Salmon Fishing Scotland February 2008 Springer or not.
There is no doubt this is a very emotive subject at this time of year.
The salmon runs on the Tay have changed over the last decade as probably on the other big rivers such as the Dee, Spey and Tweed. On the Tay the main spring run starts well into March, the Grilse run is now the end of July/August and there is fresh run fish way into November. I know from listening to the news the general seasons are up in the air with global warming etc. I am sure the salmon do not know whether they are coming or going!
There is no doubt quite a few claimed springers are not the genuine article when you see the pictures. The philosophy of "if it has sea lice there is no doubt" just does not ring true i'm afaid.
This is a salmon I caught some years ago thinking it was a springer to be told by a far more experienced angler that it was a rawner or late autumn runner.This fish was caught in early February and as you can see from the picture had sea lice on it. Being an experienced salmon angler I am still willing to learn as I did on that occasion and I feel I still can learn off others as you never know it all.
Having spoken to a lot more experienced anglers and ghillies a true springer that is a Two Sea Winter salmon has hardly any kype to distinguish it from a female salmon. In fact at this time of year you could hardly tell the difference between the sexes of spring salmon. There is no doubt a kype indicates breeding intentions and spawning. The fish with kypes are very late autumn fish.
This however may not be the case in Three Sea Winter or older male salmon which will have a small Kype development but not a large Kype such as an Autumn male. There has been a run of larger Spring salmon on the Tay this season so far and they are
obviously three sea winter fish. This is good news for the Tay as in recent seasons these fish have been missing. They are extremely valuable to the system and every effort should be made to conserve them by returning them to the system for the future.
The most recent examples of these fish were the 25lbs springer at Cargill and the 24lbs fish at Newtyle yesterday. Well done Dave Godfrey and Jock Menteith for successfully returning these prise specimens.
The Cargil 25lbs Springer.
The Newtyle 24lbs Springer.
Jim Fishers springer from the Tweed last Spring.
Lastly a big springer from Russia which demonstrates the small Kype in large multi sea winter salmon.
4 comments:
In your opinion at what time of year does a fish with a kype indicate it is a fresh fish and therefore legal?
Dougall
The return of Atlantic salmon (Salmon salar) to their home river for spawning coincides with drastic skeletal alterations in both sexes. Most prominent is the development of a kype (hook) at the tip of the lower jaw in males. Salmon that survive spawning have to cope with the kype throughout their life, unless it disappears after spawning, as was suggested in the early literature. To understand the fate of the kype skeleton, we compared morphological and histological features of kypes from pre-spawned mature anadromous males (grilse) with post-spawned males (kelts). The kype of male grilse is supported by fast-growing skeletal needles that differ from regular dentary bone. In kelts, growth of the kype skeleton has stopped and skeletal needles are resorbed apically by osteoclasts. Simultaneously, and despite the critical physiological condition of the animals, proximal parts of the kype skeleton are remodelled and converted into regular dentary bone. Apical resorption of the skeleton explains reports of a decrease of the kype in kelts. The conversion of basal kype skeleton into regular dentary bone contributes to the elongation of the dentary and probably also to the development of a larger kype in repetitive spawning males.
Bob
I copied the previous posting from a technical paper on the subject of Atlantic Salmon kype growth. This tends to suggest that if a fish has made it back for a second breeding season then there will be an extention of the dentary bone i.e the remains of a kype from the previous breeding Return.
Clear as Mud, for fishers and ghillies.
A fine kype on Cargill's 25lb fish from last week!!!
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