Whopper-tunity
THE salmon season is coming to an end, so if you fancy ticking them off your list for the year, we’re in for wet weather, higher river levels and hopefully a good back end run of salmon.
A few of my friends are itching to get out at them and there’s fish to be caught before November 30 when the season officially wraps up until the January, with the Nith, Tweed and Urr having the final day for 2022.
Jump on tofishpal.com/ search/fisheries/in/scotland and you’ll see rods available all over the country and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
A rod on some of the most famous swims might be £100s a day but there’s options to suit pretty much any budget. Check the catch reports, contact the fishery for details on how the river is fishing and what method they recommend.
I spoke to Anne Woodcock from Fishpal this week to share some thoughts on where to target this month.
She said: “There are some good opportunities for a backend fish. The last few years the upper Tweed has caught some big fish – the upper river has won the Bemersyde Trophy the last few years. Adrian Gotzheim caught a 37lb and 30lb on his trip last October.
“The Tweed has been fishing fantastically over the last while. Last week’s fishing was more of the same, with 75 per cent plus of the catches (maybe 300 in total) made at Coldstream and below.
“The expectation is that that will reverse, with most of the fish now taking the opportunity to leg it upstream to be closer to where they need to be, to spawn.
“The upper beats, those above Kelso, even above Galashiels, should now begin to see more action, if the headlong rush we saw on Friday allows them to stop.
“The Upper Tweed ranges in price from £66 for many ghillied beats – all beats have a chance. Definitely well worth a fish for the chance of connecting with a big autumn fish and who knows a Malloch or Bemersyde Trophy winning fish.
“The Border Esk is a hidden gem with autumn pedigree. They’ve had 236 fish so far this season for Burnfoot and last year they had 101 October fish, while down on the Annan the salmon fishing has been very good when they’ve have had water.
“Most of the fish reported recently have been grilse with the odd salmon including George Renwick’s fish of 20lb, caught on fly from the lower river.
“The Annan has some seriously affordable fishing starting from £10 a day. You’ve a chance to connect with a salmon but you should definitely bring your grayling rod as there’s some nice very fish in the river.”
She went on: “At this time fish handling is vital – please try and keep the fish in the river and if you want a photo please keep it in the net. Try to keep the fish in the river and not on the bank.
“Handle with extreme care. We must do all we can to help Atlantic salmon when they are in our care, in our river systems.”