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lots of good photos and happy memories here and i would like to add that all the fish were safely returned , apart from a few escapee farmed fish which you really have to remove to preserve wild stocks. i wish everyone would respect their catch and give it the freedom it deserves.. you cant beat the feeling of holding a fish in the water, saying thank you and watching it swim away, i think more fishermen need to try this you dont need a trophy , just a photo with the mobile fone or a digital camera. if you want to keep one then my opinion is that you are going to get a fatality eventually and you can keep that one as long as you have a tag for it. stocks are low all over the country due to driftnetting , river netting and possibly the main reason is the onslaught of intensive fish farming which , because it is mostly done coastally has created a big sea-lice problem for the smolts. i have caught returning small grilse and sea trout which are basically being eaten alive by sea-lice it seems that the fish farming is creating , not only more sea-lice but more resilient ones too, it is my opinion that a rod will not damage a river but catch and release is still a good idea. fishing isnt just about catching fish its also about appreciating the nature that surrounds you. one of the most beautiful sights i have seen on the river was what appeared to be a 15 foot long black snake , it turned out to be a family of 4 mink walking 1 behind another. i used to work in one of the most intenstive salmon processing factories in europe , doing 100+ tonnes a day and you do see and hear some things which make you think that we need to change our ways . i am a little suspicious as to how farmed salmon and rainbow trout keep escaping into our rivers and lochs .its great getting a bend in the rod but you have to realise that introducing a foreign species into an already fragile ecosystem is very risky, its getting harder and harder for our beautiful atlantic salmon to reach its destination and spawn. luckily there are many deep dark pools for the fish to hide until the river rises, but having said that our highland rivers can rise 10 feet in a matter of hours if the rainfall is good. we are lucky to have an extensive re-stocking programme. my question is how much longer can we enjoy this wonderful sport , if we all do our bit then hopefully a lot longer
this is the main problem
my first wild springer of the 2008 season , landed on the 21st may, fresh run sea-liced 12lbs. i had the line out in the water just dangling about , whilst i was trying to retrieve a fly that was stuck on a rock with my other hand.. then all of a sudden came the bang and then ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...u cannot beat that feeling.
the very first fish i caught on my favourite reel, the 4.5" perfect style brass and alloy farlow . 6lbs on my own fly ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
lovely fresh sea-liced 12lb on tube fly , ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 lb taken on spinner in high water ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
my friend sandy , this one was desperate to get back to the river ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stunning fish this at 24-26lbs , you can see the sea-lice near the anal fin. straight in from the sea ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
these canada geese kept me company down the river all season and spooked every fish in the pool but still lovely to see them ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
have a good look at this one. it made fish of the month in trout and salmon and i got a sharpes 15ft fly rod as a prize. it was conservatively estimated at 36lb to avoid any hassle but in my opinion it was more like 44lb. i have had the photo analysed professionally by simon bellis who is a sports photographer at sportimage and his wife catherine , who owns a graphics design studio , and in their opinion there are no issues with perspective. the distance from the end of the rod to the green tape is 5 feet as it is a 3 piece 15 ft rod so i will let you form your own opinion, sadly the only witness was on the other side of the river so he couldnt help me take better photos , what a job i had with this it took me over an hour to land , i just couldnt shift it . i got it on one of my own tube flies, this is a once in a life time fish and i never get tired of looking at the photo. it was fresh in with the tide and still had sea-lice on it ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
escapee farmed fish 9lbs taken on the fly ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
into a good fish ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
this was a cracker it was 22-24lbs not such a good photo though , i played it for ages but i had to get into the water up to my waist and try to tail it,with the rod right up in the air the hook came out at the last minute but i ducked under the water and tailed it anyway, with people on the other side of the river laughing . it really had to be seen to be believed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sandy again , into a good fish ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
fly devil eh!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
shep getting ready to jump into the river ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sandy with a cracker 24lbs this was a 2 man job landing this one it even went under the tree in the water in the background still we got it in the end ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
believe it or not this fish was around the 22-24 lbs mark , but its a really bad photo though. even i dont believe it looks as big as it was ..again on my favourite reel , one of 8 fish i caught that day. pool after a good 45 minute fight. powerful hen fish .. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
come back and see me in a few years!!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
lovely fresh run sealiced grilse ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cracking fish, this was a true monster estimated around 32-34lb a cracker. sandy waded across the river, see photo) to help me land it . its great fun to play a fish of this size in a large pool ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
my friend with a lovely pike , i think we got about 8 that day. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
my daughter jenny with 2 escaped farmed fish 10 + 14 lbs ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sandy into a big pike ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
another cracker 18-20lbs on the spinner ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sandy posing at the river in a very heavy spate ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12lb lovely sealiced fresh run fish ..........................................................................................................................................................................
sandy into a good fish and charlie ready with the net , ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
lovely fish this one.. around 12lb great fight & straight in from the sea .......................................................................................................................................................................
lovely trout on the worm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
me and my mate with a good pike 12lbs ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
huge pike 24-26lbs i think we got around 10 that day all on deadbaits ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
my dad with a cracking cod taken from loch linnhe ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
some lovely brownies taken on the spinner and fly , from a secret little spot i know, check out the weird orange mark on one one of them , i have never seen this before.. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the enemy ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
if the fish arent taking , play with the dogs ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
my father in law filling the boat with mackerel out on loch linnhe ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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