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River Reports
30.06.09 - Wick River June 2009
The first fish of the month was landed by Billy Hood, a nice sealiced 10 pounder from Shepherds on the 1st June. A severe lack of rain saw no more caught until we got a small spate around the 10th June and quite a few fish were then landed during the following few days. Peter Davis had a fresh 7 pounder on the 11th from the Pot followed by another the next day at 12lbs from Tarroul. Also on the 11th the Pot produced another brace to Ian Swanson (7 & 8 lbs) The same day George Doull Snr reported a brace as well from the Pot (11 & 9 lbs) The following day, Thursday12th saw quite a few landed as the water cleared. Again the Pot had quite a few fish showing and George Mackay landed two that night (11 & 7lbs), also further down stream Willie Miller landed one at 8 pounds from Shepherds. Friday saw another good fish caught from the Shepherds, this time an eleven pounder to David Green. Other successful anglers to score during that few days were Ian Sinclair 11lbs from Tarroul, Jimmy Dunnet 8 lbs from the Flag Pool, Jim Hindmarch 7 lbs from the Pot, Joe Hendry 8 lbs from Strath, George Doull Jnr 8 lbs from Pot, Jimmy Macadie had three, the best 12lbs. The heaviest of the month weighed in at 13lbs and was caught by John Gunn on the14th. Despite the river being very low and scorching weather for the remaining part of June, Bill Lindsay rounded the month up with a sea liced 7 pounder from the run out of Macphails on Saturday 27th.
31.05.09 - Wick River May 2009
The first 20 days of May were very disappointing and despite the Pools being covered on a daily basis no Salmon were recorded. The last 10 days saw the river rise and conditions were good and on the 21st Laura Leeper landed a nice sealiced ten pounder from the Pot. The following day Jimmy Anderson also had one from the Pot, a cracking 13.5 lbs again sealiced. New Club Member, Peter Davis landed his first ever Salmon from Katie Gows on the 23rd. It was caught on Fly and weighed 10.5 lbs and he went on to land another from the same Pool later that evening. Peter sportingly returned the eleven pounder which was also taken on Fly. Bill Lindsay had the first Grilse of the year, 5lbs from the Pot. James Ross also had two sealiced Salmon weighing 12 & 9 lbs on the 22nd & 23rd both from MacPhails.
30.04.09 - Wick River April 2009
Four spring fish were recorded for the month of April. Charlie Stewart landed the second salmon of the season, a cracking sealiced 9 pounder from the Strath on the 11th April. George Doull Snr took the third from the Pot on the 13th again sealiced and weighed 10lbs. Ian Swanson started his season on the 14th followed by another on the 27th April, both 11 pounders from the Pot. All were caught on the worm.
31.03.09 - Wick River March 2009
The first Salmon of the 2009 season was landed by commitee member Alan Farquhar. It was caught in Tarroul on a size 6 Allies Shrimp on Friday 13th March and weighed 11 lbs.
Despite good water levels and conditions, no more fresh fish were reported for the Month.
The Photo was taken by Robert MacDonald, Northern Studios Wick
31.10.08 - Wick River October 2008
The long awaited and only decent spate of the 2008 season arrived on the first week of October and at last the river was running high and clean, much to the delight of the fly fisher. Sport for the remaining two weeks of the season was very good and it was encouraging to hear that the odd fresh sea liced fish was still being caught right up to the closing day on the 11th. Wick is fly only during October and all Salmon are retuned. Visiting Anglers from Glasgow, Ross Davie and David Harris had a good couple of days taking a brace each. Jim Erskine from Orkney had three all on a cascade shrimp and Alan Maclennan from Tain landed four from the Watten area, all taken on the Flamethrower. Local Anglers Geoff Henstridge and Jimmy Macadie added another dozen to their total for October and George Gunn had a productive few days landing ten. Other successful members were Walter Crothers 7, Donald Rosie, Jimmy Anderson, Evan Sinclair, Willie Mackay and Andrew J Steven all adding six a piece to the total.
The confirmed total for the 2008 Season is 625 Salmon.
