River Ayr Trout

I was given a couple of trout from the River Ayr to compare yesterday. Both came from the same stretch near Failford and were almost identical size at about 13″. The captor complained that one of the trout fought like a ‘Goldfish’ while the other...

Girvan salmon fry electrofishing survey

With the assistance of  Tommy Thomson, the River Superintendent, we surveyed eight sites on the Water of Girvan today, starting at Tairlaw Bridge, close to the upper limit of natural salmon access. We found good numbers of salmon fry here and they were significantly...

Girvan Weirs lower fish pass open

The nice spell of dry weather provided excellent conditions for the work on the lower Girvan Dykes weir. The concrete works is now finished and the weir was opened today. The river was -1″ on the gauge today, about as low as it normally gets,  but there was...

Airport Attack

After a fair bit of negotiation with Glasgow Prestwick Airport, ART finally gained access to spray the few giant hogweed plants that had developed within the perimiter fence. The Ladykirk Burn and the Sandyford Burn meet on the east side of the airfield before being...

Girvan Dykes fish pass well used

I had a quick visit back to Girvan today to meet the contractors. Rising river levels had put a stop to any work today but provided ideal conditions for fish to run. Quite a few salmon and sea trout were seen using the new fish pass, including small sea trout under...