FISHING SECRETS

Salmon

Scotland has great Atlantic salmon fishing. Famous rivers, Spey, Tay, Dee, Tweed, Helmsdale, Nith and more. The hundreds of rivers and burns in Scotland are home to many, many thousands of salmon, some of which swim a long way into the mountains to reach their home pools to spawn and start another cycle of their amazing life story. The young salmon grow in our clean waters for a few years before starting their epic journeys to the salt water feeding grounds via the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Some of them reach the Davis Straight on the west coast of Greenland before heading home again, a distance of 6000 miles as the crow flies! On their return they battle their way past nets, killer whales, dolphins and the thousands of seals that prey upon them around the coasts. The survivors, a small percentage of those that hatched in our rivers return home safely to reproduce and provide thrilling sport for the angler fortunate enough to encounter them. Scottish salmon fishing season for various river systems.

Scotland offers salmon angling of all types, from harling or trolling on the mighty rivers and lochs to intimate single handed fly fishing on one of the smaller streams where a trout rod is sufficient to tempt the king of fish. Salmon fishing is available somewhere in Scotland from 11 January until 30 November although some rivers do not open until February and some close on 30 September. It is said that runs of salmon may arrive in our largest river the Tay on any day of the year but of course there are peak times for sport-fishing. Spring salmon are the earliest running multi sea winter fish. In most rivers the main runs start to arrive in March. On the Tay they can arrive much earlier but generally the numbers are fairly low until then. April and May are the hot times for spring salmon. These fish can be large, most years specimens of thirty or more pounds will be encountered on the larger rivers. In general the two sea winter class of salmon in early spring weigh between 7 and 12 pounds and the three sea-winter fish can be double those weights. By June the first of the grilse or one sea-winter arrive and continue to run from then until the end of the season, their weight increasing with each passing month. Large multi sea-winter fish are interspersed with the grilse to add spice to the sport. By autumn some of these fish can be veritable monsters.

Old Bridge of Dee Invercauld

Salmon fly fishing, Spey casting with a double handed rod, a floating line and a small fly, observing the Atlantic salmon rise to the fly is the epitome of fly fishing. A growing number of anglers prefer fly-fishing to all other forms of fishing. In Scotland there is such a variety of rivers that no matter what type of fly-fishing tackle you have there is a place to use it. On the bigger rivers there is plenty room and many of the regular anglers resort to using rods between 16 and 18 feet, particularly during spring or high water conditions. At these times it is often necessary to use sinking lines to conquer the fast flows and get the fly down to the required depths. To lift and cast sinking lines a fairly strong rod is necessary. Sinking lines type 2, 3 and 4 are used according to the water depth and flow. In such conditions tube flies are an ideal choice and a selection including Willie Gunn, Black & Yellow, Black & Orange and Garry Dog, preferably with the options of black or silver bodies and in varying weights and lengths between one and three inches cover most situations.

Ally’s salmon flies

During normal conditions or as the ideal “all round” salmon fly rod, a 15-footer capable of fishing a selection of sinking and floating lines and suitable for Spey Casting is the perfect choice for medium to large rivers. On smaller waters a 13-foot or 14-foot rod is a more comfortable choice. During low water summer conditions, a single-handed rod suitable for a #7 (or heavier) line will cope admirably with most situations. A reliable reel well filled with at least 100m of 30-pound BS backing is advisable for salmon fishing. In good fly-fishing conditions a choice of sink tip, an intermediate or floating line is helpful. Attaching a sinking leader to a floating line is common practice to prevent fly skate. From late spring until autumn most fishing is practiced with dressed flies. A selection of Ally´s Shrimps, Yellow Ally´s Cascade, Munro Killer, Executioner, Silver Stoats Tail, Stoats Tail, Arndilly Fancy, GP and Tosh together with a few Irish Shrimps in sizes 4 down to 12 will cover most situations. In very low water, small plastic micro tubes fished on light tackle sometimes provide the only means of attracting fish from the slower flows. View or buy a superb range of Ally’s salmon shrimp flies or hairwings.