Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2018 i Trout & Salmon

MORE THAN 120 tackle-shops have joined a new national scheme to recycle nylon and braid fishing line. Since its launch in March, the Anglers National Line Recycling Scheme (ANLRS) has prevented more than 400,000 metres of line from being incinerated or dumped in landfill. The scheme has evolved from a small-scale project in Sussex in 2016. Anglers dispose of their line in special bins at participating shops. Many anglers are acutely aware of the terrible pollution caused by plastics at sea and in the environment generally. The scheme does not currently recycle fluorocarbon or fly-lines. But ANLRS volunteer Viv Shears said, “We are hoping that fly-lines will be recyclable via us within the next month or two. We are chatting with a new recycling operation in the UK and they…

A FIRST VISIT TO THE FINDHORN in June. We’d been shown the beat the previous evening but memories of this section, called Mini Daltra, had been all but wiped after a day of fishing other pools. I’d been dropped some way from the river and had no idea where to go. Cutting through trees, I found a sheep on its back with one of its forelegs stuck fast in the cleft of two saplings. I put all my weight on the thinner branch, prising it open and freeing the leg, but the sheep looked in a sorry state. I left it comfortable and lying upright but didn’t give much for its chances. The river was grievously low for June and catches were thin. I’d spent the afternoon in the gorge…

Tickets for Colliford can be bought online from the South-West Lakes Trust website (trout.swlakesfishing.co.uk). A day ticket (which allows you to keep up to four fish) costs £15.50. A couple of good local pubs are the Jamaica Inn and Colliford Tavern, both of which offer rooms and can provide tickets for fishing. The former is steeped in history, being the setting for Daphne du Maurier’s novel of the same name. If you are looking for a guide, Duncan at Devon School of Flyfishing (web: devonschoolofflyfishing.com; tel: 01363 82786) knows the vagaries of the reservoir well.…

CONTINUING LAST MONTH’S theme of big, daft, attention-seeking top-droppers, here’s one that’s next to useless for large portions of the season. Pick this variant of the Gorgeous George on the right day, however, and a cricket score is on the cards. I never rated the original George - an incongruous collection of colourful parts. I tied it and tried it - as one does and one must, in order to pass opinion - but success was limited and I decided I was more than capable of tying something just as useless myself. To be fair, the Gorgeous George (named after the flamboyant American wrestler) has an army of fans, a few of which I’ve witnessed doing serious damage with this unlikely-looking hero. But after four or five fruitless forays I…

AFTER A LONG HOT summer, we can look forward to greater rainfall, refreshing the rivers and enticing late-summer salmon to leave the estuary with the first of the back-end run. These fresh fish can agitate salmon that may have held a prime lie in a pool for weeks or months, who’ll now continue their journey to spawn in tributaries upstream or become grumpy and defensive, showing their strength and seeing off rivals. Both scenarios give us a chance to catch a fish while the conditions are in our favour. Salmon are slightly more active in cooler water and this means we can use a slightly longer fly to search for fresh-run or more aggressive fish. Long-tailed Shrimps are probably the best-known and most popular salmon flies of the last few…

“We have a fastest point … which starts to slow as it nears both banks” IT STARTED FOR ME A FEW YEARS ago when North Country guide Stuart Minnikin and I were fishing on Lancashire’s River Calder, near Burnley. We were chatting about technique and landed on the subjects of rivercraft, water types within a pool, and fish location. Stuart then mentioned something that has stuck with me ever since. He said: “It’s all about triangles.” What a revelation: Stuart’s triangles have helped me to read rivers and understand where trout lie and feed. Where are these triangles? You’ll find them in the fast-flowing parts of a rainfed river, areas of significant water volume and velocity, particularly at the pool head. Here the surface disturbance has a triangular appearance when…

As the seasons pass, fish prefer different water types and move to take up positions in different areas of the triangle. Trying to read the river and how the seasons affect your quarry is hugely important. I would encourage you to walk the river under different water conditions as this is the easiest way to find the features and potential fish-holding areas within a pool. Fish can become much harder to spot and less visible under low-water conditions and time on the bank when not fishing is always valuable. What follows is only a guide, as trout or grayling will always turn up in the strangest places at unexpected times. SPRING: MARCH TO APRIL When the season starts, trout are out of condition and at their weakest, having spent the…

