rainbow fry

smiffy2ky8

Went for a walk yesterday down a river near where i live, its only about 2foot deep 6foot wide and it was full of rainbow trout fry, the river runs into a lake but i have never seen any fish jumping on the lake. Would it be worth while going down with a worm and chancing my luck.??

Also i seen this thing in the water, it was about 3 inches long, flat, black and look like a leech, are there leeches in ireland coz this the first time i have ever seen one.?

coolwings

Yes, there are several species of leech in Ireland.
Sounds like you saw your first large one ,were you brave enough to pick it up? :-)

smiffy2ky8

Ha no didnt know what it was, it swam of any ways

Zzippy

OP, how do you know they were rainbow trout fry? Just wondering cos I didn't think there were any self-sustaining populations of rainbows in Ireland, just stockies, unless of course they were stocked as fry. Where did you see them?

smiffy2ky8

in a river near where i live in north kilkenny, coz they looked like rainbows,

paddy2008

if they are trout their is most likely a club over it,there fore a permit would be required.

coolwings

The minnows are getting ready to spawn in my local river, could it have been a shoal of them mating around a gravel bank?

smiffy2ky8

no club anyways coz no fishes up the lake coz the farmer really lets ne1 up too it, im fairly sure they wur trout, they dint look like any minnow i have ever seen in the river before, there were a few bigger ones (5-6inches) with dark brown spots running along the back

Zzippy

smiffy2ky8 wrote: »

no club anyways coz no fishes up the lake coz the farmer really lets ne1 up too it, im fairly sure they wur trout, they dint look like any minnow i have ever seen in the river before, there were a few bigger ones (5-6inches) with dark brown spots running along the back

Most likely brownies, rainbows are really only found in stocked fisheries where they can't escape into nearby rivers, plus fish of that size would indicate a spawning stock, which has to my knowledge only been recorded in one location in Ireland - a long way from Kilkenny!

Doc Farrell

You are now in an interesting and fortunate position mr. sniffy. you are now the guardian of your waters. what you decide to do now is in your hands. i envy you.

paddy2008

keep us posted though:D