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How
The Fish Was Caught
The Association Water of the River Naver is not much more than half a mile
in length and when Charles Mackay collected his day permit from his friend
Raymond Cooper at 'The Store' in Bