2 SHARPES
NETSTO BE WON!
CORMORANT WITH AKICK
TieCroston’s washing-line specialist
GRAB AGRANNOM A G
Cracking themassemergence
HAUGUR THEPOPULAR
AUKsalmonhit from Iceland
MAREE’SENCOURAGING STEPS S ENCOURAGING
Bringing salmon back to thewestcoast
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‘Slob’ troutcer tainly don’ tliveuptotheir name
Ibelieve thatcalling abrown trout thatlives in brackishwater a‘slob’trout is the biggest injustice in fly fishing (see page 30). These fish, justone step away from our highly respected and revered sea trout, deserve af ar more fitting name
They live in af ascinating environment, often comprisinggin-clearlochs, fringed with bladderwrack, containing crabs, mussels, shrimpsand sticklebacks. Trout in this richenvironmentgrow quicklyand takeonsome fabulously richcolorations to matchtheir brown, seaweed-infested environment. Acoupleofyearsago,I thought I wasplaying agiantgoldfishrather than atrout, such wasthe deep, rustyorangehue of itsflanks.
Yes, they can be notoriously moody–perhaps that’swherethe term slob originates?– but these fishare not only fascinating –the waters they inhabitare very excitingtofish,aspollack and mackerel are justaslikelytoput in an appearance as trout. Addto thatthe chances of seeing
avastrangeofwildlife, fromsea eagles to otters to deer (and certainlynoanglers)makes anytrip for ‘slobs’ arewarding experience.I implore you to tryand seek one out. Oh,and don’tbefooled by the name!
One salmon fly that keeps cropping up in UK salmon fishing conversations recentlyisan Icelandic blue,black and Mylar combination. The reasonsfor theHaugur’spopularity is that it has universal salmon appeal, and is versatile too. It slots into all fly disciplines: from spring tubes, to singles and doubles, to tinytrebles, and even tinyplastic tubes. Delve into the dressing detail on page 68
One of my favouritefliesfor both browns and rainbows has to be an AceofSpades. It possesses something diferent;the Matuka wing used to dress it.Wecame across arangeofMatukas lastissue,now we can see exactly howtotie that special mobile wing on page 36.
Mark Bowler,Editor
IT!
PAGE 50
SINK FORSUCCESS
Addingweight to the perennial sunk tippet problem
PAGE 54
GRAB AGRANNOM
Preparefor themass-hatch of spring caddis
Magnus Angus
76
Magnus Angus
Renzetti
Tie Howard Croston’s specialistwashing linefly
36 MATUKA METHODOLOGY
Gordon vander Spuy describesthe technique behind tyinga Matuka.
59 CORMORANTWITH KICK
Howard Croston’s ingenioustactical fly fora washing line
62 RED-HOTMAYFLY
Neil Patterson’simitation to givetrout the hots.
68 HAUGUR THE POPULAR
Tipstotying the Icelandic salmon fly that’s gaining popularityinUK.
TECHNIQUES
Almost! Questfor aspringer continues....
16 WHATOFTHE FUTURE? (PART2)
In detailing the stepsto bringing back salmon to Loch Maree,Prof. Eric McVicarexplains why he has hope forScottish stocks
34 THE CAMPAIGN
TomHarland has alate spring sortie forasalmon. and comesveryclose
64 A‘GRINGO’IN PATAGONIA
How FF&FT’s Neil Pattersonbecame as notorious as Butch Cassidy &The SundanceKid.
Tanking it at Somerset’s Barrows... with a fly to match
TwoSharpe’snetstobe
22 TANKINGIT
CharlesJardine kicks of the new season at Somerset’spopular Barrow Tanks, andtiesa fly to suit
30 BRACKISH BROWNS
Andy Sturrock seeksthe trout of brackish lochs
42 HATCHOFTHE DAY
Paul Procter describeshis approach in spring when
anticipating ashowing of the large dark olive.
50 SINKING SUCCESS
Louis Noble has anew tactic to solving the perenial problem –dry fly fisher’s floating tippet
54 GRAB AGRANNOM
John Glynn’sarmoury to cracking the prolific grannom hatch.
Bluesky thinking Thebluesky of February’sShot of the Month remindedPaulDimeryofasunny, pleasantweek dry-fly fishing on the beautiful andclean Dordogne lastyear, chasing down recalcitrantFrench brownies.
