Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2023 i Trout & Salmon

Alas, my life is ruined and all because of a bowl of porridge. After a visit to the Kildrummy Inn, near Alford, Aberdeenshire, I will never again be able to enjoy this traditional Scottish breakfast, or at least not without risking my waistline and liver. It's the Kildrummy's innocently named Fisherman's Porridge that is the source of my torment. Born from the impish mind of owner and multi award-winning chef David Littlewood, this wicked concoction of porridge oats, brown sugar and cream, served with a generous slug of single malt, beguiles the senses and leaves you longing for more. It's simply one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted. As good as it is, it's far from the only thing to recommend a stay at the Kildrummy. This 19th…

HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED A growing agenda to promote other waterbased activities to the detriment of us fishers? A couple of years ago, at the peak of the pandemic, I highlighted how fishing permits for Loch Morlich had been stopped. The loch, which lies within Strathspey, had historically offered boat and hank fishing for trout. Forestry & Land Scotland (FLS), which manage areas owned by Scottish Ministers, deemed that having hooks and lines in the water would be hazardous to wild swimmers and other water users. I found this absurd as fishermen, and their quarry, will obviously seek to be where others are not, and so the likelihood of any passing swimmer being hooked would be less than minimal. (Although I can't help wondering what breaking strain I'd need to…

I'D JUST ARRIVED FOR A DAY'S buzzer fishing with The Codfather. It's a nickname given to Toft Newton manager Andy Hutson during his Stillwater competition days. "Butyou're from Grimsby/," I queried as he flicked the kettle on. "Everyone knows the haddock rules in Grimsby — weren't Grimsby Town fans waving Harry Haddock when they beat Southampton in the FA Cup last month?" "I know, I know," he said as we debated the cod analogy over a cuppa. While Grimsby Town's cup run was short-lived, Andy's loch-style successes for England Youth were many, although those days are now long gone, and he's hung up his caps for a more pleasurable and varied outlook on fishing. In the past, he's been a regular rod at Ballogie on the Dee (where he once…

IN EARLY SUMMER ON STILLWATERS, olives will be coming off in numbers and buzzers may be a daily feature, so it makes sense to have patterns that are just "buggy", rather than imitative. Crunchers are a generic style that look like something fish cannot ignore as food. The Groomer is a "twist" on an Olive Cruncher. It was devised by Jim Crawford, a successful Ayr-based competition angler who needed a pattern that would work on most lakes, lochs and reservoirs. Jim first became aware of the material Edge Bright when sharing a boat with Alan Hill in a National preliminary match on Loch Leven. Alan was doing well everywhere he fished with a fly that used Edge Bright, so Jim tried it in a Cruncher pattern and the Groomer was…

If braid is thin, it’s much easier to work with. When wound on a salmon-fly hook or tube, thin or flat braid will reduce bulk, hide overlaps and make a more even body. Thin braid can also be spun into a tight rope to form ribs — increasing its uses. This 1.5mm flat braid from Loop ticks all the above boxes and is made in a range of great colours. There is black, silver, pearl and light or bright/yellow gold. For something a little different, try black peacock, chartreuse, holographic sunburst, electric blue or fluorescent pink. Additional holographic red and burnt copper will please autumn salmon-fishers. If you feel your flat tinsel is too bright, these tough braids offer a more subdued alternative, yet still have sparkle. Also try them…

ULTIMATE PROTECTION FO R RIVERS? Europe’s first wild river national park has been established in Albania. Some 400km of the Vjosa, from its source to sea, is now protected by law after a ten-year campaign by environmentalists supported by clothing firm Patagonia. Described as the last wild river in Europe, the Vjosa was threatened by hydropower developments. Some $80 million has also now been earmarked by the Albanian government to build plants that will stop sewage entering the river. In the UK, there are no river national parks, although the Norfolk Broads is predominantly wetland. The Wye, Tamar and Lagan valleys and Strangford Lough enjoy limited protection as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, while many sections of rivers across the UK are Sites of Special Scientific Interest. In New Zealand,…

LANGLEY DAM This 14-acre lake, near Hexham in Northumberland, is stocked with rainbow, brown, blue and tiger trout. Boats are available to hire. Membership scheme. Day ticket £32 (eight hours, five fish); catch-and-release £24 (eight hours). Discount for members. Tel 01434 688 846 Web langleydam.co.uk DRAYCOTE This Warwickshire water is stocked with over 30,000 trout each year in the 21b range. Trout grow on well due to abundant buzzer hatches, shrimp and fry. Tackle shop. Day ticket £36.50 (six fish plus catch-and-release). Full day boat £24.50. Other ticket options and short break packages. Tel 01788 812 018 Web flyfishdraycote.co.uk BLITHFIELD Set in the heart of rural Staffordshire, the 754-acre reservoir offers over 11 miles of bank fishing, as well as excellent top of the water sport from a fleet of…

