The new Salmon season will be on us before we know it and salmon anglers on the Wye will be looking forward with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. I asked our resident Salmon genius Richard Woodhouse to give me his thoughts on how he will approach it.

“With just 4 weeks to go until the start of the salmon season what will this year produce, and how will I be approaching the coming season?

The last few years has seen high water on opening day gradually falling away so that by mid May the river has been down to low summer levels. Also recent trends have been towards early running multi sea winter fish with far fewer grilse about than in the past. This will suit Ross which is one of the best early season beats on the whole of the river. In 2015 Ross produced the first fish on the whole of the river, whilst in 2019 it missed out on the first by a matter of minutes, but still had three on opening day. So these early months are the time when it pays to fish hard. There may not be many fish about, but if you find one it is likely to be a good one. Last year Ross produced two 20 lb’ers in this period and a further two big fish were lost after several minutes in play.

With the river above 1 metre on the Ross gauge, wading will be out of the question. Then I will be searching places close in where the fish can hold comfortably on the crease between the raging current and the slacker water. I will also make sure I fish my fly or spinner right around and under the bank where fish will often seek refuge.

Places such as Weirend Bay, Rays, Hom Pil and Greenbank can give a chance in these conditions. Rather than casting away blindly, just take look at the water and think where a fish might be running or where it might hold. Then present your fly or spinner to that place.

As the water drops to below 80cm wading now becomes possible in some places, and almost any of our catches can produce fish. 40cm to 60cm is our most productive height. At Benhall I would fish Katies, The Wall, the cattle drink, old hut crib and AC/DC, whilst at Weirend the named places are almost too numerous to mention. The Town water is also worth a cast, particularly after the 14th March when the coarse season ends. It really is a case of thoroughly searching as many of the known places as time allows. There may not be many fish around, but if you can find one at this time of the year there is a good chance it will be responsive to a well presented fly or spinner: and who knows, this could result in another Ross 20 lb+ fish being recorded in the books.”

There may be a few places to be filled at Ross AC so if you are interested contact Nick Simmonds the Membership Secretary via the Club website or phone Trevor Hyde on 07468 560845