With most angling clubs now encouraging members to adopt a catch and release policy , is it actually going to drasticly improve fish stocks.
I was fishing the ythan estuary recently for sea trout and the keeper from whom i get my permit told me there were over 100 seals spotted at the mouth of the estuary
I heard of the damage one seal inflicted on the pike population of Lomond ,so just how much damage is now being done to migratory fish with hundreds of seals patrolling the estuarys.
No doubt the do gooders will wait untill fish stocks decline so badly and the seals start to starve before they decide a cull would be a good idea.
Dose anyone know just how much fish one seal would kill in a week i would like to know . Then we would know if total catch and release is worthwhile. I used to kill a lot of salmon in my younger days and i now very rarely fish for them ,mostly due to my guilty concience for the ones i killed when there was really no need to .
Like most anglers then we thought the good days would last forever ,how wrong we were
scott

Personally. I would be taking a shotgun with a nice big bullet and inserting the bullet right between the eyes of the bloody seal. They are a nightmare. We put fish back for these blighters to attack

I have been looking through the web trying to get some figures for the consumption of fish stocks by the seals its not easy-you have to be a biologist to work out the findings.I did see one report on the increase in grey seals by 44,000 to 164,000,while the common seal population has fallen to 40,000 or so.I also did not know that a protection order had been placed on the culling of any seals since 2007.It did say in the report that it would be necessary to help the fish farmers and the fisheries board ie some kind of cull in certain areas i think.

Let’s blame the seal. While we are at it lets kill all the otters and ospreys. It can’t be us we are too good.

By the way I read elsewhere that dead bait and maggot fishers have now caused so much damage to fish stocks and vandalism to property in glen garry that the land owners are going to ban fishing except for invited hotel guests. I wonder if seals had a hand in that too.

Wont they lose their "protection order" if they pull that.??
Cant say ive noticed that many shore fishers on loch garry over the years. Check out the trosachs lochs for real angler related damage

Dancer you should change your name to chancer .You should pull your head out yer arse and get a life
scotty

yes fergie its a problem the trosachs lochs are a disgrace. owners want to stop same thing at garry and quoich where there has been a lot of trouble this year

ferox 2000 you should get a grip or at least learn to read.

Ok chancer im away to read about the trosachs lochs

Where did you read that dancer.?
As i said i was up there at the weekend and i didnt see a single angler and i Was looking .I also didnt see any litter except the usual rubbish left around by the fishfarms.
Im sure there are plenty people in the glen who would love to go back to the days when it was a playground for only the rich and the disgusting working classes were kept out.The estate up there is well known for being agressive towards anglers and walkers.And as for the Hotel owner.
Fortunately this is Modern Scotland and they can GERRIT RIGHT UP THEM.

By the way the i think eejits who make a mess and damage property are scum of the earth.

boats getting set adrfit-the owner of the boats responsibility
scores of dead fish left to rot in boats, maggots emptied out and left in boats, minor issues which if the boats were maintained wouldnt be a problem

locks bust off gates- vandalism possibly caused by frustration

a bunk house trashed, engines damaged hired engines?-responsibilty of hirer to insure themselves and request a deposit in the same way a responsible car hire company would do

piles of crap left at wild camp sites - a problem throughout scotland-what can you do but clear it up, continue to allow access and hope the new right to roam code gives ordinary folk a sense of ownership of the countryside in future generations

If we are talking about the bunkhouse at Tomdoun it was not trashed thats the way it
allways looked.
As much as it pains me to do so i am for ever clearing up others rubbish these pricks must live in pig styes
scotty

No excuse for that sort of behavior .But i dont recall that sort of thing happening when gordon had the hotel.

SCORES OF FISH ? Must be a different loch garry from the one i know.

last time I seen the bunkhouse it was being used as a labrador kennel inside looked quite nice, prob nicer than when it was rented out to fishermen

Basil done it up when he first got the place as it was in a right state .Then closed it as it was too popular and people wanted to stay in the bunk house instead of the hotel.