THE TOUCAN REVEALED! Last season's deadliest salmon fly finally off the secret list

FLIES FROM A H°w.tot,e

DUCK'S BUM S J Spider

£3.40 FEBRUARY

2012

• DRY-FLY TIPS FOR STILLWATERS

Contents F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

COVER HIGHLIGHTS 8 At long last...

a Spey springer Scotland's king of rivers had always been a cruel mistress to Matt Harris. Until, that is, last spring...

18 Dry-fly tips for stillwaters Dennis Moss comes up with a simple solution to make even the smallest of patterns visible at distance and in poor light

28 Spring on the trout streams Mike Weaver describes the most successful tactics for early sport

34 Back from the dead Jon Beer fishes Loch an Dubh-Lochain on the Knoydart peninsula, where the sea-trout have been rejuvenated by judicious stocking

43 The Toucan revealed! Gary Hillary reveals a fly that caught more than 100 salmon last year

58 Trout on the hovering Spider '»«< Paul Procter tweaks his traditional Spiders using' fluff from a duck's bum

78 Trout in the Galloway hills Finlay Wilson explores the shores of Loch Dee, where the beautiful brownies are testament to the hard work of local anglers

FEATURES 17 Reader holiday

A chance to join Eoin Fairgrieve on the River Tweed this spring

32 Have your say Andrew Graham-Stewart urges readers to respond to a new Scottish fisheries bill

48 "Do you mind i f Hans-Diedrich joins you?" Chris Newton finds a night's sport with the sea-trout compromised in the name of international relations

51 River Deveron Festival 2012 A date foryour diary

66 Sea-trout on the Castletown River Chris McCully explores inexpensive association water

70 And here's one called Edward Convenience and a language barrier led Edwin Oxlade to accept the christening of his most successful pattern

REGULARS 14 NewsReel

The latest from the world of game-fishing

22 Reader offer A salmon-fishing kit for only £99.99

23 Letters to the editor Your views on game-fishing matters

40 The Seriously Big Salmon Club Catch a 20-pounder in 2012 and join our exclusive new club

52 Salmon-fishers' surgery Your fishing questions answered by Crawford Little

56 Subscription offer Subscribe for 13 issues and receive an Airflo Delta fly-reel

65 Propertywatch Derek Bingham has news of houses with fishing for sale

74 What's new? The latest tackle reviewed

76 Fly-tying Our pick of the best new fly-tying materials

84 Casting about Fine stuff that peppers this game-fishing life

88 Crossword competition 20 Cortland Trout Boss fly-lines to be won

89 Fishing reports The latest news from the major rivers and stillwaters

106 Last cast Giles Catchpole fears for ourfisheries after last year's driest spring for a century

107 Next month Find out what's in the March issue

COVER PICTURE: Fishing Loch Dee, in Dumfries & Galloway. Photograph by Euan Myles.

1 J U

Matt Harris is a professional photographer whose fly-fishing images from all over the world have won numerous awards. His first book, featuring some of the world's great fly­fishing destinations, is due out late this year.

OST SALMON-FISHERS are familiar with the late

Richard Waddington's oft-quoted line, asserting that the mighty Spey is "the king of rivers". Waddington infamously dismissed its rivals, labelling the Dee as "trivial", the Tay as "lacking in fish" and the Tweed as "tedious".

Devotees of the beguiling waters of Middle Blackhall, Islamouth or Birgham Dub might have a few words to say to the opinionated Mr Waddington, but I suspect we all secretly know what he was getting at. The Spey's majestic stream - the fastest-flowing of all Britain's major watercourses -

offers the most tantalising fly-water imaginable. Watching the fly coming round at that lovely, lively lick that the Spey affords, it's hard not to concede that the river is truly peerless as a salmon river.

Despite the river's recent mixed fortunes, a good pal of mine, Rod Murray, has remained faithful. Rod has endured a long and sometimes torrid love-affair with the Spey, and when I mischievously hint at the fabulous salmon fishing to be had on Russia's Kola Peninsula, he defends his beloved river fiercely, pointing to the big silver stunners that come from the Spey each and every year.

Rod has invited me to fish the Spey a couple of times, and despite the fact that I seem to catch my fair share on other rivers,

the Spey has been a cruel mistress. We always have a great time, but my visits invariably seem to coincide with rising water, a falling barometer and all those other infuriating factors that normally spell doom and gloom for the salmon-fisher. I've hooked a few fish, mainly by ripping a Sunray Shadow across the top, but after a total of six days of hard fishing, I'd yet to land a Spey fish. As I've executed that umpteenth cast, I've even once or twice found myself muttering that life's too short...

I've caught plenty of salmon elsewhere: I can throw a decent line, and I fish hard, believe me, but I'm a trout-fisher at heart. When I'm confident that I know what the salmon want, I stay with it, but the Spey has driven me to go through my repertoire: a big

"The Spey has forced me to go through my repertoire of flies: a big

10 I Trout and Salmon I February 2012 To subscribe: www.greatmagazines.co.uk/troutandsalmon

box of tricks gleaned from fishing up and down my beloved Kola peninsula in every type of water — high and low, warm and cold. Huge Sunray Shadows, raked across the surface at high speed, gleaming little Red Frances patterns on tiny gold hooks, hitched micro-tubes and big nasty Snaeldas fished deep and slow. While the Russian salmon are often obliging, the Spey fish remain singularly unimpressed.

Rod always tells me to stop "faffing about" - just fish "light", he counsels: small, sparse, fluttering flies - predominantly Cascades - on long leaders with light sink-tips to get the flies in front of the fish. The Spey fish are - apparently - more than happy to come up to the fly, but, at least when I'm involved, no one ever seems to remind them of this fact.

