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Salmon
and seatrout fishing in the East of Scotland
FINAVON CASTLE
FISHINGS, RIVER SOUTH ESK.
"The best of Scotland's game fishing" (Elizabeth-Anne Gardner)
· The only rivers in the British Isles which continue to have
strong and improving runs of both salmon and seatrout are in
the East of Scotland, from Tweed to
Thurso, and some famous rivers in between. Many well
known fishing authors, such as Patrick Chalmers, John Ashley-Cooper
and William B Currie, recognised that the prime fishing beats
of Scotland are found on these rivers. This was true then, and
it still is today.
· Amongst the most exclusive of Scotland's East-flowing rivers
are the North and the South Esks,
both of which have prolific runs of fish. The "Northie" is justly
famous for its tremendous runs of grilse and salmon. The South
Esk is arguably Scotland's top seatrout river, and also has
good runs of salmon and grilse. These two rivers offer the highest
quality of sport in glorious surroundings for the fly fisherman,
from the opening day on 16th February to the close of the season
on 31st October. They are of medium size, rarely being more
than 50 metres from bank to bank, but they also produce some
very large salmon, especially in the autumn months.
· In the quiet summer months, when the seatrout shoals gather
in large numbers in the pools of the South
Esk, and grilse often run the gravelly streams with
their backs out of the water, fishing is concentrated into the
early mornings, late evenings and throughout the night, when
great catches of seatrout are often made. In the spring and
autumn months, when the snow is melting and the rainfall high,
the river flows strongly with good water levels and ample room
for fishermen to flex their muscles and cast a long line across
the pools which, as often as not, hold good numbers of salmon
ready to take the fly.
· The South Esk is 47 miles
long from its source high in the Grampian mountains on the Balmoral
Estate to its estuary in Montrose Basin. The upper river runs
through moorland and mountain passes on its way Eastwards to
Cortachy, where it breaks through the sandstone ravines of Downie
Park and Inshewan before levelling out into the Vale of Strathmore
at Finavon Castle, where
the pools are long and the streams wide. These middle beats
of the river traditionally offer the best fishing for summer
and autumn salmon, grilse and seatrout, and the spring salmon
fishing is also improving fast. |
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BULLETIN
BOARD
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The week ending 9th August 2008 was the best for salmon and grilse at Finavon since records began in 1882. The final catch was 15 salmon (largest 14 lbs), 19 grilse (averaging 5 lbs) and 11 sea trout. The river ran at a high level all week which gave salmon easy access to the river, with minimal interference from the coastal nets. Once past the high tide mark these fish swim as far upriver as they wish, and Finavon, some 12 miles above the tide, is their first stopping point. The fact that the pools are welcoming to arriving fish is in no small measure the result of years of careful pool development. With good water and increasing runs of salmon we should see more results like last week's in future seasons.
Esksider
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