Catch History

Hope is remarkable for the consistency of its long-term sea-trout catch. During the past 40 years, while salmon catches, as elsewhere, declined markedly, the sea-trout figures have changed little. The 20-year average from 1964 to 1983 was 757. For the following decade (1984 to 1993) the average dropped to 707; but then rose to 759 for the 10 years to 2004. As the 2008 season starts, the 10-year average stands at 704.

What happened in 2007?

The early part of the season was notable for its heavy rainfall, and water-levels were abnormally volatile through until September. This made conditions difficult for much of the time, and led to quite a few blank days.

But after a slow start in June, the bad days were interspersed with some very good ones, leading to an overall result for the year which slightly exceeded the 10 year average.

Where were they caught?

One statistical innovation we made this year was a breakdown of catches by location; and this chart (see above left) shows monthly totals for each.

This does not of course answer the questions which most fishermen will want to ask, which are to do with more precise location. But it does confirm that all three of the Loch’s main fishing areas continue to be productive.

Known unknowns

There remains a gap in our knowledge which we would like to fill: this is the relationship between catches and activity-levels. Fishing pressure is by no means constant, so it would be interesting to know the ratio of catches to hours of fishing. Unfortunately we have not found an easy way of gathering the fishing-time data, so this may be an impossible aim. Let us know if you have any thoughts!

If you're trying to relate the weekly totals in the chart to your own input, bear in mind that the weeks shown relate not to calendar weeks, but to quarter-segments of each calendar month, which do not necessarily coincide.

Catch-&-Release

The reported catch-&-release ratio for Loch Hope sea-trout in 2007 was 5.4 to 1 (of the 642 caught, 523 were returned). This is significantly higher than our 3 to 1 target – and an encouraging endorsement of our policy.

The specific guidelines are:

* All fish under 1.5 lb to be released

* All hen fish to be released after Aug 31st

* Barbless hooks recommended

* Subject to the above restrictions, two fish per boat per day may be kept.

We’d like to thank all our visitors for their help in making this flexible approach work so well.

Thanks for supporting the WSFT

The West Sutherland Fisheries Trust, under the direction of marine biologist Shona Marshall, continues its excellent work of gathering and analysing data, and advising fishery managers in our region. Many of our fishing visitors generously support this charity. If you would like to do the same, visit the WSFT website.