Each year on the completion of the shooting season my thoughts turn immediately to salmon fishing and I experience a desperate yearning to get the rods out and get started. So when Frank rung with an opportunity to kick the season off on the River Dee fishing West Durris and Lower Crathes I said “yes” immediately. It is a world famous beat that I had never fished before and was a chance to get started a week earlier than usual.
We commenced fishing with the two Roberts on Monday 16th February on a nice morning but with a rising water, which sadly by the end of the day was up to 6ft and still rising. I did get an appreciation of what a fantastic beat we were on, a veritable oasis of fly water for nearly all heights of water. Though unfortunately for us not at 6ft plus. We did fish on the Tuesday and caught a few kelts, but the highlight of the day was a casting demonstration from world champion Gordon Armstrong who was fishing with us. Equally remarkable was watching Franks 12 year old son Tom casting after just one day of tuition from Gordon. Not a big lad for his age but using a 14ft rod with a full sunk line he gave a perfect imitation of Gordon’s technique casting a good 25 yards plus with fantastic turnover of the fly. A lesson for us all in that timing and technique are a lot more effective than power!
On Wednesday though the water had dropped below 6ft and was falling and we felt we had more of a chance. I was put in second pool below the bridge and although the water was still very high it was possible to slow the fly down enough to stand a chance. As I got half way down and was covering the stream past a little promontory I had a good solid take just as I was slowly stripping line near the end of the swim. A good fight followed and I started to look for a beaching place, but to no avail. I then tried On Wednesday though the water had dropped below 6ft and was falling and we felt we had more of a chance. I was put in second pool below the bridge and although the water was still very high it was possible to slow the fly down enough to stand a chance. As I got half way down and was covering the stream past a little promontory I had a good solid take just as I was slowly stripping line near the end of the swim. A good fight followed and I started to look for a beaching place, but to no avail. I then tried ringing Robert on my mobile but no signal! The fish was still fighting well and perhaps had been on for 20 minutes when Mike French and Robert hove into view to change pools a welcome sight. The fish soon netted we estimated at 17lbs, what a start to the season. I then offered the pool to Mike who said "no finish it of" I went back to about a pace behind where I had hooked the fish and lengthened out my line and first cast hooked another fish of some 12lb. Both fish had been in the river for a few weeks and we speculated that they had possibly come back down stream on the flood.
This first trip was also notable for the extreme numbers of kelts that we caught many of which were fish quite recently spawned that had run the river late. A mention also for The Banchory Lodge Hotel where we were very comfortable, well looked after and the food was especially good.
Salmon Fishing Breaks
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Political Rant
Just a couple of heartfelt gripes to get them of my chest! In the last budget the chancellor put duty on alcohol that has mainly hit the responsible middle classes and used the excuse of binge drinking and under age drinking to try and appear socially responsible. If he really had tried to do something about the problem of excessive drinking by young people with some of the extra money he garnered I think most of us could have stomached it as a package. But to hide the need for extra revenue which he does need behind a few pious utterances makes ones blood boil!
The excessive booze consumed by binge drinkers and youngsters largely comes from supermarkets who use alcohol as a loss leader to attract people to spend money on other products priced properly. Though it is nice to have a cheap bottle of wine or can of beer cheaply at home the effects are far reaching. Pubs have become very expensive and no longer especially in rural areas provide a centre point for the community. When we grew up our local had people from all generations in it and you mixed and picked up social skills and went there to meet people. The presence of older people who you knew perhaps helped prevent the worst excesses! This community has been lost. Youngsters get together in groups on their own and the culture is to get wrecked sometimes before you have even gone out!
I feel the chancellor should have adopted the following measures. Prevent supermarkets selling booze as a loss leader. He would receive more revenue from duty and VAT and actually make binging alot more expensive. It would allow pubs and independent retailers to compete on a level playing field and create jobs. Secondly have a campaign a bit like the aids one years ago explaining the dangers of alcohol to young still maturing bodies. The reason that you cannot buy alcohol until you are 18 is not because you cannot vote! It is actually because the liver is capable of regenerating itself if you give it a chance when you are adult but does not when you are young. Alcohol cannot be processed properly and it will permanently damage the liver for your entire probably fore shortened life. Having this explained to me when I was a young teenager would have changed my habits especially accompanied by a few gory pictures of damaged livers. It would educate both teenagers and parents and though it would not stop everybody it could only help.