● Shoot a‘Shot of the Month’ and win a year’s subscription to FF&FT Send your phototo: fffteditor@mortons.co.uk
Write to: The Editor,FF&FT,The LocusCentre,The Square, Aberfeldy,PerthshirePH15 2DD,UK. Email: ffteditor@mortons.co.uk.Pleaseinclude your name andpostaladdress with all correspondence
Give them ahand
Iwas very pleased to read‘Salmon by hand’inthe November issue, in whichthe Editor enjoyedafew days fishing the very pleasant upper Oykeland wassuccessful with the assistance of the excellentgillie,JoeyO’Neal
Ihaveenjoyedanumberof years fishingthere and, as is also the case on some of th eo the r Highland rivers –notablythe Thurso,the Helmsdale,the Naver, the Brora and the Halladale–hand-lining is standard practice not justwhenbackingup, but when fishing in theorthodox manner as well.
Hand-lining is still done when spring fishing as well, save when the riverisveryhighand fast These rivers are comparatively shallow, and even in the early spring it is surprising that fish will move,followand takea fly thatis being hand-lined, albeit more slowly than in the summer
Wh ils tIr egular ly used a dropper Istopped do ing so in the springbecause on anumber of occasions springers took the dropper,and the tail fly (which wasusuallyaWaddington or atubefly)caughtonrocks on the bottom and brokethe cast! Springers are too sparsetolose in thatway!
Malcolm Dutchman-Smith, via email.
Take thetest
I’mafraid this isn’t aletter full of fly-fishing wisdom,campaigning, questioning or the latestmusthave fly pattern (whichI’m always asuckerfor!).
Th is is ac tuallyabou tyour News articlecovering prostate cancer (April issue). Ijustwanted to tell readers: don’ttakenofor an answer.
The writer of the Letter of theMonth will receiveaspool of 13.7lb Seaguar Soft from Fordham &Wakefield.
Readingthe article‘ High and dryonthe Usk’ (March issue) made me think back to when Ihad opportunitiestofish the middle reaches of the riverUsk aboveCrickhowell.
Iwas fortunate to havecome to know andfished with Stuart Jarvis,who hadfor many years been the riverkeeper on the GlanuskParkestate.
He told me thathehad been ab le to catchwell over 300 trout per seasonona regular basis, most of them released back to theriver
Prostate cancer is in our family and so, over ahandful of years, I approached three diferent GPs (due to our moving house)with regard to getting the testfor prostate cancer done.I wasmet with the samequestion: “Do youhave anysymptoms?’towhichItruthfullyanswered“No”.
“Oh, you’ll beokthen”, was the reply
At the fourth attempt, atemporaryGPkindlysaid“Of course”.
As youcan guess the result waspositive.Iopted forthe full oper at io na nd over twoyear s later Iamstill clear of the disease and still wandering thehills and lochs of Assynt.
As Is aid at the beginning, don’ttakeno forananswer. MRiding, via email.
Many of his fishhad been caught on aSawyerPheasant Tail Nymphfished upstream, the line being retrievedtokeep contact with the fly. Thetake could often be difcult to detect and, to aid in this, he would attach apinchofwhite sheep’s wool to the leader, to hang at apoint justabove,orat, water level. Thetakeofafishwas made more visible by the sudden movementofthe wool. When conditions allowedand trout were feeding on the surface Stuart wasalso very successful
Skye’s thelimit
fishing with adry fly.His opinion wasthatthe size of afly and itspresentation wasoften more importantthan pattern, especiallyinthe early part of the season when fishwere particularly hungry. He favoured as an all-roundfly, Kite’s Imperial in twoorthree sizes.
Sa dl y, St ua rt Ja rv is is no longer with us but his fishing methods remain to be effective as Ihaveprovedonmany occasions. MichaelDavies, Llandovery
With regard to the ‘Fly with no name’(April 2025 issue), Isee AndySturrock livesonthe Isle of Skye –the luckychap! I’dbeinheavenifI livedthere, so would suggest‘Skye High’for his fly’sname,orifthat’sbeen used be fore,t hen howa bo ut ‘SkyeTie’?
Vernon Wood, via email.
Ia ma septuage narian w it ha lifetime of fishin gb ehind me –mostlytrout, with somesea trout,salmon anda bitofcoarse fishing.I live in Cumbriawhich, perhaps surprisingly,isa bitofa desert forthe troutangler these days.
