by Stuart Brabbs | Nov 30, 2014 | Conservation, General
It’s early yet for Ayrshire but none the less, Gordon and I felt it worthwhile to take a trip to the upper Doon catchment today to see if there was any signs of spawning activity. Against the odds, we hoped that we may find redds on the Garpel Burn upstream of...
by Stuart Brabbs | Oct 30, 2014 | Conservation, General
Silt pollution is very very damaging and as we approach spawning time, there’s nothing more frustrating to see than large volumes of silty water heading downstream from a site who’s managers should know better. It was made very clear to RJ McLeods agent at...
by Stuart Brabbs | Oct 17, 2014 | Conservation, General
This afternoon I was back in the Garnock Valley crossing a few t’s and dotting the i’s before I submit a report to a client. Once I’d finished my work, I stopped off at the Holmhead Weir in the town to see if I could see fish moving over it....
by Stuart Brabbs | Oct 17, 2014 | Conservation, General
I dropped in at the Black Rocks in Kilmarnock before heading to Dean Ford to see what progress had been made since my last visit. Black Rocks was in good flow and it wasn’t long before I saw a salmon leap at the falls. I didn’t have long but saw several...
by Stuart Brabbs | Oct 17, 2014 | Conservation, General
Apart from the problems with access to the fish pass at Catrine, there still remained the problem of controlling the flow to ensure the pass operated within its design capacity. For around 30 years the pass didn’t perform that well as apart from the other design...
by Stuart Brabbs | Oct 9, 2014 | Conservation, General
Our fencing contractor is installing fencing in the Doon catchment at the moment. The River Doon DSFB agreed to fund a considerable percentage of the cost of this fencing to improve habitat and hopefully fish populations. In the long term, this should also deliver...