Sadly our government is shallow and only concerned with staying in power, never with doing the correct thing. All problems are shelved of onto future generations instead of risking anything that maybe difficult for the electorate to chew on. We are financially bankrupt after years of good times with nothing put by led by a weak people just obsessed with their own situation.
End of rant, at least I feel a little better! Must stress that these are purely personal views and anybody is welcome to disagree!
Tufton Arms Hotel
The excessive booze consumed by binge drinkers and youngsters largely comes from supermarkets who use alcohol as a loss leader to attract people to spend money on other products priced properly. Though it is nice to have a cheap bottle of wine or can of beer cheaply at home the effects are far reaching. Pubs have become very expensive and no longer especially in rural areas provide a centre point for the community. When we grew up our local had people from all generations in it and you mixed and picked up social skills and went there to meet people. The presence of older people who you knew perhaps helped prevent the worst excesses! This community has been lost. Youngsters get together in groups on their own and the culture is to get wrecked sometimes before you have even gone out!
I feel the chancellor should have adopted the following measures. Prevent supermarkets selling booze as a loss leader. He would receive more revenue from duty and VAT and actually make binging alot more expensive. It would allow pubs and independent retailers to compete on a level playing field and create jobs. Secondly have a campaign a bit like the aids one years ago explaining the dangers of alcohol to young still maturing bodies. The reason that you cannot buy alcohol until you are 18 is not because you cannot vote! It is actually because the liver is capable of regenerating itself if you give it a chance when you are adult but does not when you are young. Alcohol cannot be processed properly and it will permanently damage the liver for your entire probably fore shortened life. Having this explained to me when I was a young teenager would have changed my habits especially accompanied by a few gory pictures of damaged livers. It would educate both teenagers and parents and though it would not stop everybody it could only help.
Sadly our government is shallow and only concerned with staying in power, never with doing the correct thing. All problems are shelved of onto future generations instead of risking anything that maybe difficult for the electorate to chew on. We are financially bankrupt after years of good times with nothing put by led by a weak people just obsessed with their own situation.
End of rant, at least I feel a little better! Must stress that these are purely personal views and anybody is welcome to disagree!
Tufton Arms Hotel
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Buying old vintage ports at auction
I have been buying old vintage port from 1917 onwards for my hotels and fishing expeditions for some 12 years now all from auctions or from ebay at the rate of 4 to 6 cases per year and I have never had a bad bottle of port. What set me of on this train of thought is I ran into an old friend yesterday who I had not seen for ages who I sold a bottle of the Sandemans 1917 port to some 12 years ago now and he wanted to know if I had anymore so good was it. When he mentioned the port I immediately thought the worst and it was a relief to hear how good it was! These 4 bottles of port came from a house clearance and were discovered beneath some slates in an old potting shed where they had presumably been since world war 1. The wax seals were broken but all 4 bottles were brilliant.
When buying wine and port at auctions it has always been a worry that the goods you are buying have been stored badly or have simply gone past their best and you will get something home that is rubbish. Unless you are buying from big auction houses selling complete cellars or large lots with a bottle that has been opened there is a risk. However I would urge you with old vintage ports to just get stuck in and get them bought where ever you find them.
Though these experiences are not conclusive I would urge you to view the risks of buying old port as worth taking. Do some research on the years and port houses you are considering buying to get the style that you prefer and get to an auction or click on ebay and buy some. You will also derive pleasure from having really old bottles of port around in your cellar. Much of the enjoyment in life is cleaned from anticipation and what could be more keenly anticipated than a very fine old vintage port?
Nigel Milsom looks after the wine lists in his two hotels The Tufton Arms Hotel in Appleby, Cumbria and The Royal Hotel, Comrie, Perthshire.
When buying wine and port at auctions it has always been a worry that the goods you are buying have been stored badly or have simply gone past their best and you will get something home that is rubbish. Unless you are buying from big auction houses selling complete cellars or large lots with a bottle that has been opened there is a risk. However I would urge you with old vintage ports to just get stuck in and get them bought where ever you find them.
Though these experiences are not conclusive I would urge you to view the risks of buying old port as worth taking. Do some research on the years and port houses you are considering buying to get the style that you prefer and get to an auction or click on ebay and buy some. You will also derive pleasure from having really old bottles of port around in your cellar. Much of the enjoyment in life is cleaned from anticipation and what could be more keenly anticipated than a very fine old vintage port?
