| #1  08-07-2011, 08:14 AM | ||||
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| Charr Update First, to fill in the background for new readers, is what I posted in 2008 “Fishing in the Ice Age for the elusive Charr” For years I have wanted to add a British Charr to my species list. I have caught the American Lake Charr and American Brook Charr, both of them in Colorado, but have made no serious attempts this side of the Herring Pond – there always seemed something else to do. Not this year, though. Lots of research on where there might be relict populations of charr, (not many places cold enough and deep enough for them except in Highland Britain). Lots of thought on the methods of catching them, and several days booked with No 3 son Brian to mount a serious expedition after them. The crux of charr hunting is the depth at which they usually swim. Anywhere between 20 ft and 60ft deep is where they spend most of their time, with only rare visits to the upper layers of the deep lochs in which they are found. Charr will go for spinners and/or artificial flies, but how might we present these at depth? Downriggers were the answer, so Brian knocked up a homemade pair of downriggers – a plank held by strong bungee straps across the boat. Mounted to the plank were two large reels, each holding 100 feet of 25lb mono, marked with a pole elastic tag every ten feet, and with a 2lb vaned lead weight at the end. There was facility for locking the reels when the required depth was reached. A wide roller at each end of the plank, over which one of the downriggers rolled, and a couple of “rocket tube” rod holders completed the outfit. Light spinning rods were used , with Size 1 Mepps or similar , attached to the lead weights so as to provide a firm resistance on a take, but to pull free once the fish was on. The outfit worked perfectly, and Brian had a pike from 20 ft depth – hooked in the scissors and landed after a spirited fight on the light rod. However, no charr – just gale force winds which made trolling a bit difficult, and rowing the boat upwind EXTREMELY difficult. Nevertheless, we persisted, trolled at 10 ft, 20 ft. 30 ft, 40ft, 50 ft and 60ft , trolled along the shelves, trolled across the very deep water, up wind, downwind, across the wind like marlin boats do, but never a strike had we. Three days we spent rowing up and down and to and fro – tried spinners of various sizes, streamer flies, shrimp flies, everything we could think of. Zilch. Finally Norma (Certhia) decided to have a half-hour in the boat as a change from her birdwatching. I rigged her up to trail a Mepps 1 along the surface in the hope of a trout for tea. Needless to say, after ten minutes she hooked and boated – a CHARR!  Uploaded with ImageShack.us Lovely fish – look at the delicate cream spots and the red lower fins edged with white. Ah well, must go back next year to see if I can catch one also. All I got this time was plenty of fresh air! 2009 Much the same as last year, perch from various depths and a seatrout from 80 ft down – what business has a seatrout to be down there ? 2010 More perch, lots and lots of rowing, although the addition of a small 2.5 HP Mariner outboard helped us get the boat upwind 2011 Borrowed a bigger boat this year, with a bigger engine, which Brian towed up to Coniston. Nevertheless I still took my little Mariner along as backup. Just as well, as the main engine gave up the ghost on the first day. Brian (lutra) and I had discussed alternative strategies (despite the fact that we had already tried every fly, streamer, spinner and plug we could think of). We even tried worm paternoster (predictably, still more perch) but went back to spinning at depth. We just kept plugging away at various depths between 20 and 80 ft, and after each blank day, Norma would wind us up by telling us that her charr took a spinner just a couple of feet below the surface. Faith, skill, or bone-headed persistence ? I think deep trolling for charr, like fishing for Ferox trout, needs all three ! There we were, heading for another blank day, when we had a strike on the rod with a spinner trolling at 40 feet depth. Brian very sportingly suggested it was my turn to take it and as I pumped the fish up from the depths, fully expecting another perch, Brian suddenly shouted ”Charr!” and reached for the net. At last ! Here it is, my first charr. My 104th UK species, my 94th English species and 425th World species.  Uploaded with ImageShack.us Very much a team effort, with Brian providing much of the hard work of rowing at trolling speed, launching and recovering the boat, devising and making the down-riggers and never complaining about the long unproductive hours of pulling spinners up and down the lake. Norma played her part too, acting as quartermaster to the expeditions, geeing us up to persist - even in the rain, and “managing” the logistics, from reminding me to get the outboard motor serviced to making all the requisite site bookings. Normally, one would try to find some local knowledge, but no-one seems to fish for charr any more. The annual charr-catching competition ceased some years back. There is no substitute for local knowledge other than to try to acquire some of your own – hard work when you live 300 miles away! Lots of angling and culinary “celebrities” have appeared in TV series with the intention of catching charr – few have succeeded. For anyone wanting to have a go, be prepared for blank days. Remember that if you want to troll for charr with two rods, then, like trolling two rods for trout you need TWO licences (and No, you can’t legally troll with more than two rods) The upside to all the repetitive hard work is to actually catch one of these handsome but elusive fish. The final irony for us was that as we landed from the boat, mission accomplished, a small charr charged into the shallows after minnows – so we saw two charr that day, making a total of three charr seen in about fifteen days of fishing spread over four years ! Brian had to leave so as to be at work next day, but Norma and I put light spinners through those shallows that evening, and early the next morning, without adding to our life totals of one charr each. __________________ RNLI Governor Nothing matters very much, few things matter at all - Plato ...only things like fresh bait and cold beer - Vagabond     |
| #2 08-07-2011, 08:37 AM | ||||
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| Re: Charr Update superb report vagabond, congratulations on the addition to your species tally what is there left for you , a burbot perhaps ? |
| #3 08-09-2011, 12:22 PM | ||||
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| Re: Charr Update Brilliant report, great read. and yet another addition to your list. Plus a woman with you who also loves fishing, what else could you want? congratulations on your latest UK species. Keith (BoldBear) __________________ My Web Site (The Average Coarse Angler) Happiness is Fish Shaped (It used to be woman shaped but the wifes getting on a bit now) |
| #4 08-09-2011, 02:44 PM | |||
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| Re: Charr Update Nice read  i always tend to catch quite a few Char unintentionaly throughout the year whilst fishing Loch Tay and Loch Awe, One of my buddys hooked a cracker of over 3lb whilst being lazy and fishing for trout with the worm on the bottom. If you are serious about catching char and want a big one Loch Awe holds some beautys.  |
| #5 08-09-2011, 04:44 PM | ||||
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| Re: Charr Update Quote:
As a reward for all Brian's hard work, we will next year switch to a fish he wants - a ferox trout from Loch Awe. and no doubt a few charr will be taken during the course of going for ferox. so I look forward to adding charr to my Scottish list. __________________ RNLI Governor Nothing matters very much, few things matter at all - Plato ...only things like fresh bait and cold beer - Vagabond |
