Finavon Castle Bulletin

The continuous wet weather has yet again played havoc with the plans of our night sea trout fishers. Most fish running the river have just kept going, but fortunately this year there have been plenty of sea trout, and we have been able to catch them after each spate. Yesterday, Wednesday 11 July, was no exception, and 4 rods capitalised on a decent run of salmon and sea trout, with six salmon to 11lbs and twelve sea trout to 3lbs caught in Finavon’s pools. The total catch for the season up to 19 July is 49 salmon and 104 sea trout. While the numbers of salmon are about average, it is encouraging to see an extended run of sea trout, with fish of good quality denoting good feeding at sea.

The bigger picture. Reports from the Scottish west coast are of an abundance of sand eels which, were it not for the damaging impacts of sea lice epizootics from salmon farms, one could expect to produce good sea trout runs in local rivers. However, I do hear encouraging signs of improvements from rivers close to where more responsible salmon farming companies are trying to reduce sea lice infestations. My personal yardstick will be the return of the River Ailort and Loch Eilt to its former reputation as one of Scotland’s top sea trout fisheries. I am in no doubt that such a transformation could occur, but that will require a different regime of salmon farming than exists at present in the quiet tidal enclave and sheltered waters of Loch Ailort itself. The removal of open cages in Loch Eilt, where salmon are reared to smolts, should also help return the loch and river to their natural state, with the result that migration of trout to sea can resume.

Milton Beat outperforms the other FCW beats. As has been the norm this season, most of the fish last week were caught on Milton Beat and, extraordinarily, on Wednesday every fish from that beat was caught in Willows. I will write a bulletin blog soon on the subject of Willows and why I think it is such a productive pool. Elsewhere, yet another 20lbs plus salmon was hooked and lost in Indies Pool after a 30 minute struggle. On other rivers, I note that there have been some tremendous catches on the Spey, with, for example, Upper Arndilly accounting for 50 salmon last week, and 35 in the first four days of this week. Another fish of 25lbs came from the Teith at Blair Drummond, and reports of big MSW salmon from other rivers, just as Jens Christian Holst, the Norwegian marine ecologist at IMR Bergen, predicted. Some grilse have also started to appear at Finavon, the condition of which is nothing to write home about.

The last three months of 2012. As we move towards the end of July, and with the last three months of the season to come, the quality of fishing at Finavon will depend on whether or not there are sufficient maturing MSW salmon and grilse returning to the coast. Of course it will also depend on whether there is enough water to bring fish into the river and avoid the coastal nets. It will be interesting to see whether the marked trend for bigger salmon continues, and whether the South Esk produces one of its occasional monsters (anything over 30lbs qualifies!). Certainly there are a good number of fish of 20lbs plus already in the river, but it is a step-up to catch a really big salmon of over 30lbs. As far as grilse are concerned, I do not expect a great abundance, and would love to be proved wrong. One or two of the grilse already caught at Finavon have been pitifully thin, probably because they have been feeding in the NE Atlantic which, in terms of prey species abundance, is patchy at best, and in some places offers only a starvation diet.

MSW fish, the Greenland ‘cornucopia’, and declining numbers of European returners. Irish research scientists studying historical records of salmon caught in the Greenland ‘distant’ fishery have discovered that the number of MSW salmon of European origin feeding in the West Greenland fjords has dropped by 75% in the last thirty years. That is worrying news, and there is now real urgency to find out why that has happened. If, as seems to be the case, European post-smolts and non-maturing 1SW fish are simply not getting to the Greenland feeding areas, there could be a range of causes, including a high level of attrition of smolts soon after they leave fresh water. The simple truth is that smaller fish are more likely to be predated than bigger ones, although there could be causes for reduced numbers, other than predation. Our outgoing smolts are of course vulnerable to the usual suspects (pisciverous birds, seals et alia) but also to invasions of climate change species such as bass and gilt head sea bream, both accomplished predators. You can imagine phalanxes of these predators ringing the estuaries in April and May just as smolts migrate. What chance would our S2 and S3 smolts have of getting to sea past such a cordon? Then there is the unknown impact of pelagic trawlers’ by-catch, where little post smolts may be mangled in the wide-mesh nets and spat out in pieces, just like putting them into a tumble dryer. We urgently need to understand what is happening to our post smolts in estuaries and along the coast.

We should count our blessings. Those of us who are involved in research and management of our wild migratory salmonids are good at giving doom-ridden prognoses on their future abundance. We read the ICES reports showing declining abundance and quality. We read the conclusions of the SALSEA project telling us that European stocks are under threat from the impacts of climate change. We listen to the wise words of the ecologists and ocean specialists who tell us that temperatures, currents, and weather patterns of our oceans are changing.

Mid Atlantic surface feeding by dolphins (picture taken by JMHA from his yacht in May 2012)

Yet, on our own ‘wee patches’, in my case Finavon Castle Water on the South Esk, we live in hope that all these depressing statements and predictions may be wrong. If you are a tenant at Upper Arndilly on Spey in the second week in July for example, with 50 salmon for your week, you could be forgiven for thinking that the scientists are giving us a lot of twaddle. At Finavon, to catch three 15lbs April salmon in spectacular, Platonic-form, condition you might think “well, we don’t have to worry, do we?. But, make no mistake, these facts will not go away: they are with us here and now as the effects of ocean warming march northwards by 23 kms each year. We all need to ‘think globally and act locally’. Never have Sir Patrick Geddes’s words been more relevant.

TA on 12/7/2012

These bulletin blogs represent news about Finavon and the South Esk, and my views as a riparian owner. They are not the views of any other organisation, nor are they designed to promote the interests of any individual or organisation other than Finavon Castle Water and factors affecting the fishery. Tony Andrews

I have never seen the South Esk hold high levels of water so consistently and for such a long period in mid summer, as has happened in June and early July this year.

As I write this bulletin in the morning of Sunday 8/7, the river is fining down to a good height for night sea trout fishing, but it is likely that most of the sea trout have already taken the opportunity of good flows to migrate into the upper river and the high ground tributaries. As evidence for that bit of speculation, I note that Cortachy and Downie Park have started to catch more sea trout. Nevertheless, so far this season we have already caught 74 sea trout in FCW pools, with three over 5lbs. My impression of the 2012 sea trout numbers is that they are similar to recent years. However, the quality of individual sea trout is excellent, which tells us something about the nutritious value of prey they are finding along the coast.

I mentioned in a previous blog that my ecologist friend, Jens Christian Holst, who works at the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen, Norway, predicted that in 2012 there would be some very large MSW salmon returning to the rivers of southern Norway and the east coast of Scotland and England. There is ample evidence that his prediction is correct, with examples of an estimated 48lbs salmon from the Balmoral water, and good fish of up to 25lbs from both Esks. In fact there have been reports of big salmon from many rivers, from the Tyne to the Naver and all rivers between. Unfortunately Jens Christian also predicted yet another poor grilse run. Like all matters concerning wild creatures nothing is ever black and white, so there will be some grilse that have found good feeding in the NE Atlantic, but on the whole we can expect undernourished ‘thin’ grilse, and not that many of them. I would be pleased if his prediction concerning grilse was wrong! In the coming years, as the implications of the SALSEA project work through the system, there is likely to be better predicting of returning migrations of wild Atlantic salmon, in terms of both numbers and quality. The implications of these predictions should enable fishery managers to take informed decisions to conserve fragile populations, instead of the guesswork and delayed actions they depend on at present.

The photo above was taken looking downstream from the head of Marcus House Pool. The left bank is owned by Marcus Estate but is not fished by Marcus rods because of an agreement whereby FCW anglers do not fish the pool below, Breadalbane, in return for exclusive use of House Pool by Finavon rods. Marcus Estate is now on the market and the new owner may decide to retain the current agreement, or revert to the previous free-for-all, where Marcus rods virtually stood on top of the fish while fishing from the rocky north bank of House Pool, and Finavon rods waded through the best lies at the head of Breadalbane Pool.

At Finavon we have caught and released a good number of MSW salmon up to 19lbs. On Friday Alec Towns, who knows Finavon well and is an experienced and skilled fisherman, hooked a very large salmon in Beeches Pool (just above the Aqueduct on Castle Beat). When this great fish took his fly it nearly wrenched the rod out of his hands. He played the fish for half an hour or so, with strong runs down into Haughs Pool below the aqueduct, and, after coaxing it back into the quiet glide immediately upstream of the aqueduct, started to feel that the fish was tiring. By this time he had seen the fish many times at close range. It was fresh from the sea and, judging by the size of its tail and its breadth & length, was almost certainly more than 25lbs. The last moments of contact with this beautiful salmon were spent applying side strain to inch the fish back across the river (no more than 20 yards wide at that point) towards where he was standing about ten yards upstream of the aqueduct. Suddenly there was a loud “crack” as his brand new top brand rod shattered with its second section above the butt broken into two pieces. The shock of the sudden break put huge strain on the 12lbs cast and broke it at the fly. When I saw Alec afterwards he was sad and disappointed because, as he said “it was the fish of a lifetime” lost as a result of an unreliable rod. I sometimes (increasingly often!) toy with the notion of returning to the past to fish with my Sharpes impregnated, spliced cane rods!

Other large salmon have been seen. One, described by Moray as “a dolphin” showed tantalisingly in the smooth glide immediately upstream of Volcano on Milton Beat, was a very large salmon (estimated at well over 20lbs), and other fish of a similar size have been reported from Frank’s Stream and Indies Pool on Indies Beat. As I have fished in the last few days I have been aware of the possibility of catching a really big salmon. They are there, but not in big numbers. Our regular visitor and designer of the FCW website, Simon Walter, who only started salmon fishing three years ago, caught three salmon to 15lbs at Finavon, and a very pretty 8lbs fish at Stracathro on the North Esk, plus two sea trout for his week. He drove South last night, a contented and relaxed man!

