conwyrod
Advisory Board
Autumn on the Conwy
Posts: 4,659
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Post by conwyrod on Jul 31, 2008 20:21:35 GMT
Catching any salmon is a rewarding experience, but occasionally you get that extra satisfaction for catching a difficult fish, or perhaps because you tried something new and it worked.....or perhaps you picked up a fish just behind your fishing partner. ;D
While I have a think about an example from my own experience, let's hear about your special salmon.
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Post by G Ritchie on Jul 31, 2008 20:49:56 GMT
One that sticks in the mind is a fish off the Halladale many years ago. The water was low and clear but there was a few fish in the few deeper holding pools. Decided to try and catch one with a dead drifted dry fly and I can still picture the fish now rising up through the water to take the fly off the surface just like a big trout.
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conwyrod
Advisory Board
Autumn on the Conwy
Posts: 4,659
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Post by conwyrod on Jul 31, 2008 21:03:49 GMT
That must have been some sight Graham.
Closest I've come to catching on a dry is a salmon that took a small allys just as it landed on the water, right into the far bank - it came clean out the water as well.
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Post by G Ritchie on Jul 31, 2008 21:10:15 GMT
It is always extra special when you can observe the whole thing. Fish from small deep pots on the Findhorn taken on a nymph type presentation, using the induced take, the riffle hitch and dibbling are all fascinating options to try under difficult low water conditions. They can be surprisingly effective at times as well.
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Post by robmason on Aug 1, 2008 6:29:49 GMT
A findhorn fish springs to mind, a big powerful summer salmon at Drynachan. Fishing at the height of a spate it took some playing and landing on my own. At the back of my mind was the fish I'd lost at the net the day before. At 14lbs my biggest to date.
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hf
Active Member
Posts: 1,807
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Post by hf on Aug 1, 2008 7:27:52 GMT
There have been one or two occasions that stick out in my own mind but one which gives me pleasure was on a summers, sunny afternoon when a family came down to the river to have a muck around. I got talking to them getting the crack , while the youngsters played (or fished). But when the first cloud came over I went back to the point where I had been fishing and where I knew a fish was lying. Lo and behold within two or three casts there was a tug and a salmon duly hooked. What gave me the most pleasure though was the buzz that the youngsters got, seeing the fish being played and landed right before their very eyes. Hopefully it will be something that they don't forget but which would also encourage them to go out and do it themselves. The fish was about 5lb. hf
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hornet
Active Member
Posts: 1,120
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Post by hornet on Aug 1, 2008 7:42:26 GMT
I will never forget when i was fishing for the first time on the river with my Faither. I caught 3 double figured Springers.
Cracking memories.
Cheers
Hornet
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Post by salmonking on Aug 1, 2008 7:48:12 GMT
This could be a great thread,and the visual aspect of a taking fish is tops for me,none really stick out though as id class them all together,though most of mine were in my younger days when all i used was a single hander and a floating line with a long leader.
To think of all the visual takes i had back then on that set up is quite an eye opener,and i wouldn't have the confidence to fish a full floater now,which we done in even the highest of spates ,and got fish too.
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hf
Active Member
Posts: 1,807
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Post by hf on Aug 1, 2008 7:48:34 GMT
I will never forget when i was fishing for the first time on the river with my Faither. I caught 3 double figured Springers. Cracking memories. Cheers Hornet Now that is special!
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Post by Sagecaster on Aug 1, 2008 8:20:08 GMT
One that sticks in the mind is a fish off the Halladale many years ago. The water was low and clear but there was a few fish in the few deeper holding pools. Decided to try and catch one with a dead drifted dry fly and I can still picture the fish now rising up through the water to take the fly off the surface just like a big trout. Had this experience on the Naver a few years ago when the river was down to its bare bones. I decided to try a small green bomber dead drift and skated over a small but pacy Vee. Landed a nice grilse of around 6lbs which came up and sipped the bomber off the surface in a blink of an eye. Fantastic to watch through polaroids! Had several others come up, chase and splash that day. For me its the most exciting form of Salmon fishing. Just wish I could find a few more rivers where it works.
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Post by G Ritchie on Aug 1, 2008 9:06:06 GMT
It was a Green Bomber I was working as well. I had taken a fish on one the previous morning, but just saw the boil on the surface as it took that one. The one the following morning I saw rising up from its lie on the bottom to take the fly. Very special, like you say it would be great if it worked on more rivers. I have tried the dry on rivers nearer home and have risen a few on the Dee, briefly connecting with one. I have not had any reaction to the dry on either the Deveron or the Spey.
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Speyducer
Advisory Board
Release to spawn another day
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Post by Speyducer on Aug 1, 2008 9:20:33 GMT
Out of the many salmon stories, I have 3 'special' fish.