LUNCH WITH PAUL Lifelong angler, river campaigner and comedian Paul Whitehouse is to appear at The Game Fair at Ragley Flail in Warwickshire on July 30 to host its Sunday lunch. The star of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing will chat with diners in the enclosure restaurant, where he hopes to encourage more people to take up fishing. Paul said, "For those people who want to fish for the first time or used to fish but do not anymore, I want to offer an easy way back into the pastime. It can feel bewildering as there is so much to know in the first place.” Paul recently presented the two-part BBC documentary Our Troubled Rivers, raising awareness of the pollution and abstraction afflicting Britain’s declining rivers. Joining him at the…

IF YOU HAD ONLY HALF A DAY TO fish for trout on the Shetland mainland, which of the countless lochs in every which way the eye can see would you choose? This was the dilemma facing Euan and me on our last visit to this wild trout paradise, and it's no exaggeration to describe this bewitching northern archipelago as anything less than that. There are so many good lochs. We'd spent most of the trip chasing specimen trout with some success on the massively impressive and brooding Unst, and later on fertile Fetlar, the Garden of Shetland and surely one of the most intriguing islands in the British Isles. But this was our last throw of the dice before having to hotfoot it to the evening sailing from Lerwick and…

INVER LODGE HOTEL SITS ON A bluff, looking out over the harbour. Twenty-five years had slipped by since I'd last sat down to enjoy the view from the dining room. Memories of family holidays were coming back — it was all wonderfully familiar. To the back of the hotel, Suilven and Canisp loomed. They'd had another drenching during the night and by the look of it, more was in the offing. It wasn't ideal, there had been heavy rain for most of the week and there was a considerable risk that we would have too much of a good thing. The estate's fishery manager, Dave Macleod, had offered to meet me at the hotel. The plan was to tackle the upper beat of the Kirkaig if we could. For now,…

… if a fish you’re playing goes round the back of the boat when the drogue’s out? If you’re in open water, don’t panic and don’t try to get the fish near the boat as it will become tangled. Ask your boat partner to pull in the drogue and net the fish. Even when competing in a match, I always work with my boat partner as part of a team. … when the drogue’s full of weed? A drogue should never fill with weed, but it may very occasionally become stuck in weed. However, once you pull one rope, the drogue will collapse and lie flat to slide over the weed. Once collapsed, the drogue is very light, weighing only 2lb-3lb, and easily moved. … when you’re nearing the end…

A CLOSER LOOK Mackenzie Fly Fishing was the first company to bring graphene — the lightest, strongest material known to man — to the double-handed fly-rod market with its FX1 series in 2016. The company has now superseded that earlier range with the new FX2 rods. Using the latest in aerospace carbon, combined with graphene technology, the range is lighter and stronger, with a more progressive, user-friendly action. While better known for its double-handed rods, Mackenzie has also added five singlehanded models to its FX2 range, from a 9ft 5wt to a 10ft 7wt to suit both river and Stillwater anglers. The four-piece dark-grey satin blanks are finished with gloss black whippings and orange detail, following the company brand colours. Fixtures and fittings are all top quality, with custom-made, double…

1985-2023 HOW did fishing find Pablo, a young and lively Londoner? As part of a single-parent family (with me — his mum Julie — and his older brother Lascel) Pablo spent most school holidays in Cornwall on his grandparent's farm. One summer, just a few days after the family had been crabbing off Looe harbour wall, Pablo asked me to stop at Treverbyn Bridge so he could use his crabbing line to try to catch a fish from the river. I helped him to find a worm, which he dropped into the river. With a look of pure joy on his face, Pablo pulled up the line and there on the hook was a beautiful little brown trout, which I quickly returned. At age nine, Pablo had caught his first…

CLUES ACROSS 1. Predatory fish featured in film Jaws (5,5,5) 9. Laid item (3) 10. Place with medicinal baths (3) 11. Foreboding (7) 12. Auction item (3) 13. Hook part (3) 14. Stag’s headgear (7) 16. Animal’s lair (3) 17. To exist (2) 18. Seashore sand hills (5) 20. Boring tool (3) 22. Flight stage of this terrestrial is eaten by trout (3) 23. Dumfriesshire salmon river (5) 24. Reply (6) 26. This type of brown trout is migratory (3) 27. For example (1.1.) 28. Snake-like fish (3) 29. Late-spring flowering shrub (5) 31. Outer part of a reel (3) 32. Two-piece bathing suit (6) 34. Possess (3) 35. Fish’s mouth part (3) 38. Early-run salmon in top condition (8) 39. Tay tributary (4) CLUES DOWN 1. Freshwater diving bird…

