Autumn Salmon Fishing

On most rivers in England and Wales that salmon enter, you can guarantee autumn is the most reliable period for the chance of a salmon, unlike the spring months post UDN of the mid sixties. As late summer of August fades into September, the start of the autumn, provided there is ample rain to raise the water levels high enough, this will encourage fish to run in from the estuary. This can happen as it did this year during mid August, a Lamas flood (around harvest time), and will bring in a fair portion of the intended back-end run. Without the proper levels of water during August and early September we generally have to wait until the equinox in late September around the full moon, at that time there is a lot of weather blown in from the west accompanied by strong winds and copious amounts of rain in biblical proportions. The water levels then rise dramatically to a bank bursting flood, and become quite unfishable for a few days, with every tributary pouring its collected contents into the main stem. It is probably the scents from these various tributaries of the natal streams that give those salmon out around the coast nearby, some incentive and a guide to what direction to take.

As the river begins to drop over the next few days, and clear free of heavy suspension and debris, the tides are also dropping off; and the first of the run begins to arrive. Now with the temperature of the water lower than it has been all summer, we not only see new fish coming in, but also the residents that have been laid up in the deeper sections of the river, some of them there for months. These resident fish are unmistakable and untakable, with the hen fish as black as coal, and the cock fish sporting a tartan jacket, most of these fish are probably spring or early summer run.
It is the silver fish that are on our agenda, a clue to how long they have been in the river is by the sea-lice they carry, most salmon seem to have them, some more than others, but have them they do. Sea-lice are tadpole like creatures that attach themselves to the fish, they have two tails (egg strings), after twenty four hours in fresh water these tails drop off, after forty eight hours the whole lice is gone. After a week or more the salmons silvery pearl sheen with cobalt blue and black back fade to a dull bronze colour.

How do we select the fresh run fish from the more gravid ones whilst fishing in the autumn? The answer is we cannot; it's very similar to spring fishing, your going to catch a few Kelts or baggots no matter what you do. These coloured cousins should be played as firmly as is possible and released quickly and carefully while still in the water. Fish in this condition are absolutely useless for the table, I still hear comments that they make good smokers, and this could not be further from the truth. Most of the fish's reserves have been used to make eggs and milt, leaving the flesh pale and soft.

The outfit that is needed for back-end fishing is very similar to the tackle that is used in the spring, a double handed rod of between fourteen and sixteen feet for medium to large rivers. The line rating around a number ten, a decent reel with one hundred and fifty yards of rot proof backing, a fast and slow intermediate fly-line, and/or a floater that takes sink-tips of various densities and lengths that can be attached by a loop to loop system; this is the simplest and easiest way to just have one reel and a wallet of tips.
These set-ups can be shop bought ready made, or tailor make them yourself by attaching a braided loop to the end of the fly-line and to each end of the tips you have cut from old or cheap sinking lines. The length of sink tip and the density can be adjusted to suit the type of water you are fishing, the longer the tip the deeper the fly will fish. It is of great importance that the tip that is used does not upset the balance of the outfit, too heavy or too long a tip can do this. To make a balanced rig it is always advisable to use a tip cut from a fly line that is a couple of sizes lighter, i.e.: if your fly line is a ten weight then an eight weight would be fine.

Making sure that the end of the fly-line butts right up inside to the doubled portion of the loop, a dab of superglue is then added to that point where the end of the fly-line is, and at the other end of the braid (about two inches away) another dab. Thread a length of nylon through the braided loop and insert both ends into a piece of shrink-wrap (about half an inch) sleeve, holding the two loose ends of the nylon, pull the sleeve over the loop and down the braid until it covers where the braid ends. Then carefully warm the shrink wrap over a heat source (a candle, light bulb or lighter), it will then reduce in size, this will give a very smooth join as opposed to the bulky plastic sleeves that are supplied with most kits that pick up weed and get caught in the tip ring.

When fishing sunk lines, leader length should be short, four feet is plenty, and the heavier and larger the fly, the thicker the leader must be to turn that fly over, usually mono from fifteen to twenty pounds being the norm, (not the fine diameter type). This is also joined onto the braided loop of the sink-tip by tying a surgeon's loop, inserting the leader loop over the braided loop, then passing the end of the leader back through the braided loop.

The flies we employ depend on a number of factors, one being the rate of flow, the depth, the clarity and the action we are seeking.
A heavy flow with the peak of the spate passed, with more than a touch of colour will dictate that the fly is fished around as slow as possible in the main belly of the pool close in and near to the bottom, this calls for a fast intermediate fly-line, and sometimes plus the use of a sink tip, and a fly with a bit of impact. Patterns with a lot of orange and yellow in with a gold or silver body are fine, orange and yellow hair wings tied on aluminium tubes and Waddington's of about three inches, or doubles around size 6/8 with a long tail.

