[Loxiafan]

Liam, it's pretty 'orrible here in Aberdeen just now so I hope it is better at Kintore. Medal of Honour's for those that venture out today unless conditions improve (which they may) !

Iain (G) good meeting you on Sunday and Monday and thanks for all the tips/advice ! A well deserved bit of action for you after dogged perseverance !

IainC, nice catching up with you again, yes I'm game for some Urban Fishing sometime !

Michael (Wind Knot) nice to meet you, hope you had some sucess ? Great to see so many guys out targetting trout !

Sandy, I thought it was only "2012" fish that were to be recorded in ADAA Catch Return hence my query, but as you say not necessarily wrong. Maybe someone from the Commitee will comment on this and the current status of retaining Sea Trout from 11th Feb in light of such seriously well mended potential kelts - members are recommmended not to retain any ST's at any time, but.......

Cheers,

Lindsay

[Jamie]

In my experience any fish, fresh from saltwater usually deposit scales everywhere.
The net,rod handle and skin always seem to get a few even when you don't handle them .
Not sure how long they need to be in freshwater before this starts to change, i'm not the biologist.
But i would love to know Jamie
To me the scales are always an obvious indication of a fresh fish , if i don't notice them then i would be less sure i'd got it right even before checking.

Sandy

Hi there guys, thanks to Iain for drawing my attention to this aspect of the post, it's been an interesting read.

I would say that the fish that have been taken for ST are most likely to be well mended kelts, its still early for Don ST yet. Upon recent survey work we have seen Salmon kelts as far upstream as Alford (how do we know they were kelts, well they were tagged fish from the Hatchery work and the tags were visible in the low water) and until this weekend there has been no water to push them down, therefore i suspect the ST have taken that bit longer to get down the system as well as a result. It not unusual to get kelts right through April and into May but they are often in the past few seasons obviously kelts. If they have stayed in then the conditions for them have been very good, plenty of feeding and an open winter will help recondition these trout.
 
Other rivers such as the Tweed, where they have early ST i.e. Feb/March, scale reading has showed that they have fish heading out for a few months before returning again in early summer and fresh fish coming in at the same time as these are heading out. I must stress that this is main stem sampling and the ST have multiple tributaries from which they may have originated hence the diversity in life history strategies which we do not experience on the same scale here on the Don.

Sandy's point is very good fresh fish will always shed scales, those that are not as fresh will not shed them so readily, as for the exact timeline on which this change happens i'm not sure but i'll endeavour to find out.
The only way to be sure is to collect some scales and have them read, the difference between fresh fish and a kelts is quite marked.

I spoke to a few of the other forum members over the weekend and i would be delighted to have some input from any of you interested in collecting scales from fish. The Trust's scale programme has suffered from a lack of trout scales over the past few seasons and any help on this front will enable the Trust to learn more about the trout stock and therefore recommend management actions to the Board such as those relating to the conservation code, currently discussed in this thread.

Anyone interested please get in touch i hope to be hosting a scale sampling session at the Trust office shortly.
biologist@riverdon.org.uk


FYI

Funding is still being sought for the Invertebrate Programme, we've been unsuccessful with one funder but are still confident that we can source funding, will keep you informed of progress, thanks for your patience on this front.



Cheers Jamie

[Liam Stephen]

Lindsay the weather is crappy in Kintore too  Ill just have to brave it though, it's only rain 

Liam

[Liam Stephen]

Sitting in my garage waiting for the rain to stop. Come on, hurry up!!   

Liam

[Loxiafan]

Hi Jamie,

Many thanks for that input, very helpful. As I said before am more than happy to accept these fish were 'kelts' given the chronological factors but they were in seriously good condition and beyond "well mended"  - full bellied, solid, in proportion, no red vents, gills all ok. Other than the chronology at any other time they would have been good for 'fresh' fish IMHO ! On this basis anglers should not be allowed to retain any ST during this part of the season ? Incase anyone comes late to this discussion the fish were all released alive and well (as all are).

I am definitely interested in taking scale samples, would love to know more aboout the ages etc of fish I catch !

Great news about the invert stuff too.

