This is an article written by Arnot McWhinnie to appear in local press about recent Tay Ghillies activities.
The Tay Ghillies Association has held a double presentation to celebrate the capture of a monster salmon and to help protect the river's stocks. PRESENTATION NO 1 was the handing over of the coveted Redford Cup awarded annually to the angler who catches the heaviest salmon from the river on its famous Opening Day, January 15.
PRESENTATION NO 2 was the gift of £4,300 worth of sophisticated monitoring equipment to help Tay Board bailiffs catch poachers.
The fish was carefully unhooked, photographed in the net, and as the new catch and release law for spring, dictates, was carefully returned to the water.
Legendary Ballathie ghillie George McInnes, one of the founders of the Redford Cup, made the presentation along with Robert Jamieson, of the Blairgowrie tackle shop, James Crockart and Son, who every year donates a £250 tackle voucher to the winning angler.
The Redford Trophy, which was first won in 1986, is named after the late Ian Redford, former co-owner of the river's Newtyle beat, who was much respected throughout the whole river.
The Tay Ghillies are the new custdodians of the Cup, and Crockarts will continue to record anglers' entries for opening day salmon and to donate their £250 gift voucher.
At the same time as the Cup was presented members of the Tay Ghillies Association led by their president, Garry McErlain who is also a ghillie at Ballathie, handed over state of the art surveillance equipment to the Tay bailiffs.
Thanks to the ghillies' fundraising efforts they will now be working with three sophisticated night sights which can spot poachers operating in total darkness, three tripod mounted scopes so powerful that they can detect what kind of baits or hooks poachers are using, and three trail cameras which can secreted at poaching hotspots and film no-gooders in action.
Bill Jack, chairman of the Tay Board who was present at the handover said: “This is a magnificent gesture by the Tay's ghillies. The aim of the Board is to protect and enhance salmon and sea trout stocks and this wonderful equipment will certainly not only protect our river, but help to gain convictions and deter poachers from using illegal methods of taking fish and illegally killing them in the spring.”
The Tay Ghillies raised cash to buy the equipment through the sale of calendars, badges and car stickers, a raffle and a donkey derby night.
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