Don Fishery Management Plan - RAFTS

3.2.3 Brown Trout FisheryThe River Don is best known as a wild brown trout river and is reputed to be one of thefinest in Scotland. It is well-known for both the size and quality of its brown trout.There is no legal requirement to report brown trout catch returns and so they are notcollated centrally and remain with individual proprietors. The numbers of brown troutcaught on the Aberdeen and District Angling Association’s waters in the lower river areavailable from 1985 (Figure 3.2.4). This limited amount of information shows that thenumbers caught fluctuate from year to year, but overall catches show a slight upwardtrend. Since 1996 the figures have included the proportion of fish which are returned tothe water; between 1997 and 2006 this averaged 71%.Number of fish7,0006,0005,0004,0003,0002,0001,000019851987198919911993199519971999200120032005RetainedReturned and retainedFigure 3.2.4 Numbers of brown trout caught by rod and line in the ADAA’s waters.The Protection Order has made it easier for anglers to access brown trout fishing butinformation from Aberdeenshire Council, which has fishings at Inverurie, Kintore andAlford, suggests that at best only around 60% of anglers purchasing day permits,including those fishing for salmon and sea trout, submit catch returns. This may in partbe a failure to report blank days but illustrates that for some fishings information isincomplete. Brown trout catches have only been recorded by the Council since 2006 (J.Stevenson, pers. comm.). Consequently, whilst the general impression amongst anglersis that brown trout fishing on the Don appears to be doing well, detailed data collectionand analysis is required to assess if this is true.3.2.4 Stocked Trout FisheriesCommercial loch fisheries, principally specialising in rainbow trout have been developedin the Don Board’s area since the early 1990s. These include Corby Loch, to the north ofBridge of Don, which drains via the Burn of Mundurno to the sea and where rainbowtrout are believed to have successfully spawned (Walker, 2003). For further details seethe previous inventory (DDCT, 2008).13