Good season or bad season ?

[Rocksfly-87]

Very poor season , no salmon for a second year running. Around 10 decent sea trout up to 3.5lb . Fished various days on the Tay, Dee , Orchy ,Lochy , Cree , Leven ,Irvine . Plenty of hours put in.

Grayling and pike time now .

Next year will not be booking any trips in Advance and sticking to club waters.

 

[Saint Andrews]

Seasons are what you make of them. On my local Ribble there has been a very major reduction in fish numbers still a few have been caught an i've had one or two. Due to a disabled baby I only get to fish very short sessions (30mins here one hour) there which as I live on the river is do able. Iv fished a total 24.5hours (actual hooks in water, not including traveling) and landed 8 so one every 3hoursfishing which sounds good but I fish all methods only at the optimum times. I ve therefore had a decent season though iam concerned for the future

 

[atlanticspringer]

15 days in Scotland on the Tay and Spey - 1 fish
6 days in Russia - 22 fish

The UK has been truly dire this year, no question about it. Thankfully I got my rod bent sufficiently on a visit to Mother Russia.

 

[Grassy_Knollington]

Very little Salmon fishing this year, so a poor season from that perspective.

In 2.5 days fishing in August, I lucked into 1 fresh Grilse off the N Tyne then stopped half way on the 3rd day as the S Tyne was desperately low.

I was gutted I'd missed our family week up north, but in hindsight it was probably the best year to miss out.

 

[reddie]

Tough season on the Bandon. April was very good and it looked to be a promising season ahead but with the drought and flood relief works, it was tough going. Still, regardless of catches, the run of fish seemed to be on a par with recent years. Happy that I got a nice few on the Bandon and managed 1 salmon on the Blackwater also which took a Sunray Shadow stepped as fast as I could... electric!! Nice to get all my fish on the fly also, bar 1 on worm and another on lure.

Couple of photos below.

Bring on 2019.

 

[ozzyian]

nice photos there!

 

[Heero]

Best fishing season I’ve ever had. Didn’t do any salmon fishing tho.

 

[Lancsflyman]

I had an average season in all in number of fish caught for the season.
I had 2 trip on the river Eden & landed 3 & missed 2
On my local river the Ribble was a poor season for me & a lot of others too. I don't know how many times I fished but I didn't get my first fish until the second last day of the season followed by another on the last day of the season.
I would like to say my season average is usually about 6 & I managed 5.
The previous 2 season I had a very good seasons total with 12 fish both years.

 

[uskgrub]

same as the last 4 seasons sh!te and that includes the sea trout. Oh so tempted to put the JC and bucktail away and pull out the fritz and marabou this winter:shocked:

 

[Karl-K]

Awful season for me, only 3 Salmon in the UK.

Awful not necessarily for the lack of fish, but more the lack of opportunity to fish due to the very low water levels.

I've even bought a 2# trout spey rod so that I can spey cast for the brownies and hopefully catch something

A season to forget, but being the optimist bring on next spring, it can only get better - can't it?????

 

[budge]

Not good by any standards but I achieved my target. My first year back salmon fishing after a 17 year sabbatical due to various other hobbies and commitments.
It's been like starting from scratch really but my aim was to fish fly only and catch a salmon which I achieved. I did fish spinner on one of my 30+ trips to the Ribble but was bored after 20 minutes
I've learnt loads and enjoyed every trip, so hopefully next season I can get a few more

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[Allt graad]

I had a pretty good season.
I got 11 fish from about 10, 3 hour sessions between the start of June and the end of August.
I had 4 one day and 3 in the space of an hour another day.

 

[keirstream]

I had a pretty good season.
I got 11 fish from about 10, 3 hour sessions between the start of June and the end of August.
I had 4 one day and 3 in the space of an hour another day.

