Rivers of dreams

The 2020 salmon season exceeded all expectations, much to anglers’ delight, but why was the fishing so good? Marcus Janssen investigates

- Marcus Janssen

We’ll probably still be talking about the 2020 salmon season when we’re no longer able to get into our waders without some help from the gillie. “Aye, it was like the Ponoi, son. There were more salmon in the rivers than you could shake a stick at.”

Certainly, fishermen tell tales but there can be little doubt that the year was indeed a good one. Some, like my friend Tom Leslie, would say it was an outstanding one. He caught 15 fish in only a few hours on the Tweed in July and ended the season with 80 fish to his name, having fished fewer than 30 days in total. “I’ve been to Russia four times and only once have I caught more than 15 salmon in a day,” he told me. “This season was simply incredible. I still can’t quite believe it.”

Pretty much every Scottish gillie I have spoken to agrees, reporting sustained runs of fresh fish and good catches throughout the summer and early autumn months. “Upon the Spey, we had a considerably better spring and summer runs of fish this year,” said gillie Ian Gordon. “To me it felt like there were something like double the number of fish in the river this year compared with last year.”

When I spoke to Mark Cockburn, chief executive of FishPal, in August, he was more upbeat than I’ve ever seen him. “Rivers are seeing tremendous catches,” he said. “And it’s across the board — all our salmon rivers seem to be fishing well. There is no question about it, we are having a great season.”