02/09/2025
Recap of 2025 season so far on the Association Beat. (Beat 1)
The opening of the season was normal enough with plenty of water in the river on opening day 11 January. Opening day was booked by members Graeme Sutherland, Alan MacLennan, Shane McGinley, and Stewart Mackenzie. If my recollection is correct, it was a cold day and icing may have been a problem with the eyes of the rod as there was ice in the river. Never-the-less, it’s always nice to see a few brave souls dress up warmly and give the river a go on opening day. From opening day until the end of March 37 sessions were booked by members. From April until 23 May, there were only 13 bookings. Rain had been elusive in earlier months and the river levels were dropping steadily throughout this period, hence the lack of bookings. From 7 May until 23 May there were no bookings because the river was at its lowest level seen in many years. From 24 May until 31 May there were 15 bookings, 12 from visitor bookings placed earlier in the year and 3 member bookings. Again, conditions remained very poor. In June there were 31 bookings despite the continuing poor conditions. During several days in June rain clouds gathered but despite the promising hope of rain, very little fell from the intermittent showers except some scant rain drops. Rain finally came on the 29th of June. The river rose several inches and on the 1st of July bookings increased and remained very good until the river dropped again starting on the 8th of July. Despite the poor outlook once again, the first fish of the season was caught by Derek Brown (actually 3 fish) on 5 July, the best fish being 4 pounds. While bookings dropped off, a few fish were being taken. 68 booking were made for the month of July. For the month 1 salmon and 9 grilse were caught, 3 were kept and 7 released. The best fish of the month was caught by Jim Cameron at 11 pounds. The disappointing drought continued on into August. Despite grim conditions, 22 bookings were made during the month. 7 fish were caught, 1 salmon, 6 grilse, 2 were kept and 5 released. The best fish was caught by Graeme Sutherland at 8 pounds. On a sour note, membership fell by 14 this year probably due to the poor conditions we have experienced during the last 3 years. There seems to be a shift towards dryer seasons now for some reason. Whatever the reason, I sincerely hope those 14 previous members will return given favourable conditions in the coming season. Despite a rather dismal season so far, the dry conditions open up opportunities for the association to make improvements and repairs to the beat. So far this season we have spent over 4 thousand pounds on improvements and bank repairs. I will enclose a few pictures for our readers to see. Norman Arrowsmith and I repaired the hut door, replacing rusty and bent hinges and damaged combination locks. We gave the hut a good sweep out and emptied the trash bucket. The walkway from the Salmon Pool to the Mack Pool has been replaced. It is now wider and more stable than before. That’s over 600 feet of walkway anew. Many thanks to Eain Sutherland for a job well done. River bank repairs were also undertaken at Geise Stream Pool. The bank on the east side of the head of the pool was badly eroded many feet downstream. Bobo Sutherland levelled out the bank and placed rock armour along the length of the damaged bank hopefully ensuring no more erosion will occur. We thankfully appreciate his efforts. I also want to express my sincere thanks to Vince Smith who I refer to as the green’s keeper. Vince takes care of the banks working tirelessly strimming and doing other jobbies for the association. What he does is probably the hardest work on the beat. As a committeeman, I have been there and it’s a hard job. Despite this, Vince soldiers on with enthusiasm and determination to do a good job. All of us benefit from his hard work. If you see him thank him very much, we certainly appreciate what you do Vince. The final bill for the bank repairs is not in at this writing. I will update once we have the final invoice at hand. I also want to extend my gratitude to Jamie McCarthy and Norman Arrowsmith who have contributed much of their time to committee work this year. Without their help the management of the association would be difficult to say the least. Many thanks to both of you for your tireless work and assistance. Last but not forgotten, many thanks to Eddie McCarthy who over the course of a season is called many times, not only to update him with association business but he also serves as a wealth of river knowledge. His advice is often sought after, freely given, and appreciated. All in all, this committee along with Eddie form and mesh into a well function organization which I am forever grateful for. In a nutshell, it makes my job easy with all the help and assistance I receive. I will now attach a few pictures of the bank repairs and the new walkway.