Tie your body to a point well short of the eye. Cut a strip of closed-cell foam (4mm wide). Foam can be bought already coloured or use white foam and colour it with a marker pen. Tie in the foam at the eye and bind down in secure turns. These turns should reach the start of the seal’s fur body. Take the thread back to the eye. Pull the foam forwards, making sure you don’t pull it too tightly. How stretched the foam is will determine the buoyancy of your finished fly. Take the thread back to the start of the body via the underside of the thorax. Pull the foam back to form another layer. Not too tight! Secure foam with tight turns, then trim waste. Add a pinch…

WHAT MOST MODERN rodmakers call switch rods are simply small, lightweight double-handers with overly long handles, big butt extensions and “zippy” actions unsuitable for single-handed use. To suit the travelling, multi-disciplined angler, I think a true switch rod must be able to spey-cast double- and single-handedly and be light enough to use all day. It must also perform all single-handed casts with ease. Most makers seem to favour seven- or eight-weight models, but for the reasons above my preferred all-rounder is an 11ft 3in six-weight. The combination of enough length, power and lightness of touch makes it a joy to use. I will only fish with a seven- or eight-weight on powerful rivers such as those in Norway or if a big fish is on the cards. In essence, the…

The only monthly record of catches and news from the major fisheries of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland Including NEWS, WATERS TO FISH AND FLIES TO TIE AND TRY THIS MONTH Rivers England Wales BORDER ESK THE ANNOUNCEMENT that the Border Esk would be compulsory catch-and-release for salmon for ten years did not go down well. It ignores the wishes of anglers, who suggested voluntary catch-and-release of salmon. The limit of four sea-trout per season was met with anger and frustration, as the haaf-nets were granted extra hours’ fishing and invited to take up unused sea-trout tags. The possibility of challenging these bylaws remains! Heavy rain in late May raised the Esk and brought in runs of sea-trout and a few salmon. On the Willow Pool and Cauldron beats sport…

NOTHING IS SO RICH AND complex as the ties that bind an angler and his gillie. So I’m once more standing up to my nethers in the river practising my casting. And it’s getting to be pretty good these days. It is not that I spend a great deal of time fishing - I am sorry to report that I do not flit gadfly-like from one great river to another throughout the season - but that the bulk of the time I spend fishing is taken up by casting because the casting is for the most part wholly uninterrupted by fish. We may have to think of a new name for salmon fishing because I’m not entirely sure that the salmon referred to isn’t a bit misleading, to be honest.…

RICHARD FAULKS T&S photographer Richard has just returned from a trip to the River Helmsdale, where he lost what would have been his first salmon. He is planning to keep things local for a while, fishing Rutland's small streams for wild brown trout. ALED DAVIES Although his season has been a bit slower than usual due to the dry weather, river reporter Aled has plenty of fishing planned on the Llandeilo club water of the Tywi. He often fishes a team of wee doubles in the faster runs at dusk for sea-trout and possibly grilse, before fishing slower pools in full darkness. MIKE WEAVER The heat has brought Mike’s fishing to a temporary standstill, but he has a couple of fly-tying demonstrations planned, including one at the Countryman’s Fair at…

Long, warm summer days are not the best conditions for fly-fishing but if you venture out to streams and rivers across the country you may well encounter the caperer ( Halesus digitatus/radiatus ). This impressive fly is one of the cinnamon sedges but unlike the smaller species, the caperer is often active during the day, particularly in the early evening. The larvae build a rough case out of fragments of dead vegetation, often incorporating much longer sticks on either side. The case often exceeds 30mm in length and the sticks can be longer still. The reason for including these outsized outriders has been debated for some time. One theory is that they protect the larvae from predation by trout, while an equally plausible theory is that they can…

FISHING ON THE Thurso has undergone many changes in the last 200 years. Malcolm Dutchman-Smith has done an excellent job of documenting them in the first few chapters of this book. He starts with a description of the river and its fishing, with beat maps, and then explains how the fishery has evolved from a net-and-coble operation with relatively unimportant angling also occurring to today’s rod-and-line fly-fishing taking precedence and the nets off. This is not a purely historical tome as Dutchman-Smith has fished the river for 35 years and his love for it shines through in every chapter. He has filled the book with anecdotes about the characters who’ve fished the river, describing their idiosyncracies, as well as stories about that fine band of men, the gillies, who’ve looked…

