Electro Fishing Survey
Here are a few photographs from yesterdays electric fishing the Lower Water to assess the fish population.
Casterbridge Fisheries Ltd. fished 100m in an upstream direction and retained every fish they caught (apart from minor species) they then measured and recorded species including all juveniles, returning them before fishing the next stretch. The results will build up a picture of the whole population including recruitment, which is very important.
Full results will be published to Members in due course, but visual results are more than encouraging – one 100m had to be shortened because of the amount of fish!!! (best brown was 50cm/20in!!!
Plenty of Fish
Today was spent with Kingcombe Aquacare to electro fish the Lower Water to remove those unwanted pike!
For once the weather was kind and we had perfect conditions. It wasn’t long before we turned our first pike of the day and some wonderful big trout & grayling – plus one fantastic roach!
We were joined by the EA and the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust for the obligatory curry lunch!
some preferred eel for their lunch!
Electro Fishing 2008
Today we electro fished the river to remove the unwanted pike. Conditions were fantastic, although a strong and rather cold down stream wind made the morning feel very chilly.
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| From Dorchester Fishing Club 2008 |
We started at Lower Bockhampton and fished up to Loud’s Mill, where we encountered similar numbers of pike as last year, as were the numbers of trout. After 4 hours of hard work it was time to enjoy the other annual event “Electro Curry” lunch. Kev’s curry was a winner as was John’s chicken VB.
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| From Dorchester Fishing Club 2008 |
With plenty of extra warmth, we continued up to Blue Bridge, on the way we turned over a multitude of excellent trout & grayling and very few pike – a splendid day.
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| From Dorchester Fishing Club 2008 |
Electric Fishing
We spent the day doing our annual fish survey, counting our Trout population and sending our Pike off to a new home.
A big thank you to Rod Crane for spending the day counting from the bank, data available once sorted….
Also a big thank you to Scott, Matt, George, and Matt from Kingcombe Aquacare for their professional approach, and the rather fab lunch that we all provided. http://www.kingcombe.com/
The CEH were also present, and managed to tag somewhere in the region of 300 Salmon Parr, they were very pleased.
Future work party dates to come watch this space….
Electrofishing Day
Misty Morning
The morning was still but very misty as we all met at Lower Bockhampton and the expectation was that the sun would burn through later in the morning.
The kit and boat were unloaded and we were ready to go. As in the past few years we were joined by Anton Ibbotson and his team from the CEH. They were tagging salmon parr to monitor the parr leaving the Frome and hopefully returning in future years.
The Gang in Full Flow
How to tell the difference between a salmon parr and a trout parr
Here is Anton tagging a small salmon parr
We continued up the Lower Water encountering good numbers of trout, some amazing grayling and plenty of salmon parr for Anton’s team. When we reached Loud’s Mill it was time for lunch and John fired up his stove to reheat a chilli con carne to go with wraps, cheese & salad. Everyone else donated corn crisps, home made HOT Salsa and Guacamole dip – we ate like kings.
Mexican Time
Above Loud’s Mill the trout numbers were equally as good and the sun was beating down roasting them in their dry suits.
At the end of a very hot day 35 pike were removed and will be sold on and a huge number of trout and grayling were counted – best trout was 3lb+
Many thanks to the guys from Kingcombe Aquacare Ltd for all their excellent work and Andrea for the scrumptious chilli con carne 🙂
This is why we do it – a grayling tail!
Cormorant Watch
Angling’s representative body, the Angling Trust, has a web site for anglers to record sightings of cormorants, goosanders and mergansers throughout the UK: www.cormorantwatch.com The site is easy to use and will gather vital data to help persuade government of the need for action to protect fisheries. Friends
