Items filtered by date: August 2020

There were no further reports of catches on Saturday, the day closing with Ally Henderson’s six pound fish. Moving on to Monday, Denny Mackay was a delighted man as he landed his first fish of the season from the club water of the River Ness. Fishing a two inch minnow, he hooked, landed and released an eight pound cock salmon from the Mill Stream. There are no reports of other catches so far.

Happy man: A good catch for Denny

Just one catch has been reported so far from the IAC water on Saturday with Ally Henderson landing a six pound cock fish.

Inverness Angling Club prides itself on the level of its junior membership which currently runs at 94 young people under the age of 18 - one of the highest rates in Scotland. While Covid-19 put paid to the staging of the club’s annual Casting Clinics, and other plans to coach junior members, the club has recognised the skill of two junior members in catching salmon.

Five-year-old Finn Henderson landed a five pound grilse from the Mill Stream while 10-year-old Tami Porter caught a three pounder from the Little Isle Pool. Today, accompanied by proud Dads, both were presented with £20 tackle vouchers and club hats by president Alex Elliott.

He explained: “We hope this will help encourage more junior members to visit the river with their parents and develop their angling skills. We hope to do more with them as soon as anti-virus precautions permit. This could include coaching in casting trout and salmon rods, and visits to local trout fisheries.”

Success: Tami and Finn with their awards

Family fun: Dads Neil and Ally are joined by Alex Elliott

It’s good to avoid a duck, at anytime and any place. And so it transpired on the club water of the River Ness today. In the last light of the day, Gavin Mackie managed to hook and land a cracking fresh salmon of seven pounds on the MacIntyre Pool. Taken on the fly, it was safely returned.

Following assessment of the conservation status of salmon in inland waters, Marine Scotland has published its proposed gradings for rivers for 2021. These will be subject to a 28 day consultation period, commencing on Thursday, August 28.

The River Ness retains its Grade 1 status which, as in recent years, may be subject to locally agreed conservation arrangements, including the Rivers Garry and Oich. The River Moriston SAC is also listed at Grade 1. All gradings are available on the Marine Scotland web site at
https://gov.scot/publications/salmon-fishing-proposed-river-gradings-for-2021-season/

Three fish have been reported so far today from the club water of the River Ness. Steve Watt’s persistence on the Little Isle was rewarded with a grilse of four pounds, which was released. Also released was a fish of six pounds taken on the MacIntyre Pool on a Red Francis fly by Hamish Chisholm, a visitor from Invergordon.

Club member Mark Stanford started fishing just after lockdown and today was a 'red letter' one. He landed and retained a 7.5 pound fish from the Weir Pool - his first salmon, taken on the fly. He reported: "I'm just buzzing. I was just about to leave around 8.30, as it was getting dark, and one more cast paid off."

There were no further reports of catches on Monday (August 24) so the total for the season that day reached 101 salmon and grilse.

Catches come in two’s it appears. Yet another day passed with just two fish reported, a poor catch by the standards of the Ness club water.

Tuesday saw Jim Buchanan and Jordon Grant raise the total to 103. James had a four pound grilse, taken on a Toby from the very bottom of the MacIntyre and released. Jordon Grant continued his success with a 10 pound salmon from the middle beat of the Braes, also released.

IAC member Donnie Cameron, a regular on the Little Isle Pool, switched locations early this morning to the MacIntyre Pool. And it produced a double reward - a cock grilse, taken on a Francis tube fly, which marked the one hundredth fish of the season from the club water. The word on the river was that Donnie’s catch was one of another two fish landed this morning but confirmation is awaited. The MacIntyre was also the place to be for Hugh Hutton this evening. He landed a six pound cock fish on a Cascade.

The 2020 season is proving a good one for IAC member Gary Goddard, who recently broke an 18-month drought on the club water. Out this morning on the east bank of the Mill Stream, Gary landed and released a grilse of five pounds. Thirty minutes later he lost a larger fish from the bottom of the pool.

Two visitors from Dumfries are making their trip north well worth while. Having landed a four pound grilse on Tuesday, Scott Kerr went one better today with two grilse of three to five pounds while Derek Adamson continued his successful quest for some of the river’s fine brown trout.

Today's catches raise the total catch of salmon and grilse for the season so far to 99.

With Covid-19 precautions limiting the use of cash, Inverness Angling Club reminds anglers seeking day or weekly permits to purchase them through the official outlets. These are the tackle shop of Grahams in Castle Street, Inverness, or the internet booking site FishPal. Contact details are: Grahams of Inverness: Tel: 01463 233178 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. FishPal: www.fishpal.com