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.

‘Angling is about two decades behind’: Campaigners aiming to keep sport alive in younger generations

The River Spey Anglers Association held an event to encourage youngsters to take up Angling. Andrew Pole with father Mike. Picture: Brian Smith
The River Spey Anglers Association held an event to encourage youngsters to take up Angling. Andrew Pole with father Mike. Picture: Brian Smith

Anglers in Moray hope sessions to spark the interest of youngsters will keep the sport alive among locals.

Catching salmon on the River Spey is one of the most fabled past-times of living in the area.

Amidst lower catches and prices for spots on beats increasing, there are concerns future generations may never pick up reels.

However, the River Spey Anglers Association wants to keep the hobby alive for years to come.

‘There isn’t the support like football or rugby’

While many sports like football, rugby and others has coaching in schools, angling has historically never had such support.

Instead, the skills and knowledge has traditionally been passed from fathers and grandfathers to the young.

Now the River Spey Anglers Association wants to help inspire youngsters to swap games consoles for waders by running sessions to teach them.

The River Spey Anglers Association held an event to encourage youngsters to take up Angling. Aaron Winton. Picture: Brian Smith

Chairman John Trodden said: “In the past it has been crusty old guys my age who you would associate with it, and I’m coming up for 69.

“Occasionally you would get a grandad out with kids but there isn’t really anything to get young people interested in the sport.

“There’s a perception that salmon fishing is only for the aristocrats or wealthy people who can afford it, but there’s lots of affordable fishing available now

“Most of the other sports in Scotland have a track record in development coaching and angling is probably about two decades behind in that.”

‘Great for mental health’

The River Spey Anglers Association have been supported on their mission with a donation of 10 fishing outfits as well as rods and reels from tackle firm Loop Aktiv.

A session has been run at the Wardend fishery near Elgin to help youngsters get to grips with the equipment while passing on time-honoured advice.

Mr Trodden said: “Angling really is one of the most important sports.

“It’s really good for mental health. I had a really busy job in education for 40 years and it was great for me to get away and get things in perspective.

“Lots of people find it a really good way of chilling out and getting problems sorted in your head, or whatever.”