Can you remember you're 1st salmon

[jackfish]

Can you remember hooking you're first salmon,

I most certainly do, it happened on the Parkhill beat of the river Don. Having only fished the Deveron two times before this i was a very inexperienced fisherman, ( probably still am ) ;D.
I was fishing with a flying "C" all day with no joy, i had covered the beat its full length but there was a certain pool that i could not get on to for love nor money, a single fisher seemed to be camped out on the one spot and not willing to move. After waiting a while i just bypassed the fisher and pool on to the next one and fished out the rest of the beat. As the day was drawing to a close i was thinking that it was another day without sucsess. On making my way back to the car i was amazed to see that the fisher had gone so i thought what the hell i'll give it a go. First cast and i was in, to say i was in a panick was an understatement as the fish went beserk. A long scrap followed with it running the full length of the pool 3-4 times but i was fighting a loosing battle as after 20-25min it broke me . Now to this day i dont know if it was the biggest fish i have ever hooked or if it was foul hooked, possibly the later IMO but that is why i go fishing for salmon its the not knowing what you are going to hook next 3lbr or 30lbr. Hence to say i went back a few days later and landed a nice silver 8-9lb fish,,, Hooked for life..

What draws you to salmon fishing?

[deveron loon]

Aye, it was in the tail of the Pot, left bank - on Lower Water 1 - on the Spey - one of the few years that the Spey Bay anglers had access that far up. The Ghillies were putting the boat in the water for the tenants for the last part of the season on the opposite bank so would have been late July.
Hooked, landed and returned while fishing for finnock - fair fight on the single hander...

[superdod]

caught my first salmon at Dunlugas on the Deveron
going down the pools with no joy.

cast a toby and let it swing round with a slow retrieve and then bang I'm in first fish so you can except the panic i was in .

using a reduced spinning rod which i bought for £10 in the sport shop at Buckie so it just shows you if your in the right place at the right time you dint have to break the bank for tackle

PS. usual story tried It later on and lost ma spinner

[tyskie]

The first Salmon i ever caught was on the river Don at Kintore. It was late in the season and the river was big . I was fishing 10 ft spinning rod with a Zebra toby on the end.

I was fishing a big slow bend in the river next to the road bridge reeling in slowly when suddenly the line got tight.

I thought i was stuck on the bottom. i gave the rod a quick yank to free the toby when suddenly this lump of a fish leaped out and headed up stream. After 40 mins playing the fish i eventually landed it 1/4 of a mile upstream. It was a cock fish weighing in at 20 lbs and is still my biggest fish to date.

[hornet]

The first Salmon i ever caught was from the North Esk at Stracathro.

Single handed 11ft fly rod ,the flee of course was a Hornet PBP tube nicked from the box of Neil Anderson who was our fishing guide.

Fishing away and trying to master not hitting myself with a 2 inch tube on the back of the heid i connected with a 13lb solid silver Spring c0ck salmon.

I hooked it in the tail of the Otter Pool where i also got another 12lb Spring salmon from.

Will never forget it

Cheers

Hornet

[lochyfisher]

Caught my first salmon in July 2007 whilst fishing on the river Lochy.
Hooked it fishing the tail of the sluggan pool.{7lb grilse 10 o'clock in the evening}
Great feeling.
Not that its embedded in my mind or anything.

cheers
Dougie.

[tynespeycaster]

1st Salmon May 1966, remember it like yesterday

River Vyrnwy (tributary of the Severn)at Llanymynech above the old railway bridge abutments on the old Bradford Arms Hotel water.

16lb Hen on a big bunch of lobworms freelined on, 12' split cane fly rod by Forshaw's of Liverpool, Mitchell fixed spool reel, remember struggling to adjust the drag on the front of the spool with the fish tearing off down the pool Took a lifetime to land, mainly due to jellified legs etc.

Like to think that I have moved on a fair way since then, others would probably disagree ;D ;D

[tenet]

About 30 odd years ago fishing the Tweed. Spent a week at Tweed Valley Hotel with a couple of days on the Association water at Innerliethan (the only one not sniggling) a day on Traquair and finally a couple of days on Fairnilee.

Wattie took pity on me and sent me up to the top beat. 3rd cast across the stream got taken by a 15lb big red beast with a kype you could hang your coat on. All over the place, reel fell of scrambled up and down and eventually landed the brute. I am sorry to say that the fish was chapped but it was my very first fish and after a night wrapped in damp newspaper looked somewhat better.

My second fish, well thats another story.

