Keeper of the month

The way people take fishing holidays is changing, Calum Mcroberts tells Richard Negus, but what makes a good gillie remains the same

Calum Mcroberts is a highly regarded gillie on the Meikleour beat on the river Tay. He started working at Meikleour estate five years ago — before that, he worked on another beat further up the river. “I first fished at Meikleour in 1984. My old dad caught his first salmon that day — a 10lb ‘springer’. We went on to catch five more.”

A ‘typical’ day, he said, involves meeting guests in the morning and advising them on the most appropriate tackle and the likely places to fish.

“Methods and places to fish change daily, depending on water heights, time of year and angler’s ability.” What makes a good gillie, I asked. “You need to be interested in people. It’s easy to be a good gillie when there are plenty of fish to be caught, but then there are the days when the water is at summer low, temperatures are high and the sun beats down. Then my job becomes motivational, encouraging people to try different or unfamiliar tactics.”

What about when that doesn’t work? “I pop the kettle on, get the barbecue fired up, and have a chat — anglers love to talk. My colleague, Ian, and I maintain almost two miles of double bank fishing — that’s a lot of grass to cut. We are two years into an ambitious plan to eradicate Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam from the beat. We trap the mink and grey squirrels, and have made great inroads.

“This winter, we planted 200 Scots pines to provide habitat and shelter at the top of the beat,” he added. “The owners are very supportive of these programmes and that makes a big difference.”

I asked Calum to tell me more about the mighty Tay. “We’re coming up to the centenary of Georgina Ballantine landing the largest rod-caught salmon in British waters,” he noted. “The 64lb fish is just one of many huge salmon caught in the river. We have a long season, starting on 15 January and finishing on 15 October, and anglers come from all over the world to fish here, with roughly 80% from outside Scotland. Catches undoubtedly have declined, but anglers remain drawn by the environment, company and beauty of the estate.”

Has he noticed any changes over the years? “Anglers tend to fish less nowadays. It used to be a week or more ‘up North’, but these days three days is the maximum for most people. Online booking has seen folk chasing around the country, rather than sticking to one beat, learning it and becoming familiar with its moods. This is a great pity. You need to build up that relationship with the beat and gillie, and it will reward you in the long-term.”

I asked him about the effects of

COVID-19. “What a strange time it’s been! I have found it really difficult. As a gillie, you ‘get through’ the close season by looking forward to seeing your fishers again. They’re friends, not just customers. For weeks, I’ve seen nobody on the river and I doubt that’ll change much in the near future, though I have been overwhelmed by the support of my customers. There have been phone calls from fishers most days — I can’t emphasise enough how much this has touched me.

“The saving grace has been the spring weather, which this year has been fine — almost five weeks with no rain whatsoever, so the garden and tan are coming on well!”

What is advice would he give to someone going salmon fishing for the first time? “Research, research, research. It might be a fantastic beat, but is it a fantastic beat when you are fishing it? Fish several beats, then you will find a beat and gillie you enjoy being with. Stick with it, learn its differing moods and it will reward you for your effort. Remember that a gillie wants you to catch a fish! Wee nuggets of information can make a huge difference in salmon fishing. Fish thoroughly and cover the water.”

“Stick with a beat, learn its differing moods and it will reward your effort”

Fine pool

Calum muses: “I’m fortunate to live and work in a beautiful part of the world. My house looks on to one of the finest salmon pools in the country. I see salmon jumping from my kitchen window. Like every job, some days are better than others, but I look forward to going to work every day. You can’t guarantee fish, but you can do your utmost to ensure that when folk leave through the gate at the end of the day, they’ve had a great time.

“There’s more to fishing than catching fish — I’ve made lifelong friends.”

Follow Calum on Twitter @Meikleoursalmon website: www.islamouth.co.uk

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Calum and his colleague Ian maintain two miles of double bank fishing along the river Tay

There are plenty of huge fish to be caught