Most of the sea trout I catch are accidental while fishing for something else, "in season".

If I report these I expect I would get "done" and I would guess this is more than common.

So the Environment Agency should have a section and disclaimer letting anglers report these or I would assume that these returns are largely meaningless.

In Sussex virtually any sea trout caught would be out of season as thats when spate conditions exist here, the sea trout simply do not run without spate conditions.

So what do you do on the forms, report and be damned? Or lie about when you caught them to try to get some sense of how many fish run a particular river?

(I fish for rainbows in a stocked on-line lake that has a run of sea trout in mid/late winter)

I just put down how many I have caught and put a note saying I don't know the dates (because I don't).
I don't keep a record of when I caught, just a mental note of how many.

Are you killing the Seatrout.

Jim

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

You wouldn't get a catch return unless you have a migratory licence in which case report all fish legally caught and don't report any fish outside the migratory fish season to stay safe.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

Surely If you return the fish, you will not have broken any rules.just like accidentally catching Salmon ,Seatrout or Brownies when Grayling fishing.All returned, no rules broken.

Jim

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

Sewinbasher, that is my point, means Environment Ag doesn't get full picture.

Re 3ldgrayling, what is it with you, are you some fishing god....


As it happens I don't kill the sea trout but that is nothing to do with the question of the thread as the form clearly asks if C&Red or not anyway, but it also asks for dates....thats the point of the question.

Mr Grayling does look a little like Jesus!

Sorry if I have misunderstood the thread,But if there is a point of conflict with the Returns sheet inc C&R fish.then I like sewinbasher would not report the fish.and would feel quite justified in this action.

Jim

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

@brightontrader... Sounds like your little lake has a good head of sea trout..!! Do you know if they manage to make it back out..? Or do they get stuck once they find their way in..

Accidentally caught seat trout (out of season, whether it be on your own private fishery), in your case, would probably be best kept quiet. If you were to hand in catch returns with regular catches, not only might you find yourself in a bit of hot water with the fish police.. but they might approach you and insist on you putting up fish barriers or something, to prevent them from entering your fishery. Your case is a bit unique. Seldom does a fishery have a fish such as sea trout, find its way into its waters. There will always be fish caught out of season accidentally, but in your case it would be far more often than the norm, and i cant see them just leaving you alone....they would definitely jump on your case..

The Sea Trout you have in there now, must be from last years winter run...??? It hasnt rained for absolutely ages..!!

Rich

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'' if at first you don't succeed........then skydiving is not for you....

I do agree with you, it's just a case of where you draw the line. A lot of anglers in north Wales record fish hooked and lost in season as fish released as there is clearly some merit in the EA having a record of those fish. A day when no fish are touched or seen is a blank but a day when perhaps three fish were hooked and lost doesn't tell the same story in terms of fish stocks if recorded as a blank.

How you extend this philosophy to out of season fish is a dilemma, you can't record them on the date that you caught them so if you lie about the date what value does the data have for the EA? I've caught salmon whilst piking in the Wye in December and have not recorded them on my EA returns and I see no merit in doing so if I have to record them as being caught on 17th October.

It might be an idea for the EA to include a return on all licences for fish caught both in and out of season to get a fuller picture but this would require licence holders who have never made a return to do so and the ever shorter staffed EA to spend more time analysing them ....... can't see it happening.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary