You're probably doing nothing wrong. Keep plugging away and your time will come.

 

Salmon fishing is easy if you remember this one simple thing,

Go to a place where there are lots of salmon!!!!!

 

Persevere my friend. Just keep at it. My son has been trying for three years to catch his first on the fly and he's getting a little disheartened. I keep telling him the same thing: Believe me, once you hook your first, all the effort will be more than worth it!

 

I feel you pain mate i am the only one of my regular fishing mates who has yet to catch a salmon while they have all caught several over the years we fish the same rivers same tactics and nothing !!!!

but i just keep reminding myself that its bound to happen one of these days.

i hope......

 

Salmon fishing is a trial of perseverance over common sense. I know people who've fished for years without catching one.

You're not 'special' or different . . . just unlucky!

 

I know someone who caught his first ever Salmon 2 years ago after countless years of trying and told me..... "You know i must have spent thousands of pounds in pursuit of catching my first salmon, i've had prime beats booked on the Rivers Tay, Dee, Don, you name most of the good rivers and beats in Scotland and i've most likely booked and fished them in vain, then i walk out my back door in Torrance, walk a few yards to my local river the River Kelvin and catch my first salmon almost on my doorstep" mg:

Funny old game the Salmon fishing, took me until my second season to catch my first salmon, then my second salmon followed 20 minutes later

Best regards
Jim

 

A rich American had booked an exclusive beat on the Spey. He was helicoptered in, slept in a top hotel and had bought the best gear. He fished all week with a ghillie at his side.
Flogged away for six days but his skills were not great. However the ghillie used all his knowledge and managed to get the Yank into a fish.

So there he was sitting in his Rolls Royce with his salmon across his knees.
Well he said to the ghillie, " You know this fish has has cost me £20,000"

The old ghillie looks him straight in the eye and says,
"Well sir its lucky you never caught two!!!"

 

Positive mental attitude is the most important thing in fishing.
It also helps if you are playing cards or gambling in a casino. :wine::wine:

 

Stick a worm on, get your first Salmon, then switch over to fly fishing!
Cheers
Richard

 

Shock horror! He's be as well with a lead core and a couple of big trebles with a wisp of bucktail.

 

Just a wee update still not got a salmon but I've done ok with the sea trout I've had six sea trout but times runnin out for me this season just over 2 weeks left for me to try and get my first salmon, so here's hopein i get 1 or 2 in the last couple of weeks

 

You're not as unlucky as you think, before i gave up Salmon fishing i'd have preferred to hook a 5lb sea-trout over a 10lb Salmon any day, and so would an awful lot of people.

Anyway just keep trying :thumbs:

Best regards
Jim

 

They ain't rocket science. If they are there in numbers then you keep at it til they take! Fly choice unimportant, depth and speed of fly is!
As Devon fly fisher said, use a worm, then fly fish if allowed.

 

Fish slow and deep with cold water temperatures and big baits.

http://www.aghilliestale.com

 

Fish to the conditions, depending on where you are fishing, type of fly line is crucial. Intermediate, Wetcel II, Hi D or just even a floater with a Fast or Extra Fast sinking leader. You must have confidence in your fly selection. Don't be too tempted to go too big or too small. Size 6 dressed fly or 1.5 inch tube is a safe bet for backend fish.

The fly needs to get down to where the fish are. So if you are fishing a pool with different contours, speed of river etc, you might need to change tactics with different lines i.e one pool floater with sinking leader might be perfect, However, the next pool you might need a Hi D. Remember to put an upstream mend into your line after each cast to slow the fly down.

But it all depends on size of river, speed of the current, river height and temperature. If I was going to fish anything, I would use a Willie Gunn. Good luck and don't worry it will happen eventually.

Sea trout are even more difficult to catch than Salmon.

Tight lines :thumbs:

 

Sea trout are even more difficult to catch than Salmon.

Tight lines :thumbs:

Yeah,

I had a wee chuckle at the fact that you are catching sea trout but not salmon! I think we can be sure you have the necessary skills on that basis though.

I have just finished my third season on the salmon (although the second was rather curtailed and this one has been rather, errr ... dry) so I am no expert. But I have caught a few.

