I received an excited telephone call from a friend earlier. He fishes the same river as me, the Goyt. He told me about this huge Trout, between 6 and 8 pounds he estimated, repeatedly attempting to jump up a weir.

This river, which along with the Tame forms the Mersey at Stockport, has very little form for Salmon. The E.A. have attempted to change this by stocking Smolts but as far as I know, no Salmon have been caught from the Goyt since the start of the industrial revolution. Sea Trout are also unheard of.

My question is; do Brown Trout ever behave in this way? Or is this likely to have been a migratory fish, either Trout or Salmon?

trout also migrate upstream to spawn.but it was probably a salmon or s/trout.great news,only hope it finds a mate.

jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

Not for me to disagree with Jim But Brown Trout will behave in this way. They do have a migratory urge to set forth for the shallower head waters where the spawning reds are. I remember seeing a huge brownie heading up a fish pass on the Clettwr - I think -(Wye trib) in late October a couple of years back.

Its great to hear about the recovery of the Goyt as a habitat for trout. When I lived in the North West, it was virtually sterile, just a ghost river.

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"A homeward tramp thro' mist wrapped night,
With heart and creel in common light,
Complete content, the day has brought it,
They fished for pleasure - and they caught it"

P F Morgan
taken from the catch record book at Llanthony Hotel, Honddu Valley, Aug 1942

www.monnowlogue.com
www.monnow.org.uk

Jim and Tigermoth are right. Brown trout, in rain fed rivers, tend to migrate to the higher tributaries in order to find suitably sized gravel for spawning. In chalk streams there is suitably sized gravel throughout much of the length of the river and in the runners/side streams. The success or otherwise of main steam spawing is another matter. But in rain fed rivers the prevelance of spates means that fry and parr have a better chance of survival in the smaller streams higher up the system where the force of water and the proportionately higher amount of bankside vegetation/cover to open water means that they can find more cover.

Hence the reason why the coppicing of bankside trees and fencing out of livestock on these tribs, which encourages the regrowth of bankside and instream cover. There are other benefits to the river as well to the increase in the vegetation

The large sloping weir above the Millennium Walkway is the place to look. I'd say middle of next month would be about primetime. Last year I saw brownies of all sizes attempting to take this weir.
JT