Salmon Fishing Experts

By Jock Monteith 8th March 2023

Have you ever truly wondered why a small minority of Scottish river salmon fly fishers just about always come up with a fish even though the normal batting average is nothing like that.

En Route To The Salmon River

The finely tuned thought processes going on in the expert's head even before they reach the river would probably astound most fishers. These guys are already playing over their tactical approaches to each pool and have more or less chosen the fly they're going to be fishing with even though their fly box is still in the boot of the car! This is however only a small part of the 'automatic pilot' side of their salmon fishing approach.

Scanning The River For Salmon Movement

On arrival at the river these guys are already scanning the river for areas of the pools where salmon are likely to be holding and are tuned into their peripheral vision for 180 degree radar for the identification of any signs of salmon movement. In all cases they'll be low key with their vocals but will be operating with a highly confident look in their eyes. These are the river vibe specialists of Scotland and they're a rare breed but so much can be learned if you're smart enough to recognise real talent when it's in front of you and are astute enough to observe!

Observing The Salmon River At Dusk

Bringing your salmon fishing skills up to a level of intuition that can more or less alert you to the feel of the river atmosphere immediately preceding a take is where you want to be. This salmon fishing skill level is not obtained in any tackle shop with a credit card but takes time in the game to open its realms of brilliance. To obtain this skill level a flask of tea is the best learning tool of all if taken to the river for the last few hours of light to observe everything that's happening and 'tune into' and learn genuine appreciation for the subtleties of Mother Nature.

Tune In To The Salmon River

You'll learn far more about the salmon river vibe as the light starts to fade by watching the movement of the water and how the river often comes alive. Blending in to that environment that we're so fortunate to have and getting yourself tuned to the vibe of the salmon river is this most important fishing skill of all. Once you obtain this level of interaction you'll be resonating like a 'tuning fork' for salmon attention!

Salmon River Vibe Compliance

Don't take what I've just stated lightly as the most important thing in salmon fishing is fitting into the environment which is a completely different pitch to what normal modern day society enforces. If your fishing skills are good enough and you're fully at one with the river then my money is on you for producing the silverware! Nothing beats river environment alignment where every riverbank step and cast of the fly has been 'earthed' for total salmon river vibe compliance.