Hi Dave,
Its illegal to fish for salmon and sea trout on a sunday on any river in Scotland. Some rivers/beats allow sunday fishing for brown trout. Not sure about the rest of the uk.
There will be folk who know far better than I, so please correct me if I have any of this wrong, but here goes -
As far as I'm aware, the right to fish for salmon and sea trout is owned by the crown which means that land owners actually have to purchase these fishing rights seperately, but the land owners do own the right to fish for brown trout (and I think all other species too, but not sure on that).
So in order for us to fish places there has probably been a lot of complicated legal stuff thats had to be sorted out by angling associations, governing bodies of river catchment areas etc, and land/estate owners even if they actually own the land! This explains why separate permits can be bought for brown trout fishing only, and why the cost of salmon/sea trout fishing is automatically greater even before beat catches, ghillies, prestige etc. are taken into consideration. Its ironic because the crown classes the right to fish for sea trout alongside salmon, but our native sea trout are actually brown trout, but there you go...
So the no sunday fishing for salmon and sea trout will be down to the crown in terms of legislation, but I think the actual reason for it is religious tradition. The Sabbath - day of rest. The crown is traditionally tied in with religion, as is salmon fishing, which goes back centuries. Religion has always played a part in it. It used to be the case that Salmon were an economical commodity, providing a vital source of income, the ministers would bless the river water with holy water (and whisky!) in the hope of a good yield for the locals, (and also good fishing because of the enormity of the social culture of salmon fishing). I believe the river water blessings still occur on certain rivers today, not to mention the ceremonies that are held on many rivers on the season opening and closing days, of which I'm sure a fair amount will still have some degree of religious involvement.
My late uncle was the minister at Crathie and the manse where he stayed backed on to a small stretch of the Dee known as the ministers pool. There are similarly named pools on other rivers too for the same reasons. I'm sure the crown would grant the Salmon fishing rights to the ministers rather than sell them, as again, it has always been the way that the crown, and religion, and salmon fishing have been intrinsically linked.
So theres some interesting stuff to think about....
Why do my posts always seem to end up as essays? sorry about that! All said and done I reckon the no sunday fishing rule is a good thing at the end of the day cos basically it gees the fish a day off!
Adam
