tweedsider
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Quietness is best
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Post by tweedsider on Sept 26, 2007 19:09:48 GMT
Most of us who have been raised on trout angling, speaking of wild trout here, could agree that the bigger(older) the trout the harder it would be to tempt to take the offered fly or rule. My question is, does it take more skill to hook a large (older) salmon as does to tempt a 4lb grilse.
Regds tweedsider
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fruity
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Post by fruity on Sept 26, 2007 19:14:03 GMT
When you say "hook", do you actually mean "tempt", "secure a hook hold" or "land it"?
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tweedsider
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Post by tweedsider on Sept 26, 2007 19:57:23 GMT
Maybe I phrased that incorrectly fruity, I meant was there more skill or less skill in getting either species to take the offering and become hooked. Playing and landing are a different ball game, but should be the ultimate conclusion
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fruity
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Post by fruity on Sept 26, 2007 20:09:04 GMT
Thanks. In that case I think it is harder to catch the bigger fish, principally because I feel the Grilse will generally have more of the feeding/chasing instinct/habit.
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Post by speyghillie on Sept 27, 2007 19:53:03 GMT
One thing I have noticed is that when a big fish (20lb+) has been caught, there is invariably another along with it or certainly within a couple of miles radius.
After some consideration and numerous hours in the hut listening the the great tales of old, I personally think that these fish have been together since at least smolt size and therefore catching them together is certainly no coincidence.
I'd be very interested in the opinions of others and I'm sure that after some thought many will have had or heard of the same experience. Dufur this spring was one classic example - 28ish and 30lb fish from the same lie within an hour or so. Also Craigellachie last spring had 3 x 20lb + fish by the same rod on the same day. It's little wonder where that old saying came from 'where there's one - there'll be another'
Yes they are a shoal fish, but considering a couple of winters at sea and taking into account the obvious high percentage of marine mortality, I actually find it all quite poignant. Thankfully this view is shared by the majority of Today's Salmon anglers where their aim is to catch this mighty creature and following a quick photo, return it to continue it's remarkable journey.
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tweedsider
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Post by tweedsider on Sept 27, 2007 20:02:40 GMT
That is a good point speyghillie, have you viewed the post on Tyne Salmon in Photos. A number of salmon with their adipose fins clipped possible at hatchery stage have been taken on the Tyne near to each other in time and distance.
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fruity
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Post by fruity on Sept 27, 2007 20:13:32 GMT
I have heard of a couple of instances of big fish on smaller rivers being traced all the way up to particular burns in headwaters, often running the river at the same time each year. I am quite sure the smolts will be able to identify and presumably feel an affinity, or feel safe, with smolts from their home area and choose to shoal up, and even be able to match/pair up with salmon similar to themselves/from the same burn.
If this is the case, and it doesn’t seem so extraordinary in consideration of the behaviour of other creatures in the natural world, then it may be the case that general stocking of fry over feeder burns may be completely pointless (or detrimental) because the only fish likely to survive are those naturally surviving as part of the evolutionary process in a particular burn or even section of that burn.
Killing one, two or three large salmon may vastly reduce the chances of large fish returning to a particular burn/section of burn.
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db
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Post by db on Sept 28, 2007 8:21:53 GMT
One thing I have noticed is that when a big fish (20lb+) has been caught, there is invariably another along with it or certainly within a couple of miles radius. After some consideration and numerous hours in the hut listening the the great tales of old, I personally think that these fish have been together since at least smolt size and therefore catching them together is certainly no coincidence. I'd be very interested in the opinions of others and I'm sure that after some thought many will have had or heard of the same experience. Dufur this spring was one classic example - 28ish and 30lb fish from the same lie within an hour or so. Also Craigellachie last spring had 3 x 20lb + fish by the same rod on the same day. It's little wonder where that old saying came from 'where there's one - there'll be another' Yes they are a shoal fish, but considering a couple of winters at sea and taking into account the obvious high percentage of marine mortality, I actually find it all quite poignant. Thankfully this view is shared by the majority of Today's Salmon anglers where their aim is to catch this mighty creature and following a quick photo, return it to continue it's remarkable journey. Very good point, there seems to be more and more evidence that these fish stick together throughout their lives - certainly is quite poignant and gives an added dimension to conservation and C&R. Must be getting sentimental in middle-age! I often wonder that even in this day and age, we are only scratching the surface of what we know about the habits and lives of these wonderful fish.
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Post by charlieH on Sept 28, 2007 14:30:04 GMT
Interesting; our experience in Norway was that the really big fish (4SW and 40+lbs) appeared to be solitary and could sometimes be territorial, pushing other fish out of their lie. We didn't generally have a lot of resident fish there, at least in the early part of the season, but if a big fish took up residence in a lie, you would sometimes find that you didn't catch fish from that place, at least until the big fish was either caught or moved on.
As to the original question, I don't think it it is any harder per se to hook a big fish than a small one, though obviously it is harder to land them. That said, I think big fish tend to take up residence in deep water, where obviously they feel most secure. It is likely to be more difficult to present a fly in such a place, though obviously spinning (or, even more so, natural bait) can get into these deep holes.
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conwyrod
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Post by conwyrod on Sept 28, 2007 19:26:45 GMT
One thing I have noticed is that when a big fish (20lb+) has been caught, there is invariably another along with it or certainly within a couple of miles radius. A friend caught a 17lb salmon yesterday and lost a bigger one shortly afterwards. Prior to that, the biggest fish this season was 10lb.
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