Last year, Rod suggested I join him for a few days in spring to fish Beats Three, Four and Five of the lower Spey's celebrated Gordon Castle Brae Water.

Mindful of the wretched luck -if that's what it is - that I seem to endure on the Spey, I thought about making my excuses but, well, that lovely, lively water, not to mention the thought of a few pints and one or two hefty drams with my pal was simply too hard to resist, and soon enough I was wrestling my rods off the carousel and driving out of Aberdeen airport.

A few days' fishing with Rod is always a genuine pleasure - 1 don't know anyone who embraces the ful l Scottish salmon fishing experience with more gusto. He is always ful l of enthusiasm - he's the first to spot that the river is

dropping and clearing, the first to see that gleaming 20-pounder leaping in the pool below, and the first to hail the rising barometer. He's also the first to suggest to the barmaid that perhaps our pints of 80 Shillings might just need a couple of doubles to keep them company, and we're invariably the last ones to stumble out of the bar of the Gordon Arms Hotel in Fochabers.

Not for the first time, nature conspired against us. First the wind blew mercilessly, making fishing virtually impossible for the first afternoon, and then, predictably, the rain came, pushing the river up and staining it a wretched shade of oxtail. Rod was stoic, and rather than resorting to the hut and the bottle of local produce therein, we fished hard through the storms

Rod Murray fishes down Lower Ewe pool in rising water.

box of tricks gleaned from fishing on my beloved Kola peninsula"

To subscribe: www.greatmagazines.co.uk/troutandsalrnon February 20121 Trout and Salmon I 11

AT LONG LAST -A SPEY SPRINGER <»>w

A lunchtime dram in the hut, and a good time to mull over the morning's events. Cascades, preferably lightly dressed, are deadly in spring.

and the rising water. However, in truth, I was beginning to suspect that the Spey "hex" was at work yet again.

Over three days, even allowing for the adverse conditions, we fished down some beautiful pools — Ian Tennant, the Brae Water's head gillie, is ful l of enthusiasm, and his Beat Three is a joy. The sparkling, streamy water below the croy at Lower Ewe, the stunning Red Cliffs of Lord March and Allt Dearg, and the classic Otter's Cave are all a delight to fish. I also enjoyed the special privilege of fishing with Colin Reid, one of the Brae's great gillies, now retired. Colin is an absolute pleasure to spend the day with. His eyes twinkle with an insatiable lust for life and perhaps just a hint of mischief, and fishing down Lower Allt Dearg on Beat Four while he regaled me with a million great stories from days gone by made for a very special afternoon and one I w i l l remember for a long, long time.

After three tough, fishless but hugely enjoyable days and three long nights knocking back far too many of the local malts with the Brae gillies and local spey-casting legend Ian Gordon, Rod was obliged to head back to work in Edinburgh. Luckily, I'd managed to get four days away from the office, and on my last morning I woke to find the river falling and clearing, the barometer rising and a warm, soft day basking under a cloudy sky. At last!

I met up with Beat Five's incumbent gillie, Blair Banks — a bright-eyed young gun with a Spey-cast to die for and an infectious passion for the sport.

12 Trout and Salmon I Februmy2oi2

Blair is instantly likeable and he displayed utter confidence.

"We'll get one this morning," he beamed unequivocally, and his enthusiasm was irresistible.

After enjoying a quick tour of stunning Gordon Castle, where wall-mounted casts of behemoths like the fabulous 40-pounder killed by Lady Bernard Gordon Lennox in the Eskil pool in October 1911 attest to the river's great past, we headed for Beat Five. As we wandered down to the classic Dipple pool, I chatted to Blair, who was clearly not one to entertain any hint of pessimism: "Ye've nae excuses t'day, Matt!"

Some days are special. With a warm, soft drizzle

enveloping us, I worked my way down the long pool, sending the sparse Cascade double out across the clean, clear water, employing my favourite snake roll and just feeling utterly content to be fishing down such a beautiful piece of water.

When it came, the draw wasn't really a surprise. A classic long, weighty pull that drew the loop away from my fingers and set the big Charlton reel ticking sweetly before I even lifted the rod. The fish bulldozed out into the current and frisked in the soft grey light, cart-wheeling a couple of times before twisting off downstream, its lithe form flashing silver beneath the surface. The fish used the powerful current to put some distance between us, but gradually the deep bend in the 15-footer started to take its toll. Blair came calmly down with the net and finally I was looking at my first Spey salmon - a sparkling beauty of 9 lb, replete with a tattoo

of sea-lice that marked it out as being fresh in with the tide.

Blair looked thrilled as he held the gorgeous creature up for my camera. "What did I tell you?" he grinned - and as we watched the exquisite fish set back out on its journey upriver, I knew that I was grinning, too. Blair urged me to get back in - "There'll be another there, for sure" he counselled -but just for a minute it was enough to sit back in the soft rain and enjoy the moment.

I fumbled out my mobile phone and sent Rod a text -"9 lb. Sea-lice!" I knew he'd be as happy as me - j t f j * * ' ' . he's that sort of bloke.

F A C T F I L E ® For availability on the Gordon Castle Brae Water, contact The Estate Office, Gordon Castle, Fochabers, Morayshire IV32 7PQ. Tel: +44 (0)1343 820 244. Fax: +44 (0)1343 820 244. Website: www.gordoncastle.co.uk

To subscribe: w\VTv.greatmagazines.co.uk/troutandsalmon

"The fish used the powerful current to put some distance between us, but gradually the deep bend in the 15 footer started to take its toll"