Is this legal

Gasherbraun

I have never fished for trout in Ireland (I was lucky enough to fish the Test and Itchen in UK for years so have an interest) so not fully aware of the regulations.

This picture appeared on Facebook yesterday and seems to show the eggs harvested from some dead rainbows.

Is this legal?

Zzippy

Gasherbraun wrote: »

I have never fished for trout in Ireland (I was lucky enough to fish the Test and Itchen in UK for years so have an interest) so not fully aware of the regulations.

This picture appeared on Facebook yesterday and seems to show the eggs harvested from some dead rainbows.

Is this legal?

It's only illegal if the eggs are then used for bait. If they're being used for human consumption that's fine. Tbh it's interesting to see rainbows producing eggs in those numbers given the "accepted wisdom" that they don't spawn successfully here. Was this in Ireland?

Bogwoppit

Zzippy wrote: »

It's only illegal if the eggs are then used for bait. If they're being used for human consumption that's fine. Tbh it's interesting to see rainbows producing eggs in those numbers given the "accepted wisdom" that they don't spawn successfully here. Was this in Ireland?

They don't spawn in Ireland, at least there is no documented evidence of them doing so. They will however, produce egg but these won't mature and will be absorbed back into the body.

Gasherbraun

Zzippy wrote: »

It's only illegal if the eggs are then used for bait. If they're being used for human consumption that's fine. Tbh it's interesting to see rainbows producing eggs in those numbers given the "accepted wisdom" that they don't spawn successfully here. Was this in Ireland?

The photo is certainly taken in Ireland so guess the fish were caught locally

Zzippy

Bogwoppit wrote: »

They don't spawn in Ireland, at least there is no documented evidence of them doing so. They will however, produce egg but these won't mature and will be absorbed back into the body.

Actually they do in some cases, and there is. There was formerly a self-sustaining population of rainbows in a lake on Arranmore Island, Co. Donegal, which have since disappeared, but they were there and reproducing successfully for many years. I have also seen young rainbow trout in a small stocked fishery in the west that had not been stocked for several years, and have also heard eyewitness evidence from a reliable source of watching rainbows trying to dig redds in the gravel bank of a stocked fishery in Co. Wicklow.

Bogwoppit

Zzippy wrote: »

Actually they do in some cases, and there is. There was formerly a self-sustaining population of rainbows in a lake on Arranmore Island, Co. Donegal, which have since disappeared, but they were there and reproducing successfully for many years. I have also seen young rainbow trout in a small stocked fishery in the west that had not been stocked for several years, and have also heard eyewitness evidence from a reliable source of watching rainbows trying to dig redds in the gravel bank of a stocked fishery in Co. Wicklow.

I stand corrected, I wasn't aware of those.

I've caught juvenile rainbows in lough owel, that doesn't mean they're breeding though!

Digging redds is common enough but it's a long way from there to actual spawning, fertilisation and survival of offspring.

SeaFields

I've caught a juvenile rainbow in a stocked lake in Kerry. Don't know if he happened to get in with a batch if stocked fish or was reproduced in the lake. The perfect fin formation and different colouring had me wondering.

bpmurray

Are you guys really saying that rainbows don't reproduce in Ireland? If so, where on earth have they all come from? There aren't that many cabbages in our waterways, and I doubt that the herons/storks would leave many.

Bogwoppit

bpmurray wrote: »

Are you guys really saying that rainbows don't reproduce in Ireland? If so, where on earth have they all come from? There aren't that many cabbages in our waterways, and I doubt that the herons/storks would leave many.

Who are you addressing?

I have to say it's unlikely they are breeding anywhere but not impossible.

I would be fairly confident that 99.9% of the rainbows in Ireland are stocked.

twin_beacon

bpmurray wrote: »

Are you guys really saying that rainbows don't reproduce in Ireland? If so, where on earth have they all come from? There aren't that many cabbages in our waterways, and I doubt that the herons/storks would leave many.

grown from eggs in fish farms, stocked into put and take fisheries. http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Fish-Farm/fishfarm.html

bpmurray

Wow - I always thought they were breeding wild. It never occurred to me that they might all (or very nearly all) be stocked. I suppose you learn something new every day.

niallon

bpmurray wrote: »

Wow - I always thought they were breeding wild. It never occurred to me that they might all (or very nearly all) be stocked. I suppose you learn something new every day.

It's a big part of where their mixed reputation derives from. Some anglers consider them the lesser of the two because they are all stocked. That said I've caught some Rainbows, even in commercial fisheries, that were clearly a bit older and I'd have said they were plenty wild with regard to how hard they were to catch/land. Stocked Rainbows in Ireland are supposed to be triploid, meaning they can't breed, that some wild ones would have been snuck into some fisheries wouldn't surprise me though

Zzippy

niallon wrote: »

It's a big part of where their mixed reputation derives from. Some anglers consider them the lesser of the two because they are all stocked. That said I've caught some Rainbows, even in commercial fisheries, that were clearly a bit older and I'd have said they were plenty wild with regard to how hard they were to catch/land. Stocked Rainbows in Ireland are supposed to be triploid, meaning they can't breed, that some wild ones would have been snuck into some fisheries wouldn't surprise me though

It's only very recently that producing triploid fish has become the norm for hatchery fish in Ireland, and even now I'm sure it's not 100% effective, so there will probably always be a few fish capable of spawning.
There is no comparison between wild and stocked rainbows in terms of fighting ability. A big wild bow is the hardest fighting fish you'll probably ever encounter. I've landed them to 18lbs in the wild and the fight was incredible - down to a few turns of backing left and a big fish leaping all over the place over 100 yards out in the lake. Stocked rainbows, even overwintered ones, just don't measure up at all.

bpmurray

Zzippy wrote: »

A big wild bow is the hardest fighting fish you'll probably ever encounter.

Ah, now - this would be an ecumenical matter. Have you ever caught a large coalfish in deep water or a bluefish or one of the tunas?

Zzippy

bpmurray wrote: »

Ah, now - this would be an ecumenical matter. Have you ever caught a large coalfish in deep water or a bluefish or one of the tunas?

Lol. Yes, no, no. Hardest fighting salmonid on a fly rod perhaps?

ComfortKid

Zzippy wrote:

It's only very recently that producing triploid fish has become the norm for hatchery fish in Ireland, and even now I'm sure it's not 100% effective, so there will probably always be a few fish capable of spawning. There is no comparison between wild and stocked rainbows in terms of fighting ability. A big wild bow is the hardest fighting fish you'll probably ever encounter. I've landed them to 18lbs in the wild and the fight was incredible - down to a few turns of backing left and a big fish leaping all over the place over 100 yards out in the lake. Stocked rainbows, even overwintered ones, just don't measure up at all.

Where abouts were you catching 18lb wild rainbows?

Zzippy

ComfortKid wrote: »

Where abouts were you catching 18lb wild rainbows?

This place, although the camp looks a lot better than when I was there, we slept in big tents with wooden bases and the toilet/shower facilities were basic to say the least. The fishing was incredible though.