Game Plan

Next Sunday sees me make the eight hour drive North with my mate Rob to the Highlands and the middle Dee in search of a spring Salmon.

Weeks of intently studying Siberian weather forecasts, river levels on FishDee and catch reports from the beats will come to an end and I'll have a whole week in the open air.

The combination of a netbook with an apparently boundless capability for striking up an internet connection and my camera should allow me to keep anyone who wishes informed of our progress through the week.

On previous trips our basic agenda is; full English breakfast followed by fishing all day followed by beer all evening. This time I intend to try squeeze a blog update in to this already tight schedule!

The absence of a salmon on the bank means the fishing might get pretty tough come Weds / Thurs. Salmon fishing is active with a hundred plus casts being made each day with long rods and fly lines. Come the back end of the week things start to creak, especially the shoulders. Rod joints and reel seats are taped up with electrical tape to withstand the punishment of a days casting and to avoid a section of the rod working loose with expensive consequences. There's obviously no bait involved in fly fishing so it's a case of following the gillies instructions and trying to 'cover' as much of the recommended water as possible with the fly. The further you can cast the more water you will cover each run down.

I'm a novice salmon angler compared to Rob which means I swear more when my casts fall out of the sky like spaghetti rather than fully extending and turning over the full fly line. Rob's skill does mean I stand more chance of posting something other than an endless stream of scenery photos though.

Cheers.