1 Ask for help FishPal offers clubs in Scotland assistance, from publishing club pages on its website to managing club income (fishpal.com). The Angling Trust employs Club Development Officers for its member clubs (anglingtrust.net). Wild Trout Trust conducts site visits to improve habitats (wildtrout.org). 2 Build a community Gone are the days when successful clubs meet only once a year at an AGM. Active social media is essential to show the club is thriving. Ideally, have a website with maps, fishery descriptions, scenic photography, contacts, smiling faces. Exploit Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to post fish images, news, initiatives, competition, advice and ephemera – avoid formality. Build a sense of belonging. Stamp on trolls. Get younger people involved. 3 Be flexible A one-size-fits-all approach to membership is restrictive. Many sports clubs…

Can you imagine our prime minister fly-fishing? In America, their politicians seem more in tune with the outdoors. President Bush senior is a fly-fisher and so, it seems, is president Barack Obama who in June went trout fishing on rivers in the Adirondacks, New York State. The secretive visit was his second fly-fishing trip and apparently took a year to plan. Meanwhile, also in June, Donald Trump junior (the current president’s campaigning eldest son) tried his hand on a river trip in Montana. Can we hope that Jeremy and Theresa might gain a better understanding of fishing, perhaps by sharing a rod on the Dee at Balmoral?…

WHEN WE made the decision to move close to the River Usk, I had visions of endless fishing, fantastic hatches of brook duns, March browns and olives of all sorts. The truth is somewhat different. Even though my favourite beat is a short walk from home, work and family weekend commitments nearly always get in the way. As those famous daytime early-season Usk hatches and free-rising fish pass me by, I experience them through others more able to take the opportunity. The occasional foray scratches the itch but leaves me wanting more, the rows of brook dun, March brown, large dark olive and grannom patterns in my box go largely untouched from season to season. I’ll save them for retirement. However, it’s rare that a day goes by without me…

THE NEXT TIME someone suggests cutting down trees and trimming branches to tidy up the river and make casting easier, remember that trout live under cover for a reason. I view trout under cover as an opportunity, not as a problem. If you can get a fly to these fish, they are the ones that have rarely been caught before, they are more likely to be rising on the brightest of sunny days and because they feel secure they will often take your fly confidently. WHY TROUT HOLD UNDER COVER? They are protected from predators, including anglers. The greater the fishing pressure that a stream receives, the more the trout will be found under cover. Tree cover creates areas of slow-moving water where fish can hold effortlessly, darting out into…

I’D NEVER BEEN TO Pitsfordbefore, but on the haul from the lodge to the dam-wall, I fell in love with her. She looked to me like Rutland’s little sister – charming, gentle and very pretty. I have never valued stocked fisheries over wild waters, but they most certainly have their place in the grand scheme of angling things. The quality of fish, especially at Pitsford, is amazing when I consider what we were asked to accept even a decade ago. Mind you, in those days I was fishing competitively, and numbers were the target. Now I can be selective and head for areas known to hold acclimatised fish. I have long believed that rainbow trout are more selective about pattern, depth and presentation than their brown cousins. There are so…

Take a look at this picture. The long sides of each triangle are meeting points, junctions between fast and slow water, known as creases. A crease is the most important feature for anglers on a rainfed river. They are major feeding lanes, bringing trout a seemingly endless supply of insects – aquatic or terrestrial. Trout and grayling will take up position along these lanes. Fish are opportunistic, always on the lookout, so these areas will always be attractive, at any point in the day. Slower water, away from the crease, offers fish a resting opportunity. It can be a good area to target with dry-flies. Fish tend to be looking up for potential prey items that will be silhouetted against the sky due to the less broken surface. In fast,…

To book and for more information on the Dunkeld House fishing, visit the beat’s booking platform at www.salmon-fish-scotland.com/Dunkeld-Housesalmon-fishing Gillie Gordon Pollock's Dunkeld House Facebook page is updated daily: www.facebook.com/Dunkeldsalmonbeat/ Newcomers to salmon fishing in need of a guide, tactical tuition, equipment (waders and waterproofs) and a fishing permit should visit fishery manager Jock Monteith’s website: www.salmon-fish-scotland.com/River-Tay-Guided-Salmon-Fishing Dunkeld Spey Casters’ Club The beat runs a Dunkeld Spey Casters’ Club on the second Sunday of every month between 12pm and 3pm. It started on July 8, providing a free introduction to spey-casting, rivercraft and hooking techniques. It’s open to existing and novice salmon anglers, and also extends an open invitation to other gillies willing to assist with tuition, who can promote their own beats. To stay at the wonderful Dunkeld House Hotel,…

