Anglers were singing in July downpours

All it took to bring about a remarkable change in the Clyde was a heavy rain shower.

Reports had suggested that only a few salmon had entered the river and made their way upstream of the Avon’s mouth, but this sounds like typical angling exaggeration!

One pool had so many salmon jumping in it that somebody took a video of the spectacle.

Running fish are very difficult to tempt, but if they stop for a rest a mix of excitement and aggression makes them attack just about anything that passes in front of them.

One angler very quickly landed a 16lb salmon on a fly, another had released a 12lb specimen and found himself with another of 10lbs.

Over the next few weeks an incredible number of anglers were either catching salmon or having heart-stopping moments when a fish took their flies, spinners or worms, only for the contact to be broken very quickly.

The excitement of the take is just as important as actually getting a fish in the net – a comforting thought for those who will lose a few salmon over the next three months.

Fish ladders were installed at two of the mill dams that were thought to be impassable, and some feared that too many salmon would be siphoned off to the Avon, leaving the Clyde with fewer fish than normal.

However, the number of fish currently spread out between Motherwell and Hazelbank suggests this has not happened.

Trout anglers are just as happy with the rain. Near Abington an unpleasant build-up of silt and algae was swept away, leaving a beautifully clean river bed.

Mayflies started to emerge from the water and the effect on fish was electrifying. I watched the surface of a pool burst to life, fish were rising all across the river and up and downstream as far as the eye could see.

Better anglers than I am were able to catch as many as 20 fish while the rise lasted, including a mixture of trout and grayling, most of which were around 12 inches, but a few were much better specimens.

I am even more pleased with the presence of the grayling than trout because in most other rivers the grayling is seen to be in a sharp decline, but the Clyde seems to be an exception to the rule. These fish will be about three years old and bigger examples will be spawning.

Winter seems like a long time away, but sport with grayling should be better this year.

Now that the river has come to life it should still be possible to enjoy good sport during the hours of darkness, but the swing should move back to gloaming fishing, with the best sport coming at dawn or dusk.

Of course, I said that more than a month ago but I was proved wrong then because the summer failed to warm up as we have come to expect it to.

Weather plays an important part in the lives of fish and therefore in our chances of enjoying the level of sport that we know the Clyde is capable of producing.

Most of my friends have been fishing for half a century and when we look around we are aware of the shortage of young anglers coming into the sport.

We need this new blood to replace the older generations as we are forced to pass on the baton, and the United Clyde Angling Protective Association has been trying to do something about this.

One of their directors, Jim Mathew, has embraced his new role of youth development officer and has started up five fishing clubs in the area, most of which are based in schools and start off with the basics of tying flies.

I learned that when I was a pupil at Dalziel High School in Motherwell, and it obviously had an impact on me.

Generous donations from Daiwa Sports and another local business have made it possible to equip the youngsters with rods and reels.

Not all of these young anglers will go on to help look after our rivers, but some of them might, and the future of our sport will be in good hands.