30.09.08 - Wick River September 2008
September was quite a frustrating month for the Wick with another month passing without any major spate to flush the river out .We did have several rises of about a foot of water and although remaining quite dirty most of the time, some very good catches were reported on the worm. Fly fishers did pick up a few but with the visibility of the fly at about 2 – 3 inches it was quite hard going. Most of the fish caught were grilse and were spread out through out the whole river. Local angler Lewis Campbell had a cracking day landing eleven Salmon and loosing another four at Scorrieclet and Will Ross celebrated his first day of Retirement with a nice 5lb Grilse from Jaspers on the 10th September. Visiting angler Alastair Rule from Cornwall (see photo) sportingly landed and retuned a nice Grilse on the 15th September. Lets hope that we can get a spate in October !!!!
31.08.08 - Wick River August 2008
The start of August has been a cracker…Visiting angler Mark Dewar kick started the month in style landing his first ever Salmon quickly followed by another, both 4 lb Grilse from Wullies Pool on Friday 1st Aug. On Sunday the 3rd we were blessed with very heavy localised rain (12mm) giving a 2 foot rise on the Monday. This water along with the high tides saw the Grilse team into the river and catches were very good for most of the week but for Mon, Tues and Wednesday it was bonanza time with loads of anglers reported 3 for their day. Despite the water being quite coloured the fly produced some good results, especially bright patterns like Flamethrowers as proven by James Farquhar who had three on the Monday evening from Bilbster. Nine year old Mark Plowman landed his first ever Salmon on the 4th, a nice 5 lb Grilse from the little Pot. Visitor Mr J Hand from Ayrshire had three, Steven Taylor from Thurso had three and Steven Hill had a cracking 12 pounder from Hughie’s. Local junior member Shaun McPhee landed his second for the year, 5lbs from the Grilse Pool. The heaviest for this spate was one weighing in at 16lbs 9oz for Ronnie Plowman from the Little Pot. It is estimated that well over a 100 were caught for the week. More fish arrived in the bay during the 11th / 12th August and despite no major spate the sport remained quite good for the remaining couple of weeks of the month. Most of the action was from MacPhails down to the Grilse Pool.
30.07.08 - Wick River July 2008
July on the whole was another very dry month and as expected this reflected in the returns. Nearly all of the Salmon for the month were caught from the low reaches or the Strath with the odd fresh fish up as far as Bilbster. Quite a head of Grilse were now in the Estuary and moving in and out freely on the tide. Richard Newlands had a nice 11 ½ lbs seal iced Salmon from the Built Inner on the 1st July and lower down on the Strath, Kevin Beales had a Grilse on the 4th whilst James Ross had one from MacPhails on the 5th. A Regular Visitor to the Wick, Kenny MacDonald from Nethybridge landed an 8 pounder from the run out of MacPhails on the 7th July. It was not until the 18th before we saw some more fish caught, this time to Jim Christie, a 5lb Grilse from the Grilse pool. Other lucky anglers to get fish for the month were Hugh Macgregor, Otto Mathiesen, David Plowman and Charlie Tams.
30.06.08 - Wick River June 2008
The first three weeks of June were very dry and this made the river practically unfishable, but a few fish were starting to move in and out of the lower reaches on the tide and Walter Crothers started his season of with a nice 9 lb sea liced Salmon on the 11th June from the Dyke End on fly. The next fish was not landed until the 19th, this time a 10 pounder from the Railway Bridge Pool for David Plowman. The next two days saw Ian Swanson and James Ross landing one a piece from the Low River, weighing in at 10 & 11 lbs. Also on the 20th junior member Laura Durrand had a nice 6 pounder from McPhails. On Sunday the 22nd we a last got a spate and for the next week the fishing was quite good with some nice Salmon all averaging around 10 pounds being caught. Club Secretary John Mackay had a brace on Fly on Monday evening, one from Katie Gows and the other from Tarroul. This area of the river was very productive as Addie Ella had an 11 lb and 6 lb in 2 evenings both from Taroul. Donald Rosie also had one at 9 pounds. The Pot area as usual produced some decent catches, Paul Bain had 3 in two outings and George Doull had a good morning on the 25th landing 3 nice Salmon, two 11 pounders and another at 10 lbs. Charlie Stewart and Brian Thacker also had one each from the Pot and lower down stream at Bilbster, Lewis Campbell had one at 10 lbs and Bill Lindsay one at 9 lbs. Visiting Angler Mr. J Leask landed a nice 10 pounder from Taroull on fly as did Ian Rennolds 11 lbs from Sanny Lyons but the highlight of the month was visiting angler Oz Moffat who landed his first ever Salmon, a cracking fresh 10 pounder from the Pot on a Cascade Shrimp. (See photo)
31.05.08 - Wick River May 2008
The month of May was on the whole was a very dry one with the only real decent water levels being the first few days of the month when a few fish were reported. Jimmy Macadie landed a 9 pounder from the Little Pot on Friday the 2nd and the following day saw a further four caught, Mark Hutchison 10lbs 110z from Mill Streams, Ian Swanson 9lbs from Pot, William Bremner 8lbs from Long Shank and David Risbridger had a 9 pounder from the Dyke End on a Devon Minnow. All the others were on the worm. David Plowman had his first of the season from Willies Pool on the 21st May, 10lbs and then on the 29th James Ross landed a nice 10lb sealiced fish from Hughies and lost another soon after.
