Iain MacMaster, Head Ghillie on the Finavon Castle Water of the River South Esk
This month, Iain MacMaster, Head Ghillie on the Finavon Castle beat of the River South Esk and member of the SSFS guiding team, sits in the hot seat and faces the Ghillie’s 10!
1. SSFS: What is the biggest salmon you have ever caught?
IM: I have never caught a fish of 20lbs. Well not yet anyway! The biggest salmon was an 18 ½ lb fish from the South Esk. I did lose a truly monstrous beast, which led me a merry dance last September, again on the South Esk. The pool in which I hooked it no longer exists after the floods of December 2015!
2. SSFS: What is the most memorable salmon you have ever caught?
IM: I will never forget catching one particular grilse on the South Esk about five years ago. I was fishing with the single handed rod and the fish took my purple shrimp fly with a true head and tail rise, before skipping off down the pool on its tail. It only weighed 6lbs but it was smothered in sea-lice and had a humped back almost like a chum salmon. It was a wonderful fish.
3. SSFS: What is your favourite fly?
IM: I enjoy tying my own flies, so tend to just make patterns up as I go along. I rarely use a fly of any particular pattern. I do believe that you can’t go far wrong with a good old Willie Gunn though!
4. SSFS: What is your favourite salmon pool?
IM: It has to be the Willows Pool on the Milton beat of the Finavon Castle Water. When there is an extra foot of water, the salmon stack up and it fishes beautifully with the fly. Conversely, when the water is low in the summer, the pool holds a good head of sea trout and sport can be frenetic through the hours of darkness…magical!
5. SSFS: If there was one place in the world you could salmon fish, where would it be and why?
IM: I would love to be able to fish for salmon in Russia, preferably on a small back country river somewhere. The rugged scenery and the potential of catching a huge salmon definitely appeals to me. Fishing for sea trout in Tierra Del Fuego would come a very close second.
6. SSFS: What is the most unusual sight you have seen on the river?
IM: I was trout fishing with my father on a remote highland loch, when we watched a Golden Eagle attacking a Red Deer hind and her calf on the mountainside. The eagle hovered above the deer, trying to attack the calf, which hid behind it's mother. The hind herself reared up on her back legs and boxed with the eagle like a Kangaroo, until it gave up and flew away. I have never seen or heard of any other instances like that.
7. SSFS: What are the worst conditions in which you’ve seen a salmon being caught?
IM: It is always a struggle when there is low water and very few fish about, especially if you have in-experienced anglers. I have seen one or two fish caught by total novices in these conditions though.
8. SSFS: What do you love about being a ghillie?
IM: love being able to help new anglers, catch their first salmon. When that happens you are just as delighted as they are and it feels even better than catching a fish yourself. It is also just a pleasure to spend your working life by the river bank.
9. SSFS: What is your salmon fishing pet hate?
IM: I get frustrated when I hear some of the bureaucratic snobbery regarding the supposed superiority or inferiority of certain methods, which unfortunately seems to be occupying an ever bigger part of modern salmon fishing today.
10. SSFS: What is your favourite dram?
IM: We were given a bottle of Talisker as a wedding present, which I became quite attached to. However, the world would definitely be a poorer place if all the tea ran out!
For more information on fishing the Finavon Castle beat of the South Esk visit: www.finavoncastlefishing.co.uk