Will the mild weather make an impact on Carron Spring fishing prospects?
A stunning Carron Springer released by Finlay
This winter has been one of, if not the mildest winter on record. Between Christmas and New Year the water temp was 41.5f easily allowing salmon free passage to Braelangwell. This is quite unusual, there is a water temperature barrier downstream on Gledfield which slows the salmon down until the water temp reaches 38f, so usually any early fish tend to come from the lower beats. At Braelangwell we have had only one springer in January, this was back in 1980 on the 28th and was taken from the Morail, the second temperature barrier on the Carron.
Records from 2004 to 2013 show that if we have an open spell of weather the fish will push through the system. Since 2004 the river has caught salmon in February every year, bar three. The best being 2011 with 7 and 2008 with 6. This figure would be higher if the Carron was fished as hard as some of the other rivers.
The figures to the end of May show that the Carron really is one of the best spring rivers in the North. Only twice since 2004 has there been less than 200 springers caught to the end of May. The best spring catches were 2006 with 537, 2011 with 424 and 2013 with 420. We will just have to wait and see what the Spring of 2016 brings!
