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River Reports
03.11.19 - Wick River November 2019
The total Salmon for the season is a cracking 885 and this may rise as a few ticket yet to come in.
12.10.19 - Wick River October 2019
Fishing activity by both locals and visitors was very light during the last two weeks of the season. A small spate provided enough water for reasonable sport for those that did venture out. Donald Rosie had 3 from the Pot area as did John Farquhqar who also had another 3 from Bilbster.
Also in the Bilbster area George Doull Snr had 2 and George Doull Jnr reported six, the best around 18 pounds.
All fish were fly caught and safely returned.
30.09.19 - Wick River September 2019
The start of the month saw some fantastic sport and on the 2nd John Farquhar, Bill Baxter, Mike Henstridge and Ian Cormack all reported 5 for their day. Mike Henstridge continued his good fishing by landing 6 the following day.
Over the next week lots of fish were caught from the Watten area right down to Bilbster. On the 3rd Ian Swanson landed 5 from the Pot area and down at Bilbster Evan Sinclair had 4. Also in on the action around Bilbster were David More, David Green, Graham Mellor, Donald Rosie and George Doull.
Jim Erskine from Orkney paid a visit and landed 5 for his 3 days and also from Orkney,Sandy Kerr landed 8 for his 2 day visit. Visiting angler Malcolm Wilson caught his first ever Salmon from the Pot area on a Allys Shrimp and weighed approx. 7 pounds.
31.08.19 - Wick River August 2019
August has been another fantastic month with constant torrential down pours and Watten Loch full to the brim resulting in good water heights for the month.
George Doull Snr kick started the month with 2 Grilse from the Low Reaches as did David Bearnetson and Will Ross on the 1st.
Furter up stream Ian Cormack had 4 Grilse from the Watten area on the same day.
A good rise in levels on Tues 6th saw quite a few fish caught. Ian Swanson had 4 from the Pot area and Donald Rosie, George Doull, George Robertson and Brian Thacker all reported a brace.
Sat the 10th saw another good lift in levels and Mark Wilson, Donald Newlands, Joe Hendry, Evan Sinclair and Jimmy Dunnet all reported 2 Grilse each.
Also adding to the catches over the next few days were David Green, Ian Ross and George Doull Snr.
Visiting angler Donald MacIsaac had two Grilse as did Michael Henderson..
At the end of the month the river was rising and very high but there should be good fishing in the early part of September.
31.07.19 - Wick River July 2019
July has by far been the best month of the year so far. Regular thunder storms and heavy rain produced good conditions and more importantly good sport. The Grilse that had been building up in the Estuary now entered the river in fairly decent numbers. Most Grilse that were caught were between 3 and 4 pounds and spread out the entire length of the river. On the 1st Will & Ian Ross shared 4 Grilse from the Low Reaches whilst at Bilbster Otto Mathisen and George Doull at the Pot both had a Grilse. Friday the 12th saw a nice spate and after that Both Evan Sinclair and Johnnie MacKay had 3 each. John Ryrie, Ian Dunnet, Joe Hendry, Jimmy McAdie and Duncan Mackay all reported a brace. John Farquhar had the best of the season so far at 16 lbs 9oz and another at 9 pounds and a few Grilse. Other lucky anglers for the month were Ian Cormack, Alan Youngson, Mark Wilson, Alan Farquhar and visiting angler Gavin MacPherson. George Doull Snr reported catching 15 for July.
30.06.19 - Wick River June 2019
With some decent rises in water levels June provided some fairy decent sport. Fish were caught from the entire length of the river. James Aitken had 2 from Mcphails at 8 & 10 pounds whilst further upstream Frankie McPhee landed one from Shepherds and David Green had a 7 and 11 pounder from Fingers and the Built In Pool at Bilbster. Around the Watten Area also fished well with a good number of Salmon holding in and around the Pot.
Donald Miller had one from the Mill Streams and another from the Flag Pool at 8 & 12 pounds. George Doull Jnr landed the first Grilse of the season at 3.5 lbs along with a nice 11 pounder the same day. John Farquhar had 3 Grilse for the month and Evan Sinclair had a brace. Other to land Salmon from the Watten Area were Ronnie Plowman, Jamie Swanson and Richard Newlands. George Doull Snr had a good month landing seven ranging fom 8 to 13 pounds from the Pot and Bilbster.