Nigel Milsom looks after the wine lists in his two hotels The Tufton Arms Hotel in Appleby, Cumbria and The Royal Hotel, Comrie, Perthshire.
Saturday, 20 December 2008
Grouse Shooting in The Snow on The High Fell
Over the years I have heard many stories of shooting grouse in the snow and indeed I can remember a beaters day in a blizzard 3 years ago which we abandoned half way through due to extreme cold. However my walk and stand day on Dufton Fell on November 24th encountered real snow which had properly covered the moor.
The drive up to our moor is along one some 4 miles off road with the last mile and a half being very steep in places. I followed Frank our keeper who led the way on our polaris bike up the fell. When we got through the old mined areas the road became covered in snow and icy, however my old discovery managed to ascend and on arriving at the hut I leapt out and was shocked by the temperature difference compared to the bottom of the hill and the amount of freshly fallen snow everywhere. Immediately we could see a pack of 200 grouse on the side of a hill where some heather poked through. The excitement of this though was tempered by the fact that only one car had followed me. I had two teams of 11 shooting along with 8 helpers so was nearly 30 people short. Vehicles arrived in dribs and drabs and after well over half an hour we had everybody safely up though several cars were abandoned in the mine area.
I quickly got everybody organised into two teams and after a safety talk took the standing team to the first line of butts. After putting everybody into a butt and checking they knew exactly what was going to happen I went up onto the lefthand flank to help with the flagging. I had heard that grouse become unmanageable in the snow and will not drive so I was somewhat worried as to what might happen. It was very cold particularly as whilst flagging you are not generating any heat by moving around! It took ages for the walking team to come into sight and bring the drive through and it was obvious that it was very hard work walking through the snow drifts. The good news was that grouse went over the guns and quite a few were shot. It was as if the snow had disorientated the grouse and they had forgotten where the butts were.
The teams then swapped around and I took the walking team for their turn to stand as the weather started deteriorating with more snow falling amidst banks of mist. Frank must have been very close to not lining out but by closing in they did manage to bring the drive through again with several good packs going over the butts. It must be said though that by this time the day was definitely not for the faint hearted. We then stopped for lunch of hot soup and hot dogs made with Mrs Ewbanks Cumberland sausages. Which were just fantastic and really hit the spot.
I then gave the two teams the option of stopping if they wanted to. However slightly to my surprise everybody proved to be made of the right stuff and the consensus was to carry on. Our third drive was the long drive out to Meldon Hill called lang drive for obvious reasons. We had by now a stiff easterly wind which although freezing is ideal for the drive. I put the guns out along a natural gulley which hides them nicely and took my place on the flank. Frank sensibly only took the walking team half way out and as they arced around grouse started gathering on the slopes in front of us. The numbers of grouse collecting was staggering. In the snow you could see everything and I cannot imagine that there has ever been more grouse on this bit of the moor. I got depressed as a pack of 250 birds split of and went over the end 2 walking guns who actually shot 3 of them. Almost immediately afterwards a huge pack went over 8 of the 11 standing guns several of whom reloaded and got more shots of. This was followed by a tremendous drive with shooting for everyone. I estimate that we had perhaps a 1000 birds in the drive an extraordinary number for a moor as high as ours. We are obviously worried about next year and worm levels but our worm counts are low. The snow is still there three weeks later and it looks like being a proper winter so hopes springs eternal that we will get away with it and perhaps have a record season for the fell next year.
Unfortunately by now it was nearly dark and we did not have time for the last drive which was fully loaded with all the grouse we had seen. We still had to get safely of the fell, pick up the abandoned cars and get down the steep icy slopes which is far more difficult than going up them. To cut along story short we did all get safely off the fell much to my relief. The bag was 26 Brace and afterwards in the bar at the Tufton Arms we reflected on a special day which although it did not go to plan will remain in everybody’s memories long after most other days have been forgotten.
