LAST WEEK:
Only the River Urr is still open for salmon fishing in Galloway, with the Bladnoch , Luce, Dee and Fleet all closing on the 31st October.
The rivers have been dropping with little rainfall so fishing conditions have not been particularly suitable over the last week.
The previous week Dennis Dyson had a decent week on the Bladnoch fishing the Mochrum Park waters where he caught 3 grilse and a 9lb salmon.
The last salmon caught on the Castle Douglas AA water on the Urr were 3 salmon caught on the 21st October.
Only some beats report their catches directly to fishgalloway – please do send us any information on catches as we are keen to report what is happening across the Galloway rivers.
PROSPECTS
The Urr rose on the 1st November so fishing conditions will have improved.
The River Cree, Fleet, Luce, Dee and Bladnoch are all closed now. The River Urr is open until the end of November.
SEASON SO FAR
The season started off quite slow. The first rod caught salmon was reported by J Haley on the Bladnoch on 24th March, a 9lb fish. The following day an 8lb salmon was caught on the Minnoch. The Minnoch reported a second fish a few days later. April offered limited opportunities to fish with mostly dry weather.
Early May saw an improvement with a few fish reported caught on the Cree beats including Newton Stewart AA, Linloskin and Galloway Estates. In mid-May J Haley caught a 9lb salmon on the Cree (Machermore beat) followed by another 9lb salmon on the Bladnoch (Kirwaugh beat) the following day – these were both caught on tidal beats during low water. Dry hot weather from late May to late June meant the rivers got very low and hot so did not provide conditions suitable for salmon to enter the rivers or for angling.
Rain finally came at the end of June freshening up the rivers and burns. The first to get a decent rise was the Cree and fish started being caught from the 26th June. Heavier and more persistent rain from early to mid July finally got salmon entering and running the rivers across Galloway with rod caught salmon reported from the Cree, Bladnoch, Luce and Urr. The lower Cree beats reported some good catches especially in early July. The weather remained wet and unsettled throughout the rest of July with salmon and sea trout reported caught from most of the rivers but overall in lower numbers than would be expected with the good angling conditions that occurred. The higher tides and heavy rain in early August meant salmon kept running into the rivers with salmon reported caught from the Cree and the Luce.
The run of fish dropped off in mid / late August with reduces catches reported across all rivers.
Early to mid-September were relatively dry so there was very little evidence of fresh fish running the rivers or fish being caught. It became more unsettled and wet from mid-September which drew some fish into the rivers that had been held back during the dry weather. Catches increased then, particularly on the Minnoch. Early October continued to be quite wet and fish continue to be reported across all rivers but in low numbers. The Cree closed mid October. As the other Galloway rivers (apart from the Urr) drew to a close at the end of October some fish continued to be reported from the Bladnoch and Luce but it was noticeable that very few anglers were out fishing.
Salmon catches across the Solway rivers are low this year, which is similar to that being reported across the rest of Scotland.