Anyway, I don't disagree at all with what Cat Whisker says but I would turn it around a wee bit and suggest you fish the right conditions, as well as 'to them'. By that I mean there is a 'magic hour' when the river is bang on and the fish are running. If you can find out what that is then you are in with a fantastic chance as I would argue they are like mackerel then. It helps obviously if you can get some local guidance on that and are local to the river too so you can get out and at them at the right time.

I seem to get better 'luck' too fishing quickly through the water as I reckon that if a fish is in the mood for taking, it just will. There are accounts of covering fish 100 times before it takes but why not leave it be and get onto a few more obliging fish.

The river I fish is a wee spate river and half of my dozen or so captures have come from small, barely recognisable pools amongst fast, skinny water. My thinking is that because the fish have to move along the whole length of the river, against a strong current, they take a wee breather in such places and are probably in a more agitated state (and snappy at flies) than when in the deeper, more tranquil and often named 'holding pools' where we might otherwise focus our efforts.

But as has been said above ... keep plugging away. You are definitely doing something right (with those sea trout!) and they will come. I spent ages to get my first then a few days later I hooked three and landed the one that hung on. Sometimes it is just luck or chance - at the moment you are at the unlucky end of the bell-shaped distribution (if you understand statistics) and will hopefully move a bit further to the other extreme next season.

Good luck from a beginner who has begun,

Andy

 

Hey Tam

would be helpful to know what river you are fishing and some may be able to give you a few pointers.
I don't confess to being a whiz with the king of fish but have caught my fair share over the years. I started way back in 1985 {year my daughter was born} with catching a may springer on the teith at 10lb caught on a trout rod and an abu kynoch.
Believe me you will never forget your first NEVER.It will remain with you.
If you fish the same beat all the time you will get to know best heights and conditions.
This would be my advice fish the same stretch for a while and once you get one you will note the conditions and water height and then you will broaden your knowledge of the river and you will catch.
As most have said right conditions , right place , right time.
I was fortunate enough to be ghillieing on the Tay a few weeks ago as a favour and managed to get a Guy who was 63 his first ever salmon after putting him into the head of a run and showing him how to fish it. 4th cast bang a 15lber happy days great smile and another one hooked.
So keep at it mate and you will get there.

 

Persevere my friend. Just keep at it. My son has been trying for three years to catch his first on the fly and he's getting a little disheartened. I keep telling him the same thing: Believe me, once you hook your first, all the effort will be more than worth it!

Claypots, i couldnt agree more. I remember a mate who'd been on the spey every year for about 6 seasons and had never hooked a salmon. Trout by the dozen, sea trout, even an escapee rainbow, but no salmon. I remember fishing the Gas pool with him one evening at about 9pm. i took off his little silver whatever, and put on a socking great cascade tube for no reason really. first time down the pool, his rod went over and he screamed up at me that he had a fish on. he was fighting it as though the line was made of human hair and was convinced it was a trout. somehow, i knew different and told him so. sure enough, a few seconds later, right in the middle of the pool out exploded a good fish which caused his limp rod to buckle... a solid fight ensued and i finally slid the net under a lovely 12 pounder. after knocking it on the head (no chance of C&R with this one) my friend turned to me, with a tear in his eye, and genuinely said, 'that was better than the birth of my firstborn'.... He lost another fish shortly after, but to be honest, i don;t think his heart was in it after the first...

 

Hi.
Salmon - the King of fish's are the hardest of all to catch as their instinct to feed wanes in freshwater and they have to be tempted into taking a fly or spinning lure.
The following pointers may come to late for this season but may put you in good stead for the following season.
Perseverance is the answer .. the right place the right time this knowledge you will gain with experience.

Spring and backend fishing for salmon have many similarities method,size of fly,depth etc.

The days are short and normally colder than most with falling water temperatures.
Don't be tempted to rush down and start fishing the best pool early in the morning..
Wait until the sun rises higher in the sky and the air temperature has risen a little particularly if there has been an overnight frost or severe temperature drop.
Salmon will take when the air temperature is greater than the water temperature even if only by a few degrees.
Fishing the best water before the air warms up only serves to disturb the pool.
There will be other water between the best pools to fish through meantime.
Whether or not it is a big deep river or a spate river with moderately deeper water runs and pools the same scenario applies.
Bigger patterned flies such as Willie Gunn and Thunder and Lightning will produce the goods fished slow and deep just off bottom.
Larger spinning baits too produce the goods fished in the same manner.
Frosts and cold water temperatures slow down the salmons progress with regard to running upstream and tends to hold fish back in the pools until temperatures rise which obviously works to the anglers advantage!

