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IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:
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Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com
Shadows
In The Stream, Seasonal Approaches to Game Fishing, by Ian Neale
Reviewed by Terry Lawton
At one time salmon fishing was thought to be the pinnacle
of all game fishing. But times change, the numbers of salmon in rivers
is, sadly, much reduced, trout fishing is technically and tactically more
interesting and challenging, but many of us still want to catch a salmon.
Shadows In The Stream, Seasonal Approaches to Game Fishing, by Ian Neale
is a very readable and good introduction to salmon fishing in particular,
but with chapters on sea trout and trout fishing. The book is and interesting
mix of stories and techniques. Whilst the book is no great work of literature
- there are too many exclamation marks for example - salmon fishing is
the subject of the book. For me, the book goes a long way towards getting
rid of much of the myth and mystique of salmon fishing.
One thing that I did find surprising, and perish the thought that I might
be accused of political correctness, but there are too many pictures of
dead fish. In fact every fish photographed - bar one the author is holding
before returning it to the Ponoi river - is dead! Most American magazines
do not publish photos of dead (angler-caught) fish. Nowhere does the author
express any concern about dwindling stocks of salmon in so many rivers
although he does comment on the potential for damage to native fish stocks
from escapee rainbows in Western Scotland. He writes of a fishing friend
who actually returned a hen fish on Tweed at the end of a season!
Although I have somewhat ambiguous views about catch and release, I would
have thought that when it comes to fishing for salmon, the only reason
the fish are in the river is that they are there to breed, that there
is a very strong argument for releasing the majority of - if not all -
salmon. Even the pictures taken in Russia where all the fishing is catch
and release are of dead fish, with the one exception mentioned above.
The first chapter, February, finds him breaking the ice on the Helmsdale
in northern Scotland and then in April he is in New Zealand using a double
nymph set-up fishing for typical monster rainbows. This technique may
be worth trying on some of the bigger rivers in this country and Europe.
The book continues on a month-by-month basis until the end of the salmon
season in November.
Travelling anglers - or at least those with ambitions to travel for their
fishing - will find the chapters on the Ponoi river on the Kola Pensinsular
in Arctic Russia of great interest as well as appetite wetting. There
is some interesting material here on research studies that have been carried
out. What damage will the recently-sunk Russian nuclear submarine do to
the runs of salmon in this area. We can only hope that the Russians are
open and honest with their plans for its future.
The book is well worth reading, particularly by salmon fishermen who want
to increase their knowledge, as well as by trout fishermen who either
intend to go salmon fishing or may have the opportunity to have a go at
the king of fish. It is very well illustrated with lots of colour photosgraphs
and some good illustrations, for example of the double nymph set-up mentioned
above. Don't be put off by all the dead fish though.
Shadows In The Stream, Seasonal Approaches to Game Fishing by Ian Neale.
Published by Swan Hill at 24.95. Hardback 143pages.
