ART Blog

During electrofishing surveys we occasionally come across a fish that stands out for some reason or another. In 2009 when surveying a site on the Glenmuir Water in the upper reaches of the Ayr Catchment (closed to fishing), we caught a brown trout in a pool below a small falls that was around 260mm long which was considerably larger than others in the sample. It was duly photographed and returned.
Last week Brian and I returned to electrofish the same site one year on wondering if the ‘big fella’ would have survived the winter. Again from below the falls came a larger than average fish that was photographed and measured at 330mm long and on close inspection of both the 2009 and 2010 photographs we can be certain that it is the same fish. The fish has developed more spots but last years spots remain unchanged as a permanent marker. I’m already looking forward to next year’s electrofishing with the anticipation of a near 2lb’er!  

 Stuart.

 

Thanks to funding from SEPA and the Doon Fishery Board we have been able to make a start on controlling invasive weeds on the Doon. Himalayan balsam is was well established on the Chapleton Burn (the one that flows in at Cassillis) but with the enthusiastic help of BTCV volunteers, ART staff, spouses etc we have removed most of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being an annual plant it is very shallow rooted and can be pulled quite easily, the main hazards being nettles/insects/soft muddy bottoms and bit of grass in the eye. However with a bit of determination this sort of scene:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

can soon be turned into this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hope we have caught the balsam in time on the Doon as so far there is very little on the main river downstream. Having said that we were electrofishing at Monkwood Mill last week and we found a single plant growing by the famous Lemon Pots pool.

 

This plant was removed but there will be others. We would urge all lower Doon to be vigilant and to remove any flowering balsam plants before the pods start to explode.

 

Himalayan balsam is regarded as a pretty and harmless plant by many but the rate at which it spreads and its dominance once established is amazing. If we don’t get on top of the balsam now the Doon will soon be the same as the lower Stinchar: wall to wall balsam. Take a drive round the roads upstream of Ballantrae and you will soon see the extent of the problem. There the balsam is forming hedges round fields, becoming established along roadsides, taking over any rough ground,gardens, etc.

 

Thanks for your help: your river needs you.

 

It was good to get out electrofishing today, our first proper day surveying, although the Salmon in the Classroom project had involved a few mini surveys.

 

Gillian and myself, with the assistance of Galston Angling Club members surveyed a few tributary sites in the upper Irvine Valley before the rain put us off  (looks like the announcement of a hosepipe ban in Dumfries & Galloway has worked a treat!)

 

The first site was in Galston in the Burn Anne, or Burnawn as it’s known locally. The findings here were very good with an abundance of salmon fry and parr, with even better densities than the excellent results recorded at the same site last year. In 2008 a fish pass was installed in the lower reaches of the burn and a massive number of salmon were seen spawning in the burn for the first time. This year the fry density was even higher, despite no one reporting seeing any salmon spawning last winter. The salmon parr density was 6x higher than last year, presumably a result of the high fry densities last year.

We also had some nice trout parr, although the largest was only 168mm, whereas we had 10 bigger ones last year. The condition of all the fish was superb, as can be seen in this photo of a 168mm trout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another site, the Huggin Craig Burn at Newmilns gave us our highest ever density of trout parr (156/100m2).  54 parr came from a site that was only 19m long and under 2m wide. Nearly all the parr came from a single deep pool with overhanging bushes. The remarkable concentration of parr in that pool was probably a result of the extended period of low water, with the larger fish congregating in the deeper holes. This highlights the importance of habitat variety. If that burn had been dredged or straightening in the past, would it have held any parr? The condition factor, and growth rate of the trout parr was relatively poor, probably due to the over crowding and competition. At least two herons flew away from the vicinity of the site as we approached so they were obviously aware of the potential food source.

The trout parr were very pretty, although this photo doesn’t do this one justice (we were under a tree and I had to use the flash).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The deep pool where we found all the parr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep tuning in for more titbits of info on the work of the Trust.

Brian Shaw