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Fascinating Ferox

02 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by The tuesday swim in General fishing

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alness, beneath, berry, black, ferox, jon, loch, morie, river, salmon, the, trout, water

My current read is Jon Berry’s Beneath the Black Water a book that logs Jon’s pursuit and obsession of the ferox trout, one of Britain’s true mystical and wild fish. A large proportion of the book talks of the Alness boys and the surrounding area, coincidently the river Alness was the location were I first hooked a salmon. Before my first salmon trip my fishing partner Tony and I spent few long lunches in the St James area of London talking tactics and tackle after an expensive shop in Farlow’s of Pall Mall for various tube flies. Tube flies were unfamiliar to me and like most fishermen, shiny fishing tackle brings on the magpie effect, the Visa card probably came out too many times. The advice that  came from Tony, who had regularly fished the Alness for ten years, was all new, but the unknown is what makes fishing such an exciting pursuit. One of my questions before the trip was “is it worth taking a fly rod for trout or spinning gear?” The answer was flatly “no, there’s no point when there is salmon in the river!”

On arriving in Scotland (with only one double-handed salmon rod) I was seduced by my quarry, the salmon, I was absorbed in my new surroundings, a complete contrast to the gentler southern english rivers I was used to. The Alness which runs for only twelve miles cuts its way through dark gullies with high cliffs of dark stone on one side, the other side covered with gravel banks and high trees of the Ardross forest. The river is spotted with huge boulders that takes the river on a fast flowing course occasionally broken with slower runs. The water was dark but clear like stewed tea without the milk.

As our week progressed the penultimate day was spent on the upper beat which was unlike all the other beats, no longer were we surrounded by forest and high cliffs but instead the landscape opened up to reveal heather and gorse. This upper beat (number six) ran slowly after flowing out of Loch Morie. With four days behind us of wading in fast flowing water this was a pleasant break, the sky was bigger and a sense of space gave way to a more relaxed approach, salmon fishing can get quite intense at times!

Above beat six was Loch Morie itself and at this point I  wished that I had brought a spinning outfit or trout fly rod and ignored the advice given to me back in St James the previous month.  Saying that, ferox hunting should not be taken lightly and stealing a day on Loch Morie to catch a ferox was  fairly unrealistic, specialist down riggers, fish finders, weighted lures and most importantly a boat is needed and at that point in time I was unaware that ferox roamed the loch, but casting a trout fly would have been a welcome break. So back to the salmon fishing I went and finally at the end of my week a grilse was caught, small but my salmon rod had been bloodied.

While writing this piece I have come to the end of ‘Beneath the Black Water’ and now I have another piscatorial seed planted in my head. Not this year, perhaps not next year but at some time in the future I shall troll the depths of Scotland or Ireland and seek out the ferox trout.

The Thames Festival.

11 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by The tuesday swim in Reading

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2011, andrews, arcadia, berry, bridge, caught, festival, jennings, john, jon, luke, museum, river, southwark, thames

Yesterday The Tuesday Swim put on hold a planned trip to catch a Lea Navigation pike and instead joined a celebration of Old Father Thames on Southwark bridge.

Friends of the tuesday swim were in attendants, Caught by the River and Andrews of Arcadia. The Caught by the River stage had fish related tunes spun by Richard Norris while contributions came from Jon Berry, Luke Jennings and the rather aptly dressed John Andrews…

Luke and John both read tales of London pike as darkened grey clouds blew in to the Thames basin adding to the darkened mood of large Serpentine monsters, gazette floats and characters stalking the towpaths of London. John also read out a marvellous piece on the London roach pole, an example of which was on display in the Miniature Museum of Thames Angling. The Arcadia van was suitably dressed in Efgeeco canvas, possibly the first bespoke tailored van in history, the fine work that could have come from the London area of St James.

Luke Jennings, Jon Berry and John Andrews standing on Southwark bridge.

Plenty of familiar faces appeared throughout the afternoon, some good Horsham Ale and welsh cider was drunk while a few loose plans were made for some forthcoming autumnal fishing trips. Lets hope they become a reality…

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