In my next blog I shall report on an inspiring visit to the Rottal Burn.

TA on 8/7/2012

These bulletin blogs represent news about Finavon and the South Esk, and my views as a riparian owner. They are not the views of any other organisation, nor are they designed to promote the interests of any individual or organisation other than Finavon Castle Water and factors affecting the fishery. Tony Andrews

There’s been an 11 day gap since I last wrote, and much has happened. The rain just keeps coming and with it the sea trout. We caught 67 sea trout in June which is better than for 8 years. But we shouldn’t use the catch figure to claim that numbers of sea trout in the S Esk are improving because the catch at Cortachy and Downie Park has been well below par. Inshewan meanwhile is plugging away on an average return. It is however encouraging to see that the Kinnaird Beats (near the estuary) are producing good numbers of sea trout, which suggests that fresh fish continue to arrive in the river. It will be interesting to see how long the run continues. In a good year July should be as least as good a sea trout month as June. What can be said is that our 2012 sea trout are in excellent condition. Most of them are female, and healthy and hefty females produce big fat eggs, which give the new generation a great start in life.

As far as South Esk salmon are concerned, we continue to see fresh run salmon and amongst them some very large fish. Judging by the North Esk returns and reports from other rivers there has been a resurgence of MSW salmon, as predicted by Jens Christian Holst, the Norwegian marine ecologist. He argued that good feeding in some parts of the North Atlantic Ocean has ensured that some salmon achieve prime condition. Of course, because these multi sea winter fish stay longer at sea than grilse, their numbers are reduced by predation and other causes. We should therefore not expect great numbers, but we can reasonably expect the fish that do survive to be in prime condition. As an example, Moray hooked a fine salmon in Volcano, which he estimates was well over 20lbs, and that is consistent with big fish reported by CC & DP on the South Esk, and Stracathro on the North Esk, not to mention the salmon estimated at 48lbs reported from Balmoral on the Dee. As yet there are no signs of grilse, although I hear that some have been caught in the nets. With a total of 27 salmon caught at Finavon in 2012 the season so far is about average.

Intensive Agriculture and heavy rain don’t mix! Rain falling on soggy and recently ploughed fields has washed topsoil into the burns, especially the Lemno. Recent digging and straightening of the Lemno Burn above Battledykes have released huge amounts of orange coloured subsoils into the river. At first we thought that late planting of potatoes had made the soil easily lifted by the floods, but now, into July, it seems that the Lemno has become a real problem in the quantities of silt it is now regularly spewing into the river at the Red Brae. The result is that below the confluence the river is running much dirtier than normal, clogging up gravels and making fly fishing difficult for some hours after the peak of the floods. I have reported the problem to SEPA and hope that some bales of straw or similar buffers to silt movement can be placed in the bed of the Lemno channel.

As I write this on the 2nd of  July the River is purling down in full spate. By 6pm today, if there is no more rain, we can expect to be able to fish for salmon in the quieter water of Willows and the Boat Pool with a large fly and a sinking leader. If sea trout are still running it should be possible to pick them up in the tail of the Boat Pool and Willows.

Radio tagging project on the South Esk: The report from the Marine Scotland website shows that, of the 153 fish tagged to date, only 43 have been recorded. Of these, 18 have entered the South Esk and 6 dropped back below the most downstream of the receivers. On the North Esk 17 fish have entered the River and 5 dropped back. 5 fish have been recorded at Almondmouth on the Tay and 3 fish caught by nets at sea. 

Lower Boat Pool

The photograph above is of Lower Boat Pool in high water. This pool is the best place at Finavon to catch salmon and sea trout in spate conditions. The pool is easily waded, even in high water, from the right bank and fish lie across the full breadth of the river from Volcano ‘squeeze’ all the way down to the cauld at the tail of the pool. It is one of those places where the fish come to you!

It is important to note that these MSW salmon are among the less than 10% survivors of the outgoing smolt migration of that year class returning from the marine phase of their lives. With 110 of these 153 tagged salmon unrecorded it is inevitable that there will be some consternation at the disappearance of so many potential spawners in prime condition being ‘lost’ at the very end of their return migration. Where are they? If we think of these fish as representative of the PFA (pre-fishery abundance) of the regional return (from proven mixed stocks ie from a number of different rivers),and apply the percentages from the 2012 stage of the South Esk project to all spring fish arriving off the coast (PFA), it is a reasonable assertion that more than 70% of the PFA abundance is unaccounted for, of which some are possibly lost through predation, poaching and other causes. Real cause for concern; perhaps it is now a priority for us to get our coastal waters in order

TA on 2/7/2012