Cheers,

Lindsay

[Loxiafan]

Lindsay the weather is crappy in Kintore too  Ill just have to brave it though, it's only rain 

Same here Liam but just heading out the now. There is little wind in Aberdeen though rain is persistent. However, if the rain stops could be a hatch.......

There was a really decent hatch of LDO's at U.Parkhill on Saturday afternoon and in quite haevy rain, so many that I found a Carrrion Crow leaning over the bank and picking up cripples from an eddy !

Tight Lines,

Lindsay

[Michael Buchan]

Lindsay good meeting you to thanks for the tips  .
 
Not much to report last night no fish rising was pretty bitter got one tiddler on a PTN. Heading out tonight so hopefully have a bit more luck.

Michael

[Liam Stephen]

Just back now. The hatch was better today but... Less fish were showing  :z8I think I counted 2-3 the whole time I was there. Fished the Klink and Dink and picked up half a dozen to 1lb on the deadly PTN 

Gonna try my best to get to Parkhill tomorrow 

Liam

[Loxiafan]

The hatch was better today but... Less fish were showing  :z8I think I counted 2-3 the whole time I was there.

Same at U.Parkhill. Quite a lot of LDO's coming down when I arrived at 1.30 pm but very few fish rising and those that were I would say were small. Quite a few trout guys there today inc. myself, fishing a mix of wets, nymphs and dries and it didn't look like anyone was catching, might be wrong  I stuck with dry, made 4 casts to one fish that was practically impossible. Took a look at L. Parkhill, water quite murky there albeit lower than weekend. Tried an Oppo and a PTN NZ style (desperation for me ?). Nada. Need a day off to regroup I think...

Lindsay

[Geoff Gill]

Out today with no luck also.

Lindsay, good talking to you today, forgot to say, how do you like the 4 wt outfit. I've never fished that light and it sounds appealing for the dry fly. I could be tempted for an obvious necessity 
Waiting for the dredded call for going offshore, so grabbing the days on the river while i can.

Geoff

[spencie]

There were a few fish rising at Parkhill today, didn't manage any big ones (saw a couple though) but managed 3 between 1 and 1 3/4 lbs. First trout of the year so still happy with my day out.

Stuart

[Mike Barrio]

There were a few fish rising at Parkhill today, didn't manage any big ones (saw a couple though) but managed 3 between 1 and 1 3/4 lbs. First trout of the year so still happy with my day out.

Stuart

Great stuff Spencie

Cheers
Mike

[puddock]

There were a few fish rising at Parkhill today, didn't manage any big ones (saw a couple though) but managed 3 between 1 and 1 3/4 lbs. First trout of the year so still happy with my day out.

Stuart

"Spencie.... Stuart"  ???
Cults academy by any chance ?     Ron Pirie 

[Michael Buchan]

Had a couple hours after work yesterday at Parkhill.  After a couple fruitless nights with spiders and nymph turned to the dark side and went streamer fishing.  2nd cast got a 1lber on a purple and black woolly bugger then made the mistake of going back to the car and getting my camera nothing afterwards    

Never saw anything moving plenty of small black midge in the air

Michael

[Liam Stephen]

Looks like it could be a promising day today guys   good luck to all that are  out  

Liam

[spencie]

"Spencie.... Stuart"  ???
Cults academy by any chance ?     Ron Pirie 
[/quote]

Hi Ron,

Yes that's me, that was a couple of years ago though 

Stuart

[Kev Danby]

Has anyone been out recently after salmon just wondering if there has been any spring fish making an appearence?

[spencie]

Has anyone been out recently after salmon just wondering if there has been any spring fish making an appearence?

Haven't seenor heard of any salmon over the last few days.

Stuart

[Loxiafan]

Lindsay, good talking to you today, forgot to say, how do you like the 4 wt outfit. I've never fished that light and it sounds appealing for the dry fly

Hi Geoff, good talking with you too. To keep it 'on topic' I fished a 10' #4 Streamflex (XF2) on the Don all last season for spiders, nymphs and dries and was a great all rounder and coped easily with 3 pound plus browns and sea trout on 5x tippet. This season I  bought the 9' #4 and really like it so far, more controlled and accurate for dries ! I did discuss with Iain (Goolager) on Sunday (in the wind !) that perhaps I should have went with a #5 but I still like the lighter rig as I fish at quite short ranges anyway and I can interchange on the 10' and 9' with the same reels/lines.

