Kelt is the name given to a salmon once it has spawned.
Baggot is a female that has failed to spawn and a Rawner a male that has failed to spawn.

 

Kelts as Jock has said are spent fish and as such are not generally included in catch returns. You can get quite a few in early season and they often turn silver again (often referred to as 'well mended') - this often leads them to be wrongly mistaken as a fresh fish if you are not aware of them. Tell tale signs are that they are usually long and thin, outsized head with 'saggy' belly (their flesh loses it firmness and are not edible unless you like cardboard ) - another good sign is the presence of gill maggots. Also they generally don't fight as well as a proper springer

 

just noticed Greenbanks post which provides a much more thorough explanation than I have

see - www.salmonfishingforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1179

 

Couldn't resist.

Noun 1. KeltKelt - a member of a European people who once occupied Britain and Spain and Gaul prior to Roman times
Celt
European - a native or inhabitant of Europe
Gael - a Gaelic-speaking Celt in Ireland or Scotland or the Isle of Man
Briton - an inhabitant of southern Britain prior to the Anglo-Saxon invasions
Gaul - a Celt of ancient Gaul

 

Noun 1. KeltKelt - a member of a European people who once occupied Britain and Spain and Gaul prior to Roman times
Celt
European - a native or inhabitant of Europe
Gael - a Gaelic-speaking Celt in Ireland or Scotland or the Isle of Man
Briton - an inhabitant of southern Britain prior to the Anglo-Saxon invasions
Gaul - a Celt of ancient Gaul

Nice one Fred...........how are you managing over there without us? (courtesy of "The Great Escape")

 

Thanks everyone, I thought it had something to do with spawned fish but wasn't 100%.

I love Celtic music but I've never heard a fish sing

 

Ask Springer, He knows all aboot em

All he catches

 

Dont tell everyone lad

 

This link may help
http://www.atlanticsalmontrust.org/salmon_facts/recognition.html

 

Kelts are mysterious things, I wish more published research was done on them. I am sure we have all been in doubt as to whether a fish is a Kelt or not..... I know I have, I have seen Gillies mistaken, it is not something I feel easily qualified to address with 100% certainty . I once returned a kelt at Wylam (river Tyne) on May 30th . I would love to see surveys on their return to natal river rates... are these the real portmanteau msw returners? Wouldn't it be interesting if proper survival/returner percentages were examined, do some rivers fare better than others?
Guess funding would be an issue, Salmo salar sadly is not at the top of the pile....