31.05.19 - Wick River May 2019
The first fish for the 2019 season was confirmed by the assosation on the 9th of May. It was caught in the low reaches by visiting angler Gavin Thompson and weighed 4 – 5 pounds. After a slight rise in levels on the 24th David Miller landed the second for the year, a nice 11 pounder from McPhails run. The same day saw Jamie Bremner landing one from the Dyke End and Richard Newlands had a brace from the same area. On the 28th George Doull had a nice 13 pounder from the Pot. (photo)
31.10.18 - Wick River October 2018
October sport on the Wick was quite good for those that fished the last 12 days of the season. The water height and conditions were at last favourable with some anglers reporting reasonable catches. David Risbridger and George Doull Jnr both had 9 for the month and Dave Scadding landed 6. George MacKay, Richard Gray, Jimmy McAdie, Addie Ella & Jim Hindmarch all had 2 for the month.
On Sat 6th Oct Visitor Ali Hutchens had a brace at 6 & 8 pounds from Keattie Gows and the Long Pool and Alan Heywood also had a 4 pounder from Keattie Gows the same day. On the 11th Thurso River Manager, Tim Hawes had a day on the Wick and was rewarded with a 4 pounder from Borgies and another at 5 pounds from Tarroul. All the fish in October were caught on the Fly and returned.
The 2018 total was 360 Salmon caught.
30.09.18 - Wick River September 2018
The River has picked away quite good despite the low levels with nearly all of the fish being caught in the lower parts of the river prior the rise in water on the 20th Sept.
Jimmy Dunnett had 2 from the Dyke End as did George Doull Jnr. David Miller had 2 from above McPhails and Ian Swanson also had 2 from the Bridge Pool. Other lucky members to catch in the low conditions were Willie Newlands, Mark Hutchison, Brian Thacker George Doull and Walter Crothers. Visiting Anglers also added to the totals with Duncan Mackay (photo) landing 2 Grilse on the 8th and Jim Potts and Tim Elliot also had a Grilse each for their visit.
Heavy rain did eventually arrive and the river rose to 24 inches on the 20th. Following that mini spate quite a few fish were caught in the Watten area with George Doull Jnr landing 10 in 2 days and Evan Sinclair had 3 below the Watten Bridge. The Little Pot produced 2 for John Farquhar and Richard Newlands and other lucky members to catch were Neil Groat, George MacKay and George Doull.
On Saturday 22nd visiting Angler Simon Gardner caught his first ever Salmon and went on to land his second, both on a Spring Munro and sportingly returned both Grilse. That same day George Robertson landed five for his day all from the Watten area.
More heavy rain again lifted the levels up to peak at 28 inches on Thursday the 27th and the following day sport was good again and George Robertson again had an excellent day landing 6 and Alan Farquhar reported 4 from Watten, whilst Mark Ryrie, Dave Scadding, Bill Baxter all managed to add to the totals.
Jimmy Macadie and Willie Mackay both had 5 each over a couple of days during the last week. Others in on the action were Joe Hendry, Neil Groat, Lewis Campbell, John Farquhar, Jimmy Dunnett, David Risbridger, George Doull Snr & Jnr and Ian Cormack.
Nearly all were caught on fly with a high percentage being returned.
31.08.18 - Wick River August 2018
As the long dry conditions continues the river remained very low for the month but a few fish were caught from the low river area. Richard Gray started the month of landing 2 Grilse from the Dyke End on the 1st and another on the 2nd all on a small plastic Staots Tail tube fly. The Railway Bridge Pool produced a lot of the catches this month with David Miller and Willie MacKay both landing a Grilse on the 6th and the next day Willie Mackay had another 2 from the same pool. Mid month saw very high tides and this brought in quite a few fresh fish which stayed in the low river and sport was quite good with George Doull Jnr reporting 9 Grilse, Ian Swanson 3, Jimmy MacAdie 2, Brian Thacker 2, Sandy Taylor 2, Richard Newlands 2 and other lucky anglers for the month included Ian Miller, Bobby Chisholm,, Walter Coruthers, Jimmy Dunnet, Joe Hendry, Johnnie MacKay, Ian Dunnet and George Doull Snr. On Saturday the 25th John Farquhar had a cracking day landing six Grilse from the low reaches.