As the month drew to a close it was encouraging to see a few fish were gathering in the estuary.
30.04.08 - Wick River April 2008
The second salmon of the season was landed by committee member David Risbridger on 12th April. It was caught on a 1.5 inch Gordon's Fancy Tube Fly in the wash Pool .Despite reasonable water and the river being fished quite hard it was not until the 30th before any more catches were recorded. Ian Swanson had a 10 pounder from the Pot on Fly and Mark Hutchison had a 8.5 pounder from the Mill Stream on the worm. With good coditions and water levels at the end of April, the prospects are looking good for the start of May !!
31.03.08 - Wick River March 2008
The first Salmon of the 2008 season on the Wick was landed on the 27th of March by Wick Angling Assosiation President Ian Cormack. It weighed in at a cracking 16lbs 11oz and was caught from the run below the Pot on a 2 inch orange & black tube.
The Photo was taken by Robert MacDonald, Northern Studios Wick.
29.02.08 - Wick River February 2008
The River Wick opened on Monday 11th Feb.
Angling activity for the month was fairly light and a few kelts were caught in the lower part of the river but no fresh fish were caught.
12.10.07 - Wick River October 2007
The last two weeks of the season saw the river running at its lowest level for months and this was reflected in the returns.
During the last few days lucky anglers included George Doull Jnr, 15lbs from the Pot, Walter Crothers and Jimmy Dunnett one each from the Pot whilst lower down stream George Gunn had one at 9 lbs as did David Plowman. Donald Rosie had a good day on the 11th adding another hatrick to his total. David Risbridger reported a brace of sea liced Sea Trout, both at 2lbs.
As at the 31st October the total salmon caught stands at 772. This total will be updated as the remaining permits are returned. All permits to be returned by the 31st October.
30.09.07 - Wick River September 2007
September has been another very good month for the Wick, with continued good water levels. It has been encouraging to see sea-liced fish come off the river at this late stage in the season. John Munro and Willie Bain from Lybster shared half a dozen for the month – all on fly. Alan Calder had three nice salmon from the Watten area on small conehead tubes. Bill Lindsay and Walter Crothers both reported a couple of sea-liced fish each. Visiting angler John Findlay from Edinburgh caught one nice salmon weighing 5lbs from the Mill Stream. Alan Maclennan from Tain had three on ‘pot belly pigs’, two grilse and one nice salmon weighing 12½ lbs (see photo). Teddy Lethbridge from the Isle of Man had a nice salmon of 12lbs from Tarroul. Alan Wales from Bathgate had a good day returning two salmon.
31.08.07 - Wick River August 2007
With good water levels for the whole month and the Grilse run now in full swing, August was a cracking month for the Wick. The following named anglers are only a fraction of the total recorded… George Doull Snr started the month off with a Grilse on Monday 1st as did Laura O’Brien taking her first of the season from Mcphails.
On the 6th we had 37mm or rain in 24hrs resulting in a huge spate and some good sport followed on the Tuesday. George Robertson had four that day all on a Pot Bellied Pig Tube, the best 15lbs from the Mill Streams. Brian Thacker had three from the Sheriffs, Jimmy McAdie and James Swanson both three from the Pot.
During the course of the month Ronnie Plowman notched up another six as did Donald Rosie, Neil Groat 3, Adie Ella 3, John Farquhar 3, David Plowman 3 and John Ryrie 3. Numerous other catches were reported including the following Visitors, Dereck & John Greenhill a Grilse each from Bilbster on Fly. Bruno Dupont from France had a Grilse from Sanny Lyons on Fly. John Andrews a nice 6 pounder from the Mill Streams on Fly. Angus Leask a Grilse on Fly and companion Mick Reid (photo) had a brace from Borgies on a Pot Bellied Pig Tube Fly. Dennis Farquhar a brace on Fly. Lybster Angler Johnnie Munro also had a brace from Tarroul on Fly. Brian Shand enjoyed a good week with a total of six, the best 14lbs 3oz from the Pot.