Ireland's game-fisheries under threat Since 1986 I have written articles promoting game-fishing in Ireland, so it is with great sadness that I feel compelled to write of the current, parlous state of Irish fishing. Ireland’s game-fisheries are in decline, but what is being done to correct it? In the West of Ireland, leading angling groups have lashed out at Inland Fisheries Ireland’s (IFI) decision to withdraw from vital conservation duties on the country’s lakes and rivers following its decision to leave the future of all conservation work and stream enhancements under the control of the controversial National Strategy for Angling Development (NSAD) funding programme. Historically, IFI did this work with the help of the Office of Public Works. It gave good results and was cost effective - but IFI is…

“If a lesion has suddenly appeared or changed and hasn’t settled after 4-6 weeks, seek medical advice” WHEN FISHING from bank or boat we are exposed to the sun and its harmful effects. UVA and UVB rays will happily penetrate our pale, freckly, European skins and ravage the building blocks of our genetic makeup, potentially giving rise to the formation of skin cancer. Skin cancer is an umbrella term that encompasses two distinct groups of skin malignancies: very serious malignant melanoma and less serious non-melanoma. In 2014 (latest figures) in the UK, there were 15,000 new cases of malignant melanoma reported and 131,000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer (thought to be a huge underestimate). MALIGNANT MELANOMA Malignant melanoma has quadrupled in incidence over the last 30 years - faster…

CALLING ALL JUNIORS! Catch a salmon, or trout and send us a picture of you and your fish, including details of its capture…

If your fishing party is hiring a lodge this month, why not stay in style by organising a caterer for all your meals? We asked the experts at Sporting Lets for an advice checklist: Is a cook provided with the lodge? If it is, this can make the headline rate of the rent look expensive. Some estates insist you employ a cook and this forms part of the contract. The price they charge may be a flat rate or it may depend on the numbers in the lodge. If a cook is part of the deal, who provides the food and drink: you or the estate? Perhaps they might provide food and you bring the drink. If self-catered, where do you source a cook? You could ask the sporting agent,…

“COLLIFORD ISN’T A reservoir where you roll out of the car and stay in one spot, making cast after cast,” explained local guide Duncan Raynor (left). To get the best out of the fishing you need to do plenty of walking (there are no boats for fishing), and the adage of taking two or three steps between each cast is a good one. Travelling light is essential. Take a small box of flies, tippet and other small fishing essentials and leave everything else in the car. If you are not catching fish in a particular area, move on. A waterproof jacket is worth taking as the weather can change very quickly. Fly choice is relatively simple and Duncan's advice is generally: “Fish anything black. Failing that, try something smaller and…

I ’M SAT BY THE BANKS of the Spey. In what might just be the worst season on record. I’m contemplating the nature of our sport. Is it simply getting too hard to catch a salmon these days? The scarcity of salmon has made me realise how close I’ve come to losing something I love. Beyond the critical struggle to bring back our salmon, the realisation that we risk losing the pleasure of (viable) fishing for them has hit me hard. So as I wait to make my next cast when the evening sunshine softens, I thought I’d jot a few lines trying to make sense of my thoughts. If I enjoy hitting a tennis ball against a big wall, running around, working up a good sweat, that’s fine. But…

WHEN I WAS IN my early teens, my grandfather warned that while I might be taught much about salmon fishing, there was a great deal more that I would have to learn for myself. He also warned against reading too many fishing books. “Better to stick with one writer who really knew what he was about,” he said. “Major Traherne’s The Habits of Salmon will teach you about the fish, and the chapter he wrote on “Salmon Fishing with The Fly” for the Badminton Library’s Fishing will tell you how to catch them.” I’m afraid that in later years I ignored the advice about reading too many books... But my grandfather’s suggestion to study the Major’s writings was spot on - even though we know rather more about the habits…