31.07.18 - Wick River July 2018
The drought and low water conditions continued for the whole month of July with the only sport reported in and around the high tides of the 16th. The Bridge Pool in the low reaches saw Ian Ross, James Ross, Jimmy Dunnett and John Gunn all land a Grilse on the 16th and the next day John Gunn had another also from the Bridge Pool at 8 pounds. All were taken on the worm.
30.06.18 - Wick River June 2018
The very hot summer weather has lasted all month and no rain fell at all. A few fish were moving into the low reaches on the high tides. A few Salmon were caught including a nice 11.5 pounder for William Aitken on the 23rd from the Dyke End. Richard Newlands also had one from the same area.
31.05.18 - Wick River May 2018
With the month being very dry with only a slight rise on the 14th only 4 Salmon were reported for May. Frankie McPhee landed the 2nd for the season from the Pot run and weighed 11 pounds on the 12th. Monday the 14th saw a rise in water from 6 to 12 inches and 2 were again taken from the Pot, Richard Newlands 12 lbs and Graham Shepherd 13 lbs.The next day George Doull started his season with a 12 pounder from the Pot. All the fish were not sea liced and caught on the worm. A few fish are now starting to show in the river basin but rain is required to bring them in.
30.04.18 - Wick River April 2018
The first Salmon for the 2018 Season was landed on Saturday 14th April by Ikey McPhee. The Sea Liced fish was caught in the Pot and weighed in at 10 pounds.This was the only fish for the month.
31.10.17 - Wick River October 2017
During the last 10 fishing days of the season some good sport was reported by many anglers. Water levels were good and most pools were holding decent numbers of fish. Donald Rosie added another 12 to the total, mainly from the Watten Area whilst Jim Hindmarch and George Doull Jnr both landed nine each for October. Other successful anglers for the remaining days before the river closed on the 12th were Willie Mackay with four, George Doull Snr with three, Jimmy MaCadie and Richard Newlands both reported two each and Richard Gray, David Risbridger and Otto Mathiesen all adding another one to the totals.
All fish in October were caught on fly and safely returned.
The final total for the season is 759 Salmon with 44% returned to the water.
The date for the Associations AGM is Friday 8th December at 7:30pm in the upstairs lounge of the Seaforth Club in Dempster Street Wick
30.09.17 - Wick River September 2017
Good water levels for most of the month saw very good sport for some anglers.
The fish were well spread out and catches were reported from Badlipster right down to the Low Reaches. The area from Watten Road Bridge down to Bilbster was very good with most pools holding a healthy stock of fish.
A big 5 foot spate on the 11th saw some good fishing with George Robertson landing 9 Salmon in a day while Ian Cormack and Mike Henstridge both reported six in a day. Lots of other anglers had 2-3 salmon per day and these included John Mackay, Ian Swanson, John Farquhar, Ian Sinclair, George Doull, David Green and David Risbridger.
Visitors David Greer Snr and Jnr shared 8 for the week all from the Flag Pool down to the Mill Streams and Mr Woods had 2 Salmon for his visit.
31.08.17 - Wick River August 2017
August was a very good month as far as water levels were concerned with regular Thunder Storms providing numerous flash floods.
On Monday 1st George Robertson, George Doull Jnr, Addie Ella and Visiting Angler Donald McIssac all reported catching two from the Watten Area. Down Stream Richard Gray had a brace from Tarroul and Keattie Gows produced a Grilse for Alan Farquhar and Johnny MacKay. Down at Bilbster George Doull Snr had two and Bill Lindsay one and Joe Hendry landed two from the Strath. Sandy Jappy also had a Grilse that day from McPhaills.
