• 8 foot 3 piece fly rod, 6/7 weight rod and reel, Emerald Green E-Glass Blank, Eva Foam Grip, Graphite Reel Seat w. Stainless Steel hoods
• Aluminum oxide stripper guide
• Graphite body, Right hand retrieve reel, Built-in hook keeper
• Fly line, Tapered leader
• Two flies, Instructions for tying five basic fishing knots and general fly fishing

Product Description
Over 70 years of experience has produced tackle that’s better than tactics. Pre-packaged combos make selecting the right equipment for getting started a snap eliminating the guesswork that can be so intimidating to a newcomer. For anyone after a simple, well balanced fly combo, the Crystal River Series is just plain hard to beat. These are serious combos that will more than hold their own against the most stubborn of fish. Anglers with discerning tastes will be prou… More >>

Crystal River Fly Fishing Combo Kit

Jock Scott Salmon Fly

This isn’t really a tutorial video, but I really enjoy watching a craftsman, however young or old, at work!

Here we have Torben Kondrup tying the classic Salmon fly, the Jock Scot, at Randers Fly Fair which took place in February of 2010 in, I believe, Denmark.

Really beautiful tying here (camera work isn’t bad either!).

As I’ve said before, if a fly just had to catch a fisherman, I’m sure we’d all be hooked on this Jock Scott! Great work!

The report explains how, in 1980, only 9% of fish consumed came from aquaculture – now it is 46%.

However, the report also pointed out that this form of fish farming has been “accused of polluting the sea bed and spreading disease.” Something about which many interested in wild salmon fishing – and the many related industries – have great concerns.

Anglers spend many thousands of pounds on access to salmon runs, which provides jobs for ghillies who in turn work on habitat preservation and maintaining river banks: access which is often enjoyed by walkers and tourists to Salmon rivers.

Further, angling, in particular fly fishing, is a sport which sustains many small and medium sized businesses up and down the country through tackle shops, magazines, tutorial courses and a host of other related products and services.

While aquaculture might be worth hundreds of millions of pounds, the size and scale of salmon and sea trout angling in the UK mustn’t be underestimated: The Environment agency of England and Wales figures show that over 4 million people went fishing in 2005. Those figures do not include Scotland. If we said that, in the course of an entire year, those anglers spent on average, at least £100 on their sport (a small amount considering tackle, transport, accommodation, fishery fees, rod licence and more) then one can see that angling easily outstrips Scottish Aquaculture in terms of spend, yet we fishermen can often feel our needs are an afterthought.

However, there aren’t many press releases which explain how far angling goes to contribute to a better economy for a great many more businesses than aquaculture. This is something which may be worthy of redress.

For my part, I contributed to the conservation efforts this time around by being far too busy to get a single days fishing on a proper salmon river, so can only rely on the view expressed by others on this one!

If there are fewer parr, this should be a grave cause for concern for all salmon anglers, as it means declining numbers of salmon can be anticipated for several (even many) years to come.

This piece of news comes fresh on the heels of another press released story which is perhaps in the opposite vein: the salmon farming company Loch Duart Ltd has secured investment to make a £3.7m investment in three sea lochs. More on this story here.

It is worrying to note that almost all research I have seen into the decline of wild salmon numbers points to salmon farming as a contributory factor to a greater or lesser degree. While I appreciate that Loch Duart are actively farming in the most evironmentally friendly (and fish friendly) way they commercially can – and commanding a higher price as a result – it is increases such as this over the past 20 or so years which have coincided with a lack of wild salmon recovery.

Many rivers are now as clean as they have been for many years, yet salmon are not thriving. Fish are regularly loused and poorly conditioned.

If the experiences of the author from the Highland Times aren’t isolated, there may well be fewer juvenile salmon in our rivers than ever before.

Is it now time for some action to put this situation right, before Atlantic salmon are no longer a feature wihin British river systems?

The economy in the USA slowed down first following the collapase of the sub-prime mortgage market and the resultant folding of several banks. Hundreds of billions of dollars of Governement money was used to bail out several others teetering on the brink. The problem for salmon? Much of this money was earmarked for habitat improvement in rivers which require significant improvements.

In King County, this couldn’t have come at a worse time, as it coincides with local’s attempts to reinstate the Puget Sound chinook salmon, which is all but extinct in the region.

We told in the middle of last week, how similar attempts to reintroduce sea trout to the Shetland Isles since 2002 have been extremely successful – such efforts cost money, though, and, in times of financial crisis, it is unsurprising that Governments concentrate on only what they consider the most vital spending.

More on the Kings County problems can be found here, however, another issue is likely to surface should the economy take a big swing for the worse: that of poaching.

There have been some anecdotal reports of an increase in deer poaching of late, and it would be relatively unsurprising, were we to see significant levels of unemployment, if the poaching of farmed trout and salmon (both wild and farmed) became more prevalent. Two men have been caught netting sea trout in Rye harbour (East Sussex, UK) this week.

This is not just an issue of stealing income, however, where salmon are concerned, widescale poaching could prove serious to stock levels already suffering because of sea lice from farmed fish and other major hurdles.

Right now, though, there aren’t many salmon in the rivers to poach – and restocking efforts may be taking a back seat for the forseeable future.

Prince Charles’ 60th birthday – 14th November 2008 – will b a momentous day for lovers of frozen fish in Great Britain for it is the day planned by Birds Eye for the unveiling of their new “Wild Salmon Fish Fingers”.

Alongside cod and haddock, these more expensive big brothers – expected to cost £2.49 for a pack of ten fish fingers – are likely to be a hit with parents, following a recent Birds Eys survey in which it was revealed that salmon is a favourite with many kids.

This is great news for fishermen – that children appear to have a love of salmon – as this provides a great excuse to go for a few days fishing. However, in my family at least, one cannot rely on fishing prowess to provide regular meals. For those countless blank days, Birds Eye will feed your family for you!

The objector to proposed developments in Aberdeen, research biologist Tony Hawkins, claimed that salmon were at significant risk of a negative impact.

Further, he said that as the site in question is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) that any development which causes “significant deterioration” to habitats is against European guidelines.

It remains to be seen what decision is made here, but it is certainly a very interesting argument – and one which shows how far we have come in the past hundred or more years. I read a lot of old fishing books, and one thing that really sticks out is the numbers of salmon that used to be in my local river, the River Ure, until over-industrialisation decimated the species to approximately zero. Refilling the river with salmon has been a painfully slow process, and one which has met only limited success.

The book which details this best is called Gun, Rod and Rifle, and one passage in particular, which describes how the river was only ‘clean’ on Monday mornings, when all the mining in the locality had been on a weekend break is a particularly poignant reminder of how to do everything wrong.

Of course, what is proposed in Aberdeen is significantly less harmful than widespread lead mining – but the very fact salmon are being considered here must be good news for local fishermen and fishing related businesses.

Not to mention the otters!

Some excellent sport.