The first was many years ago on the Don @ Inverurie. I had taken a visiting Austrlian fellow out on a bright summer day to show him how to cast a fly rod for trout. After a short demo, I left him to it for maybe 45 minutes withthe trout fly rod, & I took the worming rod upstream.
As he came back upriver to meet me, we were looking out over a nice riffly run when I noticed a couple of running fish about 3/4 across the river. They showed one after another a couple of times, and I said to him that if you were to 'target' such fish, cast ahead, and let you bait or fly swing round. With that, I made a cast with the trundled worm ahead of the pair, as a demo, only to be most surprised by a 'tap, tap, tighten', and one of them was on! I don't know who was more surprised, the fish or myself, but certainly a fresh 6lber on the bank impressed my Australian friend! I did explain that there was a bit of luck involved, and catching salmon isn't all that easy!!
On my first ever trip to Russia, I was introduced to bomber fishing. I had been casting over a repeated showing fish tucked behind a large protruding boulder in mid-stream (Norway pool, Rynda river), and had tried about 5 or 6 different sunk flies to no effect. With the fish still showing, my guide suggested a bomber, and tied on this bright green 1 1/2" cigar with white calf-tail tufts fore & aft, and 'hitched' it. He said have a go with that.
I cast again, many times, but no result. The call came to move pools, and give up on this one, so I said I'd have 2 or three more casts, as you do! The very next cast, as the green bug floated over the lie, the fish's whole head and shoulders emerged as it gobbled the fly! Despite all that energy spent in repeatedly rising, he gave a very good account of himself, and 10lb fish to the green bomber was the landed result.
Later that same week, Sept 1st, I was fishing Tolstoi pool, and with several fish showing freely. I had gradually worked down to the Right bank tailout, and I was level with a fish that kept showing gently, having taken nothing through the swings when I was above the fish. Again, at the suggestion of the guide, I tied on a green stonefly nymph, and tried upstream nymphing, and just watching the bow on the out-of-water line (slack) - first pass through and the bow straightened, and I lifted into what I was sure to be a rocky snag, but the nod-nod on the rod tip dictated otherwise. The fish moved up into the pool, went for the faster flow, and came up to show a huge, if somewhat coloured flank. The guide got rather excited at the prospect of such a large fish, and repeatedl urged me to be gentle with it (in the knowledge that all of the previous 4 or 5 large fish had been lost - by other anglers - that same week). The fish played ball, didn't do anything crazy, but it was a dogged fight for some 15 - 20 minutes. The guide Yura even waded halfway out in the tail to prevent the fish attempting to leave the pool. Anyway, she came to the net, and measurements were exactly 1m long, a stout hen of 29lbs. First salmon on the nymph, and biggest to that date.
Mike
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Post by wilbert on Aug 1, 2008 13:25:43 GMT
I think every salmon I have caught has been special to me in its own way but here is my short list. 1st salmon - 7lb sea liced on home made fly from the Ribble Biggest salmon - 28lb (kipper) on home tied fly from the Rynda 1st Springer - 8lb on home tied fly from the Dee 1st Ribble springer - 15lb sea liced on home tied fly, to put this in to perspectave on an average year there are only 10 to 30 springers captured along the whole length of the river and its tribs. I have put quite a few hrs in so far this year but this still remains my only salmon of the season (so far )
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Post by sinkingtip on Aug 1, 2008 15:32:27 GMT
I think every salmon I have caught has been special to me in its own way I would second that Wilbert. However, I recall shoplifting a tin of John West's Red Salmon (not the pink crap) from the Co-op in Blairgowrie - that was kinda special in its own way and the THRILL of getting past the checkout equals the landing of the real thing any day !! ..... although that was in my mis-spent youth I hasten to add. On a slightly different note, I was showing a friend the finer points of fishing the wee red fella on the Tay at Dunkeld House in the day's when Stakis had it and it was legal to do so. After going through the basic rudiments of how to tie and present the 'beastie', on his third cast he was into a cracker of about 25 lbs and dripping in sea lice. As chance would have it, a film crew from Cilla Black's Blind Date TV show were there filming the 'happy couple' doing the whole Scottish 'thang' (huntin, fishin and getting rat arsed) and heard that a dennison of the deep had been captured. Needless to say it was 'borrowed' and subsequently featured on national TV. Again, this was many years ago and these day's I would not be party such a heinous activity - afore ye all start !!. Interestingly, "special" fish for me have usually been the ones that have eluded capture - usually after and epic struggle - it's these fish I tend to remember. Thereafter, as Wilbert rightly states, every fish and the circumstances surrounding their capture (and release) are special in their own way. regards STip
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Post by Sagecaster on Aug 1, 2008 16:28:07 GMT