The next few days saw a few more being caught and the lucky anglers were Jock Ryrie, John Farquhar, Donald Miller, Ronnie Plowman, Ian Swanson and Ian Ross.
On the 10th Martin Toolan landed his first ever Salmon, 5 pounds from Bilbster and went on to catch a couple more over the next two days.
Friday the 19th saw more heavy rain with an inch falling putting the river up again to 32 inches. Monday 21st saw a few more caught, Brian Maclean had one from Tarroul Bridge and Richard Gray one from Watten Area. Down on the Strath Duncan MacKay from Thurso had a brace of Grilse ( photo ) and on the 24th Otto Mathiesen had a Sea Liced Grilse from Keattie Gows.
31.07.17 - Wick River July 2017
July turned out to be a reasonable month for the Wick with some good rises in water levels and quite a decent number of Grilse in the river.
George Doull Jnr started the month on the 1st with a brace of Sea Liced Grilse from the pot while down stream at Bilbster his father, George also had a Sea Liced Grilse. On the 3rd Evan Sinclair reported a Grilse from the Pot and Bruce Simpson had a Sea Liced Grilse from the Grilse Pool on the 6th.
On the 17th George Doull and Graham Shepherd both landed 5 pounders.
After heavy rain the river again began to rise on the 20th and although very dirty Evan Sinclair and George Doull both reported a brace each.
On Sat 22nd Mike Henstridge had one from below the road bridge at Watten and Alan Farquhar had one from the Quarry Hole, downstream at Bilbster other anglers who were lucky included Jimmy MacAdie, George Doull Jnr and Paul Smith.
On Monday the 24th most anglers saw a lot of Grilse running in the morning but they proved difficult to catch. Those who did manage to bend the rod were John Farquhar, Joe Hendry, Donald Miller, Alan Farquhar, Neil Groat, Will Ross, Jim Hindmarch, Ronnie Plowman and Jimmy Dunnett.
Donald Rosie had 3 good day’s landing 13 Grilse all from the Watten area on fly including the first Pink Salmon caught on the Wick.
Heavy rain on the 31st has again given a rise in levels so the start of August should provide some good sport.
30.06.17 - Wick River June 2017
Caithness has had one of its wettest Junes on record with more than twice the average rainfall. On the 6th June 60mm of rain fell in 24 hours and that produced a massive spate peaking at 7.5 ft. The river remained in fine trim for the whole month and this gave some fantastic fishing. Most of the fish were reported from the Watten Area and averaged 9/10 pounds. The last 2 weeks saw a few Grilse being caught and with another rise in levels on the 30th the prospects for the start of July looks promising.
31.05.17 - Wick River May 2017
The month of May was quite poor for the Wick mainly due to a lack of water and some very hot bright days.
George Doull started the month on the 1st with a brace from Bilbster, both sea liced and 9 pounds, when the river was running at 12 inches.
Not much happened until the last week of the month when the high tides encouraged a few fish to enter the lower part of the river.
James Ross landed a 10 pounder on the 22nd and another at 13 pounds on the 24th, both from the Strath. Frankie McPhee had an 11 pounder from Hughies on the 23rd and Will Ross had one at 10 pounds from the Railway Bridge Pool on the 29th.
All fish caught were caught on the “Blackbird’s Fancy”.
30.04.17 - Wick River April 2017
The first Salmon for the 2017 season was landed by George Doull Snr on the 1st April , it was caught in the Pot and weighed 6 pounds. The second and third were caught by Jim Hindmarch on the 10th and weighed 7 & 9 pounds ,also from the Pot. On the 12th Richard Newlands landed a 7 pounder and Willie Aitken on the 15th also had a 7 pounder, both from the Pot.
Heavy Snow showers on the 24th rose the river to 3 feet and and in fine trim.
Jimmy Swanson landed the first fly caught salmon of the season from the tail of the Pot on a Monkey Tube and weighed 11 pounds. Also that night John Farquhar had one on the fly at 10 pounds from Borgies.
Richard Newlands had a brace on the 28th, a 9 pounder from the Mill Streams and 7 pounds from Sanny Lyons both on the worm.
