Mira comes good

Well done Christopher on your Doctor’s Island ‘20’.

PS My book is all but written. It will help you to catch one of these, and then one or two more after that..

WATCH THIS SPACE AND . . . TIGHT LINES!

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Fall colours coming through

It should really be Fall colors or alternatively, Autumn colours shouldn’t it. Ha.

So here is a quick one from the Miramichi. Pictured is the Southwest pool just below our house on which we have shared drought-shrunken water with six other ‘sports’ from (Byzie’s) Country Haven camp, a fair few head-and-tailing but disinterested salmon, one right under my rod tip, and… a belly-flopping beaver. I just knew it wasn’t a salmon as it was close in to the bank. Didn’t I??

Happy days and a bunch of fishing friends including ‘BB’ author of Closing the Season – a

It has begun

The bridge below Tyssholen, Gaula. The Pot is to right of shot.

August bank holiday Monday, the start of autumn. Nearly. That means the start of autumn fishing and with slots lined up at the end of next month and the start of the one after, I have some proper salmon fishing to look foward to.

I hope you do too.

One legendary fisherman I know is wading out into the waters of Upper Floors this morning. He is a lucky man, although the Tweed had a slightly disappointing week last week, according to Martin Ritchie’s excellent River Tweed report yesterday. But with water settling yesterday and the black water clearing this could be the start of the big catches.

Sandy will perhaps receive a visitation from the Duke, the big man from the castle. I hope to post here with a report of how he gets on.

Just a quick update to say I had a super week on the Gaula with AAPGAI master Ian May this month. We had such good fun, just to watch Ian casting and to hopefully pick up bits and pieces was so worthwhile. Fish action was muted. We saw many many ‘salmons’ and a tricky one

Pierre hits Gaula running

It has been a pleasure to get some regular updates from our (not royal we, I mean Christopher and my) pal Pierre Egger out on the Norwegian Flyfishers’ Club waters of the Gaula this week.

“Hello,” he said yesterday.  “I got a 10.8 kg this morning. Big 20 minutes fight with this beautiful fresh fish. Best regards. Pierre”

He’s had a couple of grilse too.

Said Pierre: “The successful flies have been banana for two fishes and black and yellow for the third

Throne by the river

It’s not much of a seat. But the location’s good.

Day five. . So (did it again used So, used So.. Oh get with the programme you zeitgeist-deficient ones)

Where was I? So two inspiring wildlife encounters: a house martin wrapped itself round my unfurling fly line then

Here hare here

This bold hare entered the Beat 1 car park this morning. (Sorry you need to zoom in: my phone is not good.)

I’m fishing a goldhead through Porters pool, in deference to the fishing genius that is Neil Bryson. (See HSA passim.)

Rain tomorrow, of the light but who really knows variety.

So long Orri Vigfusson, salmon hero.

Charles Rangeley-Wilson on the passing of Orri Vigfússon. I was lucky to get to meet Orri several times and he greeted us all as friends. He popped up everywhere – everywhere where salmon swam and where those who fished for them hung out. A conservational colossus.

accidental angler

Orri Vigfusson 1942 – 2017

Very sad to say I’ve just had an email announcing the death, yesterday, of my friend – the salmon’s friend and so many peoples’ friend – Orri Vigfusson.  We corresponded by email not long ago: I was trying to fix some salmon fishing in Iceland and Orri was trying to help me. Now I learn he had lung cancer. It is absolutely typical of Orri not to have made a fuss.

Orri was one of the most capable and wonderfully enigmatic men I ever met: a colossus of the conservation world. I remember when he showed me around his beloved Sela river in Iceland (pictured above) and explained that he had increased the salmon run there three-fold, two times over: from 300 to 900 fish and then from 900 to 2,700. His ambition was to do that one more time. He passionately believed in the…

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