Completely gutted today.

Went back to a stretch of the Irwell that was bouncing with fish just a few weeks ago.
So many in fact even I managed five small trout.

Went back today for some more of the same and from the off things looked too quiet.

Must have seen a dozen of these. Bold as brass and all over the place. Such a waste. Probably because of the low water and easy pickings. Just to round it off I arranged to meet Mike (mickytommo) thinking we would have an easy day. . Not a bat between us.................


Looks like ill have to update my blog now.


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One fish, one fly, one man, several hats.
激しいセックス

little buggers! can anything be done about them?

There is always lead poisoning.........


Unfortunately you need the land owners consent to shoot them and its a river so I doubt consent could be got. I dont fancy five years for armed trespass.

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One fish, one fly, one man, several hats.
激しいセックス

Got them on the Clyde also..nasty little feckers! A few weeks ago i saw one chase a rabbit, kill it and then leave it lying on the riverbank..then it just casually walked off!

Cheers Diarmid.

u cant really hate a wee animal can you ...i used to get so annoyed with the seals at loch long but when u think about it they are because they need to be were there because we want to. Saw one poor beggar all covered in spinners down in gourock this year :/

Edit - that'll teach me for assuming that "black death" equals "cormorants"... Slight edit to post as a result...

For mink control - some angler-led initiatives (e.g. the Monnow Fisheries association) and Conservation/angling partnerships (e.g. Trent Rivers Trust) have put in place very effective mink control programmes of trapping and humane dispatch under licence.
A good insurance option would be to introduce brashy cover to act as "fish refuges" (same principle as the artificial refuges you get on stillwaters).

If you are sufficiently gutted to want to help the situation then give me an email on p.gaskell8@googlemail.com and I'll help you set up a local branch of "Trout in the Town" so you can adopt and look after a section of the Irwell.
Wild Trout Trust.


Paul

National programme just set up over here to cull mink near nesting sites of threatened birds - will be interesting to see how it gets on.

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Steve


"There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." Paul O'Neil

hi, acid house i fish on the irwell in ramsbottom. which stretch of the river have you seen the mink on?

I see the problem is the same all over Europe. And it is not a mink. Why on Earth do you think those minks are so horrible? Do they only eat fish? Do they only eat trout? Don`t you think minks were there before, when you were successful. Etc.

I am always glad when i see a mink. Folks over here make all kind of alarm over herons, mergansers etc. Those waters still offer splendid fishing, just a bit more on the demanding side.

BlueOne

Blue One - the mink were introduced sometime in the region of the 1970's when animal right's campaigners broke into fur farms and released them in the countryside.

Mink are the main reason that our native water vole has been wiped out from many rivers and may also be related to a reduction in bird diversity (particularly ground nesting species).

Where mink have been largely eradicated on the Monnow system (for example), there are now good populations of water vole.