Tales from the riverbank

DOMINIC ROSKROW discovers the delights of fishing – and swimming – in the Spey

They say that the key to salmon fishing – even at novice level – is patience. Providing you're in the right river and you're prepared to wait, sooner or later you will encounter a game fish or two.

And it's true. After two hours in the Spey recently I had my moment. Unfortunately it happened as I was trying to get out of the river, and the beast, probably spotting my vulnerability, crashed into my legs and left me up to my neck in the river with my waders filling with cold, clear, Spey water.

It is possible that my recollection of the event is inaccurate. Witnesses, including our guide, ‘Willie the ghillie', maintain that my salmon was in fact a slippery rock, and it didn't assault me as much as I stood on it.

But whatever the true facts, nobody can accuse me of failing to immerse myself in my subject matter. For the second time in recent months I found myself on my back thinking of Scotland.

I was in the Spey as guest of whisky distiller The Macallan, and my two hours of standing in the river while nature went through its repertoire weather-wise provided an insight as to how the environment is looked after in Scotland these days.

Scotland has always had a lot of nature, of course, but until a few years back it seemed it spent much of its time hunting it. These days conservation is key to everything that the likes of Willie the ghillie do.

He might be on hand to help you catch salmon, but his job is to look after them too. He shows genuine anger when he talks of ...

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• By : Dominic Roskrow
• In : Editor's View
• Issue : 10
• Page : 3
• Words : 652