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PAGE 20
Fingerscrossed forthe newseason
Pull on thewaders, rubyourhands together,and getout there!
PaulProcter believesthe Marchbrown is making acomeback.I agree,there wasatimearoundthe late 1990swhen anglers we re be comi ng extr emely concerned about the demise of this cl assic early season hatching insect, an dI countedmyself luckythatI stillencountered it on my home river.
Well, the Marchbrown nowappears to have re-established itself on many of ourfreestone rivers.It’sahatch thatmakes it worth searching out the thermals for earlyspring dry-fly action. Iwent‘retro’this autumn, andbought apairof neoprene chest-waders specificallyfor keeping cosywhilstwinter graylingfishing, but nowI’m eyeing them up smugly forthose Marchbrown hatches, too
Paul describeshow he steals amarchonthe Marchbrown on page 44.They often come of when it’s finger-numbingly cold and an icy breeze rufes the water surf ace, butwhen ahatch is on, it can be hot, hot, hot!
And, if big brown trout are your ‘thing’, check
out Duncan Ha ll’s mis si on to seek out the extraordinaryfish thatliveinCatalonia’sshrimprichriversonpage50.
Meantime,I’vebeen inspired by those beautiful and interesting Matukastied by Gordon vander Spuyon page 36.I’ve always been af an of this stylesince tying and fishing thedeadlyAce of Spades,but whowould have dreamed up usingcoq de Leon feathers? They look fabulous. More on this tying stylein the Mayissue.
On page 42, To mHarla nd s e ts off on his season-longmission to catchsalmon.Afew early fishhavealready been recorded this season, and theTweed appearstohavegot of to an encouraging start (see News p12). This probablyreflects the much stronger grilse (one sea-winter)run we experienced lastyear,aslogic dictates thatoften a good grilserun will leadtoa good runofspringers (two sea-winter fish).
Let’scross our fingers,and see Mark Bowler,Editor
Three things to do thismonth
72 TACKLE BAG
Magnus Angus testsa “quirkyand playful” reel; and
76 ON THE BENCH
Magnus Angus investigates aflyproduction boxand tying tools,both from the Smiths’ stables
Tie Oliver Edwards’ Hydropsyche Larvawith feather-duster gills.
Marcelo Moral es and Gordon vander Spuy describe how the Matukais
59
Chris
Neil Pattersonaims to makeMidgePupae morestriking so trout single them out from the
Prof Eric MacVicar investigates one of the barrierstofuturesalmon success, and explains why his confidencefor the futurehas grown
30
DomGarnett describes whythe Uskhas to be among Britain’sverybest river fly fisheries
50 TAPASAND
Duncan Hall encountersthe hugebrownsofCatalonia
Paul
Early
Chris
Shot of Shot of the Month
Looking forward. Thisphoto reminds RoyMcAdam of the promising months ahead. He took it lastseason, beside Leigh Brook, in Worcestershire.
● Shoot a‘Shot of the Month’ and win a year’s subscription to FF&FT Send your phototo: fffteditor@mortons.co.uk
Your Say
Write to: The Editor,FF&FT,MortonsMedia Group, MortonsWay,BostonRd, Horncastle,LincolnshireLN9 6JR
Email: ffteditor@mortons.co.uk
Name calling
Re cen tl yt he Ed it or wa s bemoanin gt he fa ct –q ui te right ly –t hatm ore and more mod ern fl ies ha ve become landed with highly factualand boring names. Fo re xam ple , the fly Ia mgoi ng to disc uss here can be described as aRed or Green -butt Pa rtridg e& PeacockherlSpider.The name hardly tripsofthe tongue,and it do esn’t re all yf ill one wi th inspiration, does it?
Even worse,I’veoften shortened it down to aP P, or ‘p ee pee’, whichwill bringsweat to manyab rowo fb oa ta ng lers st ucki nt he middle of al arge loc hwear ing mu lti ple laye rs of waterproofs, allofasudden looking for the baling bucket or desperatelyneeding ashore the momentthey hear such words uttered.
No,this won’tdo; my weefly needs amuchmore glamorous, sexy name…s oI ’m ap pealing to ou rsup er -i magi native an d clever readers to help out and come up with one!