Althoughthere is stillsome reasonable riverfishing available,one has to be rather more agilethan Iamnow to make the mostofit. My main love is loch and lakefishing from adrifting boat,and that is gettingdifcult because the venues for this beautifulactivityare reducing year by year,largely becausebodiessuch as TheNationalTrust (aka Nasty Tr uss!) andour belovedEnvironmentAgency seemtohave ac onvo lu ted opini on of wh at people should –and should not –beallowedtodoon, in and with ournatural waterresources!
Up here in Cumbria we have no dedicated fisheryreservoirs, such as Chew,Rutland, etc, and it is not possible to hire aboat with an engine,jumpinand set
The seasonsofar formehas been one of discovery. Permanent roadworkshave forced me off my usual early seasonstretch of river, and so I’vespent adecent amount of time exploringasmaller stream higher up –atributary. It’sone of those rivers which is easily coveredand, in the summer,can produce an endless stream of rising fish in the 8-10 ouncebracket to dryfly.However,fish it in April, and youcan be in for asurprise. Early season this river holds some qualitytrout –justasCeri Thomasindicatedinthe April issue,the tributariesare whereyou will find the trophieslurking early on. Lastyear, Ihad one of my best browns of the season from here–one Iheard rise, rather than saw, as it slashed hungrily at olives. Ithought a tree branch had fallen in.
I’vefished this stream alittle in April, but often my confidencehas been dented, as therehavebeen timeswhen I’vebelieved therewasn’tasingle fish living here. No rises, no
sail! We have to carryanengine, battery, and allother boatgear with us and, owing to my presentstate of disability, this is now beyond me, so bank fishing stillwaters is reallymyonlyangling outlet!
Giventhe annual reduction of available ve nu es it is proving difcult to getmuch, if any, de centf ishing.Myw ife an dI headnorth to Highland Scotland acouple of times ayear,which givesmeaquickfishingfix, and then it’s back to maggot-swimming wit hmyg randch ildren back home.Rantover!
Ov er the ye ars Ih av e su bsc ri bed to manya ng ling magazines, howevercurrently the onlym ag az ine to wh ichI have asubscriptionthese days is FF&FT, and Ihavemaintained it for quiteawhile now! Ireally do find it to be“ TheThinking Angler’s Magazine”, andIshould liketoplace on record my thanks to the team whostarted it,and keep it going RichardMason, viaemail.
Itook this photo on theWye at Llangurig.
It made me laugh, and there wasnostopping them! Paul Dimery, via email.
Greatmagazine as always,but to show howwereaders studyall that is printed, on page 55 of the latest issue (April )shows aphoto of a fishcaughtonadry fly.Interestingly,inthe March2025edition on page 55 there is aremarkably similar fishcaughtina similar place on aHog Louse imitation. Just to keep youonyour toes! Keep up the good work! KenBright, via email.
pulls,noflashes, no ‘dunts’, no splashes, no nothing. Convinced this stream should have adecent Marchbrown hatch early doors, I’vespent alot of timelooking forproof of this.I’vebeenconcentrating my fishing to lunchtimes mainly –sometimesjustan amble down the river with afly rod– looking forrising fish.
Trouble is,with the bitter, northerly winds we’veexperienced, seeing afish rise has been rare;justseeing an insect has been apleasant surprise. Now, March browns areprettyhardy –theydon’t seem to mind inclement weather –but the river’s been cold, high and pushing through too, so all I’ve done is justwalked and gone home again.
The other weekend I decided to exploredeeper with heavyNymphs.Four nicefish to three-quartersof apound –so, the fishwere there! What Ialsolearned thatday wascasting ateam of weighted Nymphs intoa
gale is possible,provided you wade deep,use the river’s fast current and the pull of the heavyfliestoloadthe rod on atight line as theycome ontothe dangle downstream, and –crucially –makea short,high tap to makefull useofthe rod’spower to fling the fliesupstreamand into the wind.
Whilstthis all sounds rather straightforward and common-sense, in practice I’venoticed that when trying to cast intothe wind I’m inclined to drivemyrod-tip towardsthe watersurface.
