The Magnificent Salmon Adventure

By Jock Monteith 11th June 2020

It can't just be me even though you never hear anyone talking about but here goes anyway! What is this magical pursuit all about when it can keep you awake at night and make you desperate to get moving in the direction of the salmon river way before sun up!

Salmon Fishing Will Change Your Life

This is a life changing pursuit for anyone who's got half an inclination for the great outdoors and fishing. This game can completely consume your mind if you're not very careful and will put your head in a spin on any day you're booked onto a salmon river. When you're not fishing it'll make you browse in 'cyber space' for websites associated to all aspects of the game. That excitement and need for perfect preparedness is exactly the same for the vast majority of professional Scottish salmon men who still leap out of bed each day even after decades of full time river life.

God's Finest Natural River Assets

If you blend together God's finest migratory asset the wild Atlantic salmon, magnificent Scottish rivers, sparkling fresh water, amazing natural riverbanks and a vast array of riverbank creatures for some pleasant and natural background music then you'll start to see a part of the bigger picture. Add into the mix the thrill of the initial adrenalin inducing tug on your fly reel when a salmon shows interest which instantly focuses your thoughts well before the need to set the hook and you'll see another part of this 'amazing' natural pursuit.

The Sheer Excitement Of The Salmon River

To do this and experience all the above with other like minded souls in a controlled group of tactical brilliance is as close to excellence as you'll ever find on this troubled planet. Don't be surprised in this business if you find yourself in a heightened state of excitement even prior to arrival in the morning at the salmon river and hours before you even get your rod built up. As a professional ghillie I never got annoyed with anglers who turned up at the fishing hut far too early while I was still getting ready for the fishing day as I never ever lost sight of why that had very likely happened.

Salmon Fishing Anticipation

Many of us are involved in Scottish salmon fishing due to uncontrollable salmon fishing anticipation thoughts that can get your fingers wheel spinning as you're tying on your favourite fly at the start of the fishing day or watching it darting and waggling away in the sunlight for those who have good vision and the inkling to observe. Every day in this game re-shuffles the pack therefore every blank day logically brings you one step closer to those adrenalin releasing tugs on your fly reel immediately prior to your fly rod buckling under the magnificent power of a fighting fit 'silver clad' Greenland fed torpedo!

Current Salmon Fishing Prospects

It's been just over a week since we were permitted to be back out on the Scottish rivers by the powers that be. My goodness what a catastrophe it has been and very sad to see so many people badly affected by this global fiasco. So here we are now wondering why some of our rivers are all of a sudden so plentiful of salmon that are fairly keen to introduce themselves to the fly! Was it the fact they were completely undisturbed unlike the normal bombardment they'd have received through April & May and settled in the pools attracting other fish to lie with them or is it because rod pressure was higher this year due to the partial release of 'activity' lock down at a time when rod pressure normally eases off a bit. This is a difficult one to work out or maybe we just entered another cyclical upswing period as most of these fish that are being caught are super fresh run versions. Hopefully our management & scientists are observing and taking note carefully.