I have been very fortunate. Over the past eleven months I have spent 23 days fishing six different Scottish rivers for salmon. I like fishing blocks of three days on rivers and often fish different beats on the same river, thereby enjoying variety and a changing scene. As a result, I have fished for salmon on the Spey [Laggan beat], Tweed [Tillmouth], Dee [Park, Commoty, Crathie, Middle Blackhall], the Tay [Ballathie, Merkilour and Islamouth] the Beauly and finally the Halladale.
I have caught 14 salmon in 23 days fishing. I have no view whether this is a good rate of return, or whether I could have been more skilful or fortunate and caught more fish. It sort of doesn’t matter. What interested me more was the whether my experience was consistent with other salmon anglers, and taken over a virtual year of salmon fishing what was this statistic telling me? Sure I was affected by very poor weather on at least 9 of the 23 days. No water at all on the Tweed and the Halladale in May of this year, and then a six foot rise on the Dee in the space of a few hours in early June. Both extremes of weather did little to help me catch salmon on the days I was booked to fish. But over 23 days fishing and 8 separate trips to Scotland, it isn’t always about the volatility of the weather adversely affecting catch rates. To me its about lack of fish.
I then costed the 23 days of fishing and included everything that I could think of, beat booking costs via Fishpal which averaged below £100 per day, accommodation [B and B’s and self catering mostly], Ghillie tips, Airtravel, car hire, food and living costs. The total costs for 23 days of salmon fishing was £8800, which equates to £629 per salmon caught. I was amazed at the amount and especially when the two variables of numbers of fish caught divided by the cost of the trips clearly indicates that catching salmon in Scotland is on the face of it, an expensive endeavour.
There is a big difference between the simple arithmetical cost of catching a salmon in Scotland, and whether it’s an experience that is value for money. This is a more complex issue for me. I really like Scotland, its scenery, its familiarity and welcome, and meeting all those who support the Scottish Salmon fishing industry. I would repeat my 23 days as often as I could, and would return time and again to those same rivers. It isn’t only about catching Salmon, but I do fish to catch fish, it is after all the primary reason I go fishing. Catching salmon in Scotland is at the moment, a challenging pursuit due to the well documented lower numbers of fish in the river systems and so it is with sorrow rather than anger that I make these comments.
It is no surprise then that so many Salmon anglers now combine their trips to Scotland with adventures in Russia or Iceland. The experience in those destinations will be different from Scotland, but in spite of the high absolute costs of fishing these rivers, due to the much higher number of fish caught, the costs per fish is closer to £200 per fish caught. There is a balance in all things, but for the Salmon fishing industry to thrive in Scotland, gaining a clear understanding of the reasons for the marked decline in salmon stocks that run our rivers must continue to be of paramount importance. Any cursory glance at the catch return statistics for the majority of Scottish rivers shows a steep decline in numbers caught.
Too much and too many are dependant on the repeat business of salmon angling in Scotland, and at £629 a fish, that balance may begin to feel that its tipped the wrong way and with it, a whole generation of potential anglers will never want to experience the joy of fishing for Salmon in Scotland. Without the new generation to fill the waders of the current anglers, there is no continuity, no heritage and the raw economics of declining interest are profound.
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