Braelangwell Lodge

2011 Weekly Updates:

Do not forget that we have flies for sale at the Lodge at the very reasonable prices. For specific orders please contact Nicky or Finlay about 3 weeks before you require them.

September: My apologies for not updating this site for so long - just hopeless! September finished off the season quite well but with rising and falling like a yoyo and the fish being reluctant to come on the take. The second full week of the month saw the river starting off at -2" but on the 7th an almighty deluge made the river rise to 5' in a matter of minutes and later that day George Benson landed and returned an 8lbs in Shepherds. The following day 1 salmon (12lbs) and three grilse were caught and returned, a brace apiece to C. Matheson and Caroline Dickenson. On the Friday and Saturday six grilse and a sea trout were all returned to the Frenchmans and Burnmouth.

The following week set off at a wonderful pace with Jonathan Sykes catching 37.5" (22lbs/returned) in McCallans - skillful to keep such a large fish in such a small pool! Only one other fish was landed that day (3lbs/returned) to Ian Laird which was disappointing given the conditions. The following day the river was up and down, Ian Laird and Mrs Sykes landed and returned a 9lbs and 10lbs respectively. On Thursday Lil Sykes had two (16lbs & 4lbs/returned) in quick succession in the Lower Craigs. By Friday water levels had returned to zero Martin Richardson had 3 best 18lbs (all returned) in the Washerwoman on an Ally. Jonathan Sykes and Ian Laird finished off the week with another 3 in the Kennel, Field and Upper Craigs.

On the Monday 19th with the river at 5" Alan Lutman, Robin Smart and Rick Verbeeten had 3 crackers at 11lbs, 13lbs and 20lbs (all returned) with Rick's 20lb being caught in the Island Run on a Yellow Ally - what fun! The next 2 days saw 3 grilse and 2 sea trout and some beautiful salmon - Roger Brackpool 28lbs and 10lbs, Robin Smart 16lbs, Nick Jupp 8lbs and Alan Lutman 10lbs all from the Lower Beat - all returned.

During the last week of the season conditions continued to variable and the fish reluctant. John Gilmour had an 8lb/returned in the Field on Wednesday. Thursday saw 2 fish, one to Tom Arkwright 7lbs/returned in the Tree and one to Tariq Al-Sayer 14lbs/returned in the Washerwoman. Tariq was rewarded with his effort to fish at Braelangwell for 5 days all the way from Kuwait as he went on to catch a futher 2 fish.

It has been an interesting year and one with records broken again. In May - the week after ours (hmm..) saw the record week for the Jupp party with 40 fish in the book. Later in the year a guest of the same tenant, Alan Lutman recorded the second biggest fish landed on Braelangwell water and the party added another 14 to their year tally - probably another record. We had disease, drought, the heighest rise in water/time scale, record fish weights - and always the fish were 'difficult' to catch as throughout Scotland. Braelangwell ended on a tally of 171 salmon and 48 grilse, of which 95% were returned and 50 sea trout - our thanks to all who so generously contributed to this. The average weight of salmon was 10lbs which is best news and I suspect another record!

 

 

 

March 2011

I can proudly announce that the Carron has 50 or more off the river so far this season which is the best on record since 2004 with the exception of 2006 when 85 were landed up to 31st March - but there still a three days of the month left..... 21 fish came off the river last week with 3 to Invercharron, 4 to Gledfield, 1 to Dounie, 7 to Cornhill, and 3 apiece to Gruinards and Braelangwell.

The new season is under way with Finlay catching the first Carron fish (12lbs in the Morail) of the season on the 4th February. The rise in temperature this week saw a flurry of activity - Finlay had a 12lb with long tailed sea-lice in the Morail. Ronnie caught 2 fish of similar weight at Cornhill and I understand that at least one has been caught on Gledfield.

Today is the 12th March and I have just had the good news that the Carron is fishing excellently with around 13 fish off the river so far! Six of those have been caught on Braelangwell (four to Finlay and one apiece to Michael Ross and Ronnie). Four were caught in the Morail, two in the Washerwoman and one in the Rock on various typical spring flies. I understand that all beats below the Morail have so far landed at least one fish so this is encouraging news indeed.

Last week started off with low water conditions but it rose to 2'9" on Thursday and Finlay landed one (10lbs) in the tail of the Morail and Olly Alston lost another on a rising river. Later that afternoon when the river had started to drop both rods had another each (11 & 11.5lbs). With a perfect river on Friday another was caught in Gruinards Run. On Saturday the river rose quickly to 4'3" (approx 1.78m on the Sepa gauge) and then fell with equal speed. Clearly a lot of sport was had in the Morail with much activity, plenty of pulls and three in the book. The fish have been caught on a wide variety of flies Monkeys, Tadpoles, Black & Yellow tubes, Cascades and Shrimps and average just over 11lbs.

Braelangwell has most certainly got off to a flying start with 17 in the book already with 13 of those all being over 10lbs which is so encouraging. Oddly I also understand that all the kelts caught early this year have been in the best condition ever noticed weighing well into 9lbs and in such good state that it has been difficult to differentiate them from fresh fish!

April 2011

225th - April - 1st May: With high pressure still dominating over the British Isles you can imagine what the water conditions were like this week, although there was a rise to 0" on Thursday morning only to drop away to -10" by the evening. One very significant fish was caught and returned by Antonio Paglia on his very first day salmon fishing on a 12' cane rod which he had made himself. The rod, made especially for his visit to Braelangwell, was also his first ever attempt at making a salmon rod. A day, I am sure Signor Paglia will never forget and Lucy and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for returning such a momentous catch!

18th - 24th April: Given the low water conditions this week three sea-liced fish were landed this week which was fairly good.

11th - 17th April: This was the first week the Lodge and fishing have been let and despite desperately low conditions which did not see the river rise above -1", the party did relatively well with the first fish of the week caught above the Morail in the Pidgeon Rock (8lbs/returned) to Mr. Proudfoot on a MacDonald Special. The river then dropped steadily throughout the week but John de Boer had one in the Gardners Run (7lbs/returned) at -4" and Mr. Proudfoot had two in the Gardners at -6" (7 & 10lbs/returned). Bruce Fraser landed the last of the week (7lbs/returned) in the Millars on a McKellars Disk so we can assume that the fish are well up to Amat by now.

It was noted that there has been a lot of movement in the Morail, including some very small fish which is puzzling as no-one was sure whether they would be very early run grilse or exceptionally early run sea trout.

Another cracking week with 14 in the book and 10 lost although I understand they were not taking readily and persistance was the order of the day. The water levels were up and down all week and eventually tailed off towards the end and I would guess are now below zero. The Washerwoman was the top pool for the week, whilst oddly only one came off the Morail and once again a wide variey of flies were responsible for taking fish. It was noticed that there was a very healthy number of fish showing in all the pools and all the fish were in fabulous condition.

I am not sure about all beats on the Carron but do know that Gruinards had around 6, Dounie had 6 on their books and Gledfield landed 6 in a day and it was also reported that many more were lost. In 2006 Carron catches up to the end of March were 87 - I wonder if we have exceeded that this year? Fishing on the Carron in the early months is most certainly worth while and much underestimated!

 

May 2011

23rd - 29th May: Once again another truly cracking week with 29 (28 returned) in the book, with 18 of them over 10lbs. Water conditions really could not have been better and never in fact dropped below 6" all week. The top rod was Paul Norman with 13 (best 16lbs and all returned)! On Wednesday I understand that Paul volunteered to fish the Island Run in an attempt to damp down his luck only to have to confess to his fellow rods that he had landed a further 3! The top fly for the week was a relatively small (size 10) Cascade and the top pool was the Bank with 5 but otherwise the fish were well spread out throughout the Beat. Only a few diseased fish were spotted this week so we must hope that the fresh water has helped.

