Items filtered by date: February 2018

Jordon makes championship teams

Inverness Angling Club junior member Jordon Grant has been confirmed as a member of the UK team to compete in the World Fly Casting Championships at Port Haverigg, Cumbria, in August. Jordon has qualified as one of the eight team members for the men’s 15 foot 1 inch Spey competetion and the men’s 18 foot Spey. The full details are available at http://www.ukflycastingsport.com/record-breakers

Design a fly

If you haven’t already done so, it’s about time for IAC members to test their skills by designing a salmon fly that reflects the colours of the club badge and the special logo produced for our centenary year. To encourage imagination and inventiveness, there is no set pattern for the fly. The only stipulations are that they should be tied on a double iron of the tyer’s preference and incorporate all the logo colours - yellow, blue, silver, gold and black. 

The flies will be judged by tutor Michael Campbell and class organiser Alan Scott at the last of the club’s 2017/18 fly tying classes in Hilton Community Centre on Thursday, March 29, when we would encourage all entrants to attend. Entries - one fly per person - should be passed to club vice president Alex Elliott, in a sealed package carrying the name and telephone number of the tyer, by the evening of Thursday, March 22. The names of entrants will be withheld from the judges until the winners are chosen.

Two prizes of £20 vouchers, kindly sponsored by David Dyce and Bill Byers, will be awarded to the best flies.

Mike’s mystery fly

Red and yellow hair and hackles, along with oval and silver tinsel, are all that’s needed for this week’s fly tying class. The materials will make up one of tutor Mike Campbell’s unnamed flies with which he has accounted for many salmon over the years.

The class, organised by Inverness Angling Club and staged in Hilton Community Centre on Thursdays from 7 to 8.30 pm, has proved to be both an educational and enjoyable weekly event over the close season. Club membership is not a requirement. Non-members are welcome and tools and materials are available for those who would like to begin developing this fascinating skill.

There’s plenty of time to learn the basics. The classes will run each Thursday in March with two excellent tutors - Mike Campbell and David Mateer. If you fish for salmon, it’s time to add fly tying to your angling techniques.

Cumbria casts look good for Jordon

Inverness angler Jordon Grant turned in superb performances in qualifying events for the World Fly Casting Championships at Port Haverigg, Cumbria, on Saturday. And it looks as though the performances will be sufficient to confirm his place in the UK team for the championships which will be held at Port Haverigg in August. 

Jordon (16) took part in two events - the 15.1ft and 18ft Spey. He came fifth in the 15.1ft Spey with casts of 50.5 metres right hand and 43.5 metres left hand, a total of 94 metres. First was Andrew Toft who set a cast total of 104.5 metres. Jordon did even better in the 18ft Spey, taking third place with consistent casts of 57 and 57 metres, behind Lee Cummings (62/62 metres) and Peter Thain (57.5/57 metres).

Eight places are available for the UK team in each of a series of Spey and overhead casting events. Full details are available at http://www.ukflycastingsport.com/record-breakers The full UK team will be confirmed at the end of February.

 

Ness features on BBC Alba

The final episode of Turas A’ Bhradain (The Salmon’s Journey) will be broadcast on BBC Alba on Wednesday, February 14, at 8.30 pm. It will be available on the BBC iPlayer shortly thereafter and will be repeated on BBC Alba at 8.30 pm on Saturday, February 17. The programme will include features on the the River Ness, Scotland’s Salmon Festival and Inverness Angling Club. 

Presenter Neen MacKay meets with passionate competitors in the IAC Centenary Speycasting Tournament and talks with female anglers, who are fast becoming a major part of the world of fly fishing. With salmon now under serious threat, the programme also considers some of the scientific debates currently going on within the industry.

Tyers tackle Ally’s pattern

Shrimps will be on the menu again at this week’s fly tying class, staged by Inverness Angling Club in Hilton Community Centre on Thursdays from 7 to 8.30 pm. But this week tyers will concentrate their efforts on Ally’s Shrimp, the highly successful salmon fly designed and developed by well known angling instructor Ally Gowans of Pitlochry. The pattern is: Tail: hot orange bucktail (with Krystal hair if desired). Body: half red and half black floss silk with medium oval tinsel rib. Underwing: grey squirrel top and bottom. Overwing: bunch of GP tippets. Collar hackle: hot orange. Head: red thread or varnish.

Famed fly: Ally's Shrimp

Jordon casts for world championships

IAC club member Jordon Grant is bidding to qualify for the fifth World Fly Casting Championships to be held at Port Haverigg Marina Village in Millom, Cumbria, from August 17 to 19 this year. Jordon (16) demonstrated his potential last September when he came fifth equal overall in Inverness Angling Club’s Centenary Speycasting Tournament, among some of the top speycasters in Europe.

Accompanied by his grandfather, Douglas Mackie, Jordon will travel to Port Haverigg to take part in qualifying events this weekend (February 17). The top eight qualifiers will form the UK team, which will be confirmed at the end of February. Jordon is looking forward to the event, but is under no illusions. “I’ll have to be at my best to qualify. It would be a fantastic experience to take part in the world championships.”

Contender: Jordon fishes the Mill Stream

Conservation gradings confirmed

The Scottish Government has confirmed conservation gradings for the Ness district for 2018, with no change from those set for 2017. Grade 3 status will remain across the district until June 30 to protect spring salmon and early running grilse destined for the River Moriston. From July 1, mandatory catch and release will remain in the Moriston conservation area – but the River Ness, Loch Ness and the rest of the Ness district will be uplifted to Grade 2, allowing a limited number of fish to be caught and retained. 

All salmon and grilse must be released unharmed during the Grade 3 period. During the Grade 2 period, from July 1 to October 15, all hen fish, cock fish over eight pounds and coloured or unseasonable fish must be released. Only one cock fish weighing eight pounds or under may be retained per angler per week, with a maximum of two per season.

There are a series of restrictions on baits and lures. The use of prawns and shrimp is prohibited throughout the Ness district, as are worms for salmon and sea trout above Dochfour Weir. Any spinning lure or plug should have only one hook no bigger than size 6. Preferably, all hooks should be single, barbless or crimped. 

The use of worms below Dochfour Weir is restricted to the period between July 1 and August 31. Anglers should not fish with worms anywhere in the district while mandatory catch and release is in force.

Grading’s for all 171 rivers and assessment groups for 2018 can be found at the Marine Scotland website http://www.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Salmon-Trout-Coarse/fishreform/licence/status The regulations themselves can be found at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2018/37/contents/made

 

Shrimps for salmon

Shrimp flies will be the subject of Inverness Angling Club’s weekly fly tying class in the Hilton Community Centre on Thursday from 7 to 8.30 pm. Tutors Mike Campbell and David Mateer will demonstrate the best ways to tie these very successful salmon flies. All are welcome, whether novices seeking to develop fascinating skills from the basics or experienced tyers looking for tips to improve their techniques. Equipment and materials can be provided. 

 

Tummel success for Jordon

Young Jordon Grant has once again demonstrated his angling skills by taking the first fish of the season from the River Tummel. The 16-year-old Inverness Angling Club member landed and released a sparkling 14 lb springer on a visit to the Pitlochry Angling Club water today (February 3). With other river visits in his diary over the next couple of months, it’s fairly safe to say that Jordon will be among the salmon again.

Happy laddie: Jordon shows off his fine fish

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Highlands

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