Monday

Sean Bennett caught a 6lb Salmon on the Priest Pool on a Golden Willie Gunn, Sage 15ft Z-Axis fly rod, and an old System II 10/11 reel.

I got a 5lb cock fish on the Downie Beat, using a 1” Cascade Tube, 14ft Loop Opti Power spey rod and a Hardy Demon 9000 Reel and a Fly line Rio AFS Shooting Head Clear Intermediate.

5lb Salmon Caught by James Norris

Tuesday

The only fish caught today was 6lb, caught by one of the ladies in the group fishing, well done Liz.

Wednesday

Michael Buckman on his second cast hooked a 13lb Salmon, it was released back into the River.  This Fish was caught on the Home Beat on a 1” Cascade Tube, 14ft Loop Opti Power spey rod, Hardy Demon 9000 Reel. This was the second Salmon that Michael has been lucky enough to catch, well done.

13lb Salmon caught by Michael Buckman

Michael Buckman also landed a 6lb Salmon using the same Fly/Rod/Reel combination on the same beat some 20 minutes later.

6lb Salmon Caught by Michael Buckman

Thursday

I was delighted to be there to watch Edward Bennet, only 12 years old, catch his first ever Salmon, a beautiful 6lb fish.  He caught it using a Golden Willie Gunn size 11  on the Downie Beat.  Look at his smile, it’s so great to see young fisherman getting their first catch and hopefully getting hooked on the sport.

6lb Salmon Caught by Edward Bennet

I couldn’t understand where a lot of my Salmon flies had disappeared to………..Ben!!!!

Ben Wearing my Salmon Flies

Little Ben Jackson thought they looked better on his new fleece than in my fly box.

Friday

Michael Buckman had a 5lb and 6lb Salmon both on a Golden Willie Gunn he was top rod for the week with 4 fish in total. Michael was very impressed with his new Guideline Dee waders they kept him dry and cool all week as the weather was very warm.

5lb Salmon Caught by Michael Buckman

The Alta – 300 miles north of the Artic Circle – is undoubtedly the best big fish river in the world. Visitors are allowed to fish from 24 June to end of August. The river is 27 miles long and 10 fly fishing rods are permitted to fish. In June the average weight is 25 lb.

Guiding and boating skills are past on from generation to generation and many men take a vacation from their regular job to act as guides. Fishing is 99% from boats, each with a two guide crew. The angler stands in the middle of the boat with one guide rowing in the stern and the other in the bow. When a large fish is hooked it will often leave the pool, whereupon the angler kneels down in the boat and endeavours to keep in touch with the fish while the boat is brought down, often through fast and heavy water to the point where the battle can be resumed. Fishing starts at 8 p.m. and you fish through the night when the sun’s glare is absorbed by the mountains and woods of one of Europe’s deepest canyons. This year, when I was there, two 50 pounders (5l and 53 1b) and another big fish lost after a nearly two hour battle and three 30 pounders (37, 38 and 38½lb) were landed and all five were returned. With these big fish our average for the week was 31 lb.

For someone who regularly fishes Iceland and Scotland, where a large part of the catch is grilse, to catch fish of this size was truly remarkable. Certainly it endorses the words of the famous hotelier and fly fisherman Charles Ritz – the Alta is the Valhalla of salmon fishing and once you have tasted it nothing in your life is the same.

For me it answered all my dreams.

Barrie Welham
Field Sports Ambassadeur
The Orvis Company