I’db etter gi ve out al it tle m ore informa tio no nt he fl y th at ma yh el pw it hn am ing
Pleaseincludeyour name andpostaladdress with all correspondence
Letter of the Month
The writer of the Letter of theMonth will receiveaspool of 13.7lb Seaguar Soft from Fordham &Wakefield.
Having readthe news article about the WelshDee andthe cl os ur eo ft he co mm erc ial nets (Time called on Dee nets, Marchissue), it’s quiteclear thatthe buy-out wasseriously flawed.
Netters in the Chester area are preparing to fight for a retur nt on etting ,b ut the greater concern, whichhas not been public ly de bated, is the total break do wn of enforcem en to nt he rive r. Since the riverwas splitinto tw oh al ve sp oli ti ca ll yb y Devolution, neither NRWnor the EA canshowthatasingle jo intpatrol to deal with the serious drift-netting activities on th er iver ’s ba ss nu rs er y site has occurred. This area
idea s. In co mi ng up with th is pattern Iwas tr ying tomakea kindofgeneric Spider pattern for small rivers and burns that wo uld ap peal to bo th br ow nies and se at ro ut by us ing a brighter magentaherlbody, and by ma king ar ed-but tversion Iwas hopingtocover the very lar ge fa ll of re dl eg ge df ly in g ants thath it us late on du ri ng mostsummers.
Th en ex tt hi ng yo ur ea ll y need to know is thatthis is abig fishfly. Astonishingly,I haven’t caught anything under two ➸
Dee needsmore
of enforcementonthe Dee is seriously mismanaged, and ignored.
Th eN RW st aff are we ll known amongst the netters for being totallyincapable of raising apatrol of the estuary, andthe EA do not have the ability to getout on patrol on the estuar yand inspect the ca tc hes of fis hermen, wh o claim to fishfor flatfish and mullet (both species for which locallythere is no domestic market).However,the river Dee’s ability to supplyfresh salmon around Ches ter is well known, especiallywhen Ches ter Ra ces are tak ing place.
Ma ny ang lers on both sides of theriver doubtthat
DEFRA’s fis her yo fficer s pa trol the ri ve ra nd tak e catchdatafor landings, and Idoubt NRWo rE A, as the local Sea Fisheries Committee,r ecord ca tc h- landing s either –that’sjustoperational negligence
In all regards, both the EA and NRWare totallyshambolic,and certainlyunprofessional when it comes to telling the angling stakeholders and MP st he tr uth of the st at e of mismana ge men to fo ur migratoryfish stocks
As he ad mas ters al ways used to quote to failing pupils: “O ne mu st do ag rea td eal more!”
MaiBowyers via email.
The ‘fly with no name’.
A big fish that fell to the ‘fly with no name’.
pounds wi th it .Well, af ew tiddlers by ac cid en to nt he green -butt ve rsion. It ’s not the mostprolific of flies (if you want to fillyourboots, thisis not the boyfor you) but it does justseem to separate thewheat from the ch aff ,a lmos tl ike so me sor to fqua lity co nt ro l. If there’s abiggerfish around, theywill find this fly Agoodexamplecame when I wasfishing –fishlessly –down near thebottomofa smallburn with said fly in the lashing rain, hoping againsthope to find a sea trout. Ireached the river’s mouth and –r at her la zil y–insteado fchanging flies as I usuallydof or th es alt, Ij ust
➸ ke pt two‘ pe ep ee ’s on (wel l, the we at her wa sf oul!) Ic as t into the su rf and Boom! Iwas into alarge bar of silver. Lo and behold, this wasnot asea trout at all, justthe biggest seabass I’ve ever caught,orseen, up here on the we st co asto fS cot land. Amazing! Iwas go ing to name theflyBreac Mhor,which is big trout or fishinGaelic, butI’m pretty su re tha t’sb een do ne before
Thepattern is:
Ho ok: Fu lling Mi ll Ta ctical Sh orty No nRef le ctive bla ck, size 12 &14.
Thread: Fire orangeand fluorescentchartreuse.
PREPARINGFOR A FLY-TYINGSHOW
Howademonstrator selects his materialsfor tying atthe BFFI
It’salwaysthe same the week before ashow, total chaos.
Youplan out what youwant to tie or have been asked to show, have apracticeand start to consider what materials and tools youwill need.
It all startsout fairly stress free,tyingthis,thinking about that,planning, assessing and maybe even alittle stock take.