This probably reflects my grounding on fishing reservoirswherecasting, with amoreconventional fly-line and flies, this style of high back-castand low forwardcastintoawind works. However, with a team of weighted Nymphs this low-driven casting style createsamuch longer casting stroke,along with acorrespondingly much wider loop,which the wind swallows up and does itsbest
to destroy anydistanceor turnoverofthe heavyflies. Then, after lifting gently into what Ithought wasa fish, and catapulting my fliesintothe branchesway above my head, Irealised justhow little power and howshort astrokeis required to propel even heavy Nymphs averylongway Afterthis,a short tap wasall that wasrequired to loop the fliesacrossthe waterand into the 40mph wind and drop them in nicely from aheight to makethem plungedeeper Less effort,moreefficiency. What’snot to like?
HOURESSENTIAL ROUND-UP FROM THE WORLD OF FLYFISHING AND FLYTYING
RIVER CARRON PRO JECT SHOWS 50%ROD-CATCH FROM STOCKING
ailed as “one of themost comprehensive investiga tions of conser vation stocking in theUK”,a new collaborative report could prove critical for the future of Scotland’s Atlantic salmon.Carried out by the RiverCarron Conservation Association(RCCA)and theInstitute of Biodiversity and Fr es hw at er Conser vati on at UHI Inverness, the studyreveals severalimportant findings.
Th eC arron is loca te di n the north-westHighland area of We st er Ro ss, wh er et he RCCA’s stockrestoration won acoveted Wild Salmon Conservation Award. Perhapsthe most surprising discovery is that,far from being the token gesture critics fear,fish stockedaseggs or juve nile smolts ac counted forover50% of therod-catch in some years. Also in the report areinsightsaddressingpopulation declineand theDNA integrity of wild fish.
An impressive threedecades of archive material were used,
oto: Elliot Ro berts.
collected by aw ar d-wi nning RCCA scientistBob Kindness, with studiesabletodistinguish between wild spawned an d st ocke ds almo nacr oss many generations
Onefindingisthatbybreeding wild caught fishinthe hatcheryfor justone season,rather than retaining them for multiple breeding cycl es, risks to long-termgenetic health canbe
Iaverted. Another lesson wasthat stocking releases as autumn fry should be givenpreference,as they “exhibitsignificantlyhigher survival rates compared to those released at diferent life stages.”
Prior to the RCCA’s conserva tion ini tia ti ve ,“ salm on stocks haddropped so lowthat thenativefishf aced real risk of extinction”, said BobKindness. “O nce the programme wa su nder waya cl ear correlation emer ge db etween the number of fishstockedand the number returning as adults”, he added, attributing farimproved rod-c at ch es th at followe dt o “years of dedication”.
Another in teres ting finding of the studyisthatexperts believe it could be possible to “a ct ivel yr ed uce No rwegi an ancestry”offarmedescapeesin the wild population.This would involvegenetic testinginstocking programmes and the selective avoidance of “genetically compromised”fish –althoughit concedes thatsuchanapproach
“may notyet be fullypractical”. Wh ile salmon anglers are angered by theimpactoffarms, the report also stresses the need for “c ol la bor at ion be tw een salmon conservation initiatives and the Scottishaquaculture ind us tr y”. Th ewor ko ft he RCCA itselfhas been supported by the Wi ld Fi sh eries Fu nd, wh ichh as seen £1.5 million invested by Scotland’saquaculture industry over thepastfive years.
“Atlantic salmon are in deep trouble,due mainlytoclimate and habitatchange, and we need to do everything we can to work together in understandinghow we can mitigate ag ainstt his collapse,” saidJohnGibbofthe Salmon Scotland Wild Fisheries Fund.“Thestudy’s findingsare an importantmilestone in that journey and pointtowards the mostjudicious use of stocking for the mostthreatened populations. Iamdelighted thatthe Wi ld Fi sh eries Fu nd could underpin this vital study.”
nanunusual step from the wo rl d’sl ar ge st salmon prod ucer,M ow i, the Norwegian companyisofering 500 Kroner (around £36) per escapee fishcaught. The bounty wasannouncedwhen approximately25,000 farmed salmon we nt on the loose,a quarterofthe stockfroma cage in Troms, in north-westNorway.
Pa lMuga as ,s peaking for Norske Lakseelver(Norwegian
Salm on Rive rs)b randed the incident“ ad isaster fo rw ild sa lmon”, wh ile Mowi it self
described the escape as “serious andveryregrettable”.
Weighing an averageof5.5kg
(12lb)a fish, escapees can be deliveredto“receptioncentres” by captors.