Ian Swanson had a 10 pounder from the Pot on worm on the 29th.
31.10.16 - Wick River October 2016
Fishing activity for the month of October was very light due to low water levels.
On the 1st Father and Son team, George Doull had a Salmon each from Bilbster.
Down sream at the Dyke End Richard Gray also had a Salmon on the 1st followed by another on the 11th.
George Doull Jnr ended his season with a couple from the Pot on the 10th & 11th.
The 2016 total stands at 607 Salmon with 25 percent being returned.
The Association are to start the Spawning on Saturday 5th November.
30.09.16 - Wick River September 2016
September saw the river in good shape with a healthy stock of fish in nearly every pool. A good lift in water mid month saw some good sport. On the 14th the Watten area produced three Salmon for John MacKay, two for Joe Hendry, George Doull, Ian Swanson & Dave Bunch. Down Stream at Bilbster Bill Lindsay and David Green both landed one each. The next day George Doull Jnr and his father had a good day at Bilbster landing four between them, the best a 15 pounder which was returned. On Saturday the 17th Jimmy Macadie had a good day landing four from the Watten area and visiting Angler Jim Erskine landed a Grilse and lost another better fish. Father and Son visitors, both David Greer shared five for their few days fishing around the Pot and Tarroul area. Another regular visitor, Jim Potts landed one at approx 13 lbs from the Mill Streams on the 22nd. (photo)
31.08.16 - Wick River August 2016
The start of August saw the weather fairly unsettled and for the first two weeks regular spates produced quite good fishing. On the 4th Ian Swanson landed a Salmon from the Tree Pool and Joe Hendry had one from the Little Pot. Good Water on the 8th saw David Green and George Doull landing one each from Bilbster whilst upstream Evan Sinclair managed a brace from the Watten Road Bridge area. The next day saw some really good sport with John Mackay, Ian Swanson, George Doull, Wull Ross, George Doull Jnr & Graham Mellor all reporting two each. Richard Gray also had a good day managing 3 from the Watten area but the best daily catch was reported by Alan Youngson who had a cracking day landing seven from Bilbster. The next few days saw John Farquhar catching 3 from the Long Shank, David Green 2 Grilse from the Wind Mill Pool, Ian Swanson 2 from the Pot, Donald Rosie 2 from Sanny Lyons. Neil Groat & Ian Ross also added to the totals with a Grilse each. Visiting regulars Father and Son, both Duncan Mackay shared 5 between them. The last week saw the river low again and this reflected on the catches.
31.07.16 - Wick River July 2016
July was quite a productive month with water levels quite good and a decent Grilse run. On Saturday 2nd Lewis Campbell caught two Grilse from the Flag Pool, Willie MacKay and Alan Youngson both had a couple from Bilbster. Sid Thompson had one at 8 pounds from the Pot and David Green had one at 10 pounds from Bilbster. Monday 4th saw another good day with Ian Cormack landing 2 from the Watten Area and downstream at McPhails Sandy Jappy also had 2 Grilse. Other lucky anglers that day were John MacKay, John Farquhar and George Doull. The following few days saw quite a few Salmon getting caught from the Bilbster with George Doull, Evan Sinclair, John Farquhar and Neil Groat all reported catching two. The last week saw the river up again and the good sport continued and some of the lucky anglers were Will Ross, Gibby Henderson,Charlie Tams, Donald Rosie and George MacKay. Visiting Anglers Dave Braithwaite and Donald McIsaac both managed a Salmon each and John Hand a brace from the Pot & Sanny Lyons on the 11th.
30.06.16 - Wick River June 2016
David Barnetson started the month off in style landing a nice 8 pounder on the 1st June from the Low Reaches. A 4 inch rise of water on 20th saw Jim Hindmarch catch 2 Grilse from McPhails whilst lower down river George Doull caught a Grilse and a nice 11.5 lb Salmon. On the 22nd David Barnetson had another 8 pounder from the Low Reaches and George Doull had a 9 pounder from Bilbster.