This weekend it’sthe British Fly Fair International (orBFFI forshort) and I’ll be tying on the Fly Fishing and Fly Tying stand. I’ve looked through my stock of tying materials,and then taken a weepeek through the BFFI websitetosee what trade stands aregoing.
Then I’ve made a run-through the various linkstothe stand-holders’ websites,and rakedthough what theyhavetooffer and then drawnupmyshow shopping list.
As I’ll be demonstrating, essentially my time to wander and browse will be limited, hencethe reason Idoa little homework first
So,all seems very organised and well planned at the moment.Itall startsto unravel when it’stime to pack.
Initially,I’m very relaxed,
Tail: Redgame cock. Butt: Redorgreen tying thread. Body: Magentapeacock herl,3 strands.
Rib: Gold wire,thin He ad ha ck le s: We bb yb la ck cockwithgrey partridgeover. Head: Build bright headwith thread.
Fishing hints: Redbuttversion does well in rivers; green butt moresoinopen waters.
Another po int: I’ve tied these on Fulling Mill Shorty barbless hooks. Itrust thesewiththeir good and widegape, but there are some ma nu fa cturers out thereselling of barbless hooks thatare total pants. Ican’t name
Best of the Blogs
followthe plan, select what materials I’ll need andstart to full my little tying case and the one extrabox I’m taking. So farsogood, but then comesthe “whatif’s?”. What if I’m asked to showthis or that,orsomeone might
names, but Ihad awell-known makenot so long agothatlostme eight fishina row. Themanufacturers were having alaugh, surely? Thefish certainlywere! Neveragain. Sotakecare with your choice of barbless.
Yo uk no ww ha tt he ys ay : there’s ne ve ra ny thing reall y ne wi nf is hing,s om ay be my ‘pee pee’s already have agiven name.I’m sure somebodywill put me straight
Other wise ,l et’ss ee wh at FF&F Tr ea de rs can come up with, ladies and gents! I’msure th eE dito rw ill dig out awee prize for the bestone! Andy Stur rock, Isle of Skye.
afew more. andsoon the tying-caseisoverflowing and the one extrabox has now become two.
Nope,stick to theplan. The extrastuff has to come out again. Only it doesn’tbecause my mind goes into doubt “You’ll need that,I’m telling you, you’ll getthere and be looking forit.”I say to my tormented self
Then Istart to look at the materials Irequireagain, and the possibilitiesofvariations on the fliesstart to form, so yetmorematerials are dragged out,and I’venow added abig bagalongside the rest of the gear.Suddenly, I’ve descended intothe “look at the shiny, shiny” and everything is loaded intothe bag.
“Stop!” “What areyou thinking?”
Senses recovered, it’s back to thinning thingsout again. Finally I’m packed, car loaded, and away Igo. Away down the road to Stafford, happywith my tying plan and safe in the knowledgethat if I don’thavesomething I’ll just buy it,which is exactly what I’ll end to doing!
ask me to demonstratea variation of the pattern of whatever Iplan to show? Or maybe even ta different tying style? What if Ithen move ontoother flies?
So,other materials are then added, which leadsto
So,ifyou seemewandering the trade stands with a stuffed carrier bag, you’ll knowit’sjustmefollowing the usual routine.After all, is thatnot what you’re supposedtodoata show?
–AllanLiddle
Allan wastying on the FF&FT stand at the British Fly Fair International.
Demonstrator’sdilemma:
News Cast
BOURESSENTIAL ROUND-UP FROM THE WORLD OF FLYFISHING AND FLYTYING
Bird lovers join battle against fly-killing pettreatments
STARTLING EV IDENCE AS SONGBIRD CHICK SP ERISH IN INSECT IC ID E- COVE RED NE ST S
ird lovers are nowjoining anglers in the call for regulation of toxic pet treatments, following alarming reports of juvenile bird deaths. Researchers from the University of Sussex discovered that theharmful chemicalsfound in pet fleatreatments foundtheir wayintoevery single nestina recentsurvey, with heightened nu mb ers of unhatc hed eg gs and dead chicks where levels were highest.