The drive up to our moor is along one some 4 miles off road with the last mile and a half being very steep in places. I followed Frank our keeper who led the way on our polaris bike up the fell. When we got through the old mined areas the road became covered in snow and icy, however my old discovery managed to ascend and on arriving at the hut I leapt out and was shocked by the temperature difference compared to the bottom of the hill and the amount of freshly fallen snow everywhere. Immediately we could see a pack of 200 grouse on the side of a hill where some heather poked through. The excitement of this though was tempered by the fact that only one car had followed me. I had two teams of 11 shooting along with 8 helpers so was nearly 30 people short. Vehicles arrived in dribs and drabs and after well over half an hour we had everybody safely up though several cars were abandoned in the mine area.
I quickly got everybody organised into two teams and after a safety talk took the standing team to the first line of butts. After putting everybody into a butt and checking they knew exactly what was going to happen I went up onto the lefthand flank to help with the flagging. I had heard that grouse become unmanageable in the snow and will not drive so I was somewhat worried as to what might happen. It was very cold particularly as whilst flagging you are not generating any heat by moving around! It took ages for the walking team to come into sight and bring the drive through and it was obvious that it was very hard work walking through the snow drifts. The good news was that grouse went over the guns and quite a few were shot. It was as if the snow had disorientated the grouse and they had forgotten where the butts were.
The teams then swapped around and I took the walking team for their turn to stand as the weather started deteriorating with more snow falling amidst banks of mist. Frank must have been very close to not lining out but by closing in they did manage to bring the drive through again with several good packs going over the butts. It must be said though that by this time the day was definitely not for the faint hearted. We then stopped for lunch of hot soup and hot dogs made with Mrs Ewbanks Cumberland sausages. Which were just fantastic and really hit the spot.
I then gave the two teams the option of stopping if they wanted to. However slightly to my surprise everybody proved to be made of the right stuff and the consensus was to carry on. Our third drive was the long drive out to Meldon Hill called lang drive for obvious reasons. We had by now a stiff easterly wind which although freezing is ideal for the drive. I put the guns out along a natural gulley which hides them nicely and took my place on the flank. Frank sensibly only took the walking team half way out and as they arced around grouse started gathering on the slopes in front of us. The numbers of grouse collecting was staggering. In the snow you could see everything and I cannot imagine that there has ever been more grouse on this bit of the moor. I got depressed as a pack of 250 birds split of and went over the end 2 walking guns who actually shot 3 of them. Almost immediately afterwards a huge pack went over 8 of the 11 standing guns several of whom reloaded and got more shots of. This was followed by a tremendous drive with shooting for everyone. I estimate that we had perhaps a 1000 birds in the drive an extraordinary number for a moor as high as ours. We are obviously worried about next year and worm levels but our worm counts are low. The snow is still there three weeks later and it looks like being a proper winter so hopes springs eternal that we will get away with it and perhaps have a record season for the fell next year.
Unfortunately by now it was nearly dark and we did not have time for the last drive which was fully loaded with all the grouse we had seen. We still had to get safely of the fell, pick up the abandoned cars and get down the steep icy slopes which is far more difficult than going up them. To cut along story short we did all get safely off the fell much to my relief. The bag was 26 Brace and afterwards in the bar at the Tufton Arms we reflected on a special day which although it did not go to plan will remain in everybody’s memories long after most other days have been forgotten.
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Chasing the late grouse and drinking 1983 Clos de Marquis
A strange combination you might think and you would be right. However if you get a chance to combine these two events it is certainly not to be missed! Our grouse on Dufton Fell are getting increasingly wild and difficult to control so we decided to put some walk and stand day's in to try and catch them out. The grouse have learnt increasingly to fly out over the beaters, so walk and stand day's offer the chance to fool the grouse and combine walked up shooting on your turn to beat with driven shooting on your turn to stand. We priced the days at just £200 per gun and as usual it provided the chance at an affordable price for several guns to have their first experience on a grouse moor.
Dufton Fell is some place to start off grouse shooting being one of the highest driven fells rising to nearly 800m. This coupled with the very haggy terrain results in wild birds that hug the contours perhaps closer to Scottish moors in character than some of the moors in Yorkshire. It is also quite difficult walking over the hags and through the heather and levels of personal fitness soon get exposed when it is your turn to beat!
In the end we managed to assemble 17 guns from a mixture of local friends and guests from further afield including notably 2 guns from Luxembourg who game down from Pitlochry with Neil McGowan who owns and manages the excellent East Haugh Hotel where I often stop on the way north to invariably have deers liver for lunch. Paul Chambers also came up from the fens for his first poke at the grouse. The international cast was completed by the french in the form of Nico the somellier from Sharrow Bay an old friend.