A flash flood on Saturday 25th saw quite a few fish being caught, George Doull Jnr had a brace from Bilbster, 4 & 10 lbs. Joe Hendry had a couple of Grilse from McPhails. Both Laura Swanson & David Green reported 13 pounders from the Watten area and other anglers to add to the totals were Ian Sinclair landing a 10 pounder from the wash Pool and Willie Mackay, a Grilse from McPhails.
Monday the 27th saw the water drop but Evan Sinclair managed a Grilse from the Pot whilst lower down at Bilbster both George Doull Snr & Jnr added another brace each to the totals. Brian Thacker had a nice 11 pounder from the Strath as well that evening (photo).
31.05.16 - wick River May 2016
The first part of the month saw little or no rain but a few Salmon did enter the low reaches on the high tides and on the 14th Willie MacKay had one from Jaspers on fly . Jamie Bremner and Joe Hendry also had one each from the low reaches on the worm.
Heavy rain on Sunday 22nd saw the river in spate on the Monday. Johnnie Ryrie had a good day landing 3 on fly from the Watten area, 13, 10 & 9 pounds. George Doull had a 12 pounder from the Flag Pool and Jim Hindmarch one at 7 pounds from the Pot, both on the worm. The next few days saw the water run off quite quickly but George Doull managed another three 10 lbs from Little Pot, 12 lbs from Bilbster and one at 8 lbs from Stirkoke Woods. David Green had a nice 11 pounder from Bilbster on the 24th and Ian Swanson, 9 lbs from the Pot on fly.
30.04.16 - Wick River April 2016
The first and the second Salmon for the 2016 Season has been caught by James Ross. On the 8th April James landed a fine sea liced fish weighing in at 8 pounds from the Strath and then again from the same pool on the 28th another at 10lbs 12oz. Both Salmon were caught on the worm.
31.10.15 - Wick River October 2015
The river was very lightly fished during the 1st week of October due to a very low water levels but this all changed after heavy rain during the start of the 2nd week.
From the 9th to the end of the season (12th) some good catches were reported. Jimmy MacAdie, Richard Gray, George Doull, Ian Swanson, Andrew Craigie all added to the seasons total during the last few days. The best day was Friday the 9th, when Association President Ian Cormack landed five for the day and Thurso Ghillie George Doull had a cracking day with eight .On Saturday 10th Visitor Alan Maclennan had a brace from the Watten Area. Quite a few sea liced fish were caught and all safely returned. The total for the season was 527 Salmon.
30.09.15 - Wick River September 2015
With decent water levels during the first two weeks of September, sport was quite good with fish being caught from Watten Bridge right down to the lower end of the river. On the 1st George Doull and David Green shared 3 for their morning whilst on the 2nd Stuart Miller, Ian Swanson, Addie Ella & Evan Sinclair all reported a brace from the Pot Area. On the 3rd David Green had another brace from Bilbster whilst down at the low reaches Will Ross, Ian Ross and Ian Dunnet all added to the scores. On the 8th John Farquhar had Grilse from the Long Shank and George Doull Jnr also had one from the Pot. Alan Youngson reported 6 for the month and George Doull ended his with 14. Most of the Salmon were caught on Fly with a very high percentage being released.
31.08.15 - Wick River August 2015
The good fishing on the Wick continued during August with lots of sport reported with good numbers of Grilse spread throughout the river. Water levels were excellent for most of the month and lots of anglers were reporting catching two for the day, mainly on fly. Visiting anglers also added to the totals, Donald McIsaac had 3 six pounders for his visit. Dave Braithwaite had one at 8 pounds whist Orkney regular Jim Erskine landed a 8 pounder from Tarroul.