David Green closed the month with a sea liced Grilse from the Mouth of Haster on Fly.
31.07.07 - Wick River July 2007
July has been a good month for the Wick, the start saw another large spate and we were lucky to get continual top ups throughout the whole month resulting in excellent angling conditions. It was encouraging to see some really nice quality Salmon around 9 – 12lbs being caught along with the first of the Grilse.
Monday the 2nd saw the Pot produce sealiced 11 pounders to George Mackay, Tommy Bain & Paul Bain. Also Alan Farquhar landed and sportingly returned a 7 lb coloured Salmon on Fly from The Long Shank . Later that day Ian Dunnet had a grilse from McPhails.
Ronnie Plowman had a good morning on the 16th, landing three, the best 12 lbs all on “wee tubes”. He had another 2 grilse a few days later, all around the Pot area. Other anglers to get 3 in a day were Jimmy Anderson & George Robertson on Fly, Jimmy Swanson & Jimmy McAdie on the worm.
Dave Scadding had several for the month, the best 12lbs from Katie Gows on a Curry’s Red Shrimp Fly . Other lucky anglers for July included Donald Miller (5), Charlie Stewart (3), Lewis Campbell (3), David Plowman (2), George Doull Jnr (2).
James Rhind & Brian Christie from Elgin had a couple of good days sharing four Grilse. Also from Elgin B Stewart landed a nice 6 Pounder from Sanny Lyons on a Size 10 Cascade. Regular Wick Visitor Kenny MacDonald from Aviemore also had one at 6 lbs. Alan Wales from Blackburn had a sealiced grilse from Bilbster on Fly.
Davey Stewart from Inverness took advantage of the Exchange ticket arrangement that the Wick Angling Assoc have with Inverness Angling Club and was rewarded with a cracking sealiced 6 pounder from the Pot on a small cone head tube fly.
On Saturday the 28th the River again was very high and rising but despite this Graham Robertson had a brace on fly as did Alan Farquhar, his best a beautiful 13lbs 8oz from Katie Gows on an Ally's Shrimp (see photo). Otto Mathiesen also had a grilse from Bilbster on fly.
On the 31st junior member Jamie Swanson got his first of the season, a nice sealiced grilse from the Pot.
30.06.07 - Wick River June 2007
June started of well with good water levels but unfortunately this did not last long as little or no rain fell for the whole month. The second salmon of the season was landed on the 1st June by Ian Swanson, a nice sea liced 12 pounder from the Pot on the worm. Monday the 4th saw Kevin Beales land a 9lb Salmon from the Built Inner and George Doull Jnr started his season with one at 9lbs from the Railway Bridge Pool and another at 12lb 10 oz the following day, both on the worm. The first fly caught Salmon of 2007 was taken on the 16th by Walter Crothers from the Dyke End again at 9 pounds (see photo). Ian Swanson added another two to the total on the 21st and 28th, McPhails 8lbs & Hughie’s 9lbs both on the worm.
31.05.07 - Wick River May 2007
The long awaited first Salmon has eventaully arrived. It was caught by Ian Swanson on Monday 14th May and weighed in at 6lbs 12oz.. Ian caught it in the neck of Hughies on the worm. With the river still showing its bare bones when will No2 be caught ? Photo of the catch is in the gallery.
The long drought continued until the 30th of May when we were blessed with 32mm of rain and this saw the river at last in spate. The month drew to a close on the 31st with the river running high and dirty.
The seasons toatal to date is still only one but now with good levels lets hope for a productive June. !!
30.04.07 - Wick River March & April 2007
As April drew to a close the River still has to produce its first Salmon of the season. Water levels have been very low with little or no rain throughout the month. The 3rd week of the month saw a slight rise in levels which was short lived and despite the odd fish spotted, angling conditions have been far from ideal with the low water and hot sunny days.
Looking back at the club records as far as 1968, the latest first fish recorded was in the 11th May 1985. Lets hope we can get some rain soon !!!
28.02.07 - Wick River February 2007
The River opened on the Monday 12th February, but was unfishable due to another large spate. A few rods ventured out on the Saturday and and some Kelts were landed.
High water levels for most of the month. No fresh Salmon reported.
31.10.06 - Wick River October 2006
The only decent spate of the season arrived on Monday the 2nd October and as it began to fall on the Tuesday the river was well covered for the last ramaing three days of 2006.
