In at the deep end

A cast for a strong fresh-run summer salmon hits a snag, but Julian Schmechel is determined to land his fish no matter how wet he gets

- JOHN PAUL; RICHARD FAULKS

Leaning over Culquoich bridge, I stared down into the peat-tinged depths of the Aberdeenshire Don and marveled at its beauty. There is something about a salmon river after a summer spate that is inviting and filled with the promise of fresh run fish. It draws you to it and urges you to cast a line across its glides and pools.

Never a broad river, the hurried nature of the Don betrays its mountainous birth in the hags and corries of Aberdeenshire’s high hills. Often bypassed by those who journey to the Spey and Dee, it is a jewel fixed in a perfect setting.

Taking rod in hand once again, I crossed the bridge and, climbing a stile placed with the angler in mind, headed upstream toward the Doctor’s Pool. In pursuit of summer salmon, I waded through waist-deep willowherb, whose flowers splashed the bankside pale pink, while comfrey carpeted the ground in blue.

Emerging from the vegetation, I stood on the open bank and surveyed the pool. The Doctor’s might have been crafted from an angler’s dreams, for it is simply perfection. Deep, shelving, and with a backdrop of towering firs, this pool holds salmon in any height of the water and challenges the angler to fish it well. With some surprise, I noticed a great, dark, elongated object, not seen before, lying on the bed of the pool, about halfway across its width and in approximately 4ft of water. It was the shattered trunk of a huge spruce tree, carried down by the recent spate until, in falling water, it had grounded on the Doctor’s gravel bar.

Sunken spruce