[Hamish Young]

So Euan and I were determined to get a couple of days fishing in after the silver tourists. I also really wanted to put my MacKenzie DTX-Atlas 13'7" rod through its paces, a rod I felt would blend very well with the Barrio ISS.
With availability issues where I wanted to go I pulled a last minute idea out the hat so it was way down the glen we went. Every now and again I believe we each get 'that feeling' and on Friday I felt very sure we were going to connect. Twenty minutes or so after starting I had a good solid pull which got my heart rate up a bit. Very next cast a truly banging solid take and the line started flying off the reel. Euan legged it back to the hut and picked up the net and after a stonking battle from the fish he skilfully netted my first Salmon of the day and my first Salmon in two seasons (I didn't get one last year after our wee boy came into our lives).
I was just beside myself with happiness as I think photo #1 shows



Once the fly, hook and leader was all checked I started again and.... well.... twenty minutes later it all happened again. A banging solid take and a silver bar leapt into the sky and tail walked across the pool, heading back towards the sea at a hell of a rate of knots  The drag on my Hydros V reel got more of a work out and the Atlas rod bent deeply into what was another cracking spring fish. After a great fight the fish was again netted by Euan and released back just like the first one.
Fish number 2:


We stopped for a quick slug of something interesting from Euans hip-flask, but before that I think I might have been just a wee bit happy about my day



To be honest, by this point, I had done the double. It's been a few years since I had two fish like that in quick succession (or at all ) and I was undeniably very much in 'smug mode'. We swapped my ISS line on to Euans rod (he can talk about that later) and I fired on a Mackenzie float/inter shooting head. I had an extra strong mint. Maybe two... then started again at the top of the beat. Working my way down the pool again I was dumbfounded when the rod bent over again and a third fish raced towards the sea This third fish led me a merry battle and was very determined indeed. Again though Euan did a grand job and managed to (just) net the fish. I say just as the mesh in the next (provided by the fishings) gave way and the fish was partly in and partly out of the net as I came to release it.
Fish #3:


We carried on and one of the bailiffs came down for a chat. He and I chatted for an hour or so before I started again with Euan coming down the pool behind me. Shortly there was (to my great delight) a shout from Euan. I looked upstream and there he was, rod bent well over and the fourth fish of the day doing battle. By this time we had already tracked down a net less likely to do the releasing for us and once fish #4 for the day was ready I managed to slip it into the net and Euans first Salmon of the season was landed. I think he was more than a wee bit happy



All four fish were banging fresh and in superb condition, cracking spring fish. It was one of those days that you'll just never forget.

Unfortunately day 2 on the River Ness was bloody cold and bloody windy and we caught nothing, but that's Salmon fishing for you 

H

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff Hamish

[Marc Fauvet]

 

[Colin Sunley]

Great stuff Hamish only slightly green

[Hamish Young]

It was a red letter day for sure 

Now figuring out if I can edit all the video Euan took into something shorter and less 'sweary' 

[Jeff Donovan]

Brilliant  Well done to you both.

[Iain Cameron]

It was a red letter day for sure 

Now figuring out if I can edit all the video Euan took into something shorter and less 'sweary' 

I think I'd pay to watch the sweary version

[Rob Brownfield]

Jealous!! Jolly well done indeed

[Sandy Nelson]

An awesome day out.....

Nice........

Sandy

[Allan Liddle]

Soooopeeerrrbbbbb well done you two, bet you've still got the grin on yer face today 

[Hamish Young]

.... bet you've still got the grin on yer face today 

Yup 

[Noel Kelly]

Great stuff guys well done.   

[Euan Innes]

I have been away with work since this trip north so this is me getting round to adding to the report.
First of all I will recall a story about a certain football radio reporter. Back in the days when I was a soundmixer, Jim Spence the Radio Scotland reporter and Dundee United fan was at a Dundee derby game and when Dundee United slammed in the third goal in the first half, he ran over to my sound desk, grabbed me by the shoulders and shouted "this is better than a wank!"
That sums up that Friday in a nutshell. 
Fish were porpoising in the rip between the river and the loch all day and a porpoising fish is a taking fish. The channel is deep and the fly needs to get down quickly so an extra fast sinking polyleader is a must. The line I got with my Shakespeare Oracle (more on that later) was too light for the rod and was making life difficult so after Hamish's second fish I blagged his Barrio ISS and suddenly life improved. I will also say that it had been a very long time since I had done any serious spey casting so a combination of rust and lines that were not 40yd double tapers, it took a while to get back in to the swing of things. The ISS is a fantastic line and sails out a very long way when you get the cast right, even with a sinking tip and by mid afternoon, with some great instruction from Hamish, things were coming together at last.
The sun was coming straight down the pool just before tea time but when it moved round a bit more and the left bank got some shade the action started for me. Second cast from outside the hut, further upstream from where we had been told to start, and the water exploded and the end of my line headed for Inverness. For various reasons it had been a long time since I had been attached to a salmon but the thrill had not disappeared. I have hooked salmon but not landed any of them since I stopped getting invites to beats on the Dee when I left the tackle trade and attempts at fishing for them became fewer and fewer.
The photo of me with that lovely bar of silver is a first - not the first fish but the first photo of me with a salmon that is still alive as all previous catches were chapped on the heed. I felt really good putting it back which answered any self questioning about what I would do if the day eventually happened. Just need to do it again soon!
The Shakespeare Oracle 14' #9 was purchased from John Norris last year for the princely sum of £48 (half price sale as the new models came out).
It is a very good rod for the money and combined with a good line, ISS, was quite capable of chucking out 35yds the next day on Dochfour. It handled the fish without a problem. I am looking at Mackenzie rods though....

Without doubt the day belonged to Hamish and the rewards for hard effort can be seen in the photographs. Salmon are caught with determination and consistancy, casting time after time perfectly and getting the fly to where they can see it. H didn't let up all day and the reward of three cracking fish was well deserved. Bravo Sir! 


Fish number two

Dochfour the next day had a brutal downstream wind that had 3" copper tubes perilously close to heads in a chuck and duck type of day. The beat is fantastic and I, we, will go back but in less Arctic conditions. Wading is good and the lies are accessible but long casts are required. ISS to the rescue!

So my interest in salmon fishing has been re-kindled and I am about to spent a large amount of money on stuff for making tube flies - business as usual! It might take a while to get another salmon, and I know another day like that might be a decade away but I am dead keen again to get out after the tourists, especially as it is way better than masturbation. 

 

[Marc Fauvet]

but I am dead keen again to get out after the tourists, especially as it is way better than masturbation. 

     

[Eddie Sinclair]

Well done you 2. Cracking fish and a cracking day out.

Eddie