Geoff Henstridge had a good 3 days landing and returning nine, George Robertson had a good day on the Wednesday with four, as did Jimmy Anderson and Donald Rosie with three, all returned. Also on Wednesday Colin Richard, Andrew Craigie and Bill Lindsay all added to the totals with one a piece from Bilbster area.
The total for the season has still to be confirmed as not all the permits have been returned yet . The running total at 31st Oct stands at 492Salmon.
On the 26th the largest spate in recent years flooded the river and many surrounding areas. The photo taken by Paul Steven shows the Bridge crossing the river at Bilbster.
The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 6th December in the Seaforth Highlander Club at 7.30pm.
30.09.06 - Wick River September 2006
The month saw quite a few anglers reporting reasonable numbers of Salmon caught despite any major spate. Brenda Green had her first of the season, a nice 3.5 lbs grilse froms the Grilse Pool on the 9th. A good stock of fish was now building up in the Strath area and with a rise in levels around the16th sport was good with Andy Harris, George Gunn, Charlie Stewart, Sandy Moran, Graham Shepherd & George Doull all taking 3 a piece. Other lucky anglers for the month included Will Ross, Dave Scadding, Gary Farquhar, Steven Taylor, Lewis Campbell, David Green & Gibb Henderson.
Visiting Angler Richard Sturgeon from Edinburgh fished the river for the first time and was rewarded with a 5.5 lbs grilse from Katie Gow's and lost another, both on a mini Pot Bellied Pig Tube Fly on the 27th.
31.08.06 - Wick River August 2006
At last the rain has come but we only had a small spate with the river rising just over a foot on Wednesday the 2nd but quite a few fish ran and sport was reported to be good. Thurs & Friday catches were good and lots of anglers were taking thier 3 fish total for the day. 11 Year old Jamie Swanson landed a 9 pounder on Fly from the Pot and his 13 Year old brother Gordon had a nice sea liced grilse also from the Pot on Thursday. Other photos of the lads are in the gallery.
Other lucky anglers were Steven Taylor from Thurso landing a nice Sea Liced Grilse from the Wash Pool, Bill Lindsay one from McPhails, Adrian Ella two from the Wellies, Jimmy Swanson and Joe Hendry both reported three in an outing.
On the 21st we had an inch of rain which was fairly localised to the Wick area and a 2 foot rise from the Haster burn saw 12 - 15 Grilse being reported on the day all from McPhails. Sport was short lived as the river quickly fell back to summer level in typical Wick style. The remainder of the month saw the odd fish being caught from the low reaches.
31.07.06 - Wick River July 2006
July was recorded as one of the hottest and driest months in recent years and this weather shrunk the river to its bare bones. The only consulation for the anglers were reasonable numbers of Grilse were moving in and out of the low reaches on the high tides.
Local Angler Jimmy Dunnett kick started the month with a nice brace from Wullies Pool on the 4th and later that day Jim Hindmarch landed one from the Wellies. David Plowman had 4 Grilse for the month and Ian Swanson had a brace on fly fom Durrands on the 13th and another one on the 26th from Wullies as did his 11 year old son Jamie. Other lucky anglers landing one a piece were Evan Sinclair, Sandip Datta, John Gunn, George Doull Jnr & visiting angler David Sneddon a nice 6 pounder from Ingimster.
30.06.06 - Wick River June 2006
June as a whole was a considerable dry month with hardly any significant rain to run the river for any length of time.
The first catch of the month fell to Jim Hindmarch, a brace from the Pot on the 2nd, both sea liced on the worm and were 11 lbs 9oz & 8 lbs 7oz. The folllowing day Ian Swanson had a 10 lbs 8 oz sea liced fish also from the Pot on the fly. The following Friday night saw Jim Hindmarch take another from the Pot, this time at 10 lbs. On the 14th Ian Swanson added another to his total, this time a 10 pounder from Hughies.
Other lucky anglers were Laura O'Brien 7 lbs from the Pot on the 19th, Andy Harris 10 lbs from the Dyke End on Fly on the 21st also Billy Hood taking one at 9 lbs from Hughies on the worm,and Mark Ryrie 12 lbs from McPhails. On the 23rd James Ross managed a brace from below McPhails weighing in at 8 lbs & 5lbs, both sea liced. George Doull Jnr also had one from the same spot on the 26th, again on the worm and was a nice sea liced 9 lbs 4 oz fish. The river was very low at the end of the month but a few grilse were starting to show in the estuary.
