Hello and a happy New Year to all BAC members. I hope you had a great Christmas & New Year and are ready for a fish filled 2007. As
seems to be the norm now, we had some very high water levels on the river over the winter. It’s always worth a trip up to Aigas dam
when the river is in full flow as you really get the chance to appreciate the power of the river following a downpour. It is worth remembering this level of flow can alter the riverbed so take care when wading until you are familiar with any changes. Remember to pick up your 2007 permit before the end of March as we have brought the cut-off-date forward to let new members have a longer first season. Permits are excellent value for money with the decision at the AGM to freeze prices at last year’s rates. The 2007 permits are available from Morisons, Ironmongers, West End, Beauly, (01463 782213).

Junior Competition. The winter newsletter had a word search competition comprised of fish species found in the river and Moray Firth, for the club’s junior members. We had an excellent response with Christie Maclean and Russell and Lucy Dobson winning trout flies, Bradley McHardy winning salmon flies. Thanks are due to Morisons who helped with the prizes. I hope these turn out to be lucky flies and look forward to hearing of them catching some monster fish during the season.

Guided walk for new members. Last year we introduced new members to our water with a guided walk of the top 4 beats of our club waters. We will be repeating this with John Szarkiewicz, our vice president giving a short tour of our top beats. This is open to existing members who want to brush up on how to fish these beats that are the most popular and productive. Meet at Beat 1 at 11.00 am on the 22nd April.

Competitions. Each year the club receives invites to competitions throughout the Highlands. The nearest to us is at Loch Meig and takes place on the 5th May. We have already filled the 2 boats we are allocated in this competition. The Highland Federation have their annual competition on Loch Watten, this year on the 26th May. If you are interested in fishing this competition then contact Frank Durdle on 782749. The “Clynelish” Highland Wild Trout challenge, held on Loch Shin, this year takes place on the 14th and 15th July. BAC have consistently won prizes at this competition with two second heaviest bag positions over the last 2 years. This may be the year for a BAC member to win this very popular event. Lairg Angling Club run this competition, with more details as well as an application form available from George Morgan at georgemorgan@lochviewlairg.fsnet.co.uk. And what better way to round of that weekend than with a trip to see Elton John at the Tulloch stadium on the Sunday evening. Mind and have a shower before turning up at the gig.

2007 Opening Dates. You may have noticed some discussion at the start of the year about opening dates for the 2007 season. A Tay beat I fished on last year postponed their opening by 2 weeks. Over the last couple of years, at the start of the season, they had been catching fish that still had to spawn. According to reports in the Highland News, these late spawners have also been seen on the Ness system. With growing commentary about climate change, I wonder if water and river temperatures are changing and whether this is impacting on traditional spawning times.

Gyrodactylus Salaris. This fancy name belongs to a wee parasite that infects the skin, gills and fins of salmon, trout and some other types of fish in fresh water. It is less than half a millimetre in size, so small that it is barely visible to the naked eye. Despite its small size it has caused quite a lot of damage in Scandinavia.

The effects of the disease are so serious that salmon stocks have now been lost completely from more than 20 Norwegian rivers, with the particular races of salmon in the affected rivers being lost forever. This wee parasite does not occur in UK rivers but experiments carried out in Norway have shown that Scottish salmon, like their Norwegian relatives, are killed by the parasite. To eradicate it when rivers become infected involves removing all types of fish capable of harboring the parasite. The simplest way to do this is the poison the whole river. It is therefore essential that the parasite is not introduced into UK waters. The easiest way for anglers to help if they have been fishing overseas is to make sure any equipment is suitably disinfected.

Catch and release fishing is gaining in popularity as concern about the state of our fish stocks grows. More and more anglers are choosing to release their catch to ensure good fishing for another time. While some do this voluntarily, an increasing number of rivers are introducing a catch and release policy. This is especially important with the large spring fish that seem to become scarcer every season. There are several important issues to remember if you are going to release your catch. The more exhausted a fish, the lower its chance of survival, so play it firmly and quickly. Keep the fish in the water when removing the hook and don’t beach it. If need be, support the fish steadily in a current facing upstream so it has a chance to recover and swim away on its own. While all of this makes sense to me, I wonder of the fairness of a blanket catch and release policy. For beats where several fish are caught a day, day after day it seems to make sense. But what about less productive beats like our club waters where we can go weeks without a fish being caught? I am sure this is going to be a topic of discussion for a wee while yet.

Open Day. We plan to hold a river Open Day on 7th July so mark the date in your diaries. We are finalising the programme of events that will include casting advice and coaching, competitions, guided walks and a BBQ at Beat 1. Make sure to keep the afternoon clear as I am sure this will be an event to rival Elton John’s Inverness gig later in the month.

Fishy Story 1. Suspicious judges at a fishing competition in Finland resorted to DNA testing when one of the competitors produced an unusually large salmon at the weigh in. This testing reveals what population the individual fish is from. Testing revealed the salmon wasn’t from the competition lake and the contestant confessed to buying it in a shop.

Fishy Story 2. The term nip in the air was given a new meaning in London after a 10 cm red bellied piranha fell from the sky and landed on the deck of a boat on the Thames. The fish was 5000 miles from its home waters in the Amazon. The fish, one of a species which has been known to attack humans had only just died and had the marks of a seagull’s beak on its back. Piranhas have taste buds that cover their bodies so goodness knows what the poor we thing would have made of the polluted Thames. It is thought the fish was a pet, dumped in the river by its owner. The cold water would probably have killed it before the gull got to it. Mind you we are hearing lots more about global warming !!!!!!!!!!

Tight lines for 2007.

Archie Prentice, Newsletter editor
archieap@tiscali.co.uk.