Smolt trapping at Catrine

Following issues at Catrine Dam last year during the smolt run, this year we have been monitoring their progress as they head downstream in order to assess output from the upper river and prove (or not) that the fish ladder is working. The fish ladder is an essential...

Bird Count for the Girvan

With water levels up slightly, Struan and Muir set about the Girvan Bird count today while Gillian and myself went to the smolt trap at Catrine. Of course they needed their vehicle moved downstream to their finishing point, so after we closed the trap on the Ayr, we...

River Categorisation for 2018

With the fishing season well underway and the realistic prospect of a fish now, I thought it would be worth while reminding all anglers what the Scottish Government has categorised each Ayrshire river and what this means for the angler on the river. Ayr Category 3...

Smolts Galore!

We’ve been kept busy at the smolt trap over the last couple of days. With many hundred passing through now we’ve been starting the first mark, release, recapture trials to assess the percentage of the migrating population passing through the trap.      ...