As repo rte dp revio usly in FF&F T,the chemicals in flea treatments arealsoa significant threatto fly life in rivers. Owners arebeing sold productsthatstill contain ch emicals bann ed in agriculture,and in manycases these are applied as an unnecessary preventative measurefor pets thatdonot have parasites. Substances such as imidacloprid could even be athreattoowners’ health,astheyremainactivefor 28 days afterapplication,witha
The study showed flea-treatment insecticides present in every single bird-nest it tested, along with aheightened number of dead chicksand unhatched eggs in those showing the highest levels
single drop capable of wipingout millions of insects.
Ke yf ind ing so ft he
Since openingday on Februar y1 ,t he Rive rT we ed has prod uced mem orable results for local and visiting anglers alike. Colin Chi sh ol m caught and releasedLadykirk’s first fishwithanine-pounderto aDee Monkey fly. Meanwhile, Lees sawits earliest salmon in fiveyears. South and LowerNorth Wark produced fivefish,withPhil Blackburn catching the opener to earn theFin andGameTrophy. Fi sh ing has con tin u ed to
be steady on mostofthe other beats, butJunction enjoyedthe mostprolificstartwithten fish, including four on opening day alone.Hendersydea nd Lowe r Birgham were also among other beatsquick to getofthe mark
“The riverisinprimeorder,” enthused TweedBeats founder, AndrewDouglas-Home.“If there is aspringer there,you mightwell catchit. Whatever else,buy some reallygoodthermals andwrap up warm!”
research were:
•Fipronil, atoxic ground-water contaminantlethal to insects
and banned since 2018for farming,was found in 483 pet productsin2023.
•Two permitted substances have linkstocancer.
•The Angling Trustand WildFish stand with Greenpeace, RSPB,The Rivers Trustand manyother bodies calling to close loopholes and ban the worstsubstances. Thegovernment hasyet to act.
Chief Executive of Songbird Survival, Sue Morgan, described the finding sa s“ext remel y concerning”, urging agovernmentreviewand adding thatit wasvital thatowners could look after their pets “without devastating impactsonour wildlife.”
It is hoped thatthe startling evidence will help pile pressure on legislators to actsooner rather than later. Britishsongbirds face acomparable threattoother riverwildlife,withoverhalf of speciesthreatenedorindecline
The Duchess of Roxburghe toasts the river with Glenkinchie whiskyonthe Junction Beat of the Tweed on Opening Day.
Fearsriseoverescapee salmon in Ireland
FARMED FISH IN AT LEAST 12 RIVERS COULDPOSESERIOUSRISKTOWILD POPULATION,EXPERTS WARN
Follo wing anal ys is of salmon thought to have escapedfroma fishf arm in KillaryFjord,CountyMayo last year,experts have divulged aseries of alarming findings. With an estimated minimumof 450 fishranging over 100km from source,the escapees have been confirmed in at least1 2 rive rs, wi th 30 wa ter ways potentiallyexposed, including SpecialAreas of Conservation. With a60:40 ratio of femalesto males and at least20% of fish sexuallymature,experts fear interbreeding with wild fish and dama ge to their ge netic integrity.
IFI Re searc hO ffic er S e a n Kellydescribed the situationas “particularly concerning”given thatito ccurred “in ac riti cal region for wild IrishAtlantic salmon.”
Colleagu ea nd IF IHeado f Re searc h, Ca thal Ga lla gh er, addedthatthe invaders could “p ose as igni ficantt hreatt o wild salmon throughgenet ic contamination, impacting the overallability offuturesalmon generationstosurvive.”
Ang lers we re thanked for theirpartinidentifying escapees in Mayo andGalwayinAugust and September 2024.The task is ongoi ng,w it hf arm e df ish
tendingtohavean“out-of-seasonsilverappearance”
“A nglers providevaluabl e information”the IFI communications team told FF&FT,with keyevidence including photographs,scale samples andactual fishcarcasses.
Thecurrentstudyisdescribed as “generallyr are”, with the lastsuchsurveycarried outin 2017– althoughvarious overseas studies exist andhaveshown de trimental impacts. As for tracingthe sourceoffish,the IFI admitted “identificationischallenging” with Ireland’sfarmed st ockc oming fr om a“si ngle Norwegian lineage”– unliketheir geneticallydistinctand varied wild count erparts. Howeve r, farmed fishcan be confirmed by biologicalexamination. It is unclear whether anypenalties or preventativemeasures will be imposedonfarms, with legal action beyond theIFI’s remit.