Norwegian scientists classify fa rmed salmon as a ma jor threa tt ot he wild stock. In spiteoftwo-thirdsof wild stocks in thecountry now believedtohavegenetic interference from invaders, however, Norway’s governmentrecently ruledout aban on open-netfish farmingatsea.
Whil ei ti sw id el y ack nowl edged th at global warmingisa major threattofishand other marine life,all too often hard evidence is missing,while data is in thepasttense.
Seeking to put thatright,the University of East Anglia (UEA) are using ag ran tf rom UK Government to create advanced modellingand look for critical patterns and breakthr o ughs , with fishpopulations acentral concern.
Ac oll ab ora tion betw een various scientificbodies, the Ti MBER (Tip ping po ints In Marine Biogeochemistr yand EcosystemResponses)project will join 27 international teams in afive-yearefort worthover£80
million tolook at “key thresholds that,whencrossed,leadtolarge, acceleratingand practicallyirreversible changes in the climate system”.
Aso-called “Ocean Systems Mo de l” wi ll result fro mt he wo rk ,a long wi th an “e ar ly warning system”thatisaimed to be acatalystto spur change andadaptation.
“Given the serious implications of tippingpoints, ourresearch is both timelyand necessar y and we welcome the opportunity”, said UEA Professor and TiMBER lead, Corinne Le Quéré,
“Byh elping the UK antic ipate, prepare forand respond to mar ine ch an ge s, Ti MBER will support sustainable and resilientfisheries.
ounding awelcomenote of optimism for Britain’s de cl ining salmon ,t he recentlypublished RiverTweed Commission (RTC) reportfor 2024 makes heartening reading foranglers.Withatotal of 9,947 salmon landed, besides483 in nets, thecatch equates to over 3,000 abovethe five-year averageof6,871,makingitthe best year since2013.
“Favourabl ef ishin g cond iti ons” ar ea tt ri bu te dt ot he success. This wasdespite the early season yielding “b el ow average” catches, andresults being und er wh elming un til June,withseals acontinuing concernonthe lowerriver.
Howeve r, with ar elative ly wet, stable summer and good waterlevels to follow, August and September catches hita peak as anglers made up for lost time,withboth grilse and multisea-w inter salmon reputedly more abundantthaninpreviousyears
Anglers also sh owe dt hei r commi tmen tt oc onser vi ng stocks with an excellent97.2%
of rod-caught salmonreleased.
“The improvedcatches this year are awelcomesign, and we aregrateful to allthose who practice catch- and-release to support the su st ainability of
the river”,said Jamie Stewart, cl erkt ot he RT C. “The RT C will continue working with the Tweed Foundation and other catchmentpartners to monitor and protectsalmonpopulations
for future ge nera tion s” he added, with the Tweed Foundation pledging to keep analysing scale samples and reviewing catches to gain ongoing insight into theriver’s salmon stocks.
Anglers andconservationists have welcomed news thatwater companiesare pledging to deliverover24,000 actions across the next fiveyears. Targeted initiativeswill representove r£22 billion in environmental investmentinwhat is hoped will be apermanent culture shift for abroken system
“Working cl osel yw it hNat ural England, we have helped s ecure the lar ge st ever environmental commitmentfrom water companies since privatisa tion throug ht he Wa ter Industry NationalEnvironment Programme (WINEP)”, an EA
statement read.
“The historic settlementwill leadt oa sizeable inve st ment into aquatic habitats, fisheries and biodiversity and will help protect and enhance approximately 13,500km of rivers.”
In spi te of the promises, cam paigners will judget he industr ybyits re su lts. Since privatisation in 19 89,ove ra qu arte ro fa ll wa ter su pp ly in England and Wales is still lostdue to leaksand creaking in fr astr uc tu re,whi le sewage dischargeshavehit record levels, and not asingle reservoir has been builtinover30years.
RAVENSTHORPE TO RE -OPEN AS CONTRACTSTALLS TEMP ORARILY
Anglerswill have to wait abit longer to fishDraycote Water
Anglian Water,whichearlier in the year announced it would be taking over the running of Warwickshire’s DraycoteWater,has hadtodelaythe anticipated opening of April 1due to contractualdifculties.
It stated that:“We anticipated thatcontractual details would be finalised by this pointintime and as publicised hadhoped to open the water on April 1st,
2025.However,despite best eforts we are not quiteoverthe contractual line”.
