Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

“Give it a go,” urges River Deveron director as waters open for new season

Craig Wyness throws the first line into the River Deveron.
Craig Wyness throws the first line into the River Deveron.

The salmon fishing season has been officially declared open after major-winning golfer Paul Lawrie blessed the waters of the River Deveron.

The Aberdeen-born 1999 Open champion joined the throng at a packed riverbank in Turriff yesterday morning when he was given the honour of toasting the water with 18-year-old whisky.

The traditional ceremony, hosted by the local anglers association, was then capped by Peterhead man Craig Wyness throwing the first line.

Mr Wyness was given the job for the second year in a row after reeling in a 30lb fish last season to win the Morison Trophy, which is presented to the fisherman or woman with the heaviest catch of the year.

Last night, Richie Miller, director of the River Deveron Salmon Fishery Board, described the opening as being “very successful”.

He added: “We had a good turnout and Paul did a good job – he was very enthusiastic. The river, as well, is looking very good for fishing.”

There had been concerns earlier this year that high levels of winter flooding would affect fish stocks, putting the angling season and tourism spin-offs in jeopardy.

But Mr Miller said the Deveron had escaped the worst of the weather.

He added: “The Deveron wasn’t hit as badly as the Dee – we got off with the winter floods very lightly. It hasn’t caused a great deal of damage, so everyone is pretty optimistic about the season ahead.”

This year, he expects the biggest catch to again be about 25 to 30lbs.

He said: “At the moment, the river is a very good height. It has been a very wet winter, so there’s plenty of water to entice salmon back in from the sea.

“I would encourage everyone to come and try the river this year and have a go. Certainly, conditions are very favourable and everyone would be welcome.”

At the time of Mr Wyness’ winning catch, River Deveron warden Frank Henderson said it was a sign that stocks were on the up.