The tug of a big sycamore leaf as it catches your fly in the force of the stream can be a heart-stopping moment. Yesterday our flyfishers at Finavon had ‘sycamore false alarms’ and the real thing in about equal measure. It gets frustrating when false alarms dominate a day’s fishing, sometimes to 100%. But yesterday was a good autumn day. The wind was light, the cloud cover even and, at times, the salmon (plus one fine cock sea trout in full spawning colours) took keenly. The river had held its level well since last week’s mega-spate. The water was running clear, cool and deep, with a tinge of an islay malt (I’m thinking Laphroaig): just about perfect conditions for the fly on Finavon’s two and a half miles of pools and streams. The biggest factor of all was that the river was (and still is) very well stocked with salmon and some residual sea trout. The range of colours and sizes of the salmon is astonishing, with at least five sea liced grilse up to 6lbs and three ‘kypie’ and red cock fish defending their territory with power and aggression. One 15lb cock (easily returned without leaving the river) was hooked in the tail of Beeches on Castle Beat. Everyone who was fishing yesterday reported sightings of big salmon – some very big, I mean well into the twenties – and, I keep reminding myself, the South Esk has a proven record of large salmon. There’s no reason at all why a Finavon rod shouldn’t catch a real monster, especially at this time of year.
Autumn Sycamore Leaf
Our visiting rods, Martin Busk and Peter Veniard, were fishing Milton Beat. They saw big numbers of salmon, especially in Volcano. Their four fish – to 8 lbs – came from Lower Boat Pool and the Flats. They had 5 for their three days, three of which were fresh-run. All the beats fished well, with honours going to Milton and Castle Beats. With 106 salmon and grilse and 117 sea trout caught during this season to date, we have nineteen more fishing days until the season closes. The river is still holding a reasonable level but we will need some rain, not too much, by the middle of the coming week. With last week’s total of 24 salmon and grilse and quite a few sea trout, we are hoping that the quality of the sport stays good, but with salmon fishing you never really know! The encouraging thing about this year is the number of fish in the river, and the continuing trend of a proportion of fish caught in October being fresh-run, silver and carrying those ambiguous biological indicators of freshness, sea lice.
One other piece of news for enthusiasatic river watchers. Yesterday Glynn Howells and his technicians from Farson Digital came to Finavon to install a web cam at Tyndals Pool on Milton Beat. We have positioned the wide angle, exceptionally high quality camera so that you look upstream towards the ‘Armchair Rock’ at the head of Tyndals Pool. The idea is to show people thinking about coming to fish FCW what the river level is and, for those who have not fished the South Esk before, some idea of the size of the river and its energy and streaminess. The webcam produces about 16 frames per second, so you should be able to see the occasional fish as well as moments of embarrassment when anglers get caught up in the trees at the head of the pool (a bit like capsizing your racing dinghy in front of the clubhouse!) When fishing Tyndals don’t forget the world is watching you live on the Internet! The web cam goes live on Wednesday.
People fall in love with the South Esk because of its trees and clear water streams and pools, and the lovely surrounding countryside. It is an intimate river without being so small that there is no mystery in its depths. And the wildlife… well, you need to see that for yourself, from otters, and the occasional marauding seal, to ospreys, kingfishers, watery wagtails, roe deer and red squirrels in abundance. Each two-rod beat has a comfortable hut overlooking the river. What better Christmas present for your partner, fishing mate or family member than three days of complete privacy fishing your own salmon beat at Finavon! If you like that idea why not contact me? 07748 634 658.
TA