I'll be up there like a rat up a drainpipe next summer.
How much do you charge to guide???
Well done, that's some hit rate in the current climate.:thumb::thumb:

 

[Allt graad]

I'll be up there like a rat up a drainpipe next summer.
How much do you charge to guide???
Well done, that's some hit rate in the current climate.:thumb::thumb:

Any time you fancy a go on the Kyle just pm me and I’ll be happy to show you the river.
A good excuse to take a day off work and go fishing is payment enough for me :thumb:

 

[Hardyreels]

Theres a few peoples seasons ending today, just seeing how everyone has got on this year considering the less than ideal conditions.
My season started well with an early fish and then just sort of stalled with the lack of rain so i had 1 salmon landed and 6 lost for the year, not great but also not bad considering how dry the coquet has been.
Still full of optomism and will be out on the 1st of feb after the first coquet fish which has been my goal since i was a kid, got the second one this year but still hungry for that trophy.

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If I were only to get one then I'd like it to be that one! What a beautiful catch.

My season may now be ended by weather not by the unavailability of fish or the will to try for them. The fish this late in the year are steelhead trout not salmon. If in fact this turns out to be the end 2018 was perhaps the poorest of the past 15 seasons here for me. If I recall correctly the catch was 25 King Salmon - 1 very large male Pink Salmon the largest I've ever seen at that - 8 Sockeye Salmon - Only 15 Silver Salmon owing mostly to high and dirty water throughout the return - just 2 Steelhead thus far, crossed fingers for a warm spell - only 1 Chum Salmon and a decent number of rainbow trout.

Like you fellows there in your countries all I can do is to wait to see what the coming year brings in both abundance of fishes and conditions in which to try for them.

 

[ArchieL]

Terrible Year for me. Spent good money in the spring fishing the Spey (6 Days + Hotel/House) No fish and Tay (4 days) for 1 x springer . Fishing local river (Forth) in the spring "April" and fished first light when tides were on for 5 days and never seen a splash never mind a take.Never fished in the summer due to weather . Back end fishing was the worst i have seen in 30 years. Booked days i never even turned up for as the previous days fished were so poor. Already booked up for a few days up the Spey late spring however not going to book any other days in advance and if honest i will be spending a lot less time on the rivers and will be going back to the trout fishing. Maybe just me but i do not enjoy just being out fishing empty pools that i know should have fish in them. Also not getting the excitement the night before when i know water heights are going to be perfect next day. Also getting a bit fed up knowing that anything caught at back end is now 99% chance of being a dirty fish. I have also decided to stop buying new rods and reels or latest kit for the salmon due to poor runs of fish and what i know will be less time spent fishing for them, what i have now will do me. Not doom and gloom just reality i suppose.

 

[keirstream]

Not doom and gloom just reality i suppose.

A very fine line separates those beliefs.
I have weaned myself off salmon fishing for a couple of seasons now although I probably still do too much given some of the poor experiences.
A C&R season ticket on the Frandy is a great pick me up for any disaffected salmon fisher from the Central belt.
No water in river?
Go to Frandy.
Too much water in river?
Go to Frandy.
Only element that messes it up is high wind.
When you are up the dogleg you could be anywhere in Scotland, it's just a scene from a highland loch.

 

[Rrrr]

I think that next season i may find some other sort of fishing to fill the gaps in good salmon fishing conditions, rather than flog away with the fly rod on the tyne when its low and gin clear i might buy a small trout rod and find some nice wild brownie fishing somewhere, preferably a river. There are good brownies on the water i fish but not in the numbers to warrant targeting them for full days. I used to enjoy evenings after school in summer with the dry fly on the tyne getting trout so may give that a try. I like the look of these trout spey rods as ive never really taken to casting a single hander as i learned as a kid with a spey rod.

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[ArchieL]

I think that next season i may find some other sort of fishing to fill the gaps in good salmon fishing conditions, rather than flog away with the fly rod on the tyne when its low and gin clear i might buy a small trout rod and find some nice wild brownie fishing somewhere, preferably a river. There are good brownies on the water i fish but not in the numbers to warrant targeting them for full days. I used to enjoy evenings after school in summer with the dry fly on the tyne getting trout so may give that a try. I like the look of these trout spey rods as ive never really taken to casting a single hander as i learned as a kid with a spey rod.