16th - 21st May: You have to sympathise with us a little, as we drove down the Glen on Sunday 15th May in the full knowledge that there was going to be a good week ahead - but little did we realise just how good that week was going to be and with only six staying in the Lodge! With the river running at 2'6" 13 fish were landed on Monday, a new day record. Nick Jupp landed a fabulous brace of a 14lbs (Boat/returned) and 17lbs (Gardners/returned) and the first of the grilse to arrive were also caught on this day. The water dropped away for the next couple of days but 5 were caught, again with a couple of really good sized fish. For the rest of the week fishing conditions were excellent. On Friday Steve Pirepoint had his first ever (6.5lbs/returned) in the Washerwoman on a Black & Orange tube and this was swiftly followed by another (8lbs/returned) in the Morail. By the close of play on Saturday a new Braelangwell week record was smashed with 39 in the book, 12 of those were over 10lbs and there was another 14 lost very close to the net! Top rods were Alan Lutman with 10, Nick Jupp 8 and Richard Verbeeten 6. What a week - just wish it had been ours!!

9th - 14th May: Again high pressure dominated throughout the week and the river dropped away to -11". Worryingly it has been noted that some of the fish appear to be suffering a fungal condition but we did manage to get hold of one that was suffering greatly and have sent samples to Pitlochry. What the fish really need is a return to good water conditions and lower water temperatures; luckily the rain arrived on Saturday. Prior to the rain Mark Kerr managed to land a brace both 8lbs (returned) on a Yellow Ally in the Washerwoman at -11". On Saturday the river rose to 2'2" and all day it ran coloured. Finally it began to clear at about 6 o'clock and three fish were landed. Paddy Miller had two of 7.5lbs & 6lbs (both returned) on a Cascade Conehead in the tail of the Morail and I had one of 7.5lbs (returned) on a Willy Gunn also in the tail of the Morail. All of these fish had longtailed sea lice on them and appeared to be in robust health. Sadly the dinner gong and packing curtailed our entertainment!

2nd - 7th May: The river has run to bare bones and there was nothing to report for this week.

June 2011

There were no fish caught in the last week of the month.

20th - 25th June: We would normally see the grilse run starting with vengeance at this time of year and they certainly seem to be running but not taking either on Braelangwell or Amat. Nine lovely fish were landed for the week of which 7 were over 10lbs. and including a fresh 20lb to Jamie Corke in the Washerwoman at 11.30pm. Andrew Ledger, who flew in from Abu Dhabi for four days was rewarded with a 9lb. Several sea trout up to 2.5lbs were also caught including 7 and several more lost to Jonathan Sykes

13th - 18th June: With 10 in the book it was another reasonable week considering Monday was a washout with the river rising to over 7 feet. However, as the river rose from -2", four fish were landed (all returned bar one that was badly diseased). The river slowly dropped away again over the week but the occasional heavy showers kept the water quality good and the only blank day was Saturday. The top rod was was John Collins with 4 fish all over 10lbs. The Upper Beat fished the best, claiming 7 of the total with 3 in the Lower Craigs. Top fly - Allie Shrimp. We now await the arrival of the grilse and the party renown for past records are in situ....

31st May - 11th June: The last fortnight has been slightly mixed and at times lightly fished. 10 fish were landed with the best to Richard Buckley (17lbs/returned) in the Washerwoman. There was good water throughout but few fish were showing so we could be in a period between the last of the spring salmon and the first runs of grilse, which have yet to arrive or the fish could just be running through as fresh fish with sea-lice have been caught at Glencalvie. Of the 10 fish caught two were from the Brothers - both caught and returned by Richard Buckley.

Certainly fewer diseased fish are being seen which is a good sign and we have confirmation that it is the fungal disease Saprolegnia which is generally not fatal. However we continue to ask tenants to bring their fish in as quickly as possible, always carry and use a net and do not lift the fish out of the water. For more advice please read the information from the Association of Salmon Fishery Boards on the following link - Advice on Saprolegnia.

