Friday came and it turned out to be the last day. Paul had to leave early afternoon and he was soon followed by David leaving me all by my lonesome. Tomorrow is supposed to be the High Beats but as the water is so low, as I’m left on my lonesome and as I don’t want to wreck the car driving into the middle of nowhere I shall depart for sunny Skipton early tomorrow morning.
Today has been the brightest and warmest day of them all, which is amazing following Wednesday when the heavens opened. The river has risen 4 feet and then in 2 days dropped 5 leaving it vey low but very fishable.
This morning I had a plan for 5 fish each before the end of the day as I suspected that it would fish well. As reported earlier I was on the river for 6 am and (I am very pleased to say) did (by the end of the day) manage my 5, snagging the last 3lb grilse from the ‘saddle’ pool at 8pm before the invasion of the deadly Scottish midgies. All in all a good day, 4 grilse in total varying between 2 and 4 pound, with a good 6 pound salmon, making 8 fish in total for the week – not great but not bad. David managed 1 salmon and Paul didn’t get a fish.
Getting up early seems to pay off here as this morning I had my first fish at 7:15, second at 7:30 and third at 7:45, also by 8 I had another 3 takes but failed to hook them.
So – here I am with a glass of red wine completing the Findhorn blog. Tomorrow morning I will have a shower and try to be on the road by 6, with a vague hope to be home by 12.
Would I return to the Findhorn? To be honest I’m not sure. It’s been a strange week and it hasn’t exactly fished well but it has potential. What hasn’t really turned me on is that the majority of the fish are grilse with very few real salmon and no chance of hitting a big fish. The midges are the worst thing in the world and trash any enjoyment when they are out, whilst breeze, rain and cold are blessed as effectively they put the midges down. To say there’s almost 6 miles of river there are few spots with real fish potential, and the higher beats really need to be more accessible with some of the tracks downright dangerous. However, there are fish in the river, the lodge is superb and the countryside is spectacular. The company was excellent and therefore it should be spot on. But something still nags that its not right. I shall have to sleep on it though as regards next year.
9 o’clock and its time to put this down and tuck into the wine. From the Findhorn it’s goodnight and goodbye.
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