After a great July with both myself and guests getting into some incredible fish August/September had a lot to live up to, with the runs of fish and talented anglers on the banks there was only going to be 1 answer. August started with a familiar face in the form of BT sports presenter and England carp fishing team manager rob Hughes as he went in search of his first salmon, not only did he get his prize he ended up with a brace of fly caught fish including the smallest grilse ive ever seen, you never know we may have turned him from the dark side.
Getting anyone their first salmon is always a great feeling but on their first ever day chasing silver and using a double hander is on another level. Here’s my guest Craig with his prize that he worked so hard for, especially after loosing a fish earlier in the day, not a bad effort for his day at all and another angler hooked on salmon for life.
Its amazing the friends you get to make within fishing, even half way across the other side of the world, one of them Dave like a lot of anglers has always had his heart set on catching a salmon, so after booking 3 days with me months ago his time to chase silver finally arrived and he absolutely smashed it. Not only did his dream come true he finished the trip an absolute hero, a hat-trick hero, coming from a coarse fishing back ground i just hope he doesn’t expect this every time.
England International Carp angler Ryan managed to scrape in a last minute booking with me at the end of august, he took to salmon fishing like a duck to water considering his angling background. Not only did this man mountain land his first salmon on his first ever day salmon fishing, but he managed to land the biggest my guests had the whole season, something that took me 20 years to achieve, a fish weighing in at a staggering 21.5lb! I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of that man.
September started at 100 MPH with colossal runs of fish still entering the system and my first guest Larysa literally getting thrown in at the deep end being her first time. Everyone knows salmon fishing isn’t easy and these fish can drive you to the edge of insanity but Larysa literally smashed it, even tho it was her first day ever fishing for salmon on an unknown river using new equipment she got her prize, a stunning 9.5lb hen fish which as always was quickly returned after her trophy photo.
One of the biggest characters i’ve had on the river has to be Phil, he literally had me in stitches constantly through the few days a guided him. Again things started at lightning speed hooking into 2 salmon for them both to throw the fly feet from the net, it was going to have to be third time lucky, which it was as he managed a nice double figure fly caught fish from the north tyne. This as a lot of the fish this season was a first salmon for him which only makes the moment even better.
One of the highlights of the season was 20 year old Liam who only took up fishing 2 years ago, and this was his first ever day salmon fishing, he not only managed his first sea trout but at the end of play managed his first salmon. What made the day extra special was out of about 20 anglers he was the only one to catch anything, and looking though fish pal catches he’s stayed the only one that managed anything to the net.
Its always great having 2 guests fishing at a time as not only does it obviously double your chance but the banter is always great and the competitiveness even better. Near the end of September i had 2 absolute legends Jason and Karl come in search of their first tyne fish! As i mentioned above its always great to catch fish but it’s everything that comes with it, the banter, the learning and of course a ballistic lunch time spread with the lads brought with them, ive never seen anything like it. In the end the boys finished with 2 fish lost and a stunning sea trout.
One day that will go down in history in my fishing career for a number of reasons was a day i spent at countess park with Robson Green, not only did I manage 3 salmon on my Atomsix fly rod with one of them being a 20, all 3 were caught on a red Stokoe shrimp. Along with my incredible hat-trick I witnessed Robson catch not only his first but second ever fly caught Tyne salmon. To top it off Robson’s uncle Matheson got amongst the fish making it 6 for the day. A day i thought would never happen and now im lucky enough to call Robson a great friend.
At the end of the month waters levels seemed to drop which put a lot of local anglers off, for me the low water only means one thing, the fish get condensed in certain areas. My guest Dean had no trouble at all finding the fish as he managed his first Tyne salmon on a day others that were fishing struggled, he stuck at it hard and got his not so silver prize, still a stunning fish.
Last but certainly not least Myself and the salmon master Phil caught some incredible Salmon and sea trout on the fly throughout August and september, to many to mention but here are a few to wet the appetite.
The fly’s doing the damage were as always a red Stokoe shrimp and small cascades…….