FAA water is renowned for its unpredictability, whether it be the extremely fast rate of rise, the taking times of fish or the rate of fish progressing through our stretch in low and high water conditions.
This year has been no exception and could possibly go down as one of the strangest in record. Very few fish were seen or caught for the first three months, then they began to run but went quickly through FAA to the private beats leaving many members frustrated with the lack of catches.
This month, fish were seen and caught in good numbers and following the latest rain storms in early July, huge amount of fish were seen moving through but this time, slowly. This gave members and visitors alike great sport with some big fish taken and many returned. FAA still enforce the one fish a day policy and some lucky members were returning two, three and in one case four fish in the one day. Water continues to run high so the good times are back for the next two weeks anyway. It would appear that similar catches are being recorded in all rivers but from information gathered, the high beats of the Findhorn are showing huge returns on a weekly basis. Fish were plentiful in all the FAA pools and catch numbers are no longer possible to identify and we can only wait until the season returns are calculated to confirm this year’s catch.
It was welcoming to see a very favourable report in this month’s Trout and Salmon on Mr Ken Walker, owner of the Tackle Shop Forres who has taken time to build up not only a good stock but a companionship with members and visitors alike. Any potential anglers wishing to fish our waters would be well advised to make contact with the shop for advice when purchasing their permit.
