Back end Salmon fishing in the UK
November marks near enough the end of all Salmon fishing in the UK for the year, although there are still the odd river legally open, most fishers will leave the fish to spawn. My last trip out is usually no later than mid October and this year was no different, calling an end to my season on the 10th October. The week before the 10th was fantastic though, a real joy of landscapes, colours, water conditions and of course the odd angry cock fish pulling at the fly.
The amazing thing in the Autumn is that the pools will never have as many fish as they do in them right now, secondly the cold weather, nearing of spawning time and usually some fresh water coursing the rivers switches the fish in comparison to those dog days of summer. That aggressiveness the Salmon have gives way to smashing takes and some tough fights. We went up to the River Dee for the week and fished various different beats which were available on Fishpal, I think the Dee is my favourite river and after a difficult season, I hope things improve next year. It's mix of perfect fly water, great clarity, gorgeous surroundings and being stuffed full of wild Atlantic Salmon makes it a hard recipe to beat.
Above: Dess beat on the River Dee coming down off a spate
Above: Tali with a big Hen fish after an epic battle Our tactics for the week were generally deep and slow - classic back end set up. A lot of the conditions we faced were rising and falling levels making for incredible times of decent sport and times where it just felt dead.. Uncommon for the Dee, I used a triple density sinking line and heavy tip/fly. This set up had me on the bottom a fair few times which is also why it's not often an advised set up for fishing the Dee. However, through perseverance of using this set up and trying to miss known snags on the river bed and the shallower areas, I developed a retrieve from mid cast which resulted in a fair amount of action. Having the belly of the line coming round and then starting some fast, short pulls, I believe the fly would be close to the bottom before racing off both up through the water column and at a fast speed, this led to some great induced takes. Not every fish would come in as it's common to hook them in the top lip this way or not at all as they grab the fly but miss the hook.
Above: A rare fresh October Grilse which fell to the Red Francis fished as mentioned earlier. The fights from these October fish can be amazing, made all the better from a fish that doesn't want to leave its lie, as well as the fact there's more water on the river than summer time and when you finally get its head up, its in the powerful flow and pulling line off down stream. Fish are on the move at this time too and when hooked, I feel they're less inclined to stay in the pool, the largest fish I got hold of was this 36 inch cock fish who ran out of our pool up 4 inch deep rapids with its back out of the water and away in to the next pool, incredible.
This was my last cast of the season and a fitting end to a great year, now I have the memories and the excitement of what's to come next year. I need to sort out all my own tackle but I'm also planning on developing some fresh products for the business so keep your eyes peeled on that. Lastly, can I just say thank you for all your support and buying the JPS range of tackle, it's been great to hear from you all and I'm looking forward to what's in store for everybody here on out. Only 2 months to go and we can fish the Tay! Until then, enjoy some Grayling fishing if you're getting out for that. Tight lines, James
