Salmon Fishing Expertise

By Jock Monteith 21st September 2019

In whatever business or trade you've chosen in life you've either established a credible and thorough education in your field of expertise or you simply have not. In Scottish salmon fishing the same logical rules apply where 'time in' experience is just as crucial to gaining a full understanding of the multi faceted skills and service levels that are necessary for giving any type of quality delivery experience in Scottish salmon fishing.

Salmon Fishing CV

As a former River Tay head ghillie, Speycasting product designer & River Tay habitat enhancement pioneer it troubles me when I see agents in positions of influence giving advice about Scottish salmon fishing and what they think they know based on zero professional involvement in the vital 'hands on' side of this business. This is a true case of the 'blind leading the blind' and can never serve this industry properly going forward and is misleading and has an unquantifiable harmful long term effect on repeat salmon fishing bookings due to non existent client qualification via an inability to advise accurately.

Taking Salmon Fishing Advice

Take advice in Scottish salmon fishing from those who have been involved in Scottish salmon fishing for their entire life if you wish accurate information on any aspect of it and steer well clear of the back seat drivers who'd have you believe they know everything about salmon behavioural patterns or other elements of the industry. A swanky high street CV is no substitute for decades of daily river life nor will it ever be for obvious logical reasons. Seek the true salmon fishing professionals for advice who've eaten, slept and breathed this business on a 'full time' riverbank capacity for at least a period of 10 years.

Salmon Fishing Professional Identification

A professional operator in Scottish salmon fishing will have an excellent grounding in various aspects of the industry from hosting varying types of visiting salmon fishers and showing them how salmon can be caught to knowing the vast majority of the Scottish salmon river scene and where the best chances of success are to be found through the different months of the salmon fishing season. The true 'professional' will also have that rare wealth of riverbank knowledge coupled with amazing client hosting abilities to accurately solve any information requests or occasionally smooth out any edgy behaviour from pre-stressed visiting salmon anglers.

Professional Salmon Fishing Guides

In addition to the above a true professional in this business will have developed a 3rd eye for sensing the best time & place to locate a taking salmon and will be fully competent in the following skills; teaching Spey casting, fly tying, the riverbank approach, setting a hook, playing a salmon, landing a salmon, reading a salmon pool, handling a boat, client hosting, one-liner perfection, riverbank maintenance, boat maintenance, salmon fly selection, scenting a poacher, tying knots, serving malt, building up salmon rods and other essential general skills which only a 'full time' river life education can properly install.