what hapend to the trout in loch of strathbeg

[andy m]

was wondering looking at my older trout lochs of scotland book about this loch in aberdeenshire .it seemed to be a fine trout loch up till the early eightees . could not find any information on a wee search other than it is belongs to the rspb .i am not to sure but someone told me i think that it was something to do with the amount of birds that used the loch. was wondering if anyone from the forum fished it and was it a good loch cheers andy m

[Wildfisher]

It is RSPB property and a reserve, so no fishing. It suffered from nutrient enrichment, the birds got the blame, but  the real culprit is more likely to  have been the EU C.A.P and the drive for production and any cost. All the lowland lochs around here also suffer from enrichment with summer weed and algae blooms and birds are not an issue.  It's easier to blame the birds of course.

[andy m]

thanks fred for your reply , what i read it is very shallow loch and was formed by a storm that cut it off from the sea. i see what you are saying a lot of lochs lowland waters have had problems with run offs from rich farmland areas .even larger lochs such as loch leven and home to thousands of birds have had poor water quality over the years. although leven has started to improve over recent years. could part of the problem be down to how shallow a loch may be. fished drummond loch at muthill and it is ok early season and late. the algea blooms puts a end to summer fishing but again it must have a average of about 3 feet deep cheers andy m

[Bobfly]

Yes, freshwater mussels at the Drummond Loch.

[andy m]

yes as bobfly says freshwater mussels in drummond loch. i have taken the odd fish home for the table from there and on cleaning them they have been stuffed with pea mussels. not to drift away from my post about loch of strathbeg still would like to know if anyone from the fourm ever fished it cheers andy m

[corsican dave]

sound like it's ripe for stocking with carp  :

[andy m]

hiya dave a bet carp would thrive well in drummond loch .the brown trout grow on well plenty of rich feeding buzzers shrimp ect. they crieff angling club have added some rainbows last few years dont no whey in less its a cost thing with the brown trout shame as i have caught fingerlings so the browns must run the wee burn that feeds it. my best fish from drummond was 3lb and with the loch so shallow they just strip line . hope they stop adding rainbows aye dave might as well stock some carp instead of rainbow trout ha ha.cheers andy m

[corsican dave]

hope they stop adding rainbows aye dave might as well stock some carp instead of rainbow trout ha ha.cheers andy m

they could be way ahead of the field & open the UK's first fly-only carp fishery
(i was looking for a flying pig smiley, but no luck  :lol:)

[Wildfisher]

There's an EU directive about stocking alien fish, ask the Spanish,   so sorry no carp.

But wait,  yes, hold on a minute that may no longer apply!   Bring on the carp!!!     :lol:

[andy m]

fred drummond loch is a site of special intrest so if the local a/c stock rainbow trout would that class as a alien fish, iam not sure if that is or not allowed on ssi loch. any way still a lovely water, thats where i saw my first red kite in scotland plenty of bird life ospreys and ravens that nest on a rocky hill on the north shore cheers andy m