So Euan came up for a two day visit partly to help me forget my 46th birthday but also to do some fishing. Trouble is, work has kept me slightly busy of late so it was fortunate that some 'very much at the last minute' fishing came up on the Lower Beauly... how could we possibly say no
Let me get this out here right now. I had fun - that's for sure - but I had three Salmon drop off (two half-arsed takes/not good hook up and another was a 'kit failure') which did kind of piss me off. However, what makes up for it (a smidgen) is taking a mate to one of your favourite places and putting him into fish
So Euan had some sport with the silver tourists.... but I think the tale of the fish from the island is the story to tell.
The island lies in the top of the Falls beat just below Kilmorack dam. I go there frequently, usually to watch people who can't cast/fish/have no talent etc not catching the fish splashing all around them.
It's at the Ghillies discretion if you may/may not fish there but fortunately we were given the blessing to head over. A quick scull across to the island in the wee green boat is always exciting....
What makes it super exciting is knowing that the fish come straight to that spot at the bottom of the dam, and there are nearly always fish to be seen. The first cast is just so... rewarding.
Even better than that is when everything goes... nuts...
Now unfortunately I didn't have much chance to take pics as we were charging around the place watching one of the most aerial Salmon I have seen for - well since we were last on the Beauly - making Euan look older than he actually is. Suffice to say the christening of his 12' Greys was going well.
Now, dear reader, this is where this gets interesting. Well, it did for us. A net is kept on the island to allow anglers who are fortunate to hook something a chance of landing it. There really is only one good spot to land a fish, you need a net and the net was... well... it was smaller than I remembered. Reluctantly, after a hell of a battle the fish came to the net. I have netted a lot of Salmon over the years, it doesn't phase me
too much but when it's your mates fish... well, it's different. The last thing you want is for something to go wrong.
It did. Horribly.
As the net took the weight of the fish and I was lifting it to the side to unhook the fish.... to my horror the handle detonated. With one angry Salmon now free... or it would normally have been. Somehow, I'm not sure how, the handle went one way (attached to me) whilst the net itself sank like a stone. The fish stayed 'up' in the water whilst the net slipped (into the depths) before heading off into the pool at warp speed. Euan looked calm. Well, I told him he did.
I managed to reach the (now very much shorter) net before it disappeared from sight and we tried again.
Success
I think you might say that Euan was one happy bunny...
Successfully returned
The net
We took it back to the hut. It was probably binned. Will we dine on this one for some time
Hell yes
A special fish.
Tell you what though, after two days of hard fishing.... I need a holiday
H