31.05.06 - Wick River May 2006
The third Salmon of the season fell to Dr Bobby Echavarren on the 4th May and weighed in at 10lbs and was taken from Durrands on a Silver & Blue Toby. On the 8th James Ross had one at 8.5 lbs from the Strath on the worm. The following week saw the river running low with no salmon being caught.
A decent spate around the 15th produced a bit more sport with George Doull Jnr landing a 8 pounder from Wullies on the 16th and Junior member Richard Newlands a nice sealiced 10 lbs 4 oz from the Quarry Hole on the 19th, both on the worm. Monday the 32 rd saw George Doull Snr take his first of the season from the Pot, followed the next morning with another 10 lb fresh fish from the Sherherds. Andrew J Steven had one at 7 lbs from the Willow Poool on Fly as did Ian Swanson getting one at 9 lbs from the Little Pot on Fly.
The last two days of the month saw some nice quality fish being taken and the lucky anglers were Richard Newlands 11.5 lbs from the Strath, Alan Morris 10 lbs from Hughies, Walter Crothers ( see photo ) 13 lbs from below Bilbster Bridge, Graham Shepherd 12.5 lbs from the Shepherds & Kevin Sinclair 9.5 lbs from the Built Inner, all on the worm.
30.04.06 - Wick River Report April 2006
The long awaited first Salmon of the 2006 season has been landed by Geoff Henstridge. The scale perfect beauty was taken from the bend at the tail of the " long shank " on a size 6 Orange Shrimp Fly on the 10th April and weighed in at a cracking 12 lbs 8 oz.
The second of the season was landed less than an hour later by Neil Groat , again from the long shank and was taken on a 1 inch Pot Bellied Pig Tube Fly. Neils Salmon was 7 lbs 8oz.
Geoffs Salmon was 32" long and scale readings showed that it spent two years as a smolt in freshwater before migrating to sea in 2004. It then spent two winters at sea before returning as a maiden fish this year.
Both Salmon were sea liced and a larger image of both fish can be viewed in the photo gallery. Photo taken by Robert MacDonald. ( Northern Studios )
Despite good water levels and large spring tides no more Salmon were recorded for the month.
31.03.06 - Wick River Feb & March 2006
No fresh Salmon were caught during the opening two months. This was particularly disappointing during March as all the other neighbouring North River's were reporting good catches of Spring Salmon.
23.11.05 - Wick River November 2005
CATCH RETURNS
The final total catch return for the 2005 season has been confirmed by the angling association as 658 Salmon landed and a further 96 caught and returned.
SPAWNING
The Association started the spawning on Saturday the 5th November and got approx 36,000 eggs. They were back out again on the Sunday and got another 28,000.
The following weekend, the 13th saw them getting the ramainder required and John Mackay has confirmed that a total of 130,000 eggs are now safely in the Hatchery. He also confirmed that a good healthy stock of Salmon were on the redds and a good natural spawning has appeared to have taken place. The photo above shows Ian Cormack preparing to spawn some Salmon.
05.10.05 - Wick River October 2005
Saturday 1st October saw quite a few anglers venturing out to fish the last weekend of the 2005 season, and some good sport was had following an overnight rise of about a foot.
Sandip Datta caught and returned four whilst fishing the river down from the Pot to Bilbster Bridge. George Doull Jnr had two from the Rockie Pool and a third from the Built Inner all on a Yellow & Black tube. Neil Groat fished for a couple of hours in the afternoon and was rewarded a brace from Keattie Gows and Tarroul both taken on a 1.25 inch Willie Gunn Tube, and returned both. George Doull Snr also caught and returned one from the Quarry Hole on a Red & Black Tube.
By Monday the 3rd the river had once again dropped and angling activity was light, however George Doull landed and returned one from the Shephards on a Stoats Tail Tube and son George returned one from the Grilse Pool. On the 4th Neil Groat had another, this time on a small Plastic Stoats Tail Tube from the run into Durrands which he also returned.
Wednesday the 5th saw the river closing for another season.
