Something Special Part Deux

As the old car trundles to a halt, I finally see the river, the pool which has kept me awake half the night thinking about what it may hold for me. Oh, the excitement, not only my hands, but my whole body shakes with anticipation! Finally I’m here. The morning mist rolling from the river reveals a Dipper on a rock, alert to all around him he sees my silhouette before flying quickly upstream to his next hunting perch. He has left the way open for me to test my fledgling fishing skills on the good numbers of Autumn Salmon and Sea Trout resting under the banks and in the riffles! My morning had arrived.
The tension and feeling of expectation builds, and at this time, inexperienced, I have nothing to cloud my appreciation of the day. I don’t yet know what are good and bad conditions, at this moment, the enjoyment of my morning, to a large extent, is in the hands my father [my ghillie], for at this time *I’m reliant on his experience and as was indicative of him, he focuses on the positive [It is so important to have a glass which is half full and not half empty when salmon fishing], he tells me all’s good, water and weather conditions are fantastic and we have no excuse not to catch one or two fish. This serves to raise my expectations even higher, now at almost fever pitch; I cannot wait to get to my lure in the river, the next few hours will pass in a flash with my mind now thinking of nothing but that pull on my line, that heart racing moment when my worms are consumed and the fish runs upstream. I fumble with hands now shaking, my worms, captured in the damp darkness of the previous evening, snap as with trembling hands I try to thread them to my single hook, but eventually I have them secured, “the lure” is now as I want it and my trap about to be set!
*This is my first recollection of the important roll experienced people in Salmon Fishing, particularly for those who don’t yet have that experience and consequently seek reassurance from those who have. This valuable lesson learned from my father on that damp but bright October morning, I would recall many times in the future, each time reinforcing the fact that, experienced Salmon Fishermen have an obligation to those with less experience, to help make their day enjoyable by inspiring confidence, by “tactfully” passing on knowledge, so as to increase that of their fishing colleagues or clients.
Sadly however, many experienced people are not adept enough to understand the importance and significance of the word “Tactfully”, sighting only, their personal haul of fish as something for others to aspire to! In fact, this shallow feature does nothing to inspire others to the wonderful sport which is salmon fishing. What they tend to forget is that salmon are very easily caught; if they are there in good numbers and you have the correct conditions any, for want of a better adjective, “idiot” [can be replaced with any expletive], can catch them. The secret is to make sure you are not always the “idiot” and put others before yourself. Only by doing this will the real joys of salmon fishing become apparent and the shallow part of one’s nature begin to find some depth.
All too often today, the answer to the following question – How did your weeks salmon fishing go? Is answered only with a number and not a statement or description!! A growing culture on our rivers, which I’m pleased to say, is foreign to me!
One of my best customers returned recently from a trip to the River Tweed answered the above question by saying - Thank you for arranging this Ian, we had a fantastic 3 days, the fishing, as you described, was different to the Spey, the ghillies were great, the hotel and staff fantastic, we all had so much fun, really enjoying the fishing and those people who made it special. Could you please arrange this for next year?
I added the above to support the great saying in “Scottish” Salmon Fishing, “There’ a lot more to salmon fishing than catching fish”. Of course it helps but enjoyment is mainly down to yourself and, importantly, the behaviour and professionalism of those around you.