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Salmon Fishing in Scotland
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 In
our examination of trout, sea trout and salmon fishing in Scotland, let's
begin with the salmon, the king of fish, in fact the only species, in some
parts of Scotland, to be dignified by the title "fish" - their lowly cousins
are merely "troot". Salmon run, and are caught in, most Scottish rivers of
any size and, leaving aside the vexed question of the salmon farms and their
effect on stocks of salmon and sea trout in the west highlands, there is excellent
salmon fishing to be found in all parts of
Scotland, some, it has to be said, less accessible than others. In planning a salmon fishing trip to Scotland, there are a few
vital questions we need to consider. First of all, when should we
fish? in spring, summer or autumn? There was a time when many of Scotland's
salmon rivers had excellent runs of salmon in the spring. Indeed, the spring
fishing was often the most productive on many rivers. Times have changed,
though, and, although some rivers still have a reasonable spring run, the
majority of Scottish rivers now have more reliable salmon fishing in the
late summer and autumn, with summer runs of grilse, in many of our northern
and western spate streams in particular, reliant on a good supply of summer
rain. |
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But the news is not all bad. Many Scottish rivers have
experienced increased runs of salmon in recent years. Control of pollution
has seen salmon returning to rivers in the industrialised central belt in
increasing numbers; the buying out of coastal and river netting concerns has
allowed more fish to reach the salmon fishing beats; the growing readiness of
anglers to return salmon in rivers with fragile stocks has seen more salmon
on the redds; improving management practices on many of our rivers,
including judicial stocking of young fish reared from indigenous stocks, has
also played a part. All this has seen a stabilisation, at least, of a
previously bleak picture on many rivers and recent record catches on
some Scottish rivers have provided grounds for a degree of optimism
about the future of our Atlantic salmon. |
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Scotland is still blessed with some wonderful salmon
fishing rivers, making the choice of where to fish a difficult one. Other matters of
only slightly less immediate concern are the tackle requirements, tactics
and flies needed for an assault on the Scottish salmon. Such distractions
might, of course, keep us all very happily occupied throughout the dark
winter days when we cannot get to the river.
I hope that the
following sections will help in making such decisions.
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See
below for more information on salmon fishing in Scotland
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