I spent a couple of hours watching Sea Trout come in off the tide last night. It was really awesome to watch. The sea was really running hard, and the river was in light spate, but the fish still pushed in.
I first spotted them in the sea, as the waves were drawing back before pounding the beach again. I could make out tails in the surf, beating like made to get through the roaring water and into the narrow mouth of the river. Every now and then a "V" would come shooting across the shallow surf, like a torpedo, heading for the river. As they hit the slightly calmer river, they all seemed to perform a "victory jump" before heading and tailing up the 100 or so yards of the pool before hitting the next obstacle.
However, there were two Cormorants working the pool. Although I did not see any fish being eaten, I did see 5 or 6 fish being grabbed and attempt to be swallowed before getting away. One fish was around the 3 pound mark!! Also, every now and then, as the birds went under (seemed to be hunting as a pair, with one guarding he river mouth whilst the other "rounded up" the fish), I would see a burst of sea trout leaping from the water.
Watching them trying to get over the next obstacle was fun. They seemed to have two routes to take, easy and hard. The easy route was a narrow run perhaps 10" deep, but very fast flowing. Again, all I could see was the odd tail beating like mad in the dark spate water. I think most folk would have not seen them as they were hard to spot. The hard route involved 4 separate jumps to get over the rocks. Each resting spot was no more than the size of a kitchen sink, but the fish still managed to get enough run up to get up to the next one.
Its only a small river that most would just walk on by, but it's got me interested, especially the upper reaches as no one really fishes it. I would have loved to have seen a salmon, maybe next time as its on my home if I get my latest house I have offered on
It was great to watch, it certainly gave me some food for thought, and I was straight home to tie up some black Snake Flies for when I get back from a long weekend away. Hopefully the Switch is really going to prove its worth in the dark