It also outlined that therewere some repairs to be made to the fisher ybefore beforeitcould open safely
In themeantime, Anglianhas saiditwillstock andopen Northamptonshire’sRavensthorpeon atemporary basisfor themonth of April. In December, Anglian
announced thatRavensthorpe –subject to the successful completion of thelease on Draycote –wasset to closeasa troutfishery and it would be runasascarp and predator fishery in the future.
On March14, Anglianstated on soc ial media: “Wew ill continue to pushforward and hope to bring yougood news [concerning Draycote–Editor.] very soon”.
Afleetof40boats hasalready been purc hased for Dra ycote’s opening.
Boath ire and dayp ermits for Rave nsthorpe are available throughthe Anglian Water website for bookingsApril1to April 30,2025. Anglian Water season ticket-holders will be able to fishRavensthorpefrom April 1whilstDraycote continues to be unavailable.
In detailingthe first stepstobringingbacksalmonrunstoLochMaree, Professor ERIC MCVICAR explains whyhehas hope forScottishstocks PART TWO
Loch Maree,once a world-classfishery.
Backinthe summer of 2024
Iwas approached by Peter Cunningham, biologistat the Wester Fisheries Tr ustto see if Iwould be willing to assist in ap roject wh ichc oul dl ead to the recovery of the once-famous Loch Maree.Ihaveknown Peter for manyyearsand hold him in highregard. Ihavealso in the pastgiven assistance to the Trust, so needless to saythe answerwas yes.
Peter waswell aware of the work Ihavebeen involved with on ariver on his patchfor going on 20 years, and realised that this newproject wassomething to whichIcould contribute both experienceand knowledge.One unique factor about this project wa st hatt hree neig hb ouring l and ow ners we re all singing from thesamehymn sheet, and thats ong wa se nv ir on me nt al
reins tatement, or re-wilding
Moreover, this wasbeing carried out not as am oneymaking venture,but purelyto regeneratea much-depleted ecosystem, of whichthe fisheries were just one aspect.
Th em ain part of this longterm project i sC ab uie ,a n extremely beautifuland remote area coveringfifteen-and-a-half thousand hectares, (3 8,000 acres for pre-decimal dinosaurs likemyself )taking in the estates of Cabuie, Bruachaigand Fada. Around 2 014a‘co nsult ant ’ washired to do an assessment on the Br uachaig Riveratthe headofLochMaree.This river is on eo ft he thr ee rive rs –o r more correctly tworivers and one st rea m–w hi ch jo in at K in lo ch ewet of or mt he ve ry sizeable Kinlochewe River. Theoutcomewas a31-page
report in whichitstated thata fall nottoo farupthe Bruachaig wasimpassable.Because of this re po rt ,t wo ‘r un of th er iver ’ generating stations were built, and althought he lowe r‘ takeoff dam’had afish-pass incorporatedinit, theupperdam did not. Theprobable reasonthat no pass wasincorporated in the upper dam wasthatprevious electro-fishing by th eWester Ross Fisher yTrust biologists hadi ndicated thatt here wa s no ev id ence of salmon bein g presentabove thatpoint.From this it wasdeduced thata pass in this dam wa ss up erf lu ous to requirements. This, in turn, ensured thatnosalmon could ascend anyf urther than this barrier,t hu sc utting off any possibility of fishspawningand smolts being produced on over six miles of potentiallyexcellent
nurserystream inStrathChrombaill. Thesad fact of the matter is that thefalls deemed impassable aremostcertainly not.Theyare impassible in low-water conditions, butdue to thetopography of thegorge belowthe falls they are su rm oun ta ble in ev en a moderate spate What happens in the gorgeis the flood waters ‘backup’ as the outlet is of less cross-sectional area than where the flowcrosses the‘impassable’f all.Oncethe gorgefills, the fall is no longer there.Aquick glance at the fall, even in low-water conditions, clearly reveals thatthe riverin spate conditions has scoured the rockfaceonthe opposite bank to alevel abovethe levelofthe fall. In theseconditions, salmon can swim throughwithout requiring to leap. However, at this pointI must statethatthe mapof‘The
‘WHEN ONE IS COMPILING A REPORT, ONE POINT THAT SHOULD NEVER BE OVERLOOKED IS THATOFLOCAL KNOWLEDGE.’
