Alta salmon

[Bloke]

Just thought I would share this with you guys....

[plotter]

wow i want one like that
lovely fish

[Bloke]

...No you dont ...you want one like this !!!!!

[plotter]

'kin 'el now that a fish

[silversalar]

It would be nice if you posted a report and pictures on your experiences on the Alta

[salmonking]

Nice fish,,,,but id rather have a bar o silver than a kipper ;D

[say]

yip, it would have been a beautiful fish when it first arrived.

Still nice to have done battle with such a fish

[Bloke]

Willie..will do
Once again I was fortunate enough to get to fish this wonderful river and apart from fainting at the shock of the Frontiers invoice ( I was a guest four years ago ) count my self incredibly lucky to get there twice...the beat we fished was the Sautso beat at the head of the river, there were four of us sharing the two rod beat in a vain attempt to keep the cost down !
On arriving the catch return book showed 7 fish for the week before to an American party of football players and it has to be said we were somewhat disconsulate at the fact that four years previously we had broken the camp record with 50 fish...it really looked like it was going to be hard work this time........

The view from the lodge into the home pool.

We discussed with the guides the best times to fish ( bearing in mind it is daylight for 24 hours ) and it was agreed that we should do two 4 hour shifts , one at 1100 and the second at 2000. Within 30 minutes we were on the water and armed with a 15' 10/11 rod and 35lb line I found myself casting into the black hole that is Vileneva, one of the deepest, slowest pools on the river, working my sunray shadow by hand across the pool...and then that eternal moment loomed when a very large salmon slowly bow-waved toward the fly and then took it. It had been four years since I had felt the pull of a large fish and I gently lifted the rod. Some fish, or at least it would have been if it had stayed on and I watched as it swam off into the depths...maybe 30 maybe 35 lb, hard to say.
My boat partner Hamish took point whilst I grabbed 40 winks on the river bank ( I had only returned from Japan three days earlier and was jet lagged ) and with his third cast hooked and landed an absolute beauty of 32lbs...sadly I was out like a light and even though the guides were yelling at me just didn't hear them !


At the end of the first session we had netted 5 fish all on a sunray shadow, by the end of the second session we had 8. Spirits were high to say the least and we sat with the guides for two hours ,polished off a bottle of Macallans 10 yo. and broke out a box of Cohiba Esplendidos I had bought back from Habana just for the trip.

The river dropped overnight and continued to drop throughout the week by about an inch or two a day which was not perfect but even so we still managed to clock up 28 fish for the trip, 16 over 20lbs and 6 over 25lb. I had a dreadful day with my pal Pete Locke on Thursday, between us we managed to hook and loose fish fish, but apart from that the Alta more than lived up to its reputation, especially when we heard that a fish of 59lbs had been caught further down the river on the morning we left.

Maybe if my wife hadn't found the cheque stub in my cheque book I might have considered going back if we got another invite but I think my marriage would not survive !!




26 entries to the page...very handy !

[Sloggi]

Good, now you've got the bait, shall we get started ;D

Amazing fish - thanks - the kipper looks thoroughly cheesed-off

[Bloke]

It is unusual to get a fish as dark as this...the guides thought it was a seal at one stage !

[silversalar]

great report
I would love to fish the Alta I would risk getting a divorce just to fish there
I have the book story of a salmon river and its amazing stories ,I have been trying to get the other book alten reflections, as this book is supposed to be better

[waddington]

Looks absolutely fantastic. Thanks for the report. If I was married the other half could threaten what she liked for the chance of fish like that! ;D
Phil

[woodcockandsewin]

Divorce is so expensive because it's worth every penny, much like good salmon fishing.

[greenalert]

Great report, what a place!!!, now where's that internet credit card she doesn't know about

[robbie]

I bet he also kept quiet about all the gorgeous blonde women/girls who speak perfect English, and as a bonus are wonderfully friendly ( They even have stunning blonde girls working security at the airport) ;D ;D

[Bloke]

I have a 25 minute video diary which can be played by VLC media play ( easilly downloaded from the internet ) if anyone is interested...
Mick

[greenalert]

I'd like to have a look Mick

[robbie]

Yes, I would be keen to have a look too please.

[madkeen]

Nice pics and report that's one ugly fish.Divorce never understood how salmon fishers get married seems like a waste of saturdays fishing ;D

[stu47]

Looks a great place,bought a dvd not to long ago, the film was made in 1986,the last year of natural water flow before the hydo was built,great when one of the fishers gets one of 40 pounds,fantastic