Tenet

[W Mair]

My first salmon came from the Don at manor on the fly using a black shrimp fly my mate got that excited that he fell in trying to help me land it it was about 10lbs and as black as coal

[tweedsider]

Sure can. April 1957 first fish on first outing with new 10ft 6inch greenheart trout rod. Size 12 greenwell's glory 3 inch brass reel, would still have been playing it yet if an older angler had not come along with a bit advice. It was pure dead MAGIC.

Tweedsider

[al546]

Three years ago on the Stinchar I got a small grilse on the same stretch of water my father and grandfather caught their first fish on. I was chuffed but i think my old man was even happier! I'd only started fishing since my knee had prevented me climbing and since then i'm glad to say i've spent many happy days in the company of my dad all because of a wee fish!

[speyghillie]

My first Salmon was one of 11lbs, caught on the Methlick stretch of the River Ythan on 19th October 1974. A home-made Black and White Devon minnow with yellow wings was the killer and boy was I proud. My first fly caught Salmon was the following year on the River Deveron on the Community Fishing’s at the mouth of the Turriff Burn. This time a grilse of 6lbs, caught on a Green Highlander low-water single, size 8. I had great pride in cycling home along Turriff High St with thigh waders on, the Fish in one hand and the rod strapped to my bike. I still have both the minnow and the fly!

The first Salmon I intentionally released was a few years later in September 1978, and although in those days, as a skint teenager, I could have easily sold it, I was ‘strongly advised’ that hen fish at that time of year were far better of back in the river.

I caught my first Spring fish on the 21st April 1979 on the Laithers Beat of the River Deveron in a pool called the Lower Heron, on a Blair Spoon. My first Fly-caught Spring Salmon was a year later on the 8th March 1980, again on the Laithers Beat, this time in the Miaggie, and it weighed 17.5lbs – what a fight, caught on a Williegunn waddington. My fishing companion and mentor Jock Masson had decided to go to the pub for lunch as there was nothing doing. Let’s say he was ‘quite surprised’ on his return and the air was blue!! I may scan the photo taken later that evening in our living- room, as I’m sure it would bring a few smiles.

First Springer on the Fly ( Carpet, Wallpaper and Hairstyle not my choice... ;D)



O’ Happy Days indeed – If only we could turn the clocks back, just for a day!

[donfish]

My first salmon was caught when i was working on Grimersta Estate about 20 years ago. The last day of the season was for the ghillies and bailiffs to enjoy and i ended the day with 8 grilse. I had my first on fly a stoats tail tube and i remember the blue/silver toby working well also!!. I have never had a day of 8 again. The amount of fish back then was incredible every tide brought shoals of fish into the system. Some good memories.

[salar76]

In September 2001 I decided that after a few years of sea trout fishing and dabbling with a double hander that enough was enough and that I needed a proper crack at landing a salmon. As events unfolded in America I searched the web for likely looking spots and came up with the Tay. I booked alternate days on Newtyle and Dalguise at the back end of the month.

The river was low and the days long and hot. There was little sign of salar and only one landed between the beats. It was late friday afternoon and I was on my last run down Cottar before the drive back to Sheffield. Whilst reflecting on what had been a wonderful but blank week (first of many!) and with maybe 10 casts left before I packed up, the line was near wrenched out of my hand as the #8 garry dog was attacked by a territorial fish as it came to the dangle.

Pumped full of adrenaline I couldn't believe that this was happening. After 10 or so minutes the fish was beached and the prize was mine. Sadly my camera was down at the Boil and the fish was colouring up. Witnessed only by the Swedish campers who had made the pool their home, I returned the fish and consigned the glorious image to memory.

[hf]

The first time I hooked and grassed a salmon was about 4/5 years ago. I had started fly fishing for salmon around August time (no fly background) and managed to get 5 or 6 takes but didn't land any.

One early evening I took my young daughter to the river and while she read her book on the bankside I fished down the pool. The wind was helpful that night as it cause a slight ripple and helped the fly round on what could be a slow bit of water. Coming down the pool to a cave type inlet the fly was taken on the surface with a splash.

Due to missing out on the other takes that I had had I took extra care and time to bring the 6lb grilse to the shore. (20 min ;D) I wasn't going to lose this one! What made the occassion special was that my daughter was there to see the first one and she also helped in landing it. Two very chuffed people going home that night.

hf

[Speyducer]

First Salmon

Autumn 1979, Cork Blackwater, Eire: - Lismore Assn water

Trout/seatrout fishing: fishing off a high bank, strong narrow flow into a widening pool, most of depth close to me under the bank, widening out to about 12-15’ of good flow, then shallowing across river to a large wide gravelly area perhaps 40 yards across.

