RIVER TAY

Cargill
6 rod beat with 1/2 ghillies, depending on time of year
Rods available January through to August, prices range from £40 to £250 (+ VAT) per rod/per day.
Pick of the bunch, and the most flexible options, are in the weeks commencing:
March 29 – 6 rods Thurs to Sat.
April 12 – 6 rods Tues to Fri.
May 10 – 6 rods Mon to Thurs.
May 24 – 6 rods Mon to Wed.
July 12 – 6 rods Mon to Thur.
July 19 – 2 rods all week.
August 16 – 6 rods all week

There are other availabilities, including a good choice for single rods. See the full list at: http://www.taysalmon.co.uk/avail.php
You can contact Tay Salmon Fisheries at willowgate@btconnect.com

RIVER TWEED

Upper Hendersyde – 3 rods, 1 ghillie.
4 – 6 Feb Cost of beat for 3 days £500
12 – 13 Feb Cost of beat for 2 days £365
18 – 20 Feb Cost of beat for 3 days £650
w/c 22 Feb Cost of beat for week £1500
8 10 March Cost of beat for 3 days £800

Lower Birgham – 3 rods, 2 ghillies
w/c 8 Feb Cost of beat for week £1100 + VAT
w/c 15 Feb Cost of beat for week £1200 (no VAT)
22- 24 Feb Cost of beat for 3 days £515 + VAT
w/c 17 May Cost of beat for week £1000 + VAT *

For the periods below only 1 ghillie is usually on the beat
3 – 5 June Cost of beat for 3 days £275 + VAT
w/c 7 June Cost of beat for week £500 + VAT
w/c 14 June cost of beat for week £500 + VAT

All the above prices are subject to Strutt and Parker’s 7.5% plus VAT arrangement fee.

They are also currently taking bookings for the Middle Blackhall beat on the River Dee ( 3 rods and excellent accommodation on the beat) and the Bywell fishings on the River Tyne ( 4 rods per beat and first class accommodation on the estate).
Please call Strutt & Parker on 01635 576905 to discuss any of these dates.

The catalogue for the 2010 NASF auction has just been released, and you’ll find it by following the link below.
Please support this if you can, all the money goes directly towards the crucial, excellent work carried out by Orri Vigfusson – and if it wasn’t for him I dread to think of what our salmon stocks would be like today.
If you’ve ever wanted to fish Iceland’s Sela river, this may be your chance.
NASF LONDON AUCTION LIST DEC 2009 FINAL

IT DOESN’T happen very often, but there are some vacancies on the River Lochy for next season. They’re not prime weeks, but for those of you who enjoy hunting your salmon (and some very big ones too) in stunning surroundings, this would be a great excuse to leave the rat race for a week.
Week commencing 26th April 2010 £700 + VAT

Week commencing 3rd May 2010 £1000 + VAT

Week commencing 10th May 2010 £1300 + VAT

Week commencing 17th May 2010 £1300 + VAT

Week commencing 21st June 2010 £1800 + VAT

Week commencing 28th June 2010 £1100 + VAT for 2 rods only on a sublet beat – tenant is looking for 2 rods to make up the 4.
For details please contact Jon Gibb at: riverlochy@btconnect.com

FISHING ON THE Cascapedia River this year was very good. Much of the success could be put down to the agreement with the local band who’ve curtailed their netting of the estuary. So if you’ve ever wanted to cast a line on these hallowed waters this could be your chance. The fishing is through The Salmon Lodge, owned by Glenn Le Grand of Camp Bonaventure. Fine accommodation, expert local guides, great cooking, a wonderfully situated lodge, and of course those beautiful big salmon.

August
Aug 1st to 8th – 7 days – 8 rods
Aug 8th to 11th – 3 days – 8 rods
Aug 15th to 18th – 3 days – 4 rods
Aug 18th to 22 – 4 days – 2 rods
September
Sept 5th to 12th – 7 days – 7 rods
Sept 23rd to 26th – 3 days – 8 rods

For further details contact www.salmonlodge.com

Breiddalsa 

The season finished with a total of 782 salmon and grilse, compared to 910 in 2008. We were hoping to make 1,000 fish this season and I think the lower than expected total was due to fewer grilse this year and a smaller autumn run, which was hampered by very low water throughout September – the lowest levels seen since 1998. September usually produces as many, or more, fish as August.