“The number of wild salmon returning toIreland each year has declined from approximately1.76 million in 1975 to 171,700in2022” theinstitution told FF&FT,with farm escapees addingafurther threatalongsidefactors such as climate changeand water quality.
Furtherdetails on thereport andhow anglerscan help canbe found at www.fisheriesireland.ie
Map of the west of Ireland,showing the “particularly concerning”extent of invasivefarmed fish.
Toughoutlook forbrown trout
Scientific modellinghas been us ed by th eE nv ir on me nt Ag en cy to of fe ra fr es h look into the future of England’s rivers. Using existing records and variables such as site geography andtemperaturemeasurements going back to 1981,the studygives a100-year impression, along with likely impacts.
Wi th seasonal hig hw at er temperatures pro jected to rise around 0.6° Cp er de ca de,t he findingsare especiallyconcerning for salmonids. Brown trout, for example, arethoughttobe“under threatfrom higher summer water temperatures at almostall sites by 2080 as their upper growth
andfeedingtemperature rangeof 19.5°C couldbeexceeded.”Itisalso addedthatsalmonid eggs could be at risk, with over 70%ofsites potentiallyexceeding safe limits for eggsurvival(below12°C) by 2080.
Th ep rojections tak ei nt o ac countd ifferentwat er types , with elevated arable grassland sites facingthe greatestchange, while chalk streams tend to be slightly cooler.L ocal variations and events such as heat-waves are hard er to mod el, bu tw ill also have an impact,withthe EA concluding therewould be major “implications for water quality management”.
Climate change predictions make direreadingfor the browntrout’sfuture.
Tagged salmon’s epic journey
Scientistsand anglersalike have lon gm ar ve lled at the incr edi ble journe ys andhominginstincts of Atlantic salmon.However,arecent tra ck ing opera tion pr ov id es concrete ev idenc eo ft his into figures
“Werecorded amystery fish at KillaryHarbour thathad been tagged near Qaqortoq,in Greenland,” revealed Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) researcher, Glen Whiteman. Tagged with adevice thatpingsa unique codeevery 60 to 90 seconds, experts can
track individual fishovergreat distances, allowing them to get abetter understanding of the iconic fishand theirmovements andlife-cycles.
“C ollea gues wo rk in gi n Greenland said this fishweighed 3.3kgand was64cmlongwhen tagged in September 2023,” said Gl en. “Itm ay be a5 kg ( 12 lb) salmon now, having spenttwo wintersatsea.Webelieve this fee ding vi sitor to Gr ee nl an d hasnow migrated upstream to spawninthe riverErrif,topass itsgenes to the next generation.”
Prostate cancer awarenessonthe March
FISHING’S KEYDEMOGRAPHIC AHIGH-RISK GROUP
Wit hMarchf orming
Pros ta te C a nce r Awareness Mo nt h, menof50plusare beingurged to book tests and ge tw ise to sympto ms .Ins pite of on ei n eightmalesgetting thedisease in their lifetimes, it remains a significantriskthatistoo little talked about.
Pros ta te Ca nc er is al so a subject close to our hearts at FF&F T,withatleast threeof our contributors undergo ing treatmentinrecentyears
Macmillan’s annual monthlo ng awar en es sc ampa ig ni s abouteducating allofusonthe importance of diagno sis an d recognising ke ys ym ptoms. Part of theinitiativeisa “March theMonth”challenge,whereby men commi tt ow alk in go r wh eel ing 11,000 st eps daily, whichisthe same as the total number of men whodie from
Vi sitp ro st at ec anc er uk.o rg andwww.macmillan.org.uk for more info and support FISH TRACKED FROM HOME RIVER IN
the diseaseevery year.When detected early,however,recover yrates are high, hence it is vital toget checkedand acton anywarning signs.
Keypointsonprostatecancer:
•The prostate isa small gland, just belowthe bladderand in frontofthe rectum
•S ym ptoms of the c an c er inc lu de di fficult yp eeing, peeing more often, or feeling likeyou’ven ot compl etely emptiedyourbladder.
•Men wh oa re bl ack, have a familyhistor yofcancer, or obesityare at higher risk
•The causeofthe disease is still unknown, but all it takes is asingle phone call to geta free and discr ete testf rom your GP.
IFI Research Officer,Glen Wightman,who hasbeen tracking salmon at sea.
