2 brown.

I expect it's beacuse they are decended from old stock and I tend to see 'new stock' and blues etc in the lakes I fish these days.

I remember in the early 70's one year the Bourne was full of wild 'bows which had become trapped by drought - we scooped them out of what water remained - took some dowmstream to the cress beds where the boreholes kept the water high but quite a few 'evaporated' on the way and turned into lemonaid and crisps

They also had a liking for a small mepps spinner.

[Guest PhilB]

here's one I didn't eat earlier....