FISH OF THE MONTH THE BIG FOUR-BY-FOUR With this magnificent springer, caught from the River Spey’s Tulchan D beat, Aberdeenshire’s Craig Fleming has completed the rare feat of catching a 20lb-plus salmon from each of the Big Four rivers in Scotland (Tweed, Tay, Dee and Spey). Some achievement. This beauty was landed at 9.30am on Saturday, March 25. The river had been up and down all week and, despite dropping a few inches, was still running at 2ft 4in on the gauge. Gillie Philip Green had recommended a floating line with a sink-tip, so Craig set up his old Hardy Swift reel, a Vision Hybrid line, a 15ft sink 3/5 tip and a 1in aluminium Monkey tube. "Philip drove me to the right bank of Cragganmore Pool where I started…

A FEW MONTHS AGO, I DROPPED BY A place I regularly visit where 15 or so dolphins live in what was once the dry dock of a naval dockyard built in early Georgian times to protect the Empire. I know these sorts of places, along with zoos and animal circuses, have rather fallen out of favour, but I still love them. How else can you ever appreciate the beauty and power of such sea creatures? Sure, there is David Attenborough, but that is no more real than an avatar for a best friend. Chatting to one of the volunteers — it is a place that has nurtured the dreams of countless marinebiologists-to-be — I asked about the steel gate that barred the entrance to the open ocean. Is it ever…

VIC WON THE TOSS AND stepped into the river. I had to wait my turn — I couldn't start until he got to the large rock that marked the end of the pool. He cast in front of the rock, then down the side of it. His third cast behind the rock hooked the fish. He announced in a pleased but not overly-excited voice that it was probably a grilse and as it approached the net it certainly looked like one — fresh and silver, about 41b. The guide duly netted it and announced disgustedly that it was a "Rozovyy!" — a pink. Pinks — humpies, humpback salmon, or formally, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, a species of Pacific salmon — are considered vermin where we were fishing and had to be killed,…

Classic revisited Hardy’s first Bougie reel entered service in 1903 and continued in production until 1939. Even though few were produced in that final year, many collectors consider it the reel’s functional and aesthetic apex. Hardy has now launched the 1939 Bougie Heritage to mark that moment and give modern-day anglers the chance to own and fish with this iconic fly-reel. The reels have the time-tested Mark II check mechanism, giving them their hallmark, sweet-sounding click. The internal bush and spindle are still made from naval brass, and there is the rolling pillar and ported back plate from the reel’s original, ground-breaking design. Bougié Heritage reels are handmade in 213/16in, 3in, 3¼in, 3½in, Olympic 3¾in and 4in sizes at the company’s workshop in Alnwick, Northumberland and are finished in a…

Canteen of tools If you’re an occasional tyer, you may not seek the latest wonder tools. Instead, you may just want the essentials for a modest price. This boxed set of 14 key tools is made from quality surgical steel and brass. Tools include razor scissors (£15.99), arrow-point scissors (£14.99), fine-point 4in scissors (£14.99), spring scissors (5.99), dubbing needle (£2.99), dubbing needle with dubbing brush (£6.99), bobbin threader (£3.99), lined bobbin holder (£7.99), hackle pliers (£5.49), hair stacker (£10.99), clubbing rake (£6.99), clubbing spinner (£8.99), ultra-fine tip tweezers (£5.99) and whip finisher (£5.99). The full set is £118.36, but for an extra £1.63 they can be supplied in a quality, lined, wooden display box that keeps them organised and to hand — ideal for trips, tying evenings and courses or…

THÉRÈSE'S PLAN The UK Government has published its Plan for Water in England, which contains a mixture of promises, hopes and concrete policy that may improve the plight of our watercourses and the wildlife that depends on them. Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey defined the scale of the abstraction and pollution problems, explaining that in England “We use 14 billion litres of water per day” and that water companies will need to supply another four billion by 2050, and that “We are dealing with a Victorian-era sewage network that in length would wrap around the world two and a half times.” As part of the Plan, the Environment Agency is to be given powers to impose unlimited fines on water companies who pollute illegally and the money will go to a…

The NX1 range of four-piece rods incorporate the latest nanotube technology, reducing blank weight and increasing the carbon strength and power transfer throughout the rod. Designed with the modern angler in mind, the NX1 is capable of handling the latest tapered trout lines, achieving tight, accurate loops for optimum performance. While most at home on rivers, the rod’s crisp action also lends itself to fishing imitative methods on small to medium-sized stillwaters. The lucky winner of our competition will win a 9ft 5wt Mackenzie NX1 trout rod. For more information, call Mackenzie Fly Fishing on 07771330 729. Web: mackenzieflyfishing.com mackenzie DESIGNED THROUGH EXPERIENCE…