Might be best to take the advice of Don vets Goolager and Spiderman on this, but given you have the 9' #5 Streamflex anyway if I were you I'd use that for dries and possibly consider the 10' (or 11' !) in a #3 or #4 for your spiders and nymphing ? The 10' is quite soft though so I prefer a DT line for medium plus casts - Mikes GT90 was great at short range for roll cast etc, but with more line out it loaded that particular 10 foot rod too much IME and really I could have gone for a #3 line on the #4 rod. The Orvis Access Rods look really good too, a bit more expensive than the Grey's.

Regarding my 4/5 Streamlite reel that gave up the ghost mid sea trout, Grey's are replacing all internal plastic parts with metal parts FoC - a very helpful lady called Sarah in customer services is who to ask for if you want to go that route with your one. Mine only had 12 days left on warranty !

Hope this helps,

Lindsay

[Iain Cameron]

There were a few fish rising at Parkhill today, didn't manage any big ones (saw a couple though) but managed 3 between 1 and 1 3/4 lbs.

good stuff stuart! hope you had your camera...
cheers
i

[Geoff Gill]

Thanks for the info and help Lindsay, much appreciated   
was out again today for a few hours, with very few fish showing and changeable weather conditions. saw one decent fish but put it down with poor cast in the wind 

Geoff

[Liam Stephen]

Much better fishing today, things are looking up  

Not anything moving until 12.25 when a few Olives and MBs were getting slashed off the top. Two casts later I was into a 1/2 lber taken on a size 16 CDC Dun. It went quiet after that   perhaps the bright sun and wind put them off. Still I trundled on searching for more rises. I approached one of my favourite pools, where there was a couple of dimples popping up now and then so I decided to stop and watch. There was definitely some sub-surface activity, a change of tactics was needed. Off came the Dun, on went the trusty old Klink and Dink but I switched the PTN for a Stonefly nymph... I don't know why I did this? First cast into the tail of the pool my Klink paused and I checked into into a small fish of 6". I quickly worked my way through pool. 8 casts and 5 fish to 3/4 lb later (all to the SF nymph) I was glad with my choice.

I walked on down to ...... Pool where lots of fish were showing near to the other bank, some good ones too. Still the Olives and MBs were drifting past, by this time it was 13.40. I picked out the most promising fish tight in at the far bank. My flies landed just above where he was lying, a quick upstream mend was chucked in just before my Klink was slurped down. Fish on!! Around 2lbs but it wasn't meant to be  . He spat the hook on the first leap , bugger! Determined to net a decent fish I cast to next one 30 yards upstream. 4 casts and  I was in again, not as big but still a very welcome fish. After a brief fight he was netted, it looked to be 1 1/2 lb   as far as I was concerned my day was complete. Just as I clambered up the bank another fish started rising, typical. I couldn't resist slipping back into the water I prepared my flies. He was up again and again a quick repositioning and I was set. A perfect cast if ever there was one placed my flies within inches of the target. The Klink slid under and the surface erupted. This was a better fish, the little blighter made for the deep water a few times but eventually tired and was slipped into the net. A beautifully marked fish of 1 3/4 lbs, mission complete!  

The one thing which would make this post is photos. However my camera is travelling from Greenock to Kintore as I write this.  

Parkhill is on for tomorrow so let's hope the weather is kind and the fish play ball.

Tight lines
Liam

[Noel Kelly]

Great post Liam and very well done great to hear the fish are back to taking surface fodder. As I said last year you will be out fishing us all soon. In fact you probably are already

[Phil]

Nice report Liam! Sounds like a awesome day  

I fished the ........ Pool on Monday afternoon, have seen one trout rising there on the other side but I found it really difficult to cast to the other side, without dregging... good job!

I think I might have met you on Monday? Kintore? Close to the bridge?   If you are arround 18 or so...?

Tight lines,
Phil

[Liam Stephen]

Hi Phil,

I really like the water down that way.  It's difficult to cover unless you wade, waist deep in the middle for the most part. The rewards are worth it 

Yeah that was me, you were with your girlfriend/partner?  Only 16 though 

Cheers
Liam