We formed a red team and a black team by drawing cards. Frank Dargue our keeper along with a couple of helpers looked after all the drives and in conjunction with myself and Harry on one flank and Miranda and Colin on the other we endeavoured to flag the birds over the standing guns. I must say our much I enjoyed the day doing this. It is a lot more difficult than most guns imagine but extremely satisfying when you intervene at just the right moment.
The highlight of the day shooting wise was the third drive called"Lang Drive" because of the distances involved in beating it! However on Monday we had the advantage of the first East wind of the season which blew down and across it. This enabled us to keep the birds coming forward and to actually see how many birds we have in the drive. The birds over the standing guns were everything November grouse should be simply stunning. However the numbers of them were worrying as they came over in 100's we will certainly need to keep shooting even though our worm counts are still low.
After finishing this drive we stopped for lunch in a state of euphoria perhaps even slightly dazed by all the grouse we had seen. This feeling of needing to pinch oneself to get a reality check was completed by Nico rummaging in the trailer and into his rucksack and producing bottles of 1983 Clos de Marquis.He then proceeded to serve the wine. Does life get any better than having the best sommelier in the country serving wine of this quality in such fantastic surroundings?
Our bag was around 30 brace roughly half what I was hoping for, so perhaps the grouse won as normal. However our two friends from Luxembourg and Paul shot their first grouse and everybody had a special day to remember.
Grouse Shooting
Vintage Wines
Rough Shooting
Dufton Fell is some place to start off grouse shooting being one of the highest driven fells rising to nearly 800m. This coupled with the very haggy terrain results in wild birds that hug the contours perhaps closer to Scottish moors in character than some of the moors in Yorkshire. It is also quite difficult walking over the hags and through the heather and levels of personal fitness soon get exposed when it is your turn to beat!
In the end we managed to assemble 17 guns from a mixture of local friends and guests from further afield including notably 2 guns from Luxembourg who game down from Pitlochry with Neil McGowan who owns and manages the excellent East Haugh Hotel where I often stop on the way north to invariably have deers liver for lunch. Paul Chambers also came up from the fens for his first poke at the grouse. The international cast was completed by the french in the form of Nico the somellier from Sharrow Bay an old friend.
We formed a red team and a black team by drawing cards. Frank Dargue our keeper along with a couple of helpers looked after all the drives and in conjunction with myself and Harry on one flank and Miranda and Colin on the other we endeavoured to flag the birds over the standing guns. I must say our much I enjoyed the day doing this. It is a lot more difficult than most guns imagine but extremely satisfying when you intervene at just the right moment.
The highlight of the day shooting wise was the third drive called"Lang Drive" because of the distances involved in beating it! However on Monday we had the advantage of the first East wind of the season which blew down and across it. This enabled us to keep the birds coming forward and to actually see how many birds we have in the drive. The birds over the standing guns were everything November grouse should be simply stunning. However the numbers of them were worrying as they came over in 100's we will certainly need to keep shooting even though our worm counts are still low.
After finishing this drive we stopped for lunch in a state of euphoria perhaps even slightly dazed by all the grouse we had seen. This feeling of needing to pinch oneself to get a reality check was completed by Nico rummaging in the trailer and into his rucksack and producing bottles of 1983 Clos de Marquis.He then proceeded to serve the wine. Does life get any better than having the best sommelier in the country serving wine of this quality in such fantastic surroundings?
Our bag was around 30 brace roughly half what I was hoping for, so perhaps the grouse won as normal. However our two friends from Luxembourg and Paul shot their first grouse and everybody had a special day to remember.
Grouse Shooting
Vintage Wines
Rough Shooting
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Salmon Fishing on The River Ness
September 21st - 24th 2008
I have just been lucky enough to enjoy 3 days fishing at Ness Castle on the River Ness in Ross-shire. The River Ness is only some 7 miles long and connects Loch Ness to the sea. There are only 4 private beats plus the town water in Inverness itself and the season is relatively short from July to October so it is always a privilege to get a chance to fish it. This is enhanced at Ness Castle by the splendour and comfort of the fishing lodge and "fishing bothy" allied with the excellent food and service that go with it. If all this coupled with wonderful fly water for 5 rods was not enough, the icing on the cake comes with the presence of Gordon Armstrong the world casting champion and David Stewart who has such a depth of knowledge and understanding of the river as your ghillies. When an invitation comes to fish here no is not an option!
