aint Salmon fishing great!!

[johnmac]

I managed to get down to the Ericht for a couple of hours after work tonight!! I fished the part of the river closest to my house as i was on call and had to be near by. I started at the dump pool (for those that know the Ericht) and fished through down to the bend. I was trying a black and silver (temple dog??) and decided to try a cascade for something a bit brighter...... great idea... fish the two flies!! i thought...which i duely did.....

just as i come to the bend, i decide to wade to the shallow middle and single spey of my left shoulder (something i never do!) because the practise if nothing else will do me good! when low and behold, second cast.... just as i'm about to recast.... a fish around 4lb takes me...... as im lifting to cast it basically gets dragged and falls of the fly!!

A few expletives!! and then i figure he might come back... wade to the left and fish it hard for 20mins but no sign but which fly did it take?? dont know!!

i then fish round the bend and into the fast water under a huge tree which comes down to 6ft from the surface of the water......

nice casts... wee mend and then bang!!!! ;D you wee dancer!!!!
Its a textbook take...... rods at my side....reel screams... gentle lift and i'm in!!!!! YYYYYEEESSSSSSSSSSS

at first it just wallows in the mid current...... then after a minute its off like the clappers down stream, then a change of mind and its back my way..... i follow if along the bank downstream but realise im in bother.....this looks like a big fish for one!! im on 12lb nylon..... and the waters very deep....i.e. over wader depth... and quite fast!! and i'm on my own with no net!! BUGGER!! the fish seems happy just to sot mid water doing not a lot. i get my phone out and call the girlfriend who's a five minute walk away to bring a net and my camera i play on....... 10mins gone and no proper sighting yet... then i see the tail.... JESUS! it looks a whopper!! 15lb at a guess I start to shit myself.... the waters too fast to get it in to tail it.... it wants to go down stream... but i know the tree will catch the 13ft'er if i try to get under it!!! and it takes my girlfriend 20mins to do a 5minute walk!!!

I'm shaking.......but the fish is behaving...... i can already taste the smoked salmon!! then 20mins gone... it makes a bee line for the far bank... i apply pressure but it aint wanting to listen...... it makes it through the fast water into the slack shallows..... its head constantly shaking!!! " Im fu*ked" i say to myself.... and then slack.. fish is off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i shout and scream and say the most amount of swear words i've ever managed in a ten second burst... and as if to get it right up me... the fish cuts accross the current and jumps a few times to confirm that it is a belter!!!! bollox!!!

I'm near tears... and still am!!! girlfriend appears with net and camera to console me!!!

I inspect the flies... the cast is tangled badly.....almost certainly when the salmon was shaking its head..... and probably contributed to its escape!!! and im still not sure which fly it took!!!

I opt for the black and silver thingy...... and fish the single fly.... with 18lb leader!!! right through until dark... but not a sniff!!!!

Six months of planning probably 200 hours of fishing and then i lose it!!! Aint Salmon fishing great fun!!!

there's always Monday!

[madkeen]

Hard to bear John but youre on the right track there allways monday to look forward to.
alan

[johnmac]

cheers Alan! i just hope to god i get one landed before the seasons out!! I dont want this to haunt me for the rest of the year!!

[Fruin]

John,

At least you know you've got the catching bit sorted out.

I once took a full week off work to hammer a spate river that I had never managed a summer salmon from. I guessed the first week in July and hoped that we would get the rain to make it all possible. Most of the week was dry but, as I was on a mission, I fished anyway. The river came up on the Friday and Saturday, and about 6pm on the Saturday I managed to hook a fish that was a bar of silver and definitely a teenager. I had it on for twenty minutes(8lb leader and single handed rod) constantly trying to keep it away from snags on the far bank. I had it knackered and was just about to pull it over the net when the fly came out and the fish was gone.
I threw the rod up the bank, swore a lot, and almost cried.
Still hurts thinking about it

[exerod]

I too know how it feels, the first two I hooked fell off, the first one at the net Still you've done the hard bit in hooking them, better luck Monday!

Andy

[williegunn]

Getting a take is the difficult part.

James AKA Speyvalley lost a big male fish last night after a good 15minutes but as he said "what the hell it was going back anyway".

Keep going it will come.

[JAD]

I know how you feel John. I lost a big fish on the Welsh Dee many years ago and some of the local fishermen said it was at least 25lb I had it at my feet and another fisherman a man I had never met before offered to gaff it for me even though I asked him to wait because he was not finished. He took a stab at the fish with gaff hit the fish on the nose and he was off...........

