Sep 5th A Fisherman's seat

Out and about today I came across this chainsaw carving which I thought was done by a person at the top of their craft. As a salmon fisherman I would love this piece of garden furniture art but I think you need to back onto a river to do it justice.

Salmon garden furniture art

Jul 29th I should be so lucky

The Scottish government has introduced controversial legislation whereby most salmon caught have to be released but some rivers can keep some. Overall it has not gone down well. My local river is a category 3 which means no fish can be killed, should I be lucky enough to catch one.

Salmon fishing

Jul 9th Different river same result

Went to the River Irvine today with the intention of salmon fishing. However the river was so high and discoloured that fishing was a no go. There is normally a pronounced weir that the salmon have to leap. Today they can almost swim through it as it is so high. The weather had appeared to be ok but there must have been heavy rain up the valley overnight. Problem is this water does not clear quickly. There will be another day, now off to Collenan.

River Irvine

Jul 5th Irvine looking good

With the recent rain the water levels have risen so the salmon should be starting to come upriver. So I cycled over to Dreghorn to get my permit for the River Irvine. On the way back I took this snap, the water is still a bit on the dirty brown side but a nice height so they maybe there.

River Irvine

Jul 2nd The River Doon is no good today

Our monthly fishing trip has been badly affected by the weather this year and today was no exception. The rain had poured all night and indeed all this morning thus the River Doon at Smithston was high and very dirty brown. The river needed the rain to get salmon moving from the estuaries upriver but not today. A fuller report will be posted on my Desmondo's Anglings blog. The river level marker post in the picture showed a water rise of 6 inches from our arrival to departure.

River Doon Smithston

May 9th River Ayr the salmon are moving

The salmon have started to enter the rivers of south west Scotland. There are no reported catches yet for this River Ayr and looking at these conditions it will need some heavy water to get them moving. But they have been seen just upriver from this spot (near Enterkine viaduct) leaping the weir at Stair (the weir features in a winter snap of the day in this blog). Soon be time to dust off the salmon gear.

River Ayr salmon are here