One of the thrills of salmon fishing is the glorious uncertainty of it. This was perfectly illustrated on our first morning. Having tackled up a vast array of rods that John Noriss's had lent me for various friends to try who had not got any tackle. I set off to the Ladies Stream with Nick who had never fished before to get him introduced to casting and fishing. A nice surprise was when he grapped the oars and proved a far more adept boatman than myself and admitted to a lifetime spent sailing and racing yachts. The river was in excellent condition running at 1ft 9ins and a great height for the ladies stream. However we were on the left hand bank with a fairly stiff downstream wind so Nick had to start of with learning left handed double speys. After the usual few abortive attempts Nick soon picked up a serviceable cast that was getting a reasonable amount of line out. Some casts went impressively out to the end of the leader and I explained how this meant that the fly was swimming properly for the whole cast and more likely to take a fish. Other casts did not go as well and Nick started wanting to know what was wrong with each cast when it did not extend. We were in the process of analysing such a cast when suddenly the line moved and he said "I think I've got one". I had gone through the rudiments of playing a fish and Nick did a good job and soon got the hang of it and we ended up beaching a 6lb grilse within 40 minutes of him commencing fishing. Gordon arrived and we could not stop laughing at the improbability of it all. Nick could not understand why we found it so amusing so we told him a few tales of friends who had taken seven years or more to catch their first fish to try and put things into perspective. Amazingly Nick went on to catch 2 more fish the following day to prove that it wasn't luck and will take some persuading about how difficult salmon fishing is!
No mention of Ness Castle would be complete with out reference to celebrity chef George Mckay in the kitchen and his excellent team of girls who look after you like kings. After being lucky enough to sample George's food last year, this year we came armed with an impressive collection of wines designed to do the food justice. Thanks to the generosity of my hosts we were able to match a rare roast fillet of scotch beef with a 1998 Beaune, Clos de Roi, Phillipe Dufulour, 1999 Vieux de Telegragh, Brunier with roast grouse, 1997 Mersault Perrieres, Drouhin with Turbot and 2000 Puligny Montrachet, Les Folatieres, Drouhin with a fruit de mers of lobsters, langoustines and crabs.
My 3 day trip was made perfect on the Wednesday afternoon by a lovely 8+lb sea liced cock salmon from the lady's stream netted by David. As it was so fresh I kept my first fish of the season which will then be sent to Neves our fish suppliers in December to have smoked for Christmas Day. If you can it works far better to keep the fish frozen and then have the smoked salmon back fresh than it does freezing smoked salmon.
As always it was a pleasure to fish with Gordon again. There is something about having the world casting champion walking along the bank towards you that renders one incapable of casting properly. The previous casts may have been going out superbly but human nature being what it is, you somehow try that bit harder and the results are awful. To Gordon's credit his enthusiasm and easy going nature soon relax guests and enable them to start improving their casting. I am currently trying to re model my spey casting to try and get both hands equally into each cast as I am starting to get elbow pains from my spey casting relying too much on the top hand. Having Gordon to give advice and the odd demonstration during the three days has helped alot though some more practise is definitely required!
Our week was along way behind last years catch of 40+ fish but somehow was just as enjoyable. We did get to double figures with two fishermen getting their first fish Nick and Paul. Frank my host also caught his largest fish to date an 18lb hen having being introduced by Gordon to stripping a collie dog which induced a thrilling take followed by a lung busting pursuit down the bank. Thanks to all our company and everyone at Ness Castle for a special time.
Salmon Fishing
Vintage Wines
I have just been lucky enough to enjoy 3 days fishing at Ness Castle on the River Ness in Ross-shire. The River Ness is only some 7 miles long and connects Loch Ness to the sea. There are only 4 private beats plus the town water in Inverness itself and the season is relatively short from July to October so it is always a privilege to get a chance to fish it. This is enhanced at Ness Castle by the splendour and comfort of the fishing lodge and "fishing bothy" allied with the excellent food and service that go with it. If all this coupled with wonderful fly water for 5 rods was not enough, the icing on the cake comes with the presence of Gordon Armstrong the world casting champion and David Stewart who has such a depth of knowledge and understanding of the river as your ghillies. When an invitation comes to fish here no is not an option!
