THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

in light of the British Record Fish Committee's known desire to see all none indigenous species not only
removed from the record list, but also from the country.
That would include not only the rainbow trout, but amongst others, wels catfish, zander, and carp. Four
species of fish which both the commercial fishery management industry and the tackle trade could quite
literally ill afford to lose.
The likelihood of it ever happening to any, never mind all of them, it has to be said, is remote. It has
already been tried with the zander in the form of an unsuccessful cull, though in the case of the rainbow
trout, this they say could be achieved simply by a ban on re-stocking.
Or could it. After all, there are locations where escapee diploid rainbow trout from the pre-triploid era
have somehow managed to set up small self-sustaining populations, one of which I came across over in
Yorkshire.
It was another planned visit for a Still
Water Trout Magazine feature with the
same team as the Power Bait incident
mentioned earlier. I can't honestly
remember the name of the fishery, but
it was way out in the sticks set in a
picturesque valley, and I was fishing a
shallow corner of the lake tight up to
some reeds where I caught several half
pound or less rainbows, which the
fishery owner said were all wild fish.
So, if ever the BRFC do manage to
enforce their alien species removal
policy, the knock on effect to my
bucket list would zero, as I have
already caught wild rainbow trout here
in home waters.
Alex Wilkie, Rainbow Trout
Associated audio interview numbers: 9, 12 and 78.
AMERICAN BROOK TROUT Salvelinus fontinalis
Bucket List status – result
Like the rainbow trout, the american brook
trout is a trans-Atlantic import. But unlike
the rainbow trout, despite the implication in
the name, it isn't actually a trout. It's a char,
a fact readily picked out by the red under
belly and lower fins at spawning time, and
more especially by the white leading edge to
the pectoral, pelvic and anal fins, and the
lower fluke of the tail. A fish also
characterised by having a noticeably large
mouth.
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