The Findhorn continued to be affected by the summer long drought conditions that affected all of Scotland with only a couple of small rises in water levels experienced since the last report, the biggest rise in recent months was last week (Monday 27th August), when the river rose 7”.
The Association water was fortunate in that fish entered our pools and did not (or could not) make their way upriver, as a result catches in August were fairly steady with those prepared to be on the water early morning or late evening enjoying some good sport with mainly grilse and the odd salmon. Small flies and light tackle appeared to be the tactic of choice for the more successful anglers. The hitch fly also enjoyed considerable success for some.
Several visitors experienced our waters, both regular and new, most appeared to be successful and we have received several favourable comments regarding the fishing and the warm welcome they received from the members. Successful visitors included Charles Schmidt, James Holder, Pat Holton and George Ritchie. Local members that enjoyed good catches during August included David King, Craig Brown, Ian Kelly, Steve Pannell, Campbell Ross and David McMichan.
Special mention must go to one of our keen junior members, James Hair, who enjoyed an evening’s fishing where not only did he manage to land his first salmon, he quickly followed it up with another! I am sure that this will be the first of many for James who is a very keen angler.
Those fortunate enough to be on the water immediately after the rise of the 27th August experienced some good sport with several anglers enjoying catches of 3 or 4 for their day. Barry Stables, Craig Brown and Geoff Holloway all fell into this category. Paul Niven from Alness fishing on a day ticket had some great sport catching 6 salmon and a few sea-trout for his day.
The club continued to offer casting clinics to junior and beginners as well as the local Explorer Scouts, many thanks to Tony Watts, Glyn Phillips, Mick Coughlan, Steve Pannell, Campbell Ross, Chris Worthington and Geoff Holloway for giving up their Friday evenings to assist. Thanks as well to the Explorer Scouts, not only did they show great promise with the rods, they also cooked a mean burger which was well received by the volunteers!
As I write this report, the season is fast disappearing with just over 3 weeks left of the season. There are still plenty of fish in some of our pools, admittedly quite a few are colouring up, but it would appear there are still some fresh fish entering the river off most tides. The river and fish could really benefit from an increase in water levels, let’s hope we get a rise soon, which hopefully will increase sport in the final few weeks
