Salmon, is it skill or is it luck?

 

 

 

Summer of 2012, I took a good friend (Billy) for a days Salmon fishing on the river Awe, the Inverawe beat. Billy is a very accomplished Trout angler, He is quiet, patient and cunning and has out-witted many a Brown Trout over the years.

We have had many a laugh on the hill lochs throughout the years but today was going to be different, or maybe I will have a giggle at his expense, he has never fished for Salmon with a double handed fly rod before. I on the other hand have been fishing with a double handed rod for years, I have fished this river for three days each year for the past 5 years, the previous year I had three fish on the bank, best one weighed 16lb and lost another MONSTER! (the ones that get away are always monsters)

 

 

 

On arrival at the water it was a bright start to the day and it looked as if it was going to remain that way, there wasn't much water in the river, not good conditions. There you go, I've started to make my excuses already in the event that I catch nothing.

Anyway, I took Billiam down to a nice simple pool for the whole morning to practice on, there wasn't anything around him that he would catch his line on when he was thrashing the water to a foam. I showed him firstly how to Spey cast and then to Double Spey. He was doing a great job of getting to grips with it.

 

By mid day he was doing just fine, so we decided to go and have some lunch before heading higher up the beat to where the river passes through a gorge, this would confine the water flowing and it was in the shade of the sycamore trees.

 

We made our way up the river and I started Billiam at the head of a narrow deep pool with a rock face on the far bank, I continued up the river to the long pool upstream of Billy. I had to sprachle my way  up the bank through low dense scrub to the head of the pool. On arrival at the chosen spot I released the fly and let some line out. As soon as my fly hit the water there was a yelp from down river and when I looked up the top of Billiam's rod was bent over, he had a thumb up in the air and a big grin on his face.

 ''I don't believe it'', he's only gone and hooked a salmon on his first outing with a Salmon rod, So now I had to sprachle back down the river bank to help him.

 

The fish put up a long and hard fight at close quarters but finally it came to the net.

 

This has to be the most perfectly proportioned, fresh run, hen fish of 14lb's that I have ever seen on this river, and what makes it worse is that it wasn't mine!

 

His first outing for Salmon with a double handed Salmon fly rod during probably the worst weather and river conditions possible, and within ten minutes of starting he had a fish, He has every reason to look pleased with himself in the picture, Well done Billy!

 

Billy had a laugh at my expense!

I didn't catch anything!