Catching Scottish Salmon
By Jock Monteith 21st July 2019
There's more involved in catching a perfect fresh run salmon like this than simply turning up on a 'least course of resistance' salmon fishing permit with a rod on the riverbanks of Scotland. Long gone are the days where catching salmon was easy from rivers that were once absolutely stuffed with fish.
Being Prepared To Catch Salmon
Of course even today there are still ocassional days where a 'blind dog in a snow storm' couldn't fail but for the majority of visits to any salmon river you must have a good level of technical salmon fishing ability and the correct equipment levels to be in with a reasonable chance of success. A resident salmon beat ghillie may not be able to spend enough time with a guest who's in need of assistance unless he's been specifically booked that day to do so.
Disregard Kid On Salmon Fishing Agents
An agent who is only interested in their 10% commission who also has at best minimal salmon fishing or specific salmon beat knowledge is definitely not going to be of any use in qualifying or advising you correctly. Sadly our precious industry has been domintated by such agent types to the overall detriment of the sport. Client retention through proper service levels are hugely important in any business for obvious reasons.
Salmon Fishing Client Qualification
Qualifying any customer in any business is so crucial to the service you are providing and this is no different in Scottish salmon fishing. Questions like "how often do you fish" or "what equipment and salmon flies do you have" are only a couple of the very basic questions which can go a long way towards the client enjoying their day or if not qualified correctly then possibly never returning to the salmon river again due to a lack of understanding & attention.
Poor Salmon Fishing Agents
On a personal basis I've experienced agent clients appearing at the river with no equipment because they thought that the 'rod' they had bought mean't that they had actually bought a fishing rod! From experience I'd say that the general standard of at least 75% of 'permit only' purchasers on the salmon rivers of Scotland who have not been qualified or assisted correctly have a very slim chance of ever catching a salmon.
Use A Reputable Salmon Fishing Agent
For these salmon fishers there's obviously still a remote chance and on occasion even if it's only once every 3 or 4 years that a salmon with surprise them. For myself and many others we need that most fantastic 'adrenalin fix' the salmon take creates on a much more frequent basis and a fish on a worst case scenario every second or third outing to the river is much more acceptable and meaningful.
Jock Monteith Professional Salmon Fishing Agent
What I'm stating here is a simple fact that if you're new to this amazing sport or you're not that confident with your current salmon fishing approach you will benefit from a true professional's input on where and how to fish and advice about bringing your basic salmon fishing skills and equipment levels up to scratch. This is logical common sense however proper qualification is far more important than most agents understand or are able to provide enough accurate advice on as none of them have ever served in a professional capacity on the salmon rivers of Scotland therefore they do not possess that vital knowledge.