The exceptionally wet summer in the Northern Highlands continued into the autumn and there were another 3 spates in October and predominantly mild and sometimes warm weather. Only the last week of the month offered relief from rain, and the prolonged high water levels provided good running conditions for most of the time. Fish seemed to be continuously on the move, so angling conditions were rarely that favourable. The catch for the month off the Novar beats appears to be about 90 fish.

Fresh fish were caught through to the end of the 3rd week in October, and though a few were seen after that none were landed. This 7+ lbs bar of silver was caught, photographed and returned by Jennifer Parker from Raven’s Rock on the 21st.

‘Autumn Silver’

Amongst other notable successes, David Duncombe-Anderson from Dorset landed fish of 7 lbs and a PB of 15 lbs on the 13th, and Flemming Binnerup from Denmark caught 4 grilse from Beat 4 on the 22nd. Throughout the month there was an unusually high ratio of Multi-Sea Wintered (MSW) salmon caught relative to grilse, and the last week of the season produced 10 double-figure salmon. The best of these was caught by Mike Allen from Tain on the 24th and was measured at 39 inches, and estimated at 20 lbs (another PB); Keith Neal from London landed fish of 11 lbs and 14 lbs (2 personal bests), and Tim Morgan from Hampshire caught 3 fish ranging from 10-12 lbs as well as a 3½ lbs sea trout.

Elsewhere on Novar there were 5 more ‘first salmon’ landed in October, bringing the season total to 29! Congratulations go to Charlie Willett (5½ lbs), Hiroshi Nishawaka (4 lbs), Drew Thomson (6½ lbs), Lou Smith (8 lbs) and Mark Gill (10 lbs).

September was another wet month with 4 significant spates. The outflow from Loch Morie was over the top of the dam for the whole month, and the river level never dropped below + 6in, and was more than + 1ft for much of the time. Except when in full spate, conditions were ideal for migration and fish seemed to be running all the time, but running fish are not always takers, and the fishing was never easy. Grilse numbers increased as the month progressed however, and but for the heat wave at the end of the month, the fishing improved significantly resulting in a provisional total catch for Novar for the month of 115 salmon & grilse.

The highlight of September was a ‘Novar Fishings Grand Slam’ – at least 1 fish from each of the Novar beats on 6 consecutive days - achieved by Russ Jobson from Perthshire. Russ landed 10 fish in total, finishing with a 15 lbs salmon from Beat 5 on the 10th. Other successes included 3 fish each for Sir Patrick Salt on the 8th, Andrew Goodge on the 21st (just missing out on a Grand Slam himself), and Nicholas Steedman on the 22nd. There were a number of big fish encounters, with the best fish of the season so far falling to Mick Spencer from London with a salmon estimated at over 20lbs from Beat 1 on the 14th.

Russ Jobson

It was another great month for ‘first salmon’ catches on Novar – 11 in total; Congratulations to Peter Kerruish, Steve Tuck, Edward Griffiths, Stuart Oakes, Louise Jennings, Andrew Hollebone (3), Julian Morel, Jojo Hastie (2), Jonny Harvey, Alex Harvey & Will Ash.

There were 4 spates in August, offering every opportunity for salmon & grilse to enter the Alness. It was therefore a great disappointment to see only small runs of grilse, particularly after the exceptional catches of a year ago, though MSW salmon numbers seemed to be about ‘normal’. This appeared to be the trend across all local North Highland rivers, though that is of little consolation. Despite excellent fishing conditions prevailing through most of the month, those grilse that were running seemed to have ‘their heads down’ and ran quickly through to Loch Morie, and fish were hard to find.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, there were many individual successes: Stuart Smith from Bolton caught 2 grilse on the 5th; David Duncombe-Anderson from Dorset, who caught his first salmon last year, landed 3 fish for his week including a lovely fresh fish of 8½ lbs on the 10th caught when the river was in full spate; Nick Munro Ferguson landed 3 fish from Beat 6 on the 13th. On the 16th on Beat 3, there were salmon of 13lbs and 9lbs caught by the Knox family and another of 14lbs landed by John Cameron; Zelda Marshall landed a 12lbs fish and Alan Shearer landed 2 grilse from Beat 5 on the 17th; Paul Stenhouse and Ed Porter landed 3 grilse apiece from Beat 6 on the 19th and 20th respectively; and a cracker of 16lbs was caught by John Stevenson on Beat 4 on the 22nd.

David Duncombe-Anderson

The catch return on the Novar beats for August appears to be about 80 fish, though this includes an unusually high proportion of ‘first salmon’ – 11 in total. A significant number of visiting anglers were new to the sport, and this may have influenced catches a little, but the main factor was simply a lack of fish. Amongst those to land their first fish though were Kirsty Cliff, Tom Webb, Oscar Dickens (13), Hamish Kelway-Bamber (13), Rob Moule, Charlie Campbell, Josey Packard, Jill McDonough, Linda Mikula, Rob Blackwood and Jock Glover. Congratulations to all!

After an exceptional spring run, hopes were high on the Alness for an early appearance of first grilse as in 2010. Good water following a spate of +2ft 9in on the 11th provided the first opportunity for them to enter the system, but very few appeared and 7 late ‘springers’ and only 2 grilse were caught for that week. It was a similar story the following week; a spate on the Sunday (17th), and mainly Multi Sea Wintered (MSW) salmon caught as the water level receded. There was no further rain of any significance in July, and the last week of the month was a blank, though fishing effort was also minimal.

John Lloyd

The total catch for July appears to be only 16 fish, which although about the 5-year average was considerably lower than in 2010. There were some notable successes however: Rachel Mallia from Malta (fishing downstream wet fly for trout!), hooked and landed her first ever salmon, a superb fish of 13 lbs, on the upper river on the 16th; John Lloyd from London followed this with his first ever fish of 12½ lbs on the 18th; and Paul Stenhouse from Ayrshire caught a fresh summer salmon of 10lbs from Beat 5 on the 23rd.

Spates on the 29th May, and 13th and 22nd June ensured good water levels on the Alness throughout the month. Unfortunately there were few visiting anglers to take advantage of the conditions, and the beats were mainly empty but for a few locals. Amongst them, John Cameron from Dingwall caught fish of 15lbs and 8½ lbs from Beat 5 on the 1st, and Jackie Smart caught 3 springers up to 9lbs from Beat 2 on the 14th. TJ Bond visiting from Hong Kong, landed his first ever salmon, a fish of 9lbs, on the 17th.

'TJ' Bond

In total, 20 springers were landed in June on the Novar beats, and the combined May & June catch of 31 spring salmon is the best on record. Despite the modest numbers, it seemed an exceptional run of spring salmon as these fish were picked up throughout the beats, with minimum angling effort suggesting the catch would have been significantly higher with more visiting anglers.