Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

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DWW
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Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

Post by DWW »

I have been reading with interest the chapters in various " old" angling books about Thames trout . As my interest increased I have managed to get hold of a book by A E Hobbs , " Trout of the Thames " , and have ordered a copy of the Chalmers book" At the tail of the weir " . hopefully the books will guide me in my quest !
Does anyone know of any recent captures of large trout from the Thames or any other rivers ?
I have fished the weir pools on the Thames for Pike and Perch , but never a sniff of a Trout .
I intend to give it a go this year and will try the traditional methods as discussed in the books . plus I will have a go on my local Sussex rivers especially the Western Rother , where I have had some nice trout on lures , plus some interloper Sea Trout !

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Olly
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Re: Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

Post by Olly »

'Below the Weir' by Peter Rogers in an update of Thames Trouting.

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DWW
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Re: Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

Post by DWW »

Thanks Olly ! I will search it out post haste !

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Re: Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

Post by LuckyLuca »

Trevor (Santiango) lives on the Thames. If they're there (Reading area) he'll know about them.
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Re: Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

Post by MHC »

There is another Thames trout thread in here somewhere which may be of interest. Jon Been also wrote an article for Trout & Salmon mag in the early 90's which I have a copy of, for which he consulted a worthy from the Environment Agency about the trout. Basically there are trout in the Thames which may run up, but mostly slip down from the tributaries further up like the Lea and Coln (if memory serves having caught trout in the streams around Bourne End, Bucks) . Some will grow quite large it seems,though nothing like in the days of Hobbs when the upper Thames was heavily stocked and sizes would reach into the high teens.

The collection of Hobb's cased fish featured in his Trout of the Thames book still exist , now owned by a museum. After Hobb's death his daughter , not knowing what to do with them all (and there are many of all species) took them to the brewery in Marlow, for which Hobbs was their architect, as she wanted to dispose of them in the 'glass pit' there. The brewery realizing what they were being given, proceeded to then put the cases on display in their sample room.

Some time ago the brewery went out of business after a hundred and fifty years or so and luckily a museum took the cased fish and now have them in storage. When I was in the UK some 10 years ago, I managed to be granted a private viewing of all the Hobbs cased fish, to say they were remarkable is putting it mildly, large trout, perch tench etc. in wonderful condition most from the early 1900's up until WW2. The captures of many of the trout written of in his book were in the cases before me.

I have a video of them somewhere but only one still photo of a large perch which I was permitted to take to the library to sketch.

If I still lived near the Thames I would make a bamboo rod specifically with Thames trout in mind, it would be between 8 and 10 feet long and would have the reel mounted on the lower third of the handle. The reel of choice for spinning my Thames Flight with its mounted bleak or gudgeon, would be a Hardy 3 3/4" Hardy Super Silex from which I could cast directly off the spool.

Interestingly Hobbs wrote that the best places to fish for Thames trout were in the slower reaches between the weirs, though I think I would head to my old stomping grounds of Marlow and Cookham weirs.

When asked why he mounted so many of his fish, Hobbs replied: '..as looking at them it is like catching them all over again'.

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Re: Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

Post by Snape »

There are certainly trout in the upper reaches - above Lechlade.
The salmon are in the Thames too.
I had a 9lb'er from Molsey weir in Dec 1990 when wobbling a dead sprat for pike.

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Santiago
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Re: Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

Post by Santiago »

I'm pretty sure they still exist. The two that I've caught both looked like sea trout and were about 4lb; and I've read they have a distinctive colouration akin to sea trout. But I didn't catch them by design. There are other more normal looking trout also in the Thames and I've seen a few caught in Reading, but I suspect these were interlopers from tributaries and not the real McCoy!

I think to catch one by design you'd need to target certain weir pools from a punt for an entire if not several seasons, and then be lucky!
"....he felt the gentle touch on the line and he was happy"

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Re: Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

Post by MHC »

In his article John Beer mentioned (information gleaned from said EA chap) there are no real McCoy Thames trout, the only ones to get into the Thames drop into it from feeder streams. The trout in Hobbs day eminated from broodstock from a variety of waters including Loch Leven.

I remember Thames Water stocking salmon early on, not sure if they are still doing so or if any survive to be caught or to reproduce. I do remember watching a pair of them jumping Marlow weir once.

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Re: Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

Post by Santiago »

Very very few if any, of the stocked Salmon survived! When they were released the science at the time was not advanced as it is now, so those involved thought there release would work! But it's now known that the released young salmon having been produced by artificial means and then reared by man, would have lost most of their survival fitness and would not be wary enough of predators.

My Thames trout that I caught must have been sea trout I suspect. The other ones I've seen looked just like regular brown trout. In the other thread on this subject it was mentioned that Thames trout had a more distinctive sea trout look about them, but I must have remembered that wrong! Anyways, I'm sure they may well be still there but in very small numbers. I'm not sure the EA really know for certain they are not in the Thames, it's a big river and they rarely electro fish it, and when they do they cover very little water! But if they are still there I expect they will not grow to the sizes of the past in Hobb's days because there just isn't the same amount of food for them to eat.
"....he felt the gentle touch on the line and he was happy"

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Re: Thames Trout - do they still exist ?

Post by Olly »

With the Thames tributaries holding trout it is possible that the Thames has them.

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