 

July 2010

18th - 23rd July: It has been a slightly disappointing week despite some good fishing conditions and there generally appears to be few grilse running Scottish rivers. After a 7' spate Monday kicked off with 2' on the gauge but the fishing was thin. A 9lb salmon (returned) was caught by Penelope Forrester and Robin Birts returned a grilse in the Boat. On Tuesday, with 0" on the gauge another 2 others were caught by Charles Birts (8lbs/returned) in Frenchmans and Jeremy Cripps (8lbs/returned) in Lower Craigs. On Wednesday Charles Birts caught a lovely sea-liced salmon (15lbs/returned) in the Tree. On Friday Rory Forrester was rewarded with his first ever, which despite his best wishes to return it, it had to be killed by Finlay as it was hooked so badly. Five good sea trout were also caught.

4th - 9th July: This was the second of two very dry weeks with no fish landed for 10 days! However the Miller party had a great deal to celebrate as their daughter announced her engagement - we wish them the very best for the future. Paddy Miller - determined as ever with -10" on the gauge- was not going to let their auphoria cramp his fishing and was rewarded with a fine 11lb/returned on Monday in the Rock. He caught a further 5 sea trout after a little rise to -6" (best 1.5lbs/all returned) in the Morail on a Mallard and Claret. The river dropped away again to -10" but one more came (3lbs/returned) to John Scott in the Washerwoman on a Blue Charm.

During this week we learned that a huge fish reported to have been 47.5" long was caught, landed and photographed, in the Park Pool at Amat. It is estimated that this fish would have weighed between 44 - 47lbs - it beggars belief as to how it was swimming up the Carron at -10"! I also understand that two other fish weighing 20lbs and 24lbs have been caught in the Kyle and another of 40lbs was caught in a bag net just outside the Kyle

11th - 16th July: The water came up to 1' on Monday but it was a disappointing week given the conditions. Peter Cameron and Jenny Reynolds had one apiece in the Morail on Monday, both 12lbs/returned on a Cascade. Despite good conditions for the rest of the week only 6 sea trout (best 3.5lbs) were caught in the Boat, Craigs and Burnmouth.

 

August 2011

29th August - 3rd September: For the first time since the Spring the water temperature dropped below 50 degrees which probably ensured good sport was to be had. Monday began with the water height at 20" and it held all day and 3 salmon, a grilse and two sea trout were landed and returned. These included two first ever - a 4lb grilse to Claire Wilson in the Boat on a Cascade and a 7lb salmon in the Morail to Andrew McBride. Thank you to you both for returning your first fish - a very generous act. The following day their daughter caught a 1.5lbs sea trout in the Frenchmans on a Kyley - her very first fish which with equal generousity she returned The party went on to catch another 3 salmon, all above 7lbs, a 6lbs grilse and another 2 sea trout, all of which were returned.

Today (6th September) saw one of the most dramatic rise in water heights in living memory with the river rising 0.8 meters on the SEPA guage in less than 5 minutes - luckily no-one was wading the river at the time.

22nd - 27th August: There were no fish this week bar a 0.75lbs sea trout caught by Mr. Appleton. There are however reports that the grilse have finally arrived so we wait to see...and I happen to know that 5 fish were caught yesterday!

15th - 20th August: There was not a great deal of sport to be had this week and there is still no sign of a proper grilse run. The water barely rose above -3" all week. Mark Motley, Ross Mitchell and Eric Britton each landed and returned a grilse (best 6lbs) in the Burnmouth, Gardners and Rock, whilst Hugo Gell had a 14lb/returned on a Silver Doctor in the Washerwoman. Eric Britton also released a couple of sea trout.

On Friday the Kyle of Sutherland District Fishery Board circulated an email from the Association of Salmon Fishery Boards in which they expressed concern over the late and very thin run of grilse. They advise fishers to exercise restraint and return all grilse wherever possible and we are therefore asking our tenants and guests voluntarily observe this request until we are further advised.

