A few pics from yesterday's trip to the River Wye with Royvs

some cracking pics that second fish is a stunner!

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Tomo

www.unchartedwatersthefilm.com or email jatstanic@aol.com for your copy

Didn't we have a stonking day, Neil

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Roy

We certainly did - one to remember!

There is a real fish up there! Nice spotted wild brown in photo two.

We actually had quite a few of those, mainly from the faster water like that which Neil is fishing in the last photo.

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Roy

I'm afraid I don't yet have the experience to distinguish real from unreal as far as trout go, but one of the brownies was definitely surreal - long and very thin - twice the length of the one in the pic but no fatter - more bendy bus than routemaster.

Don't worry about that. It takes a while to pick up on the differences. In fact some stockfish are so good that you need the man who bred them to show you the differences. Warren used to breed the best stockfish in the world. Now he looks after the rivers so that the trout can do it all by themselves and they make a better job of it than any of us ever could...

Your photographs are ideal for showing the differences.

The bigger fish:



Look at the fins.

See the pectoral fin is quite small for a fish of that size. Also note how the edges are frayed.

The pelvic fins are small and of one colour only.

The anal fin is small, of one colour, rounded and with the bottom, rear corner missing.

The tail fin has been damaged in the past. It has rounded edges and the bottom rays have bits missing giving a worn away appearance.

There appears to be poor scale adhesion in front of the tail. Patches of skin have missing scales.

The fish, although plump at the front end, is thin at the rear, see how the side from the pelvic fin back is concave rather than convex and rounded.

Now look at your picture of the other brown trout:



The fins are bigger in proportion to the size of fish.

The pectoral fin is unfrayed.

The leading edge of the anal fin is marked with a bright white strip.

The pelvic fin is just starting to get the same effect on the lower rear edge. This will spread forward as the fish matures.

The tail fin is perfect and big with no tattered edges.

The buttery yellow effect is plain to see.

The fish is plump all along its length. Unlike the bigger fish, this year it has not had a period of starvation whilst learning the hard lesson that food has to be found rather than brought to it several times a day in the form of pellets...

Scale adhesion is excellent. (As it should be on such an excellent fish!)

Incidentally, can you remember the take of the wild trout? When you caught it was it down stream of you? Or did it turn downstream to take the fly whilst it was upstream of you?

richard

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Who resides on the right bank of the Derbyshire Wye and is lulled to sleep each night by the mutterings of a weir, dreaming that "When the rivers and their inhabitants come first, we ALL win..."

Thanks for the info Richard. I think (but can't be sure) that fish was slightly downstream (and well over to the other side of the river) - I'm guessing you can tell that from how it took the fly?

Nothing is ever certain in angling, but the position of the hook would hint that the fish was facing you when it took the fly, that's all. You did well to strike it. So many times I end up pulling the fly out of the fishes mouth in similar circumstances...

richard

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Who resides on the right bank of the Derbyshire Wye and is lulled to sleep each night by the mutterings of a weir, dreaming that "When the rivers and their inhabitants come first, we ALL win..."