Trent Salmon

Been on the Trent today won't say where , had a fairly good day not the stuff of dreams but very enjoyable ,fished a favourite peg with the flow to the left, which i find easier or more comfortable, been fishing for about an hour when i noticed a very big splash and a bow wave about 150yrds down from me, thought its probably a goosander or cormorant,so did not pay it any more mind, and carried on enjoying myself catching Roach ,Dace, and a few decent Chub, after approx 40 mins big splash again which was right in my sight watching my stic k float passing through the swim so i kept a watch to see which type of bird came from under the water, nothing became air borne,so i became very interested , so much so that it took over my mind and i could not concentrate on fishing, so i broke the tackle down packed it away and walked down to where the splashes had been, i got really low below the skyline in places where i could and searched the river has best i could, i saw a couple of black shapes which i did not recognise thought at first where big Barbel then they disappeared, so i still was not sure what they where, so i walk further down stream as far as a pipebridge which is the boundary of the clubs water, so i sat on the bank had a smoke [ yes in am a social leper] after about 10mins started to walk upstream back to my tackle and i noticed a object on the far bank under some alder trees it was quite long with orange/ dark yellow spots /markings i had not got a clue what the heck it was,then it moved towards the main flow very fast and there was a splash as it came out of the water, and dived into the main flow i think it was feeding on small fish or/and fry, this fish was deffinatly a salmon which is great regarding water quality in the trent, but my concern is once the landowners i e farmers realise that Salmon are back in the trent they will up the cost of renting the fishing rights to clubs and we th[course anglers] will be priced out by Salmon anglers, What do you guys think ?

If it was definitely feeding on small fish, it wasn't a salmon, as they don't feed in freshwater. More likely to be a big sea trout or a large Rainbow which I've caught around the Burton area.

Salmon have been running the Trent for many years....I remember many anglers reporting seeing them over 40 years ago. There have been a few caught around the Holme Pierrepont area....when the canoe course was built it was hoped that it would help the salmon bypass the sluices.

They have also been seen on the Dove and Derwent over the years...they are certainly nothing new.

Much like the river Severn which has always had a good salmon run and which is recognised as a Salmon Fishery...it has had no effect on the cost of fishing on the Severn or many other rivers such as the Ribble which have similar runs.

I've seen them a few times on the Tidal section, once even hooked , played and lost one.
A friend caught one near Sutton some fifteen years ago and on the odd occasion in autumn can be observed trying to negotiate the wier at Cromwell, especially if there is extra water.

I once caught a salmon parr in the Dove, and once saw a leaping full-sized one on the same river. Obviously, to get to the Dove, they have to come up the Trent.

As has already been said, they've been back in the Trent for a good while now. In fact the EA and other bodies have spent a lot of money and effort on trying to make the river and its tributaries better for the return of salmon.

All the wildlife that live in the river benefit from it being cleaned up, so while there's an argument that possibly too much financial resource has been directed towards salmon instead of coarse fish, it is mainly a positive.

I enjoyed a most amazing sight a few seasons ago on the middle Trent.

I was fishing upriver of a dense overhang of trees early one evening and for some time I could hear, but not see due to the trees, several splashing sounds.

This persisted for some time, getting louder and louder as they got nearer and then I witnessed several Salmon porposing their way upriver a mere twenty feet or so in front of me.

It probably only took a few seconds for them to work past me but it was a remarkable sight.

I don't think they are common enough to be a commercially viable option for riparian owners to target the tweed brigade and on some of the stretches I'm familiar with the tweeds would have a damned good run for their money if the rental of the waters are what they are rumoured to be.

The bad one said:

If it was definitely feeding on small fish, it wasn't a salmon, as they don't feed in freshwater. More likely to be a big sea trout or a large Rainbow which I've caught around the Burton area.

Click to expand...

No way was this fish a trout, either rainbow or sea , this was a salmon and after talking to other club members this is not a isolated occasion, other members especially pike anglers have hooked and lost salmon on the upper trent, so if they are taking lures and spinners they are surely feeding.

JJW said:

so while there's an argument that possibly too much financial resource has been directed towards salmon instead of coarse fish, it is mainly a positive.

Click to expand...

I dont see Salmon returning as a mainly positive thing. Who actually benfits from it ?

Anglers ? ...no...the massively vast majority fish for coarse fish not Salmon. The public ? ....no ....how many of the public spend even 1% of their time by the river and how many will ever even see a Salmon let alone benefit from it. The enviroment ? ....no ....Salmon bring nothing that a coarse fish cant bring.

So what exactly is the benefit of having Salmon back ? ....Same as Otters who actually benefits from them ? ...Anwser - NO ONE.

