Bright start to salmon season as anglers gather for River Thurso ceremony
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A group of about 30 anglers gathered on a clear, frosty morning at Halkirk to mark the start of the 2022 salmon season on the River Thurso.
Piper Alasdair Miller led the group down from the Ulbster Arms Hotel to the Comlifoot Pool, a beat of the river that runs through the village, for the traditional opening ceremony today.
Senior ghillie Geordie Doull pointed out that 2021 had been badly affected by months of drought before a remarkable flurry of catches in the last four days of the season.
Last year 633 fish were caught across all beats of the river, compared with 615 in 2020 when there were tighter Covid rules as well as a period of drought.
“It was a fine, crisp, frosty, clear morning – probably one of the better days that we've had in recent years," Mr Doull said.
"The opening dinner [at the Ulbster Arms] was cancelled, unfortunately, because it wasn't right with the restrictions we have in place to have a group of people in a hotel together having a meal. But thankfully, because of the nature of fishing being outside, we could still do the opening ceremony and there were probably about 30 people at it.
“Last year wasn't as badly affected by Covid as 2020. But we had four months of drought, essentially, from late May right through until almost the end of September.
"On the last four days of the season in October we caught 220 fish, which is quite a staggering catch when you think about it for just four days. That gives an idea of what the river was capable of.
“A lot of people think Caithness is a wet, damp place. Caithness can be extremely dry. In this north-east corner we can miss all the rain when it comes from the west.
“My old boss Eddie McCarthy used to tell me, 'Give the Thurso water and the Thurso will give you fish.' And the last few days we had proved that, because we had the water.
“As long as we get water, we will catch fish. While many other rivers across the country are struggling for numbers of returning salmon, once you get north of Inverness these northern rivers for me are probably one of the last great domains of the Atlantic salmon in the United Kingdom.
“Other rivers have got plenty of fish in them, but these rivers in the north – whether it be Helmsdale, Thurso or Naver – when we get water we're still getting a good healthy run of returning adult Atlantic salmon.”
Making the first cast today was Richard Medley, from Thirsk in North Yorkshire. He is one of a group of friends who fish the River Thurso two or three times annually, and have been doing so for around 14 years.
Mr Medley said he considered it "a real honour and privilege" to be asked to make the first cast. “It was perfect," he said. "We were very lucky with the weather and everything went to plan."