30.09.05 - Wick River Report September 2005
The start of the month saw very few fish being caught or reported due to low water levels, but with a considerable rise on the 15th things changed for the next few days and good catches were being recorded. Ian Swanson had a brace from the Pot, Jimmy Dunbar also had one from the Pot, Jimmy Anderson landed one on fly from the Mill Streams, Adrian Ella had a 4 lb Grilse and lost another in the Wash Pool, Eddie Beattie had one from Tarroul. Lower down the river that day Willie Newlands had two and George Doull Jnr had one, both from Jasper’s. Next day Ikey McPhee took a 6 pounder from Shepherds on the worm.
The next couple of days saw quite a few coloured fish being caught on fly and retuned by anglers David Plowman 10 lbs from the Dyke End, Willie Mackay one from the Little Pot, Donald Rosie one from the Wash Pool, Ian Swanson one from the Pot.
Then on Monday the 19th a few fresh fish were seen running and both Eddie Beattie and Kevin Sinclair had sea-liced fish from the Pot, Kevin also returned another coloured fish that day.
On the 21st Andy Barron landed his first ever Salmon, a 5 pounder on a size 8 Thunder Flash from Hughies and after taking a photo on his phone he duly returned it…. Now that’s a true sportsman. The last week saw Bill Henderson take one from the Pot, Ian Sinclair one from the Grilse Pool on a Willie Gunn and Walter Crothers releasing three from the low reaches, George Doull Jnr and Sandip Datta releasing a couple each.
On the 28th Adrian Ella took advantage of a strong upstream wind and landed four in a hour from Dyke End area, three on a Silver Staot and one on an Ally’s Shrimp, he duly returned two. The last few days saw David Plowman and Ian Swanson both returning a couple each.
The photo shows the the Dyke End looking ideal with a stiff upstream breeze.
31.08.05 - Wick River Report August 2005
The Assosciation enjoyed a reasonable August despite the low water conditions for most of the month. At least 50 Grilse were reported to have been caught. Catches were spread throughout the river from the Grilse Pool right up to Badlipster, with the fly accounting for a large percentage of the fish, particulary from the low river during the days of high wind.
Successful anglers included Ian Dunnet (nine Grilse in three evenings), Walter Crothers (eight on fly), George Mackay (six from Watten area), Graham Gunn (three), Joe Hendry (two or three on several outings), David Risbridger and David Plowman both landed three each on fly, John Ryrie (a brace), as did Donald Miller and Bill Baxter. Titchy Hughes landed his first ever, a nice 6 pounder from the Flag Pool (see photo). Malcolm Heddle and Tommy Davidson from Thurso had a Grilse each and visiting anglers John Foster (a brace) and David Sneddon a nice 6 pounder from the Strath.
30.07.05 - Wick River Report July 2005
The early part of the month angling activity was light due to the low water conditions, but the odd Grilse was landed by James Ross (a brace from McPhails), James MacGregor, Ian Swanson and Kevin Beales one a piece.
On the 19th the water came up by approx 1ft and although running quite dirty the next few days saw good returns.
Some of the successful anglers included Charlie Farquhar (a brace from Built Inner, best 11 lbs), Sandip Datta (12 lbs from Quarry Hole), George Doull jnr (three), Kevin Beales (five), Ian Swanson (eight Grilse), Brian Shand (three), Jimmy Macadie (three), Graham Shepherd (three), Donald Rosie (three), Ronnie Plowman (five in one day, releasing two all on small tubes), David Plowman (three), Charlie Stewart (three), George Grant, Walter Crothers, Willie Mackay and Richard Newlands all had a couple.
David Green, Ackie Budge, Laura Leeper, Hugh Gunn, George Doull, Jamie Swanson, Otto Mathiesen and Brian Thacker all added at least one to the total. The last week saw the river running again very very low.
If any Angler has a nice photo for July please e-mail it to me and it will be attached to this report.
30.06.05 - Wick River Report June 2005
The first half of June was highly encouraging with quality Salmon being caught consistantly up until the 16th , when water levels became impossible.
The month kicked off in style with Eddie Beattie landing a fine 16lb Salmon from the Pot on a small tube fly on the 2nd of June. The next day there was a huge spate with the river bursting it's banks and was unfishable, however on the 4th and still running very high and coloured brothers Kenneth and Neil Henderson both had a fish at 11lb and 9lb respectively from the Flag Pool on fly.
Monday the 6th saw the river in fine trim and running clean and over the next ten days there was an early summer bonanza.
