Ponds / Hatchery

The Club is unique in the Clyde River System in that we are the only Association that operate both a hatchery & rearing ponds to supplement the wild fish stock with local indigenous Brown Trout thus maintaining the genetic integrity of the Avon Water strain of Trout.

The Hatchery at Work.

A Big Thanks to Vid of River Clyde Fishing who gave up his time to make this excellent video of the Hatchery Team Stripping Trout.

See also video below – which shows some fish being stocked early in 2013 –


Brown Trout Spawn in November.

Wullie holding a 5lb plus Broodstock Brown Trout

Step1 take a large female Trout which will produce 1,000 eggs per pound – this fish was 5lbs plus.

Fertlise Eggs

Step2 introduce milt from at least 5 male fish to fertilise the eggs.

Nuturing the Eggs

Step 3 Nurturing the Eggs during the winter – the difficulty we have had in the harsh winter was keeping the eggs ice free.

Hatchery

Step 4. The Eggs are grown into fry in the 1st year of their life (it takes 12 to 16 weeks for them to become fry).

Rearing Ponds

Step 5. The Trout in the second year of there life are then moved into the rearing ponds – to allow them to grow & allow them to feed on natural food (they are well protected from predators by the nets etc.)

Large Rearing Pond

Step 6. In year 3 they have grown to approx 12

UAAA Stock Fish

Final Step. Brown Trout ready to stock into the Reservoir or River. It takes 3 years to produce a fish like this ready to stock. The Trout we produce are of a much higher quality than an Angling Club can buy from a commercial fish farm.

Glengavel Yellow Belly

A Glengavel Yellow Bellied Trout.

UAAA Brown Trout for stocking – are taken only from local indigenous fish. Which means the genetic integrity of the local trout population in maintained. Our trout are not intensively reared – which means that they are fin perfect & look like any wild trout.

We stock only to improve the local angling resource.

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