July began with a strong run comprising mostly 2SW fish. For the last two years July has been very good with increasing catches, and we hope that this trend continues. The Breiddalsa produced some of the biggest fish caught in Iceland during July. The only other river to produce bigger fish was the Laxa i Adaldal. July was helped by very good water conditions throughout the month, including a spate at the end of the month. 

August was good with bulk of the season’s fish being caught in this month. Three  massive spates spoilt things though as it took the river a few days to  recover after the biggest one. We still managed to catch fish at these times, thanks to the tributaries still running clear, but fishing was obviously difficult. 

The Indian Summer conditions throughout September were delightful on the eye, but not so good for fishing. This was the longest period without rain seen for a decade. Although we did have the first snowfall in the surrounding mountains on the 22nd. Even this didn’t help water levels! As the month went on the river dropped and the fish became ever wary and increasingly uninterested in anglers’ offerings.

Indian summer conditions on the upper Breiddalsa

Fishing for char and trout produced around 600 fish, the same as the previous season. Most of the char fishing is done in the spring (May) and up to mid summer. One noticeable fact was the increase in size of the char, the best we’ve seen in some years. These delightful and very sporting fish never fail to please clients from overseas.

There is a  lot of pressure on bookings for next season, which is very pleasing. It goes to show that Breiddalsa is gaining a reputation for providing good value for money amongst Iceland’s salmon rivers.

Jokla River System

This exciting new fishery lived up to expectations as the programme to develop the system continues. It produced 322 salmon and a mixed bag of 500 sea-run char, sea trout and brown trout. Some of the char were exceptional with many in the 4 to 6 lb range. Most of the fishing was done in the three tributaries on the lower Jokla. With good water conditions for most of the season the fish came up and ran straight into the tributaries. Some fish were caught on the lower main river. The overflow from the dam came in September but had little effect on the fishing as by then the fish were already in the clearwater tributaries. Had an earlier overflow occurred it wouldn’t have had a too negative effect on the fishing in the tributaries.

A typical sea-run char from the Jokla system

The overflows happen because of glacial meltwater flowing over the top of the dam that was recently built at the head of the river. This is expected to happen in the late summer most years, but is controlled wholly by the forces of nature. When the overflow takes place it just means we can’t fish the main Jokla because of the coloured water. Clients need not worry though as the tributaries have enough water to keep six rods busy each day.

Jokla was lightly fished this season and we’re sure the catch would have been much higher with more rods out. With increased fishing pressure next year we expect to see the Jokla system’s catch double.

The Jokla is only 25 minutes drive to the north of Egilsstadir airport and makes and ideal combination with the Brieddalsa.

For further details go to www.strengir.is

OUR FRIEND GEIR  Kjensmo (who does sterling work by being a thorn in the side of the Norwegian salmon farming industry) has details about two “tundra adventure” trips to the Rynda next season. If you’ve fancied fishing in Russia and want to join a group, this could be the perfect opportunity.

The ultimate prize from The Atlantic Salmon Reserve

Wild, unspoilt waters of the Atlantic Salmon Reserve

The weeks are geared to those of us of more modest means and offer a fantastic introduction to the wonderful fishing in this salmon paradise. Groups of six rods share the services of two guides and have accommodation in tented camps (to my mind this is the ideal way to savour these pristine wilderness rivers). On the first week helicopter use is limited to deploying anglers at the start of the week and after that transport is by boat and walking, and the second week is all walking. Again, what better way to “experience” this wild river.

Prices are $5,400 per rod for the limited helicopter week, and $3,400 for the walking week. (Prices are inclusive from arrival at Murmansk.)

For complete details please contact Geir at : geir.kjensmo(at)mastery.no  or go to

http://www.mastery.no/Sportsfiske/river%20Rynda.htm

WE’RE WINDING DOWN here at the Breiddalsa and the season will end on Wednesday. It’s been a strange end to the season as we’ve had very low water for most of the month and could do with a few more fish in the river. However, the beautiful autumn weather we’re having is more than compensating for that, and the colours of the vegetation absolutely gorgeous – the intense red of the blueberry bushes makes the landscape look like it’s flecked with pools of molten lava. We had the first fall of snow up in the hills on 22 September, so winter is certainly on its way. (Click on photo to enlarge)

The six rods who are fishing continue to pick away with up to 10 a day, but it doesn’t look like we’ll make 800 this year – the total stands at 754 at the moment.

