Latest from the Annan Oct 30th
It's been a long wait for salmon on the upper river this year and after a fairly dry September and dry start to October, it was middle of October before we had a decent amount of rain to lift the river.
Following this lift, fish started to get reported on the upper river Applegarth beat with Clive Ottewell and Mick Scorer hooking five salmon in the Target Pool above Millhousebridge during a one-hour spell of fish running, landing two of the fish at 4lb and 14lb. Anglers on the Upper Beat have had an even longer wait for fish to arrive and although there have been very few anglers fishing the beat since the trout season ended and little to report in the way of salmon, after recent lifts in water, Neil Alston managed to land two fish of 8lb and 13lb on a Red Francis which he followed up with a 10lb fish the next day and David Wilson reported his first fish of the season with a 10lb cock fish caught on a single handed fly rod.
There have been plenty of young anglers out on the river this year with local young angler Robbie Ferries catching his first ever salmon with a 13lb fish from Lochbrow on the Applegarth Beat. Robbie caught the fish with his first cast using a black flying c lure. Another young angler from Lockerbie, Kyle Guthrie, also landed his first ever salmon (and river fish) with a 7lb cock fish from Castlemilk RFT on the middle river caught on a small Rapala lure.
Unfortunately, rain is everything in salmon fishing and dry weather is again forecast over the next week the meaning the river will steadily drop in over the next few days and after the weekend, most likely be too low for the upper river beats with the lower and middle river being the best option for next week as it will still fish during lower flows.
Fish have continued to be reported from the lower and middle beats into October with local angler Tommy Drennan landing an impressive 18lb salmon on fly from St Mungos on the lower river, one of the largest fish reported this year so far. The larger multi sea winter fish haven't been seen or caught in any numbers this year with the majority of the fish reported so far, especially from the lower river beats, being mostly grilse with a few salmon in the lower teens. However, the good numbers of grilse reported this year is to be expected following the increased number of salmon that ran during the 2020 season with 2024 being the first year that any number of fish would return from 2020’s spawning (as grilse).
Hopefully, we will see a good return of multi sea winter fish from the 2020 run during next season...
Regards
Michael Fearns
07710331079
We would like to thank the beats, angling clubs and owners who have contributed to this report by providing their time and information as this report would not be possible without your help and support. If you would like to share any interesting stories or pictures from your time fishing on the River Annan for the purposes of this report, please feel free to contact us here.