Distribution in ScottishRivers of the Atlantic Salmon’, produced by the DepartmentofAgriculture and Fisheries for Scotland back in 1985, also showsthis fall as impassable.
Again, it must be noted that when my friend Ross Gardiner and his collea gue Ha rr y Egglishawproduced this map th ey relied on inform at ion s up plied at the time by lo cal District Salmon FisheryBoards. So in no waycan the authors of this work be held responsible forthe errors of themorerecent report, whichhas in effect cut o ff th et ra di tion al sp aw ni ng grounds of Loch Maree’s once-famous springsalmonrun
Wh en one is com pi ling a report, one po intt hatshould ne ve rb eo ve rl ooked is tha t of local knowl edge. Wh ether anecdotal, first-hand or historic written accounts, these pieces of information are not just helpful, butcrucial to theunderstanding of ariver system and often indicateenvironmental changes overalong period.Few scientists wo uld be arrogante no ught o produce atheoryfrom a‘one-of ’ experiment or observation. The lar ge rt he da ta -set or st ud y period, the higher the degreeof accuracy is likely to be achieved. Had the report’sauthor asked around he wo uld have found both first-hand knowledgeof fishascending these falls and written accounts of kelts being taken by otters in upper Strath Chrombaill, manymiles above the ‘impassable’falls.
Tw oo ft he fi rs tp eo pl eI encounteredwhenasked to look at theBruachaig were Donald Macl eod, estate manage ra nd stalker at Kinlochewe.He, along with Frank Kolonowski, both confi rmed thats alm on c o u l d easilyascend the falls in aspate. Considering thatFrank,gillie on Loch Maree and stalker in the Br uachaig/Strath Chrombaill, is nowapproachingretirement
andhas beenthere sincea young man, one cannotignore what he has obser vedfirst-hand. Similar ly,D onald has been there manyyears and is therefore also asourceofreliableobservations. Afurther source of first-hand information wasthatofRonnie Ross fromAchnasheen. Ronnie recentlyr etired as st alker on the neighbouring Braan Estate whichmarches onto the upper end of Strath Chrombaill, and he re me mb er sa nd re co un ts when back in the 1970sanangler landed asalmon in the Abhainn Strath Chrombaill, even identifying the poolas directlybelow Achadh Ruighluirg, an ancient sh eep enclosure on thes outh bank upstream of the deserted croftingcommunityofStrath Chrombaill. Further information, in the f orm of letters, de tailed ke lts
Fish pass on Loch Uisge,Morvern. Despite no migratorystock being found at the time of construction (early 2000s)a fish-passwas incorporated as therewas historic/anecdotalevidence that both sea troutand salmon had been caught in the past.Note the curvedflumes to reduce air-entrapment –gooddesign! RunbySSE renewables.
being killed and eaten by otters rightupnearthe source of the Ab hainn St ra th Chro mb aill. Th es el ette rs we re wr it te n some years ago, but since then anumbe ro ff ac tors have had serious consequences andinfluences on the ability of salmon reaching this farupthe system. It may, howeverbenotedthat SEPA(ScottishEnvironmental Protection Agency)and Marine Scotland (who are alsoresponsi bl ef or Scotl and ’s sal mo n rivers), nowacceptthatthe once designated ‘impassable’falls are indeed passable and the more recentdigital maps indicate this.
One qu esti on th at mu st be askedis:‘If salmon were present in upperStrathChrombaill in the 1970s, whyare they no longer there?’ Letusnow examinethe facts wh ichh avec reated th is situation.
In al lp ro babil it yt he ex ti rpa tion of Sa lmo sa lar fro m ha ppened gra du all yo ve ra period of around four decades. Beginning ba ck in the 19 50s during themad rush to generateelectricity and bring remote areas of the Hi gh lands in to the 20th centur y, largehydroschemeswerebeing built (see ‘W ha to ft he Fu ture ?’ Pa rt 1 [April issue]).
