Whisky toast for new salmon season
PIPERS MARKED the official opening of the Scottish salmon fishing season yesterday by leading a procession to the banks of the River Tay in Perthshire, for a ceremony which by tradition ends with a malt whisky toast.
The season varies with the river system, with anglers on the on the east coast of Sutherland, deep in the Highlands, able to cast their rods on the River Helmsdale as early as last Friday and others required to wait until the middle of next month.
Fishermen say they are “optimistic but realistic” for the season, following a testing year in 2018.
“The start of a new salmon season is always a time of optimism,” said Iain McLaren, chairman of the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board.
“The 2018 season was particularly challenging, with disappointing runs and, with the almost unbroken three-month summer heatwave, very difficult fishing conditions.”
Salmon runs across much of Scotland have plummeted in recent years. The most recent official figures show rod catches in 2017 were 49,444 – 20 per cent fewer than the previous five-year average and the fourth-lowest on record.
Of the total annual wild salmon catch, nine out of 10 were returned to the water alive to help protect stocks.
Mr McLaren said declining catches had been reported in most areas.
He added: “It is little comfort but most of Scotland’s rivers, including the other members of the Big Four – Tweed, Spey and Dee – are experiencing similar downturns.”
The procession to the Tay was led by the Perth and District Junior Pipe Band, and followed by a blessing of the boat and river.
Polly Murray, a local adventurer who in 2000 became the first Scots woman to climb Everest, formally opened the river and made the first cast of the season, before competition opened for the Redford Trophy, awarded for the biggest spring salmon catch of the day.