A Desk Study of the Performance of Trout Fisheries in a Selection of British Reservoirs

Routine statistics have been analysed from a varied selection of 18 British reservoir fisheries The numbers and weights of fish caught have been compared with the numbers and weights stocked. In lowland reservoirs the “put and take” system of management is used and annual stocking rates of 40–60 fish ha^-1 (c 12 kg ha^-1) give catches of 20–30 fish ha^-1 (c 20 kg ha^-1). Higher stocking rates lead to greater catches numerically but to relatively little increase in the weight of catch per unit area. In general, the recapture of rainbow trout is greater than that of brown trout, relative to the numbers stocked. The management of upland reservoirs is complicated by the presence of indigenous trout, poorer growing conditions and lack of research into the population dynamics of fish populations in such places. A wide variety of management possibilities exist in upland reservoirs and these are worthy of thorough investigation. Stocking at rates comparable to those used in lowland reservoirs takes negligible advantage of the potential for natural trout growth in upland reservoirs and the economics of this practice would repay closer analysis.