A few days Ian Williams wont forget in a Hurry!

April 15th is always a superb week in our Spring Diary & Calendar. Our good friend & client Ian had booked to fish with us for two days. We first met two years ago when Ian booked a days Guided Spring Salmon fishing on our stretch of the Whiteadder. He landed a incredible fish of around 13Ibs in the Pig Pool and that was him hooked. So he quickly booked two more days for this season, April 15th & 16th hoping to carry on with his previous years success.

We spoke the night before after Ian had travelled up from Wales and was staying in a cottage nearby to the river. I told him that the river levels where great and we had caught some great fish but the sun which was forecast to be bright mite make things a little difficult. So the best plan of action was to start early before the sun got to bright and stopped play. We agreed to meet early at the fishing carpark at 07:00.

We both met the following day, big smiles and excitement on his face, shook hands and got tackled up quickly and made our way down to the river with our 9’6 Sage One lined up with a WF5 single handed trout spey line and our orange WG conehead tied my Michael currie. A killer combination which has accounted for dozens and dozens of Spring fish for us over the years.

We had five pools in mind on the top half of Ninewells, our stretch of the Whiteadder. Starting at the Small Glide, Roe pot, Long Stream, The Pig Pool & finishing in The Ledges. My hopes were very high but i didn’t expect what was going to happen. Within 30 minutes Ian was playing his first Spring Salmon of the morning in the Long Stream. A superb fight and a super fish, around 10Ib covered in sea lice. A quick welldone handshake followed by a few quick photos and the beautiful salmon was quickly returned back to the river. We were both so happy and excited and the hunt continued. The next pool was the gorge which didn’t provide any goods for us.

The Pig Pool was next, one of our best performing pools and seems to hold salmon all season. A favourite pool for many of our clients and syndicate rods. First cast nothing… Second cast boom!! Fish on but Ian didn’t strike properly and the fish was on and off after a brief head shake and role on the surface. A smaller fish of around 7Ibs but incredibly fresh glinting in the sunlight. Ian had three moire casts and bang, a bigger fish took him in the lower section of the Pig Pool known as the trench. After a superb fight, we eventually got it into the net. Photos, a handshakes and shout of excitement and the fish was back into the water to be released. A similar size fish to his first. Two Spring Salmon and one lost all within a few hours of Fishing, Incredible! We quickly carried on before the sun got too bright but we didn’t get long before the sun spoiled our fun and we headed for the hut to have some warm food and chat about the amazing mornings fishing we had shared together. We decided to fish the lower half of the river after lunch targeting the Sandy Hole & Hurly Burley’s but we hand no luck. So we called it a day and decided to have another early start tomorrow for his last day with us. What a morning though, Two Spring Salmon landed and one lost!!!

The following morning arrived, i was excited to see what today would bring after yesterdays success. This time Ian was late due to sleeping in. He eventually arrived, tackled up and put our waders on and we were back in the same pool as yesterday at 07:30 for Round 2. We fished all the same pools without any success, i was quiet surprised. We ended down in the Ledges Pool which has started to produce fish for us over the last few seasons. The favourite lie is in the lower left section of the tail where a huge ledge comes out from the bank and often has a salmon lying behind. This time it did and it didn’t take long before Ian was connected to his first Spring Salmon of the day. Merlin my Labrador got very excited also and was eager to jump in and assist Ian with playing the Salmon. After a great fight, one long run and some great lunges and bolts into the main section of the Pool the fish finally came to the surface and I slipped the net underneath. Another lovely fish of around 9Ibs. A few photos and videos and we got the fish back into the river.

Thats 3 Spring Salmon landed and 2 lost in two morning sessions. Wow just wow! We fished a few other pools after some breakfast in the hut but once again the sun came out and the river went to sleep. So we called it at that! A massive congratulations Ian landing some incredible fish in some tricky conditions. Amazing fishing thats for sure!!!!

 Best wishes & Tightlines

James Armstrong- Owner & Head Guide/ Chasing Fins