Well that's it. Another season comes to an end. I hope you have had a productive one though by all accounts the total catch from our stretch is down on last year. A wee reminder to get your catch returns in to Morisons. The 31st October is our returns cut-off-date and you can find the returns page is in the middle of our new layout permits. Do many of you have a return like mine, which would have been blank had it not been for a mad wee brownie on beat 4? And what happened to the sea trout this year? I had high hopes after the number of small sea trout that were about last year. I think the heaviest fish so far is a 91b 3 oz salmon caught by Willy Brown. I think Frank Durdle is the club member with the heaviest fish at 71bs 2 oz.

There was a lot of concern over the summer because of the number of salmon being caught with swollen and bleeding vents. This was thought to be linked to a common parasite that infects salmon in sea water. Each year there are fish caught with this condition. What was unusual this year was the widespread occurrence throughout the UK. However work at hatcheries in England last year found the infection did not effect spawning or the survival rates of eggs and juveniles.

Competition Updates. The "Clynelish" Highland Wild Trout challenge was held over the 14th and 15th July on Loch Shin. BAC members have consistently been among the prizes in the past and this year was no exception. Frank Durdle and I were among the prize-winners in this year's competition. This competition is two days of great boat fishing on Loch Shin and is now so popular I had heard entries had to be limited this year. So if you fancy entering next year, get your registration in early.
The last of the club competitions was the SGL, organised by Dave MacGregor of the Loch Achonachie Club. Held this year on the 29th September, 4 of us from BAC joined the expedition up to Badanloch, just west of Kinbrace. With the weather being perfect, this was an ideal way to end the trout-fishing season. The heaviest bag of the day contained a 31b brownie, a bit of a dark coloured, ugly looking fish. It took a wee while to land as 2 other fish were hooked on the cast at the same time. After the weigh-in it was down to Golspie for a meal and prizes. I managed 2nd heaviest bag for the day with Neil Mackenzie winning a prize for Beauly as well.
BAC Competition. This year we tried out a new location, Achagour Fish Ponds near Nairn. This is a new bank fishing venue, stocked with both rainbow and brown trout. Ashly Brocklehust won the juniors competition with a fine fish of 21bs 4 ozs. The following night, Allan Brindle won the seniors with a smaller specimen of 21bs 2 ozs. Well done to the juniors for beating the seniors this year.

Club Open Day. The club ran its first open day on the Saturday the 7th July. Over 40 people popped along to the event where we were kept well fed by an assortment of burgers and sausages. This was the first time we had run an open day and the committee were very pleased with the number of people attending. We are likely to repeat this in future so make a note in your diaries when next year's event is announced.

Annual General Meeting. Our AGM will be held on Thursday 15th November, 7.30 in the evening at Phipps Hall, Beauly. This will be a busy meeting so hopefully we will have a large turn out. Frank Durdle (president) and John Szarkiewicz (vice-president) will be standing down. I would like to thank both Frank and John on behalf of the committee and club members for their contribution. Both have had to put in a lot of behind the scenes work this year as we have to engage with a growing number of fishery groups and initiatives. For example there are conservation measures being suggested that would limit the catch per day, the size of fish kept (returning fish over 10 Ibs) and the banning of treble hooks. While these measure are understandable on the more productive beats up stream, I wonder about their fairness on the BAC stretch where our total catch this season could be bettered by a couple of days good fishing up stream for one party! It will be important to have a good turn out at the meeting to gauge member's views on these issues.

Smokers. Some of you may have a large salmon or trout from this season that you'd like smoked for Christmas. Fish smokers that I know BAC members have used in the past include Edinburgh Smoked Salmon at Dingwall (tel 01349 860600) who pass the fish onto the Achiltibuie smokery, Campbell's of Golspie (tel 01408 633255) and the Ullapool Smokehouse (tel 01854613881)

Fishy Stories 1. Fishing on the Beauly side of beat 1 on a calm June evening this year I noticed a small grey presence on the bank behind me. I thought this was a mother otter feeding a youngster. However as I fished on the "otter" never moved which was unusual. Eventually my nose got the better of me and I wandered over to get a closer look. However the otter turned out to be two very young (I think less than 24 hours old) common seals. The next night I was fishing at the mouth of the river where I counted over 50 common seals. I heard one person had counted over 100 common seals here later in the summer.

Fishy Story 2. Frank Durdle took great delight telling us about a close encounter he had with a motor cruiser on beat 2. Fishing on a rising tide, Frank hooked a grilse in beat 2. As he was playing it, 3 men on a motor cruiser sailed up through the top of beat 3, but waited until Frank had beached his fish before passing through beat 2. Frank and his fish watched on in amazement as the cruiser motored up through beat 1, the propeller hitting several of the big boulder lies we have introduced. The crew decided to stop at Lovat Bridge as the boat became beached. They then drifted back downstream, past an astounded Frank and fish, who could not believe what they had just seen.

Fishy Stories 3. Swans have a reputation for being bad tempered and occasionally aggressive, but recent events at a zoo in China show these birds in a different light. Visitors have been watching in amazement as a generous swan picks up feed and takes it to the mouths of its waiting fish friends each day. When each fish has eaten enough, the swan goes back to playing with its feathered friends. Now if only we could train a swan to carry out a fly to resting salmon in beat 1. Be worth his weight in gold.

And Finally. I have come to the end of my three year stint as newsletter editor and am going into retirement. It has been a fun experience and I hope I have managed to keep you up to date with issues about the club, our waters, competitions etc. Unfortunately I have not been able to use all the local fishy stories BAC members have told me. Some of the guilty need to be protected from ridicule and torment.

I wish all of you a happy Christmas and New Year and tight lines for the future. Oh and keep an eye out for my swan in Beat 1
Happy fishing
Archie Prentice
Now retired newsletter editor. archieap@tiscali.co.uk