As far as I can see the only reason to bring them back is simply to say THEIR BACK ! ...HOORAY !

Direct the money to something else.

Rant over.

Philip said:

I dont see Salmon returning as a mainly positive thing. Who actually benfits from it ?

Anglers ? ...no...the massively vast majority fish for coarse fish not Salmon. The public ? ....no ....how many of the public spend even 1% of their time by the river and how many will ever even see a Salmon let alone benefit from it. The enviroment ? ....no ....Salmon bring nothing that a coarse fish cant bring.

So what exactly is the benefit of having Salmon back ? ....Same as Otters who actually benefits from them ? ...Anwser - NO ONE.

As far as I can see the only reason to bring them back is simply to say THEIR BACK ! ...HOORAY !

Direct the money to something else.

Rant over.

Click to expand...

I think you misunderstood me. I didn't mean the return of the salmon per se is a positive, but that the cleaning up of the rivers benefits not only the salmon but other species of fish, birds and invertibrates and so indirectly, anglers.
Could have less money been spent on salmon projects and more on other things? Yes, absolutely. But some of the work that has been done primarily for salmon benefits the river environment as a whole, that was my point.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

I've caught a few salmon and witnessed loads of captures....never seen one with the colours you describe?

JJW said:

I think you misunderstood me. I didn't mean the return of the salmon per se is a positive, but that the cleaning up of the rivers benefits not only the salmon but other species of fish, birds and invertibrates and so indirectly, anglers.
Could have less money been spent on salmon projects and more on other things? Yes, absolutely. But some of the work that has been done primarily for salmon benefits the river environment as a whole, that was my point.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Yes your right and thats a good response. Although I quoted you was not specifically directed at you more as a general rant about the money spent on Salmon. Of course Salmon money indirectly helps other things but I would prefer those things to benefit directly rather than as a by product of someones zest to have Salmon leaping back in the rivers with no one knowing, watching or caring about.

Philip said:

Yes your right and thats a good response. Although I quoted you was not specifically directed at you more as a general rant about the money spent on Salmon. Of course Salmon money indirectly helps other things but I would prefer those things to benefit directly rather than as a by product of someones zest to have Salmon leaping back in the rivers with no one knowing, watching or caring about.

Click to expand...

Agreed.
I would add though that as a native species, salmon should be running up the Trent and its tributaries but yes it would be preferable if they benefitted from work carried out on behalf of all the other life in the river rather than the other way around.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

JJW said:

Agreed.
I would add though that as a native species, salmon should be running up the Trent and its tributaries but yes it would be preferable if they benefitted from work carried out on behalf of all the other life in the river rather than the other way around.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

I'd prefer to see Burbot back. Why does no one try and restock them ?

How can the nation thats world renown for its fish and chips overlook the only freshwater member of the cod family.

stripey said:

No way was this fish a trout, either rainbow or sea , this was a salmon and after talking to other club members this is not a isolated occasion, other members especially pike anglers have hooked and lost salmon on the upper trent, so if they are taking lures and spinners they are surely feeding.

Click to expand...

I don't doubt there are salmon in the Trent given the mass stockings of parr that have been put in since the early 90s. But again, I repeat salmon don't feed in freshwater.
What happens is the salmon instinctively snaps at whatever it is winding them up. It is not an act of feeding, it's the instinct of the fish! I myself have hooked salmon on various bait over the years I've fished salmon rivers. The most bazaar was a large piece of crust wafting in the current and fished under a bush on the Severn for chub. It was taken by a salmon of around 30 lb, which took off up river and turned as quickly down river toward the sea, stripping 200 mtr of line off in about 30 second making several leaps as it went. The hook eventually pulling thankfully before the rod went bang! Interesting to say the least!
I appreciate you don't think it was a sea trout, but most seasons the river I fish produces ST to well over 15 lbs, the best I know of came out at 22 lbs. ST's, will because I've seen them do it, on my river, attack small fish when they are running.

Never in all the years I've fished a salmon river (35+ year) have any of the salmon anglers I've talked to and or I know, and I know a fair few, ever mentioned that they have ever found any food in the gut of any salmon they have killed and taken.

"It was taken by a salmon of around 30 lb, which took off up river and turned as quickly down river toward the sea, stripping 200 mtr of line off in about 30 second making several leaps as it went. The hook eventually pulling thankfully "

Apart from the size that near enough describes perfectly the struggle I had with the one I hooked on the Trent.
But for a big bush I might have been able to carry on downstream and maybe land it but with no way round it I had to do the best I could from there-- result was the super specialist hook coming back near straightened out.