31.07.15 - Wick River July 2015
July has been another good month for the Wick with the first 3 weeks seeing good water levels and excellent angling conditions. On the 1st John Farquhar had a 13 pounder from the Long Shank followed by a nice 10 pounder from the Pot the following day, both on fly. The next few days saw some good sport with Ian Swanson landing 3 from the Watten area and his wife Laura also landing a 10 pounder from the Pot, all on fly. Donald Miller also had a brace from the Pot, 12 & 9 pounds. George Doull Snr had a couple from the Watten area as did George Jnr from Bilbster. Other lucky anglers were Donald Newlands, Donald Rosie and Addie Ella. Ian Sinclair had a cracking 14 pounder from Watten Bridge on the 9th on fly. Lower down river Alan Morris had a brace of Grilse from McPhails on the 15th. Monday the 20th saw another good day with Ronnie Plowman landing 2 from Sanny Lyons. Stuart Miller reported one from the Mill Streams and Addie Ella had one at 14 pounds. John Ryrie also caught a Grilse in Tarroul, all on fly. Downstream at Bilbster David Green had one at 10 pounds. Visiting angler Duncan MacKay ( photo ) landed a Grilse from Hughies on the 21st and Torran Erridge reported 4 Salmon and a Sea Trout for his weekly visit.
30.06.15 - Wick River June 2015
Conditions were pretty good on the Wick throughout June. The month started with a high and dirty river running at 42 inches with a lot of green slime coming into the river at the Mill Streams. However on Tuesday 2nd Jock Ryrie fished above that and was rewarded with an excellent day, landing four salmon up to 14 pounds, all on fly. Over the course of the next ten days the river fished well with a lot of quality fish in the 10 – 12 lbs being caught. Some of the lucky anglers were Neil Groat, Jimmy Swanson, Joe Hendry, Richard Newlands, Charlie Farquhar, Addeie Ella, Willie Miller and George Doull. Most of these fish were caught around the Watten area. The next decent rise in levels came on the 22nd and Evan Sinclair had a 12 pounder from the Pot and another from the Flag Pool at 8 lbs. Jim Hindmarch also had one from the Pot that day and the next day landed the best for the month, a cracking 15.5 lbs salmon, again from the Pot. Donald Rosie, Evan Sinclair, Alan Youngson & George Doull all reported catching during the next few days. The last day of the month saw the river again rising so sport for the beginning of July should be good !!!
31.05.15 - Wick River May 2015
Thurso angler Duncan MacKay started the month in style landing a cracking 17 pounder on Friday 1st. On the 2nd George Doull had a 12 pounder from the Little Pot. The following week saw a 5.5 ft spate and the sport was quite good with some nice salmon reported. On the 5th Donald Newlands had one at 7 lbs from the Pot and Raymond Ross had a 10 pounder from Tarroul. On Monday 11th George More had a brace from the Pot, 11 & 13 lbs and Ian Swanson also had a 12 pounder from the Pot. Further down stream Joe Hendry landed a 12 ponder from the Little Pot. Other lucky anglers for the month were Will Ross, Jimmy MacAdie, Donald Miller and Alan Youngson all reporting nice sea liced Salmon.
30.04.15 - Wick River April 2015
The first Salmon of the 2015 season was landed by George Doull in the Mill Streams just above the Pot. The Sea Liced Salmon weighed 8 lbs and was caught on the worm on the 7th of April. The most of the month saw the river running low and then on the 27th George also landed the 2nd for the season, this time a sea liced 7.5 pounder from the low reaches. The pictures of both Salmon are on our website Gallery as well as our Facebook Page. It is also reported that Bill Lindsay took the 3rd from the Bilbsrer area.The last day of the month saw the river rise so the first few days of May should provide good fishing conditions.
31.10.14 - Wick River October 2014
The month of October on the Wick is fly only and all fish are returned. With decent water levels from the 8th some good sport was had. George Doull Snr and George Doull Jnr had a cracking day sharing nine between them. Evan Sinclair had a brace on the same day. The last three days of the season saw Donald Rosie landing two as did George Robertson, Addie Ella and Ross Mackay.
The total for the 2014 season was 403 Salmon.
30.09.14 - Wick River September 2014
With a fast falling river September returns were a bit lower than expected for the time of the year. Ian Dunnet, Dave Bunch and David Green started the months catch on the 2nd with a Grilse each from Bilbster and Low River. On the 8th George Doull landed three from Badlipster and lower down in the Pot Graham Shepherd had a brace, all on the worm. The following day saw a few more caught to anglers David Green, James Aiken, Joe Hendry, Evan Sinclair & George Doull Jnr. On the 12th & 13th some fresh sea liced Grilse were caught in the low reaches on fly, David Risbridger and Walter Crothers had two each and David Green had a brace from the Grilse Pool on the worm.