Successful anglers included Dave Scadding with three (13 lb, 12 lb and 10 lbs on fly) Alan Farquhar ( a brace in the Pot on fly ) Walter Crothers ( 11 lb and 9 lbs from Bilbster on fly ) Andy Harris ( 11 lbs from the Wash Pool on a shrimp fly) Willie MacKay (10 lbs from the Flag Pool on fly ). Ian Swanson ( 14 lbs in the Pot on a Comet fly and 12 lb & 10 lbs on the worm ). George Doull snr, Donald MacLeod and Donald Newlands all landed two each on the worm, the best a 13 pounder for George from the Dyke End. James Farquhar ( 11 lbs from the Pot on the worm) and Junior member Richard Newlands had a nice 13 lbs 8 oz Salmon from Tarroul on the 14th.
The remainder of the month saw the river running very low, but a few Grilse were starting to show in the Estuary.
31.05.05 - Wick River Report May 2005
Catch retuns for May were quite good this year given the good amount of water, with at least 18 Springers being reported.
On the 7th Brian Thacker landed an 8 pounder from Wullies Pool on the fly. During the week of the 9th seven salmon were recorded by
Anglers...Joe Hendry (11 lbs from the Strath) , George Doull snr (8 lbs in Fingers Pool), Junior member Richard Newlands (8 lbs from the Willow Pool), Tom Macgreror ( 2 from the Pot at 12 & 9 lbs), Jimmy Dunbar ( 11 lbs from the Mill Stream's) all on the worm. Andy Harris also had a 9 lb Salmon from Tarroul on a tube fly.
The week of the 16th produced another seven to John Gunn ( 10 lb from Willie's ), David Plowman ( 8 lb from Willie's), William Bremner ( 10 lb from Hughie's), James Ross ( 11 lb from Hughie's), George Doull jnr ( 2 from the Pot at 9 & 10 lbs), Ian Swanson ( 5 lb,the first Grilse of the season from the Pot) all on the worm.
On the 30th Visiting Angler Ian Rennolds (see photo) landed his first ever Wick Salmon, a nice 10 pounder on a size 8 Cascade Shrimp from the Long Shank. Also that day John MacKay had a 12 lb fish from the Quarry Hole and Ian Swanson had one at 9 lbs from the Pot, both on the fly.
30.04.05 - Wick River Report April 2005
April started with high expectations with the start of the worm but nothing was taken until we got a slight rise of water on the 5th. Donald Newlands landed a fresh 10lb Salmon from the Shepherds and James Ross one at 7lbs from the Pot, both were taken on the worm.
The highlight of the month came on the 11th when William Newlands landed a magnificent Cock Salmon weighing in at a superb 24lb 5ozs from Tarroul. His fishing companion, Alexander McPhee also had a 7lb fish from the same pool shortly afterwards, again on the worm.
Williams Salmon was 38" long and scale readings showed that it had been a two year smolt followed by three winters at sea.
The last reported salmon of the month fell to Brian Maclean, a nice 7 pounder from the Built Inner on the 19th. The later part of the month saw the river running very low.
31.03.05 - Wick River Report March 2005
The start of March saw some very low water temperatures and very few kelts were reported.
But on the 21st we had a huge spate which fined down to near perfect conditions by the 23rd and Mike Henstridge took advantage of this and landed the first "rod caught " salmon of the 2005 season.
Mike's 7.5lbs Springer was caught on a 1.5inch Willie Gunn Waddington from the Flag Pool at Watten. This was Mike's first-ever outing on the Wick as he just joined the Association that morning. He also lost another fish after that in the Mill Streams.
The next day saw David Plowman take a 9lb Salmon on a Cascade Copper Tube from the tail of Tarroul. A few other anglers reported seeing and hooking fish the same day but no more was landed until the 31st, when Local Dr Borja Echavarren ( Dr Bobby ) tempted a 7lb Springer to a blue Toby again from Tarroul. This was also Bobby's first Salmon from the Wick.
28.02.05 - Wick River Report February 2005
The river opened on Friday 11th February and angling activity was very light, although some kelts were reported to have been caught in the lower parts of the river.
On the 16th George Doull Jnr found the remains of an ottered Salmon on the bank whilst fishing at the mill streams area. The damaged fish was examined by many members and scales were then sent away to be analised at the Freswater Laboratory at Faskally. The results of thier tests confirmed that this was a fresh run salmon , having migrated to sea as a two year old smolt in 2003 and returned to fresh water after two sea winters. The weight was estimated to be approx 8-9 lbs.
The next few days saw the river being fished a bit harder but to no avail. Mr Otters success proved that the Wick does indeed have the potential of giving an opening day fish !!
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