Annie Girvan and Gordon Kerr hosted the tradition opening ceremony on the River Moriston at Glenmoriston Estate this morning (15th January 2015). The start of fishing on the River Ness itself is delayed until 1st February as a voluntary conservation measure.
The mouth of the River Moriston this morning
There was a great turnout, despite the horrendous weather conditions. All were welcomed by a warm fire and drinks in the fishing hut on the banks of the river. Gordon Armstrong (Ness-Castle Ghillie) piped in the new season.
Annie and Gordon welcome the guests
Sara Ward, wife of the estate’s new under keeper Ivor Ward, presented trophies to Angus Mackenzie and Ronnie Frazer for the best fish of the 2014 season, on Loch Ness and the River Moriston respectively. Interestingly, both anglers caught the very same 22 pound salmon a month apart. It was first captured by Ronnie on the river and tagged as part of the Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust tagging programme. It was subsequently captured on the Loch by Angus, who noted down the tag number before releasing the fish.
Sara presents the trophies to Angus (left) and Ronnie (Right)
Leslie Grey, wife of the estate’s head keeper Steven Grey, officially opened the River in the midst of a snow storm with the traditional toast of whisky. Ronnie Frazer then accepted the honour of the first cast of the season.
Leslie toasting the river with Gordon
Ronnie has the first cast in the midst of a snow storm
In search of the ‘first fish’
Other opening ceremonies were carried out on the Rivers Oich and Garry. At the time of writing this post we had received no reports of a ‘first fish’, however, given the good fishing conditions you never know!
Please remember that The Conservation of Salmon (Annual Close Times and Catch and Release) (Scotland) Regulations 2014 prohibits the retention of any rod caught salmon between 15th January and 31st March (inclusive), meaning that anglers must practice statutory catch and release during this period.