A north river opened to anglers in traditional fashion yesterday despite the atrocious weather.
The first cast of 2015 season on the River Thurso was made at 10am by Bob Sedgwick, a university lecturer from Sheffield who has fished the river for 33 years.
More than 30 anglers turned out at the Comlifoot Pool, a beat of the river running through Halkirk, after being led from the Ulbster Arms Hotel across the Halkirk Bridge by piper John MaCrae.
Local man Alan Clasper made a toast to the anglers and the river before the first cast was made.
The Caithness and Sutherland rivers are among the first to open in Scotland. Others opening yesterday included the Carron, Oykel, Cassley, and Shin, as well as Helmsdale, Halladale, Naver and Borgie.
Eddie McCarthy, River Thurso superintendent, said: “It’s nice to be one of the first to open. It was pretty hairy out there because of the weather. There was a howling 45mph gale of wind with hailstorms and rainstorms.
“There were only about three or four hardy souls who stayed out in the weather.
“We have an incredibly high water, almost bordering on being too dangerous to go near.”
The Association of Salmon Fishery Boards (ASFB) yesterday reminded anglers that it is now a legal requirement that all salmon caught before April are released back into the water.
This follows the Scottish Government’s Conservation Order to protect early running spring salmon through mandatory catch and release, which became law on January 9.
Dr Alan Wells, policy and planning director of ASFB, said: “After two difficult seasons with disappointing catches, we hope that 2015 will be a much better year for salmon angling.
“The numbers of spring salmon in particular have declined significantly in recent years and we welcome the Scottish Government’s move to give added protection to the most vulnerable and depleted stocks – those that enter our rivers in the early weeks.”
Dr Keith Williams, director of Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries, added: “Anglers fishing before April should appreciate that by law they must now release or return all fish to the water, even if the fish is damaged or dead.”