I Went Gambling Today..

Looking for Sea trout spawning is like gambling, some you win, mostly you lose!

A couple of hours walking the banks for a couple of days each week, in the very few winter weeks that they might spawn, it's a 100/1 long shot. But, like poker, there's some skill but a lot of luck.

So, this morning, despite the fact that the mink were hunting my stretch yesterday, I took a gamble and had one last look before Xmas. With a steady hand and a poker face I played my cards right, and right there below the weir pool in the shallows a Pair of Aces, I won!

I took this shot of a Mink yesterday, just a few yards away from where the fish were spawning this morning. These 'cute' looking creatures are serious predators and they take large fish of all sorts all year round. They aren't natives, well maybe they are now, just like the Grey Squirrel, Rainbow trout and Signal Crayfish, they were introduced or escaped from captivity, from us humans!

Many non native species simply arrive by accident and actually we are all natives of Planet Earth and free to roam. This is nothing more than the way of the world. Those who survive extinction do so by being able to adapt to change. Actually I have change somewhat today after finally filming those fish, I most deffinatley believe in Father Christmas again haha!

The American Signal Crayfish eats just about anything it can get, and fish spawn is on the menu!

It's a wonder that the Sea Trout do still come here but no doubt their numbers have reduced due to the hunting skills of Mink and Crayfish. However, things may balance out a bit in the long run as Mink and Humans eat Crayfish, this one here with the Sea Purslane is on my dinner plate! Bon Appetite..