That was nearly 40 years ago and it still hurts ;D

That was on a spinner now I want one on a fly but this time I'll land it myself

[jollyrodger]

Great story Johnmac. Shame you lost the fish. What I'd like to know is, 20 minutes to do a 5 minute walk....what the hell took her so long!!! She's to blame mate.

[iainjay]

John
Great story,your ahead of me...I've still to hook one!!Keep it going and one day we'll get out of this Rookies Corner.

Cheers

[johnmac]

well guys! heres hoping you are all right! Ive got about 4 weeks then the seasons over!! so i hope to get one before then!!

As for the girlfriend jolyrodger...yes she's a bit slow on the feet..... but i never got the fish close enough to the bank to net in any case! so it wouldn't have mattered!

Im hoping to get up before work at 5or 6am and give it an hour?? but we'll see how keen i am in the morning!!

I wasn't bothered that i lost a big fish..... just the fact that i lost any fish!! A 4lb fish will do me just fine!! Im not greedy! ;D I just need to get one then i'll be off and running......i hope!

[johnmac]

cracking picture Spey valley! Its hard to take this fishing malarkey!! I've never been so delighted and so dejected in such a short space of time..... like i said it wasn't the fact i lost a big fish...just the fact i lost my first fish!! but as you and others have said it gives me a huge confidence boost....... and i'll give it my all until the end of the season!!

and i dont think i'll fish a dropper again! ...... well not until i've landed my first fish.... then i wont be so bothered if i lose another.....

[williegunn]

speyvalley said:

I will say that WG was ready with the net on a few occasions,as the fish came in close,it had one good look at him and ran about 50yards taking his precious Fore n After bunnet clean off his head,it must have been his good looks.

James,
Thanks for jogging my memory, just back from Carron, my fore and aft was where it fell. It is not the hat that is precious but the Delfur badge which is irreplacable.

[robmason]

I can only echo what everyone else has said. Bad luck, but at least you know now you are doing something right. It will give you alot of confidence for the future. Keep at it.

[jollyrodger]

johnmac said:

well guys! heres hoping you are all right! Ive got about 4 weeks then the seasons over!! so i hope to get one before then!!

As for the girlfriend jolyrodger...yes she's a bit slow on the feet..... but i never got the fish close enough to the bank to net in any case! so it wouldn't have mattered!

Im hoping to get up before work at 5or 6am and give it an hour?? but we'll see how keen i am in the morning!!

I wasn't bothered that i lost a big fish..... just the fact that i lost any fish!! A 4lb fish will do me just fine!! Im not greedy! ;D I just need to get one then i'll be off and running......i hope!

I'm the same as you John, I'll be up and ready to fish tomorrow first light. After the rain we had on the Dee valley last week the river has dropped away and should be near perfect tomorrow. I can't wait.
I waited a long time to get my first one on the fly but when you do it's a fantastic feeling. I'll also add that when you do break your duck, a second will follow very quickly.
Best of luck for tomorrow.

[scottyjock]

Thats you then... hooked for life!!! ...welcome to the club.

Hope the next taker keeps a hold.

Are your knees still knockin?

Jock

[johnmac]

Its still painful to talk about!

i just wish to god i'd taken my camera ...first time i've forgotten it...typical!! at least i could have filmed the fight if not the fish!! Sunrise at 6.44am tomorrow morning so i'll try and get an hour in before work at 8am!

The bug has well and truely bitten now! just hope a fish does too!

[macd]

Salmon fishing is simply a case of extended masochism, which makes each success a truimph.

The boys are right, hooking a fish is the success. The victorians and even in the 50's and 60's passed the rod to the ghillie after hooking it. Your efforts are succeeding - getting a fish to take is the whole buzz.

ps. dont listen to any crap about droppers. They are more than worthwhile- a bit of a pain if speycasting a long line, but that aside dont give up on it. There are plenty mishaps with one fly too. How many takes did you get without a dropper?

I have used them for years, with just as many disasters with a single fly.

Anyway, tight lines.

Ross

[salmonking]

CRACKIN STORY JOHN,I LOST 4 FISH OF THE BELT END(NOT IN SAME DAY,THANK GOD),AND FOR A WHILE ALL SORTS OF THINGS WERE GOING THROUGH MY HEAD,CONFIDINCE SHATTERED...
THEN YOU GET 1 AND ALL IS WELL AGAIN,NOW YOU HAVE DONE THE HARD PART,(HOOKING),YOU WILL BE PREPAIRED,NEXT TIME,
EVERYONE LOSES FISH,SUPPOSE ITS PART OF THE BUZZ SO TO SPEAK,CAN HAVE YOU CLIMBING THE WALL THO.