Pass?Orimpasse?
PROFESSORERICMACVICAR
investigates oneofthe barriers to future salmon success, andexplainswhy hisconfidence forthe future hasgrown
Salmon can leap, but still have trouble negotiating dams, irrespectiveoflifts or passes installed.
Overthe years Ihaveoften been asked, ‘Whatdoyou think will happen to our Scottish salmon in thefuture? Imustadmitthat, for many years, Iwas not exactlyoptimistic about the fate of our wild salmon stocks.But nowIsee aglimmer of hope forbettertimes to come, before giving my reasons whyI will first of alllook at oneofthe main reasons for theirdeclining nu mb ers from the 19 50s onwards.
In the years following World Wa rI Im uc ho ft he Scotti sh Hi gh lands we re st ill withou t mains electricity and this set of
aboom in the constr uction of hydro-electric schemes. These were to bring,asthe slogan of the newlycreatedNorth of Scotland Hydro Electric Board went ‘Power to the Glens’. By the late 1950s manylarge hydro-schemes, amazing feats of engineering, built by armies of hardworking men,came intobeing.Crofts and small townships across what is nowtermed the Highland Region were able toreplace Tilley lamps andpeat-burning stoves with electric lightsand cookers. Even so,someremote places such as GarryGualach,onthe south side of Loch Inchlaggan in Glengarry,
were still electricity free until into the 1990s. This despite being within eight miles of twolarge hydro-dams,one on Loch Quoich, five mile supstream of Ga rr y Gualach,the otheratthe Invergarryend of Loch Garry, eight miles east. Back in the 1980s I spentmanyhappy days there fishing for brownies.
Before these twodams were built, theonce-famous spring salmon of the Garrywere able to ascend rightupintoGlenQuoich and also up into Glen Kingie to spawn. However, after thedams were built the wayupstream was blockedbya traponthe Garry
belowKingiePool,effectively blocking of the majority of the traditional spawning grounds. Loch Garryitself wasmadeaccessible by aBorland type fishpass. This type of pass is agreatpiece of engineering,whichworks on the same principleasa canal lock. However, thefish are unable to read theoperatinginstructions, and in manycases prefer not to use it.
Back in the 1980sI wasfishing the Conon belowTor Achilty, where thegillie told me that a salmon with adistinctive mark on itssidehad been going in and outofthe lift-chamber for over
Photo:
‘FISH TEND TO EITHER SWIM ROUND IN CIRCLESOR DROP TO THE BOTTOM’
twomonths. So whywas this? Quite simple to explain: salmon swim againstthe current. As the lift chamber fills, thefish risewith the water,but once the exitopeninghas been reached there is no longer aflow so fishtend to either swim round in circles or drop to the bottom. Fish passes likethe one on the TummelatPitlochry are much better,but muchcostlier both to construct and in water lostfor generation purposes.
Th ei mp lementation of t he Glen Garryhydro-schemes efectively destroyedaround 40%of the salmon habitat. That allied to the problematic Borland pass, the trapatKingie,and descendingsmolt losses on theGarry hydro intake screens hasled to a90% decline in ascending fish between 1956 and 2019. In 2003, onlyone fishactuallyreached the trapatKingie.Asad fact when one considers thatthe original object of the trapwas to enable fishtobetrapped as spawning stocktomaintain the once-famous ru ns of the large Ga rr y spring salmon whichaveraged over 17lb in weight.Now the averageisunder 10lb
Pass, or impasse?
It is not onlythe Garrythathas su ffe re db yh av ing it sn at ural spawning grounds denied to their right ful ow ners. Th e neighbouring riverMoriston, the other main spawning riveronthe Ness system, also sufers from twolarge hydro-damsatLochs Loyne and Cluanie,neither of whichhavefish-passes. Further downstream, at Du nd reggan Dam, there is aBorland fish-lift incorporated in the dam.Other systems inclu ding the Lo chy, Conon, Beauly, Aweand Shin, to na me bu ta fe w, al so have Borland fish-lifts. All of these have no do ub tc ontributed to the decline in migratorystocks overthe years. Thetimingsof water releases and compensation flows have also impacted on the runtimingsofthe salmon.For
Borland Fish Lift at Mucomir on the river Lochyduringalarge spate in December 2024.The lift is incorporated to the rightwithin the power-house building. In the 1960s large numbersofboth salmon andsea trout could be viewedfromthe bridgewaiting to ascend, sadly no longerthe case
example,verylittle water flows down the Ga rr yb efor eApr il. Before the hydrodevelopment the fishcould ascend the natural fallsand headupintothe sanctuaryofthe upperreaches and lochs on snow- mel ts pates as earlyasJanuary.Overthe years, thishas seen the earliestrun of fishbeing over-exploited down in Loch Oich,leading to the main spring runbeing delayedbyup to threemonths.
