Salmon Fishing

How much change do you think with the past weeks of high water levels?

Blackpowder

The river I fish is a spate river, so high water for a week or two makes little difference unless it is excessively high. A couple of years ago there was a tremendous flood that was strong enough to rip the Argo bridge from its concrete abutments and turn it through 90 degrees. That flood resulted in a huge loss of salmon parr and also completely re-profiled some stretches of the river. Apart from a couple of the deeper pools we will have to learn the river all over again :cry:
 
Bob i agree with everything you say.

I just find spinning very boring, but knowing the river helps.

One of the best ways i got to know where the Salmon hold up was through my fly fishing for the brown trout.

As for the floods, i too fish a spate river, somethings do change but all we can hope is the redds are left undamaged.

Cheers

Richard
 
Yes there has to be changes, especially where there is gravel which is bound to have shifted in vast quantities. Time alone will tell, but I suspect there may be both beneficial and detrimental changes throughout river systems.

Blackpowder
 
Yes there has to be changes, especially where there is gravel which is bound to have shifted in vast quantities. Time alone will tell, but I suspect there may be both beneficial and detrimental changes throughout river systems.

Blackpowder
None of ours was gravel - it was boulders.....and not small ones
 
The river I fish is a spate river, so high water for a week or two makes little difference unless it is excessively high. A couple of years ago there was a tremendous flood that was strong enough to rip the Argo bridge from its concrete abutments and turn it through 90 degrees. That flood resulted in a huge loss of salmon parr and also completely re-profiled some stretches of the river. Apart from a couple of the deeper pools we will have to learn the river all over again :cry:

Thanks to the lack of forethought some thirty to forty years ago and continuing to date , most rivers in the UK could now be classed as spate rivers, after removing the grips, dykeing out hillsides and straightening out water courses the rivers that used to rise over a period of 3 -4 days would then stay in flood for a week or so, they would then clear or fine off but still giving high water, after a few more days they would clear off totally and then drop back to a normal level, now, after a bit of rain a river will lift to flood overnight stay in flood for a day or so and then its back to normal, up and down quicker than a fiddlers elbow but leaving total devastation all round as hundreds of people have unfortunately found out this past month or so

As for high water not making much difference to the river after a week or two, a few of my rivers have changed beyond all recognition after only a couple of days in flood and there's a few that I have no idea yet as to what change has occurred as they`ve been in flood up to the top of the banks and into the fields for over a month, without question there will be massive changes, lies will have been ripped out, gravel beds will have moved causing the flow to alter the whole dynamics of affected pools, and as mentioned with the force of the water this year boulders as big as wheelie bins will be in places you would never imagine but, when things have all settled down the rivers can be studied and tactics adopted to suit the change, as we have done for god knows how long

Spinning, Is it boring .. Yes , Is it monotonous ..Yes is it productive ..Yes .. More than the fly ..Yes .. Is it my first choice .. No .. Do I look down on people who spin .. No .. Do you use a .243 or a 7x57 to kill deer, the end result is the same, It`s all down to a preferred personal choice


Bob
 
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Thanks to the lack of forethought some thirty to forty years ago and continuing to date , most rivers in the UK could now be classed as spate rivers, after removing the grips, dykeing out hillsides and straightening out water courses the rivers that used to rise over a period of 3 -4 days would then stay in flood for a week or so, they would then clear or fine off but still giving high water, after a few more days they would clear off totally and then drop back to a normal level, now, after a bit of rain a river will lift to flood overnight stay in flood for a day or so and then its back to normal, up and down quicker than a fiddlers elbow but leaving total devastation all round as hundreds of people have unfortunately found out this past month or so

As for high water not making much difference to the river after a week or two, a few of my rivers have changed beyond all recognition after only a couple of days in flood and there's a few that I have no idea yet as to what change has occurred as they`ve been in flood up to the top of the banks and into the fields for over a month, without question there will be massive changes, lies will have been ripped out, gravel beds will have moved causing the flow to alter the whole dynamics of affected pools, and as mentioned with the force of the water this year boulders as big as wheelie bins will be in places you would never imagine but, when things have all settled down the rivers can be studied and tactics adopted to suit the change, as we have done for god knows how long

Spinning, Is it boring .. Yes , Is it monotonous ..Yes is it productive ..Yes .. More than the fly ..Yes .. Is it my first choice .. No .. Do I look down on people who spin .. No .. Do you use a .243 or a 7x57 to kill deer, the end result is the same, It`s all down to a preferred personal choice


Bob

+5 Excellent two posts Bob. Made me think!!
 
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