THE QUEEN’S KILLER IS A recent addition to the hairwing family and is, to my eye at least, a lovely little fly. It was created on the Balmoral beat of the Dee earlier this year, a collaboration between gillie, David Fernie, and one of his rods, David Edwards. It began life as a sea-trout fly but has picked up a couple of salmon, the first of which came from Queen’s pool on the beat. The story begins last year when David was looking around a tackle-shop on the West Coast during his honeymoon - typical angler, never off duty. He saw a sea-trout fly with a hanging treble, which included a bit of pink on the hook and a bit of green in the main dressing. He let this combination…

1 Cast precisely Most fishermen try to cast too far. It is far more effective to cast a shorter, accurate cast so that the fly starts to fish at once. A poor long cast can cause a trailing leader that lands behind the fly-line. The leader then needs straightening by the current by which time the fly will only drift attractively for a fraction of what might be achieved with a precise cast. 2 MASTER DEPTH AND SPEED I often see fishers just using a floating line with a mono leader. This setup has limitations. Many beats offer a variety of water: a pool might have a fast, shallow head, a deep and slow middle, and a smoothly flowing tail. To present your fly properly (speed and depth) in…

Q This spring I had great sport with varnished Buzzers bought from my fishery’s tackle-shop. But as trout moved into the surface layers I felt my flies were too deep, even fished on the washing line. How might I present flies closer to the surface? Leif Mustoe, by email A The Buzzer pages of a 2018 fly catalogue are full of quill, Flexifloss or thread-rib dressings, varnished or coated with UV resin. Some are plain while others, more tempting to newly stocked fish, have more bling. They provide great sport when fish are feeding in deeper water in weeks that were not exploited by those of us who developed Buzzer patterns in the 1970s and ’80s. A catalogue from that era would have listed Buzzers tied with unvarnished thread, unnatural…

Before about 1985 the Lancashire Calder, the Ribble’s second-largest tributary, was almost devoid of fish; indeed, any localised thunderstorms flushing the Calder would often result in a major pollution of the main river. Gradually the river became cleaner through stricter controls on industry and major improvements in sewage treatment. In 2002 the EA stocked two Calder tributaries with salmon fry/parr, even though they were both above numerous impassable obstacles. Around this time dead kelts were often found in Sabden Brook, which is above Whalley weir but below the impassable Padiham weir. A few years later salmon were seen and caught at Padiham weir – probably the progeny of that earlier stocking. Aware that potentially more than 100 miles of spawning were being denied to salmonids, the Ribble Rivers Trust, in…

Is it time to invest in a prime Dee beat? The sale of Banchory Fishings brings to the market one of the prime beats on the Dee. On the edge of the attractive town of Banchory, it’s for sale with Waterstone House, as a whole or in two lots. Waterstone House, built in 1973 in the former walled garden of the Banchory Lodge Hotel, has undergone extensions and provides three reception rooms and study, sun room, five bedrooms of which two are ensuite, and shower room. Set in two acres of grounds surrounded on three sides by the high walls of the garden, to the south three terraces of borders and lawns lead down to the river. Included in the sale is the single-bank salmon fishing in front of the…

FISH SAVED IN WALES The UK Government’s decision (June 25) not to support the proposed tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay has saved vulnerable salmon and sea-trout populations from being killed by turbines. The Government’s decision was based on the scheme failing to meet value for public money compared with other technologies in the renewables sector. The Angling Trust and Fish Legal, representing their member clubs and fishery owners, has over the past five years repeatedly challenged Tidal Lagoon Power’s economic and environmental evidence in support of the lagoon, which would have been followed by larger schemes in the Severn estuary and elsewhere in the UK. Natural Resources Wales had estimated that more than 20 per cent of salmon and sea-trout running Swansea Bay rivers, such as the Tawe, Neath and…

Newbie, River Annan The Newbie beat is a much sought-after and productive fishery of about two miles, mostly double bank, and being just above the tide and at times partly tide-affected, it can produce fresh fish even in the lowest water. With a part-time keeper maintaining the river and its banks, and a large hut with full facilities, this is a must for the serious salmon and sea-trout angler. Day-tickets for salmon start from £30. Contact Tom Carter, FishPal. Tel: 01573 470 612. Purchase tickets online at http://www.fishpal.com/Scotland/Annan/Newbie…