Th es it ua t ion on the Lo ch Awe/RiverOrchy has seen the once spring rive r, the Orc hy, nowbecome asummer/autumn system.
Headwaters drained
Another factor related to hydroschemes whichafects salmon stocks is one whichmanypeople fail to realise,and that is thatthey can even be detrimental to rivers thatdon’t even have ahyd roscheme within theirsystem.
So howcan that be?Itiswhat is termed ‘maximising resources’ or more correctly‘theft of water’.
Back in the1950s decisions were made to takeasmuchwater from wh ere ve rp ossibl ei nt o vast reservoirs to actasheader tanksfor largehydro-schemes.
By divertingbothstreamsand outlets from neighbouring catchments througha networkofpipes and tunnels it made it possibleto maximise the potential energ held by thewater to convertinto themuchneededelectricity.
This unfortunatelyled to the headwat ers of manysyste ms bei ng lef td ry an dn ol on ge r ac cessi ble to migra tor yf is h. Th em os tv isi ble exa mp le of this beingthe Perthshire Garry where it once flowedalongside the A9 north of Pitlochryfrom itssource at Loch Garry. Prior to theconstructionofthe Tummel hydro-schemessalmonwere
caught well up thisriver in early spring as photogra phs from DalnacardochLodgeinthe early 1900sclearly testify.
Ho we ve ri ti sn ot jus tt he hi gh ly visible dr yr iver bed s, such as on thePerthshireGarry or the headwaters of theInverness-shire Bl ackwat er below Lo ch Gl ascarnoc ht ha th ave been affected, it is also We st Coastcatchments whichat the time of the ‘Hydromania’ had no hydro-installations. Typical of these beingthe headwaters of the riverBroom, visible fromthe A835 beyond Glascarnochonthe waytoUllapool.
If,after passing Loch Glascarnoch, heading towards Ullapool, youlook to the left youwill see averyfishylookingloch. This is Loch Droma. Youmay also note thatitflowseastintoGlasca rn och, th is wa sn ot always the case.Note thatadam has been builtatits west end.This dam raised the levelofthe loch to ensure that, insteadoftaking itsnatural flowwest, down the AbhainnDroma andthendown into the riverBroom, it would floweast, into Glascarnoch.As if thatisn’t badenough, look over onto the hillsideand one sees a pipeline running alongsidethe glen, decanting into Loch Droma on the farsideofthe dam. This
water-gathering pipeline ensures thatlittle water ever goes down into the Broom from the Abhainn Droma and,althoughsalmon cannot getany further up the Broom than the Corrieshalloch Gorge,itstill hasimplications further do wns tr eam on the productivityofthe riverBroom regarding the survival rate of juve nile sa lmon ids, wh ether salmon or trout.
The PerthshireGarry, which flows alongside the A9 northof Pitlochry, once supported agood early spring run of fish, as farupasDalnacardoch Lodge, prior to the constructionofthe Tummel hydro-schemes,which then starveditofhighflows
Pitlochryfish ladder(see top left): abetter design than the Borland lift,but much costlier both to construct,and in water lost forgeneration purposes.
Minimal flow
Th ep rod ucti vi ty of ar iv er depends entirelyonits minimal flow. No flow, no productivity –simple as that. Ihavegiven the Droma as one example of stealingWestcoast watertopower East coastturbines, but it is not the onlyone.Sowhy am Iless pessimis tic than Iw as af ew years ago? Thesecond half of this
article will give youmyreasons MaybeIdohavehopes for the future.
Eric McVicarstarted salmon fishing aged 10 and hasover50years experience on theEsks. He wrote the first salmonid ecolog/management courses forWest Highland College UHI and lectures internationally in Sustainable Ecolog.
Photo: istock/richardjohnson