One of the thrills of salmon fishing is the glorious uncertainty of it. This was perfectly illustrated on our first morning. Having tackled up a vast array of rods that John Noriss's had lent me for various friends to try who had not got any tackle. I set off to the Ladies Stream with Nick who had never fished before to get him introduced to casting and fishing. A nice surprise was when he grapped the oars and proved a far more adept boatman than myself and admitted to a lifetime spent sailing and racing yachts. The river was in excellent condition running at 1ft 9ins and a great height for the ladies stream. However we were on the left hand bank with a fairly stiff downstream wind so Nick had to start of with learning left handed double speys. After the usual few abortive attempts Nick soon picked up a serviceable cast that was getting a reasonable amount of line out. Some casts went impressively out to the end of the leader and I explained how this meant that the fly was swimming properly for the whole cast and more likely to take a fish. Other casts did not go as well and Nick started wanting to know what was wrong with each cast when it did not extend. We were in the process of analysing such a cast when suddenly the line moved and he said "I think I've got one". I had gone through the rudiments of playing a fish and Nick did a good job and soon got the hang of it and we ended up beaching a 6lb grilse within 40 minutes of him commencing fishing. Gordon arrived and we could not stop laughing at the improbability of it all. Nick could not understand why we found it so amusing so we told him a few tales of friends who had taken seven years or more to catch their first fish to try and put things into perspective. Amazingly Nick went on to catch 2 more fish the following day to prove that it wasn't luck and will take some persuading about how difficult salmon fishing is!
No mention of Ness Castle would be complete with out reference to celebrity chef George Mckay in the kitchen and his excellent team of girls who look after you like kings. After being lucky enough to sample George's food last year, this year we came armed with an impressive collection of wines designed to do the food justice. Thanks to the generosity of my hosts we were able to match a rare roast fillet of scotch beef with a 1998 Beaune, Clos de Roi, Phillipe Dufulour, 1999 Vieux de Telegragh, Brunier with roast grouse, 1997 Mersault Perrieres, Drouhin with Turbot and 2000 Puligny Montrachet, Les Folatieres, Drouhin with a fruit de mers of lobsters, langoustines and crabs.
My 3 day trip was made perfect on the Wednesday afternoon by a lovely 8+lb sea liced cock salmon from the lady's stream netted by David. As it was so fresh I kept my first fish of the season which will then be sent to Neves our fish suppliers in December to have smoked for Christmas Day. If you can it works far better to keep the fish frozen and then have the smoked salmon back fresh than it does freezing smoked salmon.
As always it was a pleasure to fish with Gordon again. There is something about having the world casting champion walking along the bank towards you that renders one incapable of casting properly. The previous casts may have been going out superbly but human nature being what it is, you somehow try that bit harder and the results are awful. To Gordon's credit his enthusiasm and easy going nature soon relax guests and enable them to start improving their casting. I am currently trying to re model my spey casting to try and get both hands equally into each cast as I am starting to get elbow pains from my spey casting relying too much on the top hand. Having Gordon to give advice and the odd demonstration during the three days has helped alot though some more practise is definitely required!
Our week was along way behind last years catch of 40+ fish but somehow was just as enjoyable. We did get to double figures with two fishermen getting their first fish Nick and Paul. Frank my host also caught his largest fish to date an 18lb hen having being introduced by Gordon to stripping a collie dog which induced a thrilling take followed by a lung busting pursuit down the bank. Thanks to all our company and everyone at Ness Castle for a special time.
Salmon Fishing
Vintage Wines
The Highs and Lows of Running a Grouse Moor
With this seasons weather continuing its inclement course having an interest in one of the highest driven grouse fells in the UK can be a very mixed pleasure. Having counted our grouse in late July and discovered record numbers for our fell, anticipation and excitement have known no bounds. Sadly this was tempered when Frank our keeper informed us of some damage to our 4 mile long track up the fell caused by the heavy rains in early August. Probably a result of the day when 62mls of rain were recorded at Warcop. However a trip to assess the damage and see if we could get through for a day over pointers on the first saturday of the season revealed that it was far from a large disaster and a couple of days with a digger have sorted it out.
