Items filtered by date: March 2018

Snowbee, the international tackle company, has once again agreed to become the major sponsor of IAC’s Winter Trout League. The 2017/18 league is currently under way at Achagour Fishery where the four fish final will be staged on Saturday, May 12. Snowbee has sponsored the league since its launch nine years ago, in 2009/2010, a significant tribute to the standing of Inverness Angling Club and its members. Junior members are taking part in the league for the first time this season. Club member Jim Jarvie has kindly donated a rod as a junior prize. 

 Winners all: Participants in the final of the 2016/17 winter league

Lawrence Deans got a result from some hard fishing lately to get the first salmon of the year from the club water of the River Ness on Saturday (March 17). The Weir Pool delivered a fish of over 10 lbs to Lawrence’s fly, earning him the award for the first fish of the year which will be presented at the AGM in November. Hopefully, the catch will be the first of many.

Nice one: First of the season from the IAC water

The funeral ceremony for iAC member Ian ‘Flookie’ Maclennan will be held at Inverness Crematorium on Monday, March 26, at 12 noon. All are welcome to attend. Donations in memory of Flookie can be made at the service to Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland.

Ian MacLennan, angler and long term member of Inverness Angling Club, passed away in Raigmore Hospital today (Tuesday, March 13) after an extended illness. He was one of the club’s most popular characters, best known by his nickname Flookie. This was acquired during his youth when salmon netting was carried out in the Friar’s Shott, where Ian collected all the flounders (flookies) from the nets and sold them in the town for pocket money.

Ian had a varied career, working at Invergordon and Inverness harbours, at McDermott’s Ardersier platform fabrication yard and as a ghillie on the Ness Castle beat of the River Ness. Until his illness, he was a regular visitor to the club’s Little Isle fishing hut where he entertained visitors and boosted club income by selling day tickets. Ian is survived by a sister and brother.

Characters: Flookie (right) with fellow member Lewis Lyle

Following last week’s interesting demonstration by Ali Hutchens, the subject for Inverness Angling Club’s fly tying class this week (Thursday, March 15) will be the Monkey - a fly that most salmon anglers will always have in their box. Mike Campbell will lead the dressing of this fly which can be tied on a variety of tubes - from plastic and aluminium through to bottle and copper if weight is needed. Materials include Arctic fox fur, black shadow fox fur, black goat, peacock herl, soft hackles in colours such as yellow and orange, and jungle cock.

David Mateer will return next week (March 22) to demonstrate the tying of two top trout flies - the pheasant tail nymph and the half hog. See the earlier post for detailed dressings. The final class, on March 29, will include the tying of the pot belly pig. 

The final class will also see the judging of the centenary fly competition. Entries should be placed in an envelope with the tyer’s name and passed to vice president Alex Elliott by Thursday, March 22. Each entry will be given a number and names will only be revealed when Mike Campbell and Alan Scott complete the judging. Two vouchers of £20, donated by Bill Byers and David Dyce, will be awarded to the successful entrants.

Magic: The Monkey

The Scottish Government has announced funding of around £700,000 for work to help address pressures related to the decline of Scottish wild salmon stocks. Some £500,000 will support research and activities, including a new national programme of local sampling which will help to count the numbers of juvenile salmon in rivers, and monitor their abundance. District Salmon Fishery Boards (DSFBs) can also bid for a share of £200,000 for mergers, or to set up new boards which will help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of fisheries management.

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “The survival rate of salmon during their marine phase has fallen from around 25 per cent to five per cent over the last 40 years and, while the exact causes of this dramatic loss are unclear, we must do what we can to protect salmon numbers.” 

See the full Scottish Government News Release and the Fisheries Management Scotland response

Students at Inverness Angling Club’s fly tying class were treated to a fascinating display of tying skills and techniques on Thursday evening. Ali Hutchens, a member of the Partridge and LTS Pro teams, very kindly gave his time to demonstrate his style of tying. Donnie Allan’s proposal of Mascot Monkey as a name won him two flies that Ali tied during the demonstration.

Skill: Ali demonstrates his techniques

Fly box: Ali (left) shows his coillection of flies to club president Graham MacKenzie

It's all in a name: Donnie Allan gets his prize

The history of salmon will be examined in a series of lectures at Inverness College UHI during March. In the first, on Tuesday, March 13 at 6.30 pm, Professor Hugh Cheape will discuss the unique insight Gaelic sources and material culture give to Scotland’s freshwater ecology. 

A lunch time seminar will be presented by Dr Julie Brown of Clatsop Community College, Oregon, on Tuesday, March 20. This will be followed, on Tuesday, March 27, by an evening lecture on The History of Salmon Management in Scotland by Dr Ronald Campbell, senior biologist at The Tweed Foundation.

All events are free to the public Full details are available at History of Salmon lecture series.

While the tying of salmon flies will continue by some, trout flies will be introduced to the fly tying class being run by Inverness Angling Club on Thursday, March 15, in Hilton Community Centre. Tutor David Mateer will demonstrate the tying of two flies - the Pheasant Tail Nymph and the Half Hog. Dressings for each are:

Pheasant Tail Nymph

Hook - Kamasan B120 Size 10-14. Thread - Brown Uni Thread 8/0. Tail - Pheasant tail fibres. Body - Pheasant tail fibres. Rib - Fine gold wire. Thorax - Hare’s ear dubbing. Thorax Cover - Pheasant tail fibres.

Half Hog

Hook - Kamasan B175 Size 10-14. Thread - Olive. Body - Olive dubbing. Rib - Fine gold wire. Wing - Deer hair. Thorax.

The salmon fly pattern will be one of three chosen by tyers for the remaining classes - the Muddler Minnow, a fly often used as a surface attractor to pull fish on to a tail fly. The dressing is:

Tail - Pair of mottled turkey wing sections. Body - Flat gold tinsel. Underwing - Grey squirrel hair. Overwing - Strips of mottled turkey. Collar and head - Fine deer hair spun and clipped to form collar and head.

Dressings for the final two flies - the Pot Belly Pig and the Monkey - will be given later.

The Pheasant Tail Nymph

The Half Hog

The Muddler Minnow

A great opportunity has arisen for Inverness Angling Club’s fly tying class. Fly tyer Ali Hutchens, a member of the Partridge of Redditch and LTS UK Pro Teams who also works at Scandinavian United Flytyers, will attend the class on Thursday, March 8, to demonstrate the tying of his very special tube flies.

Ali is no stranger to these parts. A native of Tain, he is a regular visitor to the top angling spots of the Highlands and north-east of Scotland. All interested anglers are invited to attend, including non-members of the club.