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Another poor 5 year cycle on the rivers and i think the estates will be offering day trout fishing permits + Ghillie services at 20-30 quid anyway. Lots of availability and worried ghillies on rivers now i think.

 

[Rrrr]

Another poor 5 year cycle on the rivers and i think the estates will be offering day trout fishing permits + Ghillie services at 20-30 quid anyway. Lots of availability and worried ghillies on rivers now i think.

I think some of the higher end beats are in a bit of a bubble at the moment and its only a matter of time before people just wont pay the price as it will make more sense to go abroad for better sport as alot of the people that can affort high end fishing in the uk can easily afford russia or norway etc.

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[tomj]

Makes sense and I've done a bit more with the wild brownies this year than previously-been waiting to go up to Northumberland since May but it hardly ever rained that side.
Our mountain lakes are beautiful and I've not seen a soul on any of those that require a bit of a walk.The only problem is that bad conditions for salmon are often poor for the trout, too, and when they are off they are definitely OFF.

 

[Rrrr]

Makes sense and I've done a bit more with the wild brownies this year than previously-been waiting to go up to Northumberland since May but it hardly ever rained that side.
Our mountain lakes are beautiful and I've not seen a soul on any of those that require a bit of a walk.The only problem is that bad conditions for salmon are often poor for the trout, too, and when they are off they are definitely OFF.

I was up at a place called cow green last year which is the source of the tees and i like the look of that place for fishing. Its got small wild browns and is really exposed and remote. Its a resiviour but looks like a good challenge and isnt stocked.

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[ArchieL]

I think some of the higher end beats are in a bit of a bubble at the moment and its only a matter of time before people just wont pay the price as it will make more sense to go abroad for better sport as alot of the people that can affort high end fishing in the uk can easily afford russia or norway etc.

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Totally agree Rrrr. The thing is how does these high end beats or any beat which is paying good money on levies continue to pay them if there is severely reduced income due to unlet days ? I think if i was a beat owner then the worst i would want is to break even. Even the fishery boards may have to reduce levies at a time when they need more money for projects due to poor runs. I recently had excellent fishing in Florida which i spent that years back end Salmon fishing permit money on and i never regretted it,in fact i had amazing fishing which is up there in my top 10 days fishing.. I know salmon runs are cyclic but before when runs were poor the average angler never had as many options to accessible quality fishing abroad so would just fish the rivers in the UK. Changing days and it will be interesting if sad to see how it pans out. We will know soon as surely more and more salmon anglers will start reducing their time on the rivers or pack it in for good due to poor runs.

 

[x-rap]

10 Sea trout and 11 salmon for me. Stuck with the fly rod all season and seems like I did ok considering. All of the Sea trout and 3 salmon came during the hours of darkness, all on needle tubes in various shades, usually black and silver.
The other 8 salmon took cascades in various sizes.
Learnt a lot this year, looking forward to next season, more experimenting with surface lures. Until then I’ll have a go at the codlings on the local beaches or a bit of Piking on the North Yorkshire’s rivers.

x-rap

 

[tomj]

With decreasing runs,increasing costs and wildly unpredictable weather I think the old pattern - booking a beat for a week,reserving accommodation etc then driving for hours knowing that barring a miracle you're pretty much stuffed before you start- has had its day.
It may be a bit like the holiday market before Airbnb and low fares airlines etc; perhaps the way forward will increasingly be estates letting to syndicates or clubs for the season. This would cut the admin no end and guarantee them an annual sum of money. The punter gets access when things are right. OK there would be busy times but some private beats are already pretty over-rodded it seems to me.
I dont know enough about the figures to work out whether it would be do-able financially for a syndicate or club with a controllable number of members
From the fishes point of view it would at least mean that when conditions are poor-usually low water- they are not being endlessly flogged over by rods who have paid and feel obliged to put in the hours