For the uninitiated, fishing, like any craft, can seem inaccessible. It thrives on a secret language; “Fishing spoken here”, as one tackle shop used to advertise, says it all. But while angling skills can take a lifetime, or longer, to acquire, Atlantic salmon fishing in Scotland can be made simple and accessible to any visitor.

The Brigadoon view of a Scotland rich in tartan, tweed, malt whisky and ancestral castles is widely available. High quality fishing hotels offer deep baths and idiosyncratic charm together with enough salmon and sea trout to test your skills. But while deep pockets and high levels of skill are sometimes required the average weekend trout or bass angler with a more limited wallet or level of ability can still find their own unique salmon experience.

First - let’s blow away some of the myths…
Skill/technique will defeat me.
No way. Start from a basic trouting background and you can enjoy fishing for salmon within the course of one day. You will not be an expert but you may be hooked.
- You will be able to Spey cast and improve your trout fly casting in return.
- You don’t need to be able to Spey cast if it scares the hell out of you.
- You may spend the entire day spinning depending on the time of year (more on that later).

The cost will be prohibitive.
You can afford it. 100 pounds buys you two good guided days in the spring, 200 pounds buys you the kit for a number of years as a semi novice. You will have a 10% chance of a fish at the above prices while 10 times the ticket cost buys you prime autumn fishing and a 40% + chance of a fish. And as Scotland has no national or State license scheme (unlike our unfortunate English neighbours) you pay for a permit from the riparian owner, as all water is private.

Before we tackle some thorny issues, first - a CULTURAL WARNING. Scotland is not in England. Calling a Scot English is somewhat more insulting than asking a Canadian if he is from the States. A serene smile may mask silent scorn so emphasize that you know the difference between Scotland and England when you are in the land of heather and mountains. Helpful doors will open and whisky measures will magically increase.

A gillie can give you the basics of Spey casting. You can pay many bucks for superb tuition but if you can throw a trout line you can fish on most of the Tweed without a Spey cast. If all else fails remember that despite the rash of articles on salmon fishing and the wonders of the fly most salmon anglers spin. Not on all beats and not at all times and indeed, there are those who will be spinning in their graves at these crass comments but…read the records and the angling press and check out the catches and the fly-to-spin average. The facts speak for themselves.

Sure, some find salmon spinning tedious. But ultimately, it can be very effective. In fact in some waters spinning is the only feasible way to deal with a torrent of water. More often it is simply more efficient. But then, efficiency and fishing are not necessarily your real source of pleasure (dynamite is also efficient but it is illegal). So with total bias let us turn longingly to the joys of fly fishing for salmon.

Salmon fly fishing is delightful. Hooking, and playing a fresh run “bar of silver,” having successfully executed a Spey cast, is sheer pleasure. The whole thing is a little zany and illogical, for several good reasons.

Firstly, Atlantic salmon do not feed when they enter the river system as they return to spawn. Secondly, salmon can vary from a lithe three to four lb grilse to 30lb plus monsters that weigh as much as a toddler but with five times the energy. Finally, you must resist the urge to strike but instead let a couple of feet of loose line whip away before planting the hook. That means that almost inevitably, the experienced trout fisher on his first salmon sortie will whip the hook out of his first salmon’s mouth. When you do…you may even say blast or darn.

Costs
The costs given below are for 2002/3 and, in particular, the reasonable month of May. April, July and August can be cheaper with September to November considerably more expensive. 30 - 40 pounds buys you a reasonable rod day in May.

A minimum 10 pounds-per-day tip to the gillie is courtesy. Multiply by five for a discount on six days (Sunday a Scottish holiday for the fish) and a weekly tip of 25-30 pounds is about the norm. This amounts to 180-230 pounds or so for a week (six days). Not bad, when you consider prices in October, where 600 pounds-a-day costs are not uncommon. The excellent web site www.fishtweed.co.uk covers many available beats.

You can hire all the necessary kit or you can buy your own. Let’s face it - any angler worthy of the name needs no excuse to buy another rod and a few extra flies. And while a new rod with a revered name such as Bruce and Walker will sting you 400-500 pounds, including reel and line/ lines, Rods line etc., a second hand or fishing mag, should see you equipped for between 175 & 200 pounds.

You will need a sink tip intermediate and probably a floating line in case of low water. You will also want a 15-foot rod for the middle-to-lower Tweed while a 13 foot will do higher up. You can pick up a cheapie spinning kit for 40 pounds but more likely you will have a mate who will lend you the basics, be it originally intended for pike or perch. Compare the costs to dealing with trout and it is not so frightening. Let’s get real. If you want to salmon fish reasonably badly you can afford it.

Of course, it is unlikely that you will bump into many celebrity fishers in April or May. But then the ability to drop $2-3000 in the autumn does boost the chances of a landing a fish. Some dedicated “names” will spend as big a part proportionately of their vast income on salmon fishing as I do from my modest wage. Good luck to them. They can fish for five days a year at the best beats at the best time and be quoted as experts. Read their articles and work it out for yourselves.

Expect the beats to be well kept and also full of excellent trout, where the season runs from April to October. Salmon fishing is allowed on the Tweed from February to end of November and in some cases the trout are left unbothered for nearly the entire season. Similarly, sea trout and grilse in July are priced at near May rates but often seen as poorer fare. A select few say it is the best fishing of all. Grayling also abound and average about 1-2 lbs of deep boring head shaking fun. But the salmon is king. The reality is that game fishing is a two-class system with the high paying salmon fisher at the top of the pecking order.

By now you will realise that salmon fishing in Scotland is not that simple. But it is seductive. Visit and you will be able to wax lyrical about the tackle; flies, spinners and line, together with the differences between the middle stretches and the broad final miles to the sea. The timing of fishing and the pattern of the day will all be part of your memory of the Tweed. The gillie, where all is doomed and the odd glorious salmon, drifting in off the tide with bars of silver careering like a band of startled ponies through a pool, is best described simply. It is fun.

Bill Drew lives in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders and fishes for brown trout and grayling in the River Tweed and its tributaries. He works in project management and European funding in Higher and Further Education and can be contacted at www.bill.drew@lineone.net