Ah yes, low water
But, fishing is fishing and a good day was had below where Iain was, despite not catching a thing.
Invery had plenty of fish showing and a moved a lot of them to my flies but no takers. One of our party had six or seven "draws" but no solid connections. It was like trout coming short.
The whole beat had fish that were very splashy in the morning before the perfect storm moved in. It was like they could sense it coming, a theory that I have entertained for 25 years or so that salmon can sense pressure changes, but that might just be BS.
The lower half of the beat was exactly as I remembered it 17 years ago, which was when I fished it last. great wading, good flow, perfect fly water.
I didn't have a switch rod, I had a a 15' MacKenzie with a shooting head - possibly slightly over gunned
, but bloody good fun. (thanks Ben, your a real gent) More practise required, but I had to keep reminding myself that other than a day on the Beauly in August last year, I hadn't used a double hander since I last fished Invery. I may have to do more of this salmon thing!
I fished on until dusk, moved a few more fish, and left a happy man. The storm was biblical and I was glad I had a really good jacket. It was in the car, half a mile away, but it is a great jacket. I huddled under the trees and didn't get a total soaking, but I left the rod below me just in case there was lightning. The overflow pipes that enter the beat from Banchory looked like dam overflows and were properly gushing out. As the rain eased I waded out and fished the outflows, but still no joy.
All in all, a fine day out and one that needs repeating. Off to check Ebay for salmon rods.
