Yesterday I thought that today’s blog would be about summer salmon fishing - surface flies and all that. This morning it is 3⁰C, windy and grey; we lit the fire early and pre-breakfast coffee and the usual discussion on daily tactics took place close to the warmth, not as yesterday on the sunny veranda.
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| Tactics by the fire |
Although the summer fishing blog has been shelved for a few days the water temperature yesterday was 15⁰C and a few rods tried fishing flies right on the surface with encouraging results. Overnight the water temperature has dropped back to 12⁰C and with the cold air and a chilly feel to the day almost everyone has opted for intermediate tips and a fly that will get down a bit.
We had an excellent day at Middle, Jean V is our new rod this week and Terry soon had him casting well, he lost three salmon almost at the net before landing his first. A cause for celebration last night, not that we needed any excuse as we landed 143 fish for the day which in itself was reason enough to raise a glass or two.
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| Jean V and Terry with Jean's first salmon |
Hugo M and Gregoire de S are dedicated fishers of a single handed rod and yet again showed us that you need not be intimidated by a large river. They landed 32 between them, all on single handed rods. Top scorers for the day were Doug U and Ian S who had 49 between them by dinner, with Clarkes Corner yielding the lions share. Getting to the 50 milestone became important so after dinner we took the boat down to Party Pool where I have to admit we struggled a bit to get that last salmon as the air temperature at that point had started to drop like a stone. Doug finally picked one up right on the tail of the pool and we motored home a happy and content team.
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| The 50th fish for Ian and Doug |
Over at Kitza Richard G and his group of seven had a cracking day with exactly 70 salmon on the bank, Ian B had his best day ever with 19. Tom reported the water temperature at 11⁰C and intermediate tips are the setup of choice at the moment on Kitza.
Pana exceeded all expectations; Charlie T and the team of eight had a bonanza landing 141. The salmon are now spread right through this long section of river and on the float trip David C and Paddy V caught 26. The salmon are continuing to pour through here at Middle Camp and prospects for Pana, some 60 miles above us, continue to look encouraging.
Christopher Robinson
