This is the report in to-days Local paper of the opening day By Ken Bell, angling correspondent.
Salmon too coy on first day of season
CONSERVATION WAS the theme of the opening day of the 2008 Tay salmon season—and didn’t Tay anglers conserve well!
It is understood that only one spring fish, a 14lb sea-liced salmon, was taken—by Mr Mark Ogilvie fishing the Dunkeld House Hotel water—and that was carefully returned.
Meanwhile at Kenmore, the 150 pupils of Kenmore Primary School were presented with an aquarium and cooler as part of the Trout in the Classroom, an aquarium in which they will raise young salmon to stock in their local stretch of the river.
The aquarium was handed over on behalf of Kenmore Hotel by Professor David Bellamy, who told pupils that the last time he was in their classroom was 20 years ago, when he helped their predecessors to plant trees in the school ground—trees which are now more than 20 feet high.
And he congratulated them on the work they would be doing to assist the fish stocks in the Tay, Scotland’s most important river.
Professor Bellamy told the P5-6-7 pupils that trout and salmon living and thriving in their river showed just how clean and healthy it was.
After he left, pupils from Hill Primary in Blairgowrie who successfully reared and released trout into a local pond last year told their Kenmore contemporaries of the various problems they would face before they, too, would successfully release their small fish into the river.
Earlier, several hundred anglers had paraded through the village after Mark Stevens of the BBC and local angling expert and fly-tyer Ally Gowans had stressed the importance to the Tay salmon of anglers adhering the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board’s new conservation policy, which recommends angler return their first fish each day, with an option of keeping their second.
Some 20 teenagers involved in the pilot scheme of Angling for Youth Development and their instructors attended the traditional opening ceremony, and the youngsters from east Perthshire later had a chance to fish for salmon in the hotel pool behind the hotel.
Among those taking part were Steve Kelly, AFYD project leader for Angus, and a member of Tayside Fire and Rescue Service with his new team of volunteer instructors.
With Strathclyde Police’s East Renfrew and Tayside Police’s East Perthshire initiatives combining with those now launching in Angus, AFYD is becoming the largest youth angling training organisation in Scotland.
Further plans are in hand to launch AFYD projects in Highland Perthshire and in Perth. Interest in AFYD has also been expressed by several schools in Dundee and it is hoped that by December AFYD will be operating there as well.
Funds raised at yesterday’s activities at Kenmore, including last night’s dinner, will go towards the work of the organisation.
Although the water entering the river at Kenmore was in perfect condition, anglers took only kelts and a few brown trout that were all returned. Some blamed an alien to the water—rainbow trout escaped from a fish farm further up Loch Tay.
The first boat out at Kenmore was “blessed” with a quaich of whisky by Jane Grimlay, of Dewar’s World of Whisky—but despite this TV personality and angler Fiona Armstrong returned fishless from her 2008 initial outing.
Downstream at Kinnaird, several kelts, spawned fish, and baggots, unspawned fish, including one at around 20lb were reported, while at Burnbane kelts, brown trout and a grayling were all returned.
While water in the upper beats ran clear, below Islamouth the effect of the melting snowfields in Glenshee coloured the water but did not prevent the occasional kelt being reported from most beats.
But with river levels, hopefully, continuing to fall anglers are hopeful more springers are about. After all, every fish that jumps can’t be a kelt—or can it?
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