Most anglers leave the water late afternoon before dusk draws in.
As the light fades darkness falls very quickly at these times of year..however..
Position yourself at the tail end of one of the better pools ten minutes or so before the light starts to fail.
Listen to the river and it will unearth it's secrets in time you will be able to distinguish the natural noises of the water and begin to pick out the splash of a fish heading upstream from the pool below .. look for ' V ' shaped wakes as fish slip over the tail end and into the pool you are about to fish.
With the available light fading fast there is just enough time for few casts.
A minority of fish will move upstream prior to full darkness.
These fish once in the main pool often stop momentarily for a short rest before moving on...and it these fish you are targeting.
Once over the run off and into the main pool these salmon will drop into the first suitable lye perhaps for only a few minutes rarely for extended rest periods.
' A new fish in a new pool is a taking fish ' often casting a fly through these tail end lyes is the difference between success and blanking.

There are two distinct types of pools / runs that salmon frequent.
' Holding pools and Resting pools '
Holdings pools are those places where salmon are happy to lye up for extended periods moving upstream at their leisure and can hold both fresh and stale fish.
For example low water conditions .. some fish are content to lye up only moving on when conditions of imminent rain or spate are certain.
Others simply lye up for a day or two before moving from pool to pool a leisurely excercise that suits many fish expending less energy which is conserved for the rigours of spawning.
Resting Pools ' as the title suggests are those pools / runs where running fish stop simply to regain lost energy whilst running perhaps only for a few minutes rarely for any length of time.

Both these pools can fish well.

Holding pools will produce fish at any given time.
Resting pools when fish are running ...for example during daylight on a rising river.

Don't get despondant or disheartened persevere and you will be rewarded.

Hope this help.
John.

A GHILLIES TALE

 

Salmon fishing is easy if you remember this one simple thing,

Go to a place where there are lots of salmon!!!!!

Not true at all!

 

Everyone has a what am i doing wrong period,it will come good for you just keep focused.

 

Sorry lads I've not been on for over a year thanks for all the tips I didn't catch a salmon that year I only went out 2-3 times last season due to a back injury but I'll be back at this year its the river Irvine I fish its not known for gr8 runs of salmon I spin for the samon rappals flying c's toby mepps im goin to try the worm and shrimp this year but once agin thanks for your tips ??

 

Shrimp is banned in Scotland :thumbs::thumbs:

 

I think you'll find that this is not the case.(YET) it is local area agreements .

Jim

 

A couple of things that haven't been mentioned, firstly if a salmon is in the mood it's far easier to catch than a trout, if it's not you are on a loser before you start. The fresher a salmon is the more likely it is to take a bait, or immediately after a rise in water levels can bring them on when the level has started to fall again.

If a salmon is following but not taking it's clearly interested so you need to make some small changes, first change the size of the bait, usually smaller is the way to go, then try a change of colour. When we fished the Wye in the good old days we knew we had fresh salmon in the pool as we could see them and we might be using our standard 2½" wooden brown & gold minnow. We might show this to a fish a dozen or more times then switch to a 2" and immediately get a take. The great unknown is of course whether that fish would have taken the original minnow on that cast, we'll never know but a take immediately after changing the bait happened too often to be just chance.

If a fish is following your lure do not slow up the retrieve to let it catch the lure, if anything speed up to make it look as if it's going to escape.

It took me about a dozen tries to get my first salmon on what then the most prolific river in England or Wales so don't give up, it will happen.

 

Salmon fishing and success has a "number" of factors to consider, the main 3 IMO are:

Knowing the river (reasonably well at least)
Knowing when and where to fish to optimise your chances

but most importantly,

Perseverance!!

You have to put the hours in to keep the rewards!!
Keep at it

 

Correct Jim, it it banned on most of the River Nith but you are allowed to fish if on the tidal stretch of the Burgh below the Castledykes park gates.

 

Just concentrate on depth, speed of the swing of the fly and listen to those who do catch. Some spend too long overcomplicating the issue and worrying about if their casting is perfect every cast. The fish WILL come!!

 

Its never easy in this era of salmon fishing!