The fish will hardly ever be out in the main flow when the river is in this condition, they will be creeping up the easier routes slowly, usually quite close to the bank. Casting across the river to squarely will be futile, before the fly has reached the correct fishing depth it will be whisked away at speed by the current. Much better to cast at a shallow angle and keeping a few yards of slack behind after the cast has been made, which is then thrown into an upstream mend the moment the fly-line touches down. The fly now has more time to sink nearer the bottom where we want it to be, by keeping the rod out at right angles to the bank the fly-line under tension can now be guided very slowly back in toward our bank. As the fly reaches the slacker water near the bank, a retrieve (figure of eight or a slow steady pull) just fast enough to keep tension on the rod tip and thus the fly swimming correctly is maintained until we have the correct casting length. Without pausing the rod is raised slowly and back to the roll casting position, most of the fly-line at this point will have come up near to the surface due to the pressure of the current acting under the fly-line. A roll cast back along the bank is made to put the line onto the surface of the water; before it sinks back under the surface the appropriate cast is then performed moving down the pool a cast a pace.

As the river level drops and clears further, a smaller more subtle fly can be used, something like a Munroe Killer or a Willie Gunn in its various guises size 10 to 12 between one and two inches fished on either a slow intermediate or a fast sink tip on a floating line. In the easier flows the fish will be using the full width of the river to travel, although they tend to use certain paths through the pools at different heights of water.
Local knowledge of pools is essential if it is to be fished effectively, there are running lies that salmon will rest for a short time, and residential lies for the more long term, these can change at different water heights.

The approach to one of these pools is unlike spring where we normally concentrate on the main belly, we can now fully exploit the whole of it from top to bottom. Salmon, when the water is at this height do not hang around long, only slowing down when they reach the middle beats of the system. By selecting the times we fish can help enormously, to be there two hours before the tide and two hours after on the lower beats will increase our chances. Begin by starting at the head of the pool, where the faster water is running out of the pool above, the neck. Initially put a short cast out into the flow, while standing still make each cast a little longer until you have a good working line out that covers a good part of the width of the pool. Depending on the flow speed, especially for the fast water at the neck, cast a shallow angle with an upstream mend to slow the fly down, by holding the rod out toward the stream and slowly following the fly line around can also help. As we move through to the main belly of the pool which could be anything from a few yards to a few hundred yards, the flow begins to lose its pace as it becomes wider and deeper. The slower the water the more square the cast is performed, and keeping tension on the fly line by a slow figure of eight retrieve. Ideally the fly should be fished as close to the bottom as possible traversing the current slowly and to look like its struggling to make its way upstream, prospecting any potential lies there might be.
Every fifth cast and pace or so down the pool, throw a really square cast that will come around quite fast with the aid of the current on the line and use a fast figure of eight or a strip retrieve. What we are trying to do is not only cover fish that are on the normal lies, but to have a chance at goading a running fish which tend to travel a little higher in the water. Often you can see these fish moving up the river showing frequently, there is nothing guaranteed but just every now and then it happens.

As we fish through the main belly of the pool we arrive at probably the most productive part, the tail.

Casting at a more shallow angle now as the flow speeds up and disappears into a vee and down into the next pool below. Salmon can often be seen in this vee, as they come up from the fast and rough water below, they then slip into the easy flow above and momentarily rest for a short while before continuing their journey. The giveaway sign is the fish makes a porpoising movement, a head and tail, fish generally are very good takers when this occurs, more so at the tail of the pool than the main belly.
Other signs of fish are salmon leaving the water completely, crashing about, this usually happens as the water is getting lower. Fish start to lie up in the pools waiting for the next rise of water, or they may be content to stay there until the final rush near spawning time. What sometimes makes them do this is when new fish arrive in the pool and disturb them; they tend to be more alert and aggressive for a short while and ready takers, a fly with a touch of red can sometimes be deadly.
It pays to experiment with different patters of fly, most patterns work most places, it is how the fly is presented and fished effectively that counts.

A week or so after the equinox flood we are into early October, the numbers of new running fish are tapering off, the main of the run away up the river through the middle reaches and slowly heading for the upper sections.
Fifteen years ago at this time of year, wading in the river with a couple of layers underneath my PVC waders my legs used to ache with the cold. The last couple of year's I'm still wearing my breathables into November with the leaves still on the trees. It does not seem to have affected the runs so far, and the kelts seem to be in fine condition in the spring after a mild winter, salmon seem to write there own rules, who knows?