Follow this link for photos of magnificent brown trout taken this year, largely by trolling, on a Sutherland loch, and then killed. Surely it cannot be right to remove so many top level predators from one water - albeit a very large one. I applaud the work of the ferox group using catch and release to research the distribution and biology of large brown trout; I find the killing of wild trout as in these pictures disturbing. Give me a photo of the fish fresh from it's habitat and then safely released.

I note from the comments that one fish was feeding on salmon smolts, were these escapees from smolt rearing cages? I thought the Hydro dam kept wild salmon out of loch Shin.

Overscaig House Hotel - Image gallery

Is the fishery in a downward spiral with the fish getting smaller and fewer (or even smaller and more numerous) year on year or are catches remaining consistent? If the latter then no harm is being done.
The photo's are pretty pish though

Andy

Those photos are taken over a period of 6 years.

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Check the link again, look at the 3rd pic down.

Yes, the 3rd pic down is a salmon kelt - a few salmon may get through the hydro dam . Re comment about the pics being over 6 years, the first 13 are taken over 2 years. One or two of these tremendous fish were taken on the fly.

I wouldnt have killed any of them but that is a very personal choice. I have had some nice wild trout and have returned them all, part due to self imposed ethics and part due to being too keen to get fishing again to fanny about killing the fish when i can just unhook, revive and be on my way, anyway, this in mind i have absolutley no quarrel with someone taking a fish such as these as long as the water can sustain their removal. The question is where do you draw the line, what would happen if EVERYONE killed the fish? There will be many large trout caught, released and never spoken of, as will there be many removed under similar silence, but what if all were killed as caught?

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i was walking far from home, where the names are not burned along the wall, saw a building, high as heaven, but the door was so small

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Clearly states RETURNED.
whats your point?
regards
bert

Read my first post where I specifically refer to Brown Trout. My point is that I believe large wild Brown Trout should be returned to the water not killed.

a trout returned is worth more to the local economy than one in the pan, I think it was Lee Wulff that estimated these fish could be worth a lot of money back in the water ,easker1

Hello again Bert, the chap questioned whether migratory fish made it up into the loch. Nothing to do with returned or not mate.