A 1KG WHOPPER

I have been curious for a long time about the fact that some rivers and streams regularly yield quite large trout while the fish in others average just one kilogram or, at best, a fraction more.

Sometimes the reasons for such a discrepancy can be easily explained. For example, about every seven or eight years, beech trees flower and subsequently produce a super abundance of nuts (seeds). This event is termed a ‘mast year.’ The nuts are devoured by mice and with such a large quantity of food there is soon a super abundance of mice. Many mice inevitably end up swimming across beech-lined rivers and get devoured by grateful trout which fatten rapidly.