River Moriston
comes on with a bang
| JANUARY and February on
the River Moriston excelled themselves with 12 salmon landed and about
half as many lost.
Last week it came on with a bang and eight made the net along with three being lost. Brian Luxton was the man in form taking five of them and losing one, proving that experience and knowledge of the river plays a big part combined with a touch of luck. Ron Cruickshank started the week off on Tuesday with a cracker of 16.5 lbs take on a black/gold Devon. Later in the day, Stephen Quinn landed a fine 9 lb salmon which fancied a silver Toby. On Thursday Andrew Chastney, until then a trout angler, tried his hand with a rod loaned to him by the estate manager, Annie Girvan. He hooked and lost a salmon but rectified the situation with his first ever salmon, an excellent specimen of 11.5 lbs which came to a red/gold Toby — a happy man. Brian Luxton, with his first cast, took one of 11 lbs right in front of the hut and a second of 8lbs up at the turbine gates. A third at 11 lbs was released by Brian in the interest of stock conservation which is now a real concern for the river’s manage-ment strategy. A bit of self constraint is greatly appreciated and will go a long way in influencing any decision that might be made in the future on catch restrictions. |
Experience
know-how and a touch of luck...
On Friday and early Saturday, the snow
melt in the river kept the fish deep and Brian Luxton elected to step up
to a 4" minnow in the off chance that it would do the trick — two casts
later an 8 lb salmon took the lure.
Unfortunately there were no rods out
on the Garry although I’m sure that there are early salmon running there,
but as there was no-one out we can only speculate. There were a few rods
out on the River Oich but a single kelt in the estuary was the only activity
there.
|
 Further
north a few salmon were taken despite the huge amount of water coming off
the hills and glens. The Helmsdale’s only salmon, of lO lbs, was deemed
to be of farm origin and came off Six Below with two other salmon lost
during the week. Three salmon of between 7 and lO lbs were taken by Brora’s
Northside rods. On the Kyle of Sutherland rivers, the Oykel and Carron
both produced a fish apiece which were duly released.
Kibnallie Angling Club are to hold their AGM in Corpach Hotel on Thursday 11 March at 7pm. Club secretary Bob Murdoch is hoping for a good turnout from members. Committees hold their club together and the best way of thanking them for their often unsung hard work is to demonstrate your support by attending meetings. Rainbow trout fishing on Loch Lochy has
become a mecca for anglers over the last few months due to large numbers
of mature fish escaping in the loch. On the downside, the shore line is
looking like a dump litter is strewn along the beach and as I hear it,
mostly left by visiting’ anglers from the south.
|
These reports are written and compiled byKenny Macdonald and published every Thursday by,
the Highland News Group, Henderson Road, Inverness IV1 1SP,
in the Highland News, the North Star and the Lochaber News.