Fishing great in the 60s
IT is difficult to find enough news during this close season so I hope you will bear with me if I ramble on a bit.
On Friday we will see the triennial elections to the Esk Salmon Fisheries Board and I here that there are at least three of the present board not seeking re-election.
Everyone on the Esks are hoping for a good a start to the salmon fishing next, I hope to get out myself so I might see some of you there.
During the winter you get into conversation with old friends and cronies and some great stories of the past come to light and you begin to understand how lucky you are to have experienced the best of the fishing back in the sixties. I must have been around seven years old and staying at Balbirnie Mill which I still consider as home. It was lovely summer evening in late July when a car drew up and it was a notable angler of the past, a policeman and ghillie who had been given the fishing on the Kinnaird Top Beat for the evening while the tenant was off to dinner. Would you like to come down with me? Mum was quickly summoned and she agreed (pleased to see the back of me for a while I expect) and off I set. The river was in great heart and we walked upstream to the Arn Pool which was full of fish and my companion said that there was a big run of grilse passing through. He set up and fishing with seatrout fly's he was only minutes in contacting a grilse of about five pounds which I was allowed to net.
I can clearly remember standing on the bank truly amazed by the skill of this man as he cast his fly's delicately across that stream and hooked fish upon fish and we finished in the twilight with twelve sparkling beauties on the bank. In those days it was quite in order to kill so many fish as the river teemed with fish and there was no talk of upper levels of potential and such drivel as comes from the "experts" of today. These so called experts have absolutely no idea of what potential the rivers have and no equation will tell them that the South Esk used to be a river packed tight with fish, and disease free fish.
It was at that time in the sixties a time of real joy as you watched so many fish pass up the river and so many happy anglers leaving the banks with their captures. Oh for the day we get back to those days, perhaps we are some way towards that due to the Fisheries Boards daring policy of catch and release and much controlled netting. But thse grilse mentioned above do not manage to gain the river these days, they end up in uncontrolled nets.
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Weather for Brechin
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 3 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
