Wild trout thin this year?

[Phone 728]

Ken,

 

Even from the internet photo I'll say the fish in post #10 is a wild brown trout - beautiful fish. Did it clear 2 lb?

 

Phone

[kenj 34]

The brown in post 10 was around 12 inches long, my 7ft , 4 weight rod probably makes it look bigger. The trout in post 8 was 18.5 inches (47 cm) long and way over 2 lb. Hard work on this lightweight tackle.

[Phone 728]

kenj

 

Haha, well I didn't suspect you were using a 12 wt. I just misjudged the picture over all.

 

Phone

[kenj 34]

Following up on this topic, like everything else on the river bank this year, the trout on my free urban river have put on a lot of weight this year, helped by good hatches of mayfly, despite being late, due to the cold weather.

 

 

On my small Hampshire syndicate water, the wild trout are also showing a healthy increase in size and number, this one taking a shadow mayfly last week.

 

 

One welcome thing missing from the river this season is the Hymalayan Balsam, which we hope our pulling sessions last year, the floods and cold have put paid to.

[kenj 34]

Following on with this thread, after a prolonged mayfly hatch this year, we had floods and then a drought, with the river levels dropping to a trickle over the stones in places. The Himalayan Balsam made up for lost time, but a working party cleared the worst. The big stock fish of earlier on in the season seem to have passed through the river, leaving the wild fish to thrive. The low water levels have continued, but those members, who still turn out to fish, following the hectic mayfly duffers fortnight, can enjoy some rewarding fly fishing. My last outing yesterday is covered here http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/thankful-for-small-mercies/

 

Edited August 16, 2013 by kenj

[kenj 34]

Now in the final month of the 2013 season on my local trout river, I revisited in the hope of a decent back end trout, as they tend to come out of the woodwork in September. Fishing a size 16 gold head pheasant tail nymph, I'd already returned a couple of dace and a few wild browns between 6 and 12 inches, when I struck into this chub.

It initially fought hard, running upstream, but gave up after a few minutes. A beautifully conditioned unmarked fish, which I reckon would have weighed 4 lb. Thought I'd hit into a big trout, but this chub scores enough points in my book.

This was my blog report: http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/wild-brown-trout-flyfishing-season-closes-with-a-bang/

Edited October 20, 2013 by kenj

[kenj 34]

I started this post in April, concerned about the thin trout I was catching on my small Hampshire river, following a hard winter of floods. I've just returned to the forum for a look and see that this is still being viewed and it ended up being a bit of calender of fishing events through the season. One brown trout that never made it to these pages, was one of my best from the river.

 

 

I caught this beautiful fish in early May on a gold ribbed hairs ear nymph. It was 17 inches long with a massive tail and needless to say fought like the clappers on my 7 ft, 5 weight rod. This was my blog report: http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/big-trout-in-a-small-stream/

[kenj 34]

As the 2014 trout season approaches fast, I wonder what state some of the fisheries will be in following the floods, but reviewing this thread, my own small river soon recovered to provide excellent fishing, before a summer drought brought us back down to earth again.

[kenj 34]

Months of floods have altered many of the feature pools on my small Hampshire river and only allowed members a couple of brief working parties to drag out some of the fallen trees before open day on April 1st. My first few sessions were spent more in exploration than actual fishing, pools had been scoured out and new sand bars created, while in places trees had been pulled from the banks and swept downstream.

Due to cold winds and high, but clear, water levels, few members have ventured out so far, and even fewer trout netted, but those wild fish caught have been in good condition.

This was a wild brownie caught and released by me last week, that looked more seatrout than brown, having a purple sheen. The fish took a size 18 gold head, gold ribbed Hare's Ear nymph. This was my blog report. http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/trout-stream-warms-to-early-risers/

[kenj 34]

The mayfly hatch is over for another year and the usual hawthorn flies in May never appeared, but catches of wild fish have been good on my little Hampshire river, with a few approaching two pounds. The wild fish have a good range in size, which means successful spawning despite months of floods over the past few winters and the trout are in top condition as summer approaches.

This was the best brown taken in my most recent afternoon session, taken on a cut down bodied mayfly.

My blog report is here. http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/mayfly-fishing-bonanza-mostly-small-stuff/