Anyone done this?

[andyantiquefly]

Bit embarresed to report this as it's a bit of a blunder but here gos,on the Dwyfor last week whilst fishing at night on the fly for school fish I caught three better ones of about a pound each,all bright new fish and within season on there,only one of em in the light of the next day one turned out to be the smallest salmon/Grilse call it what you will you've ever seen,fins more blacker,tail had the fork and the eye was bigger and didn't extend beyond the mouth,I feel like I made a mistake but in the dark and as I'd been catching similar fish all week I just presumed it to be a sea trout,lesson learned there I reckon.
What about its size though,anyone heard of such a small fish and where had this been to remain so small?

[laffingravy]

I wouldn't beat myself up too much about making such a mistake in darkness. It is quite an easy mistake to make with fish of the size and weight that you have stated particularly if you are catching sea trout. I don't wish to insult your intelligence and am probably a million miles away with this suggestion but are you absolutely certain that the fish was a returning grilse albeit a very small one as you have suggested? Have you considered the possibility that the fish may have been a larger smoult heading out? I know that given the time of year this may sound very unlikely but given the fact that all our seasons appear to be morphing into 12 months of cool summer with very little rain it surely must be a possibility? I have always been a firm believer that fish run all year in any case. Failing this I have had it suggested to me a number of times this year that anglers are seeing some very small and rather underdeveloped grilse. The popular consensus of opinion appears to be that the salmon are not making out to the 'classic feeding grounds' but are remaining closer to their home rivers where food is less abundant and it is difficult to gain size and weight. I must add however that when I have questioned people further about this there appears to be nothing particularly evidentiary to provide foundation to these suggestions. I suppose the short answer is nobody really knows for sure.

[Highwater]

My dad caught a 3&1/2lg grilse approx today on teifi, never before this post heard of a salmon of such a size

[ronward]

10 years or so ago I had a 2.5lb-er from the Erich on a Rapala.

[andyantiquefly]

I'm quite sure laffingravy has hit the nail on the head,I know it seems mental to catch a smolt this time of year but someone else last year at the same time had one and half pounder,bit sad to admit it but I reckon it was a greyback smolt,in 2012 when they had a hatchery I was shown a tank of Grilse parr and a tank of greyback parr and even early on you could see the Greybacks were bigger and stockier,seems crazy one could make this mistake but I'm sure everyone will agree that you try your best not to put the head torch on esp when other folk are nearby.
Oh well it's a lesson learnt and for sure I had no idea a smolt could grow so large.

[andyantiquefly]

I wouldn't beat myself up too much about making such a mistake in darkness. It is quite an easy mistake to make with fish of the size and weight that you have stated particularly if you are catching sea trout. I don't wish to insult your intelligence and am probably a million miles away with this suggestion but are you absolutely certain that the fish was a returning grilse albeit a very small one as you have suggested? Have you considered the possibility that the fish may have been a larger smoult heading out? I know that given the time of year this may sound very unlikely but given the fact that all our seasons appear to be morphing into 12 months of cool summer with very little rain it surely must be a possibility? I have always been a firm believer that fish run all year in any case. Failing this I have had it suggested to me a number of times this year that anglers are seeing some very small and rather underdeveloped grilse. The popular consensus of opinion appears to be that the salmon are not making out to the 'classic feeding grounds' but are remaining closer to their home rivers where food is less abundant and it is difficult to gain size and weight. I must add however that when I have questioned people further about this there appears to be nothing particularly evidentiary to provide foundation to these suggestions. I suppose the short answer is nobody really knows for sure.

i agree 100%, on the way back going past near Conway I was shocked to see so many wind farms!now I'm quite sure it was as you say but nobody really knows what these wind farms do to migratory fish!one thing I do know is that over twenty years ago on the Dywfor there was a stretch of river made into deeper man made pools by stacking up boulders and even now the fish don't like to lie in em like the natural river,sure I've caught from em but the larger sewin are to be found in the pools above,so they know it would seem hat is natural and not?