COLUMN: Northern Lines by Keith Williams
Just before the start of the brown trout fishing season last year, I mentioned that I hoped to target trout more and fish for salmon less.
As usual, I failed miserably to achieve my goal and although I did catch a few trout along the way, they were all incidental captures when fishing for salmon and sea trout.
Time limitations impinged on my good intentions. When people learn of my profession, they often believe that my life consists mostly of fishing interspersed with an occasional brief interlude of work. If only that were true.
The reality is that I probably fish less than at any other time in my life, albeit I do get access now and again to hallowed waters that would otherwise be beyond my means.
Just occasionally my hobby and my work do combine and the fishing rod morphs into what us fisheries biologists euphemistically call a ‘sampling pole’. Last month we needed to catch trout from a local loch for scientific purposes and so I set out to catch a few along with some work colleagues.
Sorting out tackle suitable for the task, I was transported back to my youth, fishing for trout with my late father in the lakes of Cornwall. Then the start of the season was eagerly anticipated every year and, although we caught plenty of stocked rainbow trout, wild brown trout were always our favourites.
It was a pleasure to pair one of dad’s old reels with a rod that had not seen service in 30 years. A motley collection of old flies was raided for some suitable specimens.
Although the weather has been relatively benign, I would not have ventured forth so early in the season had there not been the imperative of needing to catch some fish for a project. My preference has always been to allow trout sufficient time to recover condition after the rigours of spawning during the previous autumn and the lack of food through the long winter.
Once fishing, though, I settling into an easy rhythm of making a few casts in each location before wading a yard or two along the shoreline. This had the twin advantage of continually covering fresh ground and preventing hypothermia from setting in.
My nondescript black fly was eventually intercepted by a nice trout, providing a reminder of what doughty fighters they are when using light tackle. Not for the first time, I was struck by the beauty of our trout, particularly the variety of colouration each fish displays.
Keith Williams is the director of Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries.
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