To incr ease the maxim um prod uct iv it yo ft hese hy droschemes, rivers were dammed, tunnels conducted water from onecatchment to another, and pipelines gathering waterfrom neighbouring catchments were diverting flowfrom headwaters fl ow in gwes ti nt or ese rvoi rs wh ichu lt imatelyflowe de ast. One of the se pipelines wa si n upper Strath Chrombuill. This pipeline on the south sideof
the glen has, since the 1950s, efectively removedmore than 50%ofthe availablewater flow from theupper river. This meant that duringanything shortofan extreme spate the time window for fi sh as cendi ng wa smuch reduced, and in years when rainfall wasmuchlowerthan average the numbers of fishclearing the falls wouldhavebeen seriously red uced. Ad de dt ot his, low water spring andsummerflows would have been reduced to such levels that theoverall wettedarea will have led to lowersur vival rates of fryfrom dried-out redd areas. Th is, in time,u ndoubtedlyled to the loss of complete year-classes of fry, whichinturn meantthatevenifsufcienthen fishdid ascend,the number of pre cocio us par rava il ab le to maintain alarge gene pool would also have been compromised. Af urthercontrib ut or yf act, whichnodoubt addedtoboth juvenile and adult losses, wasthe fact thatupper Strath Chrombuill is almosttotally devoidof shadefrom riparian vegetation, such as bushesand trees. The reason for thisisthatyears of ove rg razing by both fa rm ed livestockand an ever-increasing red de er population have preventedany natural regeneration.This meantthatinexceptionally warm summers where lowf lows we re encoun te re d the ox ygen leve ls wo uld have
cras hed, k illing the ma jority of the fryand parr.(Note: once the wa ter tem pera ture go es over 23°C salmonid su rv iv al approaches zero),
At the timewhenthis pipeline wasbuilt the emphasis wason getting electricity to those areas of the Hi gh lands wh ichwere still relying on peatand paraffin forheatand light.Salmon and sea trout were at thetime plentiful, were not endangered, and also viewedby manyasthe sole territor yofwealthylandowners. And, dare Isay it,the pipeline wasprobablydesigned by non-anglers.
By the time thatsalmon farms were establishedinthe sealochs, the Strath Chrombuill salmon wo uld have been in ap reca rious state, and the addedstrain of sea-lice infestationaswellas
other ma rine factors, su ch as cl im at echan ge af fec tin gf eedinggrounds mayhavebeenthe laststraw.
Fi rs t, we have ow ners wh o are de termined to reins ta te the ecosystem of avastareaof the we st er nH ig hlands fr o m it sc ur rentdepl et ed st at et oa healthybiodiverseenvironment. That includes thesalmonand trout and all the diverse habitat on whichthey depend Second, they have involved notonlythe right people to do the job, bu ta re al so wo rk ing in harmonya sn eig hb ouring estate s, at hing rare ly seen in Scotland.
Thethird factor,one which
Eric McVicarstarted salmon fishing aged10and hasover50years experience on theEsks. He wrotethe first salmonid ecolog/management courses forWest Highland College UHI andlecturesinternationally in Sustainable Ecolog.
Forthose whowish to have aquickoverviewofthe whole project it canbeseenby Googling Cabuie/NatureRestoration at Landscape Scale
Ifindparticularly interesting and pleasing,isthatthis is not being done as amoney-making venture,but for the benefit of the planet, our descendants, and all the wonderful nature of Wester Ross whichiscurrentlyunder st rain from the anthr opogenic-created climate changeand excesses of pastgenerations.
Th ef ou rt hf ac to r, Ih av e spoken to the operators of the Bruachaig hydro-dams andthey are amenable to the idea thatwe should maketheir dams passabletofish,bothtomaturefish ascending,and smolts descending. Thequestionbeing whowill payfor this?But thatquestion is not insurmountable.
If Scottis ha nd Southern Electrici ty can be ma de to und ers tand tha tw ip ing out endanger ed species is totally unacceptable,and that taking water from spawning grounds cannot be justified,particularly as the latestturbine technolog is much more efcientthan that of 70 years ago, then we canlook at howhydro-generation could in fact benefit salmon stocks by helping to increase spawning potential. (This lastpoint Iwill go into at alater date.)
If we can do this on Lo ch Maree,maybe we canuse it as an exampleand carryout similar work on other Scottishsystems. So ye s, Ih aver eason to be optimistic
An example of water-starvation at Glascarnoch, on the Inverness –Ullapool road, A835.The dryriverbed belowthe damhas abarrier acouple of milesdownstream to prevent fishentering,evenwhen thereishigh water.Built in the 1950s,the engineeredsystem means insteadoffeeding the Black Water and the river Broom on the west coast, the water flowing from Glascarnochgoes via atunnel to generate at Loch Luichart before going down the river Conon to the