Most of the work now revolves around the hatchery. We’ll be grading the 50,000 fry this week and making ready for a further 30,000 or so to come down from the north.

The UK’s Trout & Salmon Association are gathering signatures for a petition to save the wild salmon, so please go an put your mark on the following link – we anglers have to make a difference because no other bugger will. http://www.salmon-trout.org/save_petition.asp Thanks.

From NASF:

ICELAND’S HUGE SALMON CATCHES CONTINUE

The 2009 salmon is coming to an end and the total Icelandic rod catch is predicted to be about 72.000, making it the second best year in the country’s angling history.  In the last five years Iceland’s salmon catches have gone from strength to strength and the national totals now continually exceed the old record years 

The five best salmon years in Iceland so far:  2008 = 84,124 salmon –2009  = 72,000 –  2005 = 55,168  –  2007 = 53,703 – 1978  = 52,679.

The rivers on the north west coast have been exceptionally productive this year with several breaking their former records.  These include  the Midfjardará, Blanda, Hrutafjardará, Fljótaá, Vatnsdalsá, Svalbardsá, Budardalsá, Laxá í Refasveit and Huseyjarkvísl.  Several other rivers have come close to making record catches.

Lack of time and no internet connection has meant no updates for almost a month. Things have been going well at the Breiddalsa and Jokla river systems here in south east Iceland. We have a grilse run, albeit a thin one, but they’re here and fish are still running into our two rivers. 

The past few weeks have seen a variety of conditions and anglers, from a whinging Welshmen to some happy South Africans. The Icelanders took over at the end of the fly-only period on the Breiddalsa this week and added almost 100 fish to the book in their two days. I’m glad to report that many were returned or donated to the broodstock programme. Unfortunately a 20 lb hen had to be killed as she was deeply hooked on a Toby. The angler was distraught and to his credit did all he could to save the fish. That’s fishing though and not everything always goes to plan.

The Jokla river system is a very exciting prospect for the future

The Jokla system is a very exciting prospect, so watch this space in a couple of years time. There’s going to be a lot more written about it when I have the time.

Still busy with hatchery work at the moment then back to guiding later this month. We were grading parr today at the Breiddalsa hatchery and in the middle of August had the satisfying task of seeding the middle and upper reaches of the Jokla with fry. Can’t wait to see how that turns out.

Pat from South Africa into another Breiddalsa salmon

The fish was landed then released

Rae Borras surveying the canyon section of the Kalda, a Jokla tributary

August 6

Michael Evans and party left just at the right moment. Since their departure we’ve had storms with torrential rain that’s put the rivers into flood. Since arriving on 28 July we’ve only had glimpses of the sun on two occasions.

The clouds could not have got much lower today

The fishing is quiet, as one would expect, but should be interesting if the river ever settles! We managed a grilse and a char this afternoon, both weighed 2 lb. A worrying trend is the number of grilse with the extended red vents, like those appearing in Scotland over the past few seasons.

A 2 lb sea-run char. The mark was made by a Northern Diver

There’ll be no more news for a week or so as I move up country to the Jokla system, where we have no internet access.

In the meantime, tight lines.

August 2 to 4
Michael Evans and Cecil Duguid began their first full day on the river on the 2nd. The day began well when Michael landed a grilse in a rarely visited pool on Tinnualsa, then Cecil hooked a beautiful fresh fish of about 15 lb. Unfortunately, after about ten minutes the hook came away and all we were left with were memories! The day continued in similar fashion with a total of nine lost, but a couple of consolation fish landed.

The next day was a complete turnabout and all fish hooked were landed. Because Cecil had taken the previous day’s events evenly (very evenly I thought!) the river gods rewarded him with 8 fish, and Michael 2. All were released.

One of 8! Just reward for Mr Duguid on 3 August

The last morning was given a consolatory cast with one lost and a rise to a riffled tube. They leave just in time because a storm is blowing up and it looks like we’re in for a lot more rain.

Where the 15-pounder lurked