This was meant to be a dry season, according to long range forecasts. It has turned out to be the complete opposite! We have had steady rain throughout August and, as I write this towards the end of the month, the total catches for the season are Salmon pushing towards 60 and sea trout just under 100. A feature of 2009 has been the number of large fish showing in the pools. In July and August five salmon of over 20lbs were hooked and lost, one of them at the net in the presence of Moray Macfarlane, who couldn’t stretch his hand around the massive wrist of the tail! I can vouch for this trend in big fish because last night (27/8) I was fishing the Willows at dusk when an absolute monster of a fish leapt clean out of the water in Upper Boat Pool. It was about 30 yards away and I estimate it as quite a bit more than 20lbs. The fish I caught a few minutes later was a nice clean grilse of 6lbs. When it took my fly (a size 6 Finavon Whisp) there was a heart-stopping moment as the line tightened when I thought I was into the big fish. Never mind: a salmon is a fish no matter how much it weighs!
Prospects for the last two months of the season (closes on 31st October) are promising, especially if we continue to see big salmon. The river is in perfect condition and, although we are seeing only a few fish (I saw 6 in 2 hours fishing last night) my guess is that the river is well stocked. The nets come off on 31st August, so there will be nothing to prevent new fish entering the river. We still have a few days left in September, and fewer still in October.
Anna Zharkov from Moscow Fishing Red Brae