The day over pointers was great fun though frustrating in the morning when the cold weather and strong winds made the grouse very skittish and reluctant to stay on point. We were very privileged to be shooting over Colin Organs pointers and setters and it was fascinating to watch the skills of the dogs and their handler in these adverse conditions. Thankfully the sun did come out in the late morning and the sport improved. Lunch was taken al fresco outside the hut around a large table at 2,400 ft and I think was something of a surprise to a group of walkers who stumbled upon us. The afternoon was superb and though we did an area of the fell which had the least grouse on according to our counts there were still plenty of grouse. The day finished with 17 brace of grouse and we were able to enjoy the first young grouse of the season for dinner that night.
Our first driven day on the last saturday in August took place in perfect clear conditions with a useful wind from the south. Unfortunately I could not shoot but I invited four guests all old friends to represent me. I did manage to entertain them the night before when we had almost by chance the most stunning meal. Adrian had brought with him from Aberfeldy some young red deer liver that we served lightly cooked as a warm salad with a magnum of Jean Grivots 2000 Vosne Romanee. Several guests had never had deer liver before and what an introduction! This was followed by a large saddle of lamb from Ewbanks carved from the trolley which we shared with another large shooting party to get the 20 people you need to put one on. The lamb was so sweet and tender with a just wonderful flavour that fully maintained the reputation of our local lamb. We washed this down with magnums of 2000 Haut Pontet, St Emillion, Grands Crus to complete a most memorable meal. My guests enjoyed an equally good day on the moor. However when I caught up with them in the evening there were sheepish grins and much talk of strong winds and October like grouse and how difficult grouse are on the high fell! Some gentle probing revealed a bag of some 33 brace at what they thought was a cartridge ratio of about 4 to 1.I must confess I was a bit crestfallen as I was hoping for a bag double this. A chat with Frank in the morning over coffee got to the nitty gritty. The guns had had just short of 400 shots a ratio of 6 to 1 and he had seen plenty of grouse. Our long third drive had been into the wind and this early on in the season they had not been able to get the birds to the guns. I finished the conversation much happier that we had got sufficient grouse for the shooting season that we have got planned
Grouse Shooting in Cumbria
The day over pointers was great fun though frustrating in the morning when the cold weather and strong winds made the grouse very skittish and reluctant to stay on point. We were very privileged to be shooting over Colin Organs pointers and setters and it was fascinating to watch the skills of the dogs and their handler in these adverse conditions. Thankfully the sun did come out in the late morning and the sport improved. Lunch was taken al fresco outside the hut around a large table at 2,400 ft and I think was something of a surprise to a group of walkers who stumbled upon us. The afternoon was superb and though we did an area of the fell which had the least grouse on according to our counts there were still plenty of grouse. The day finished with 17 brace of grouse and we were able to enjoy the first young grouse of the season for dinner that night.
Our first driven day on the last saturday in August took place in perfect clear conditions with a useful wind from the south. Unfortunately I could not shoot but I invited four guests all old friends to represent me. I did manage to entertain them the night before when we had almost by chance the most stunning meal. Adrian had brought with him from Aberfeldy some young red deer liver that we served lightly cooked as a warm salad with a magnum of Jean Grivots 2000 Vosne Romanee. Several guests had never had deer liver before and what an introduction! This was followed by a large saddle of lamb from Ewbanks carved from the trolley which we shared with another large shooting party to get the 20 people you need to put one on. The lamb was so sweet and tender with a just wonderful flavour that fully maintained the reputation of our local lamb. We washed this down with magnums of 2000 Haut Pontet, St Emillion, Grands Crus to complete a most memorable meal. My guests enjoyed an equally good day on the moor. However when I caught up with them in the evening there were sheepish grins and much talk of strong winds and October like grouse and how difficult grouse are on the high fell! Some gentle probing revealed a bag of some 33 brace at what they thought was a cartridge ratio of about 4 to 1.I must confess I was a bit crestfallen as I was hoping for a bag double this. A chat with Frank in the morning over coffee got to the nitty gritty. The guns had had just short of 400 shots a ratio of 6 to 1 and he had seen plenty of grouse. Our long third drive had been into the wind and this early on in the season they had not been able to get the birds to the guns. I finished the conversation much happier that we had got sufficient grouse for the shooting season that we have got planned
Grouse Shooting in Cumbria
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