Hard to swallow

Some time ago, in this feature about Taimen fishing in Mongolia, I mentioned a fish that had been found, about 5ft in length, with a 3ft Taimen stuck in its mouth. While I had heard the story I did not know that there was a photograph of the fish until I found this just now. Scary!

A treasure trove for salmon fishers

I have just made a note in my diary to pay a call on Colin Innes when I next get up to the Dee. We haven't yet met but Colin contacted me a little while back and pointed me to his website, feathersfliesandphantoms which I can only describe as a treasure trove for salmon fishers. I have added a link to the sidebar here headed: Vintage Dee flies.

Just now I'm looking at his section with photographs of Dee salmon huts. I have never met anyone who goes salmon fishing who has not developed an affinity with the fishing hut. There are good huts, there are so-so huts and there are classic huts.

My favourite is the main hut at Carlogie beat on the Dee. Another great hut featured here by Colin, is the one at Sluie. The fishing at Sluie is not so great because of the profile of the beat (the best pool fishes better from the other side of the river) but where better to ruminate over this discovery than in its very fine hut? Colin has photographed the old maps and pictures on its walls.

Another great feature of this site is Colin's catalogue of old fishing flies used on the Dee, Don and Deveron. Looking at these old flies reminds us that there is nothing new under the sun. I can almost guarantee that the new wonder fly you will read about in virtually every issue of Trout & Salmon magazine will have had some earlier manifestation on a big single hook, perhaps, or tied with slightly different materials.

I would feel confident fishing any Scottish river with this Akroyd fly. Colin not only gives us a profile of the maker but also includes step-by-step instructions if you want to make the fly yourself.

It doesn't take long to realise that Colin must have ploughed through a lot of old (and therefore out-of-copyright) material, and transferred the relevant stuff on to the site, with plates of flies, covers and illustrations from old catalogues and newspapers, plus many of his own photographs. It would take one huge book to include all this stuff but a web site is like a living organism that can be updated constantly.

Colin says he enjoys curling up in front of a fire with an old fishing book and a whisky. Today I guess you can do something similar with your lap top. I only wish we could make lap tops more like books with spongy leather exteriors. No doubt it will happen eventually.

For those who prefer books to web sites, however, Colin tells us he is gathering much of his work together in a forthcoming book. In the meantime we can scan through this marvellous library of fishing ephemera. All I can say, Colin, is thank you for sharing your research with fellow anglers in such an accessible format. Not everyone can get access to libraries and this work provides a valuable window in to salmon fishing's rich heritage.

Bid to fish - great beats in NASF auction

The North Atlantic Salmon Fund is to hold its 2009 fund raising auction on Ebay from the 1-11 December. Postal bids can be accepted too.

Among the lots are: fishing for dorado in the north of Argentina or the big sea trout they get on the Rio Gallegos in the south. There is bone fishing in the Bahamas; salmon fishing on the Gaula and Laxselva in Norway, and on the Sela, Laxa i Kjos and Jokla in Iceland. In Scotland there is fishing on the Tweed plus top chalkstream fishing for trout.

There are also rods, reels and flies from the best known tackle manufacturers and clay pigeon shooting, and it is possible that extra rods may be available on some beats upon contact with the owners.

Fly cufflinks

Let's face it, we never have enough fishing tackle, but we also know, deep down, that that's not true. The reality is that our bags and boxes are overflowing with stuff and if we're not careful we can spend too much valuable fishing time simply trying to work out what we should be fishing with today. Even that creates anxiety because when we start fishing we begin to worry about whether some other set up would have done better. This is not clever and definitely not relaxing which takes away some of the reason for fishing in the first place.

Then there's our nearest and dearest. They have long ago abandoned the idea of buying fishing tackle for Christmas or birthdays. You may get away with a book, but another rod? You must be joking.

But we like fishing so much that it would be good to have some kind of fishing present, something classy perhaps. What about these gold-plated fishing fly cufflinks made by James Hartley? At £125 a pair or £299 for three pairs, they're not out of the way for the man who has everything. You couldn't possibly buy them for yourself but why not get a friend to post a link to your loved one and wait for the results? Or if you are the loved one who simply refuses to buy yet another fishing reel, why not take a look? With a pair of these there would be no more excuses for staying in.

Salmon film

The angler in this film is lucky to get away with a snag while he is playing a salmon. The underwater camera shows just how salmon respond to a fly. They seem to be tempted most when it is dangled just above them. Of course it's rarely so easy to find a group like this but the crystal clear Icelandic waters enables the fisherman to pinpoint his cast.

No waders? No problem!

I thought I'd seen everything, but sight casting with a snorkel for tarpon is something else.

Salmon porn - live action

When you're fishing don't you ever get the urge to get in among them? I've never been down in to a pool with a snorkel or diving gear but I'm told it can be fascinating. Perhaps the next best thing is watching a river through a camera, monitoring a pool constantly. You can do just that on this web site which has an above water angle that will show you if anyone turns up to fish here on the Suldaslaagen river in southern Norway.

Big salmon

Beware, you can end up spending a lot of time staring at these screens but you will see fish. The camera positioning is explained here. Do they catch big fish here? The answer can be found on this site, which not only has a picture of the pool, but also has a picture of a 28lb specimen caught here in 2008. I've never heard of salmon pornography, but if there was such a thing, this is the place to find it.