Trout and Grayling

The Brown Trout grow huge on scraps thrown in

So this week saw me traveling a little out of my local patch and going to the Peak District looking for Grayling spawning a member of the trout family they unlike salmon and brown trout spawn in the spring once the water starts to warm up and days get longer. Some huge brown trout were present and not camera shy for change normally they won't get close at all! all the images are screen grabs from filming.

While breeding they become so fixated with each other you can get very close to the fish

Here's a female Grayling other wise known as the lady of the stream sometimes seen as a pest to trout anglers i find them fabulous fish that deserve just as much admiration as brown trout.

The River Wye is one of the only rivers were rainbow trout breed in the UK.

Although the exact records are missing, it is believed that a consignment of very small fish was on its way to Scotland from the Washington state in the United States in 1910. for some reason they were put into a lake on the grounds of Ashford Hall to spend the winter. The river flooded that year and the rainbow trout found a new home.

The darker male and lighter female pairing up getting ready to breed. I'll be returning to get more footage of them hopefully breeding. While the Atlantic Salmon is the king of rivers the Grayling is called the lady of the stream and certainly deserves it title.

Even had a photobombing brown trout come into the video!

Video from last year of grayling

BBC Wildlife Local Patch Reporter
Jack Perks

@JackPerksPhoto
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Arctic Charr of Cumbria (underwater images & film)

Arriving at the Lake District in Cumbria i had my sights set on one of Britain's rarest freshwater fish the Arctic Charr a member of the salmon family which is something of a ice age relic. They can be found in a hand full of glacial lakes.

The environment agency leave nets out over night which catch the charr

Because fish numbers have declined in recent years the charr are harvested with eggs and milk collected to be taken to a hatchery and boost numbers.

By gently rubbing the females the eggs come out and put into a bag for transport to the hatchery.

This hen fish has been weighed to assess its health and provide vital data.

Cock fish running up stream, after the eggs and milk have been taken the EA release the fish giving me a chance to get much more natural shots.

Cock fish protecting the female and showings its presence with a jaw gape. its estimated that there are around 1,000 charr left in Ennerdale Water.

 Two charr pair off over the clean gravels. The male has some scarring over his eye which could be previous spawning and unlike salmon the charr don't die after spawning.

Arctic Charr video

Film Footage of Charr Underwater