It was a Green Bomber I was working as well. I had taken a fish on one the previous morning, but just saw the boil on the surface as it took that one. The one the following morning I saw rising up from its lie on the bottom to take the fly. Very special, like you say it would be great if it worked on more rivers. I have tried the dry on rivers nearer home and have risen a few on the Dee, briefly connecting with one. I have not had any reaction to the dry on either the Deveron or the Spey. It sometimes works on the Findhorn, in low water when the fish are up into the fast water or lying back in the tails. My cousin lost a fish of about 20lbs on one in July last year, on a wee trout rod he just didn't have the oomph to tire the fish, eventually the hook came free. The sea trout love the bomber on the Dee, and have had a fish show interest on the Spey. I find that you need very fast glass like pacey water to get the bomber to work and a short line is also important, I think this is why its difficult to get it to work on the Spey. Am surprised you've had no reaction on the Deveron however
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Post by Roobarb on Aug 1, 2008 16:46:11 GMT
I’m creeping towards the milestone of 150 salmon so they are all special and I can remember every one of them! I can’t remember birthdays and anniversaries though Three that stand out for me. My first springer and my first Scottish fish on my first attempt at salmon in Scotland, from the Halladale. Went up at the end of April 2002 and there had been six weeks of no rain or fish, the river was on a total of two for the season I think. On the Saturday night before we arrived it snowed and on the Sunday it rained and sleeted. With the river up 18” everyone was happy on Monday morning but by the evening the doom and gloom had already set in with nothing seen. Tuesday didn’t appear to be going much better and I met rods from another beat leaving the river early afternoon saying there were no fish in the river and it was not worth fishing. Never have I seen such a quick descent into despondency! That evening I got one about 8lb I got another the next morning too, nothing else was caught for another three weeks, a triumph of perseverance (you don’t drive 700 miles and give up on the second day) and blind luck! I had gone to fish for trout on the upper Exe one day in early May but on arrival found the river in flood from local rain. It was too early to try for salmon up there so I drove over to the Lyn to see if it too had come up. After a quick scramble down the very steep zig zag path to the river I found it was indeed running at a good height and in a tiny pot below a fall a salmon was rolling in the white water. I dashed back up to the car and into town to get my ticket all the time hoping the fish had not moved on or worse still another angler had got there first. When I got back all was well and the fish rolled again. So small was the pool (6 feet wide and 10 feet long) that there was no need to cast, simply unhook the fly from the keeper ring and drop it on the water. It took instantly with a lovely head and tail rise and then set off for the sea. It went over three falls while I stumbled down through the boulders the best I could until I caught up with it. Only a 6lb’er but a Lyn fish on the fly is a rare thing. My biggest so far (I don’t suppose I shall get one bigger). May on the Frome. The river was full of mullet, thousands of them from 2 - 6lb. In the Agricultural Implement (I don’t know who came up with all the Frome pool names!) there were so many that it looked impossible to fish without foul hooking one but as the spinner came out of the deep water they suddenly parted to reveal an salmon in pursuit! I know spinning isn’t that fashionable with a lot of forum anglers but I don’t think much can beat the sight of a 20lb cock salmon hitting a spinner 10 feet from the rod top. The ensuing panic among the mullet made things interesting too… Andy
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Post by G Ritchie on Aug 1, 2008 17:00:02 GMT
It was a Green Bomber I was working as well. I had taken a fish on one the previous morning, but just saw the boil on the surface as it took that one. The one the following morning I saw rising up from its lie on the bottom to take the fly. Very special, like you say it would be great if it worked on more rivers. I have tried the dry on rivers nearer home and have risen a few on the Dee, briefly connecting with one. I have not had any reaction to the dry on either the Deveron or the Spey. It sometimes works on the Findhorn, in low water when the fish are up into the fast water or lying back in the tails. My cousin lost a fish of about 20lbs on one in July last year, on a wee trout rod he just didn't have the oomph to tire the fish, eventually the hook came free. The sea trout love the bomber on the Dee, and have had a fish show interest on the Spey. I find that you need very fast glass like pacey water to get the bomber to work and a short line is also important, I think this is why its difficult to get it to work on the Spey. Am surprised you've had no reaction on the Deveron however I did think that the Findhorn would be a good candidate, they are particularly partial to the hitched fly there so the dry is just a small step away. I have only tried the dry there once, without success. For some reason the fish in the Deveron dont seem to respond very well to surface based tactics like the hitch and I have never managed to raise one to the dry. They will take the fly almost right in the surface, so that it is not causing any wake. As soon as the fly forms a wake in the surface the fish turn away. Strange how the fish vary from one river to the next but that is what makes it so interesting.
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Post by salmonking on Aug 1, 2008 17:45:33 GMT
Any fish i take following Tweedsider down a pool is special, ;D
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tweedsider
Active Member
Quietness is best
Posts: 993
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Post by tweedsider on Aug 8, 2008 15:36:50 GMT
Any fish i take following Tweedsider down a pool is special, ;D Smartass Tweedsider
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