Visiting anglers also added to the catches, Jim Erskine from Orkney managed a brace from Tarroull and Katie Gow’s on an Allys Shrimp, David Greer landed an 11 pounder in the Little Pot on fly while Jim Potts returned a 10 pounder from the Pot on the 19th, also on fly.
30.08.14 - Wick River August 2014
August has been a good month with plenty water if not too much at times. Alan Morris started the month of with a sea liced Grilse from MacPhails and on the 4th James Farquhar had 2 Grilse from the Pot. Evan Sinclair and Brian Thacker also had one each from the Pot that day. Lower down stream James Aitken had a Grilse from Sheperds. The next few days saw quite a few fish being caught around the Bilbster area and the lucky anglers were George Doull Snr, George Doull Jnr, John Alexander and Wull Ross. The Pot also produced a few to George Robertson, Jim Hindmarch, Graham Sheperd and Donald Miller. On the 15th & 16th the river fished quite good and fish were reported by Titchie Hughes, Dave Scadding, Neil Groat, Alan Youngson, Torran Erridge, Andrew J Steven and Joe Hendry. The last two weeks of the month saw good conditions and some anglers including George Doull Snr and Ian Swanson landing three in a day. Other anglers who were lucky during that time were Graham Mellor, David More, Bruce Simpson, Ian Sinclair, Donald Rosie, Ronnie Plowman, Alan Farquhar, John Farquhar, Jimmy McAdie and Sandy Jappy. Visiting anglers Alan Riddle and Donald MacIsaac also added to the totals.
31.07.14 - Wick River July 2014
Most of July saw the river very low with the only rise in levels coming after heavy rain fall on the 27th. A few fish were caught in the lower parts of the river mid month when a few fish were coming in with the high tides. On the 14th Wull Ross, Dan McPhee, Walter Crothers and Billy Hood all reported catching sea liced grilse. On the 19th Jimmy Dunnett and David Risbridger both had 10 pounders on fly, again from the low reaches. Alan Morris and Alexander Budge added to the totals with a grilse each on the 21st from Macphails area. Monday 28th saw a good rise in levels but very dirty. A few were caught around the Watten area during the next few days. Lucky anglers were Donald Miller, Joe Hendry, Brian Thacker, George Mackay, Ian Swanson and John & Mark Ryrie.
30.06.14 - Wick River June 2014
A decent rise in levels saw the second week of the month produce some nice quality Salmon. On Monday the 9th Evan Sinclair had a brace at 8 & 12 lbs from the Pot. George Doull and Donald Rosie both caught 11 pounder's from the Pot whilst down stream at the Built Inner George Doull Jnr had a 9 pounder. The next day Donald Rosie had another Salmon, this time 7.5 lbs from above the Pot. Wed the 11th saw six salmon being caught from the Pot area, the best being 13 lbs for Bill Lindsay. Other lucky anglers that day were Ian Swanson, Evan Sinclair, Paul Bain, Richard Newlands and Willie Mackay, who had one from the Flag Pool at 12 lbs on Fly. The following day John Alexander had his first ever Salmon, a nice 10 pounder from the Pot Run.
The rest of the month saw levels very low but David Green and George Doull both landed 12 pounders from the Strath on the 23rd.
Quite a few Grilse are now starting to gather in the Estuary.
31.05.14 - Wick River May 2014
The first Salmon of the 2014 season was landed by Jamie Bremner in the Tree Pool, just above the Pot. The Sea Liced Salmon weighed 9.5 lbs and was caught on the worm on the 8th of May. The next morning saw Willie Newlands and Ian Swanson landing 9 pounders from the Mill Streams.
Another few were caught around the 22nd. Lucky anglers were George Doull, an 11 pounder from Bilbster whilst further upstream William Bremner and Bill Lindsay both landing one each in the Pot at 10lbs. The best fish of the season so far was a cracking sea liced 13 pounder caught by Stuart Miller on fly from Sandy Lyons.
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