To catch a salmon Giles Catchpole seeks help from above
ON THE OTHER hand, there is always the Spey.
It has hosted some good sport this season. Including some large fish. Which is very exciting. Last year, of course, I was not there because I was tussling with a simply enormous trout in Iceland and shoals of salmon flooded into the river from the far-off Atlantic to take the distilleries tour and to frustrate the local anglers by jumping over their leaders and ignoring their lures.
But now we’re back and we are ready for some serious Spey action.
Monday dawned warm and bright. What is ideal salmon fishing weather? Well, you have to ask yourself what actually is the central purpose of salmon fishing? If, for you, the key objective is to catch salmon then the weather in Scotland will be largely immaterial because you will be in Russia catching dozens of fish in a day and setting yourself a level of experience which you will quite possibly never see again.
If you are in Scotland, on the other hand, warm and bright is absolutely fine. It may not be ideal for provoking fish into enthusiastic action but warm and bright means that we are going to be able to fish comfortably for the long hours necessary to actually connect with a fish.
Denne historien er fra October 2017-utgaven av Trout & Salmon.
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Denne historien er fra October 2017-utgaven av Trout & Salmon.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prÞveperiode pÄ Magzter GOLD for Ä fÄ tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg pÄ
Mr Goldhead And The Grayling
Lawrence Catlow fishes the rapidly recovering River Irfon in Powys.
Moody Beasts
Stan Headley searches for the elusive sea-trout of Loch Ailsh in the northwest Highlands.
Alone On The River
Cliff Hatton encounters a mighty Wye salmon.
Hop To It
Richard Donkin has a no-nonsense approach to tackle and amphibians.
River Blackwater
THE BLACKWATER rises in the boglands of County Kerry, and although the peaty tinge it carries gives rise to its name it also flows through limestone and that helps it to support a diverse range of fly-life which provides plenty of sustenance for salmon parr and trout. The river is one of Ireland’s most productive salmon fisheries, along with the River Moy.
Hampshire Avon
THERE CAN be few places in fishing more famous than the Royalty Fishery on the Hampshire Avon, even Mr Crabtree has fished its illustrious waters. Two seasons ago an enormous salmon of 40lb was caught in the spring at the Royalty and big salmon are regularly caught in the early months of the season.
A Strange Kind Of Magic
Charles van straubenzee introduces a salmon fly that combines the most unlikely colours and materials to deadly effect.
A Deep-Water Experiment
Stan Headley hatches a plan to catch three species of fish in one day at Loch Calder in Caithness.
Rutland's Old Warriors
James Beeson enjoys supercharged surface sport with Rutland Water’s fry-feeders.
Plucked From The Jaws
Looking for affordable back-end sport? Andrew Flitcroft recommends the challenging Chollerton beat on the North Tyne.
