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Kelts
On a decent day in February you may find the river alive with salmon leaping with abandon giving you a high expectation of success. Unfortunately the presence of salmon at this time of year does not mean that the fish you catch will be fresh. Most fish will be kelts, protected by law, which must be returned to the river unharmed.
So what are kelts and why are they so important? A kelt is an Atlantic salmon, male or female that has spawned or is spent. Unlike the Pacific salmon, Atlantic salmon can survive the rigours of spawning, even in their weakened state, making Herculean efforts to return to the sea so that they can live and spawn another day.
Many kelts die in their quest, those that make it are so weakened that they are easy prey for marine predators such as seals, as few as 5% to 10% of kelts survive the run to sea. Those that survive, some returning to spawn several times, become the bigger salmon we dream of. These are the fish that carry the genes that are so worthy of preservation; for kelts to succeed in their quest for survival anglers must play their part to give them a chance.
Soon the salmon season will be under way in Scotland, 15th of January for the Tay and some of the rivers of far the North of Scotland. Most other Scottish rivers will open for salmon on the 11th of February. With the reduction in spring running fish, the most prized of all salmon, we may even be grateful for the presence of kelts in our rivers up to April or even May. Kelts take freely and some fight surprisingly well. They often represent the only sport we will have until runs of fresh fish arrive. Half a dozen kelts in a day is unsurprising, the same number of fresh fish per visit would represent the reddest of red letter days indeed. An old tip is to look for kelts for they often follow spring runs back up the river, where there are kelts there very often fresh fish to be had.
Because kelts take so freely and are often in poor condition, wasted and diseased, they are frequently treated with disdain when the rush of the fight materialises a 'scabby kelt' instead of a 'springer'.
In actuality not all kelts are immediately obvious because they do recover their former silver lustre after spawning. So how do you identify a kelt?
General Condition:
Many kelts are very thin, having expended body mass to produce spawn and milt in addition to fuelling the rigors of the upstream migration. Teeth tend to be prominent in thin kelts and it is worth making sure you have forceps to unhook them. The teeth are needle sharp and can cause nasty infected cuts on unwary fingers. Gills tend to be an unhealthy colour, greyish off pink, and often show signs of damage. Gill covers and fins can show signs of abrasion the as a result of having to dig redds during spawning.
Gill Maggots:
Gills maggots are a greyish coloured copepod crustacean (they look like ghostly sea lice) which infect the gills of salmon, eating the gill filaments (although many 'well mended' kelts will be free of infection).
Disease:
Kelts are susceptible to disease and you will find many with fungal infections on the head, back and tail, a sad and sorry sight.
Distended Vent:
After spawning, the vent is distinctly protruded and distended.
The Eyes:
Many ghillies say that there is a sallow droopiness to the eyes of a kelt which can often be the only sign to be detected on a well mended fish.
Late running kelts however may have expended much less energy in the migration and can look fresh and silvery with none of the clearer signs of debilitation. Sadly some 'well mended' kelts are killed as 'spingers.
Ill treatment and mistakes are an additional hazard in the precarious life of a kelt, hazards that are avoidable. Short of stopping spring fishing there is no way to avoid catching kelts so it is doubly important that anglers familiarise themselves with the characteristics of kelts and handle them with as much respect as they would give to fresh fish.
Should a kelt survive to return 2 or 3 or even 4 times it could be the fish of a life time, a fish to beat Georgina Ballantyne's British record of 64 pounds caught on the river Tay in 1922. More to the point such fish carry more spawn than smaller fish (up to 750 eggs per pound of body weight) and having proved their worth they are important to the gene pool.
Recent results have shown resurgence in bigger fish. On the Spey, Deveron, Dee and Don there have been signs of an increase in the number of 20 pound plus fish.
From personal experience of the Deveron I have subjective confirmation. In 1999, after several years of reported landings of well mended kelts, fantastic sport was enjoyed in October. I took a 15lb fish followed by a 36 inch hen (estimated at 22lbs) which I returned without weighing. I had just lost her mate minutes before and later that week lost another fish of similar size! Many good sized fish were reported from other beats that October.
To increase the survival prospects for a kelt there are a few simple things you can do. Give a kelt slack line, it may become unhooked, unhook it in the water without handling it if it fails to release itself. If you must land it, do so with care, unhook with caution and pop it back with a friendly wave, you might meet it again in better circumstances.
Showing respect for these courageous creatures is as important to the revival of our salmon fish stocks as any other conservation measure. When you catch a kelt see the beauty within, the potential it holds, it’s not easy but try. Don't look on a kelt as a 'scabby thing', it represents a dream that you might realise in years to come.
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