Living The Wildlife

Sea Trout & Canals (3x1)

Air date: May 04, 2010

This first programme in Living the Wildlife is very observational and quite different to what Colin has done before. Sea Trout are a cousin of the salmon but much more secretive and Colin wants to film them spawning. It’s November on the Lough Currane system near Waterville in Kerry – one of the best sea trout fisheries in Europe. Spawning time is extremely difficult to film, so Colin enlists the help of local wildlife cameraman, James Pembroke who knows this system like the back of his hand, and together they explore the river system, attempting to film the sea trout with limited success. They need a little more help, so Colin meets up with local underwater cameraman Vinny Hyland, and with Colin directing, Vinny gets into his wetsuit to film them. Following the successful filming of the spawning, Colin travels to the midlands in search of some more of our freshwater fish. Waterways Ireland are dredging the Barrow Line Canal in Kildare and as part of their work, the Central Fisheries Board have to take all the fish out of a section of canal and move it to another section. Colin sets up a tank to learn more about our freshwater fish including Pike, Roach, Rudd, Tench and Perch, and after Colin has finished filming them, he takes the fish back to the canal and releases them.