From rivers in Russia to those in Canada, scientists have found with tagged Atlantic salmon that anglers have caught and released the same grilse and salmon several times. Would like to hear any stories from any of you who found evidence of grilse that have been caught more than once. With science now showing that grilse help divert predators from larger salmon during migration, and grilse being more likely to explore for new spawning habitat, wouldn't that make it a win-win situation to release grilse? Better for salmon numbers, better for the anglers?

pardon my ignorance, but what is a grilse. i thought that was a salmon

burhan

__________________
I could fish deep into the night
Well past the light
But at the end of the day
It's the end of the day

Burhan

mc_death187@yahoo.com

A grilse is a one sea winter salmon. It is a salmon, but when people refer to 'salmon' they mean 2, 3 or 4 sea winter fish (i'd sell my soul for a 4SW fish)!

I have heard from the river i fish about repeat captures, and also about healthy survival rates. My PB salmon of about 22lb was released and allegedly caught again (in the same pool)!

thanks bb. does that mean that it's spawned and gone back to sea once and has come back into the river? do they look different to other salmon and i'm assuming a 4 sea winter fish is bigger and fights harder? again please excuse my ignorance but i'm still learning. thanks

burhan

__________________
I could fish deep into the night
Well past the light
But at the end of the day
It's the end of the day

Burhan

mc_death187@yahoo.com

No it has not spawned, that would be a kelt.
Grilse are generally small, typically about 6lbs or less.
As BB says they have spent 1 winter at sea feeding.
The big boys and girls are multi winter fish, 20lbs plus.

__________________
It is in truth not glory,nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting,but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with his life.(Declaration of Arbroath, 1320)

thanks. again sorry to sound so dumb, but in my defence i come from a coarse background and am now a mad grayling convert

burhan

__________________
I could fish deep into the night
Well past the light
But at the end of the day
It's the end of the day

Burhan

mc_death187@yahoo.com

No such thing as a dumb question, only dumb answers.

__________________
It is in truth not glory,nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting,but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with his life.(Declaration of Arbroath, 1320)

There is an interesting article about this in this month's Trout and Salmon, my copy of which is currently in a council recycling depot. Basically, salmon were marked with some form of permanent ink (a wee blue dot) every time they were caught. The picture in the article feature a salmon with three dots on it, although I'm not sure how frequently fish are recaught. Can anyone enlighten me?

Just to clear any confusion, fresh grilse and salmon have not spawned, the number of years refers to how long they've been at sea growing fatter! once spawned they are called 'kelts' as someone pointed out above. A 'baggot' is a fish that has been in the river a long time but has not spawned over the winter.

Interestingly, almost all the very big salmon are males. There are very few 4 or 5SW females that reach 40 or 50lb.

What i would give for a 50lb salmon to roll over my fly...

the river in question is the River Carron, in Wester Ross, a river that was almost dead and has been brought back from the brink, my old college lecturer Bob Kindness has been the man most responsible for it.

check this link for more details on it, he is a really nice wee bloke Bob

Attadale - River Carron Fishing