9' ledger rod, Garcia Mitchell 408 fixed spool reel, 4lb line.

A few trout came on the worm: My cousin Joe got fed up, and went up to the pub, leaving me to fish on alone.

I netted a few small 'fingerling' dace in the shallows of the pool above - the river had a good head of dace (& very willing to take the trout flies in the summer!) and these were 1-2" long each.

Tried the 'spun dace' method using a size 4 single through the natural dace's mouth, then hooked just behind the dorsal fin, the rather hook lying along the body of the wee offering. Double BB shot.

Fished it as you would for a worm, upstream into the flow, and let it flutter downstream where the current wanted to take it.

Had one nice brownie, around 3/4 lb (kept for tea!). Some casts later, into the fast header stream, I noticed a large surface swirl as the bait progressed, but it was only when the fish moved back to its lie did the line tighten. I didn't know the swirl had been a salmon, but as I lifted the short rod, the resistance was more than I expected, and I pulled some more, and the fish then declared its intentions and ran right across into the gravelly shallows, and leapt clean out of the water about 35 yards away.

Heart in the mouth for the next 40 minutes, as it was difficult to even pull the fish let alone tire it out, but it did decide that holding in the almost fastest section of current was a good plan, and it stayed there for at least 20 minutes with myself just keeping tension on the line. This was a good job really, as my little Mitchell 408 reel had suddenly decided to lose a tooth or two on a central cog within the reel – the one which drives the head & bail-arm around, such that every turn against resistance meant slippage of the bail-arm. However, the fish had only one more large & fast lunging run across into the shallows, but no more leaps; eventually it moved a bit downstream, and in the slacker water, I managed to ease it in to the side. I had to clamber & slide down the 5’ mud bank onto a tuft of earth, and with no-one about to assist, and myself without any form of net, I waited until the fish was on its side in the slack, drew him to my hand, and rather unceremoniously gill-hooked him with one finger, and in one movement, lifted & slung him up over the bank. (I would never do such things now, but needs & in-experience was that mother of that invention!).

When I went to remove the hook, it was simply hooked around what had become a 2cm long and perhaps 2mm wide bucket-handle strip of loose upper jaw lining, and the hook just fell out. How it hadn’t separated earlier was just down to luck.

My first salmon, later weighed at 13 ½ lbs, fresh male but not liced.

It took a some years for me to beat that weight of a salmon, and only once since have I landed a fresh salmon on similar trout tackle with very light line – that was a 10lb fresh spring fish from the Tummel @ Pitlochry on a tiny brandling worm with a #14 hook & 4lb Maxima.

Mike

[builnacraig]

It was a long time ago but it was on the Carron (Sutherland) when I was about 14.

I had been asked up to the river by Ed Laing who fished the lower beat on the Carron every Friday. He knew I was as keen as mustard so he showed me the basics then left me to it for a while. When he was away I hooked one in the Boat Pool, which I think is the lowest freshwater pool.

It was a 7lb very coloured cock fish but I was very proud when I walked back up the field carrying the fish to meet Ed.

The fly I think was a Black Doctor, single hook fished on the dropper. I remember the pool was stuffed with fish and they were jumping everywhere. I remember being slightly disappointed when it didn't fight very hard: ungrateful child!

I even remember my first trout; Lochindorb, trolled fly, when I was about 6.

Builnacraig

[fredo]

Would that be with or without permission to fish?
The first salmon I landed was a coloured hen of 5lbs taken one October on an 18g silver/gold toby.
Early one morning..........

[neptune]

i was 15 year old (1985) 1st salmon was a 3 1/2 lber on the whitty non permit water on a worm chapped & took home
my parents were friends with a balliff, when they got in from the pub that night he was with them, i proudly showed them my fish which the balliff took away with him to get examined & then discovered that the whitty had been polluted by a certain mill
1st salmon on a flee was the same year on the tweed at west ord (used to be a netting station) we (borrowed ;D) the fishermens boat when they went home put the flee in the water & let the current take it, a 2-3 lber landed & returned
we were told if we took any salmon hame oor erses would be kicked to spain & back that was also the start of my c&r

[conwyrod]

June 1980, River Clywd

I caught this 5 1/4lb fish on a silver toby at midday on a falling water. I've posted this picture before and the general consensus was it's a sea trout.



I didn't do much salmon fishing in the 80's, and my first 'definite salmon' was a 5lb grilse caught in September 1988 on a No 2 Gold Mepps from the River Elwy.

The pool I caught it from was literally a 5 minute walk from my back door.

That would make another good thread - who has caught a salmon closest to their house. ;D