1st - 13th August: I apologies for not updating this sight but sadly there has not been much to report. It would appear that the grilse have either not appeared or are running extremely late - a phenomenon seen throughout Scotland. The last week of July was a blank - where as last year it was a record for both a week and month. The family had the first two weeks of the new month but fishing was hard work and the first week only saw one to Melanie Ward (3lbs+/returned) in the Burnmouth. On Sunday it rained hard all over Scotland and with river levels at over a foot all day you would have expected a bonanza. As it was I had two, Finlay had two, Mimi Worrall had her first ever (7lbs) and Susie Healy had her first fish, a lovely sea trout on her first ever day fishing. All were returned and Lucy and I would like to thank the two girls for the urgency they expressed to see these fish released - quite something when you are only 14! On Wednesday night there was a huge amount of water (enough to submerge the gauge rock) but sadly it did not reap a good harvest. Lucy had a sea trout and her husband, Richard had 2 (11 & 6lbs/returned). Congratulations also to Anna Bardwell who shot her first Seika buck. Towards the end of the week there appeared to be a few more fresh grilse showing but who knows...

September 2010

20th - 30th September: The last ten days of the season started and ended as much of the rest of the year - on a high - with 19 salmon and grilse and 3 sea trout, all returned, including a first fish to Neil Carey. The fish were well spread throughout the beat and there was a number of really decent sized fish.

It was certainly a season for many of us to remember with lots of personal records being broken on rivers across the Highlands and beyond. Braelangwell had a total of 128 salmon, 138 grilse and 63 sea trout and a fresh water pearl mussel caught on rod and line - an all time annual record!!. Lucy and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our tenants and guests, especially those who returned their first fish, who so willingly released a huge majority of these fish. Hopefully these endeavours will ensure good sport in years to come.

13th - 18th September: What a week, 33 fish equalling the record week, equalling the record day and passing the record season!!
Just one fish on the Monday to Rick Verbeeten from Lower Craig's before the river went to 7ft. On Tuesday there were two and two Sea trout to Stewart Walker. The two sea trout were fresh and caught in the Morail in the evening. Then the weather changed and cold weather came in from the North.
On Wednesday eight Salmon/Grilse were caught the river was 2ft6 to 2ft and the temp was 48f. On the Thursday the water held at 2ft4 all day and the temp went down to 46f and 6 were taken.On Friday the river had dropped to 6 inches and just 4 were taken including a 15lb fish to Bill Champion from the Washerwoman.
Saturday was the best day with 12, the river rose over night to 1ft 6 and was still at 46f and that may explain why the fish came on the take. Two good fish were taken i had a thirty seven and three quarter inch cock fish from the tail of the Morail and Nick Jupp had a 14lb fish in Washerwoman.
Top rod was Rick Verbeeten with eight then Alan Lutman with five and Nick with four. Top fly was the Cascade with 27 Salmon/Grilse and pool was Millers with 10, Bank with seven and Burnmouth with 4.

6th - 11th September: A very quiet week this week, as was the case on other Highland rivers and the water fell away to -9". Two fish were landed, one to Tony Ellerbeck (9lbs/returned) in the Washerwoman and one to Graham Davies (4lbs/returned) in the Shepherds. Heavy rain is forcast for this week so we are hoping that the water will rise and the fish come back on the take so that we can make a season's catch record. We are currently 216 so 29 to go to break the 1980, so no pressure on the last of our tenants for the season!

30th August - 4th September: Another good week on the fishing front but again with very little water for most of the week. On Monday 7 fish were landed (all returned), with 5 to Jonathan Sykes including one of 20lbs and another of 17lbs in the Millers and Contractors. All of these fish were caught on Ally Coneheads. The water fell away quite quickly after Monday but the party managed to land 12 (11 returned) for the week including 6 for Jonathan Sykes, 2 for Liliana Sykes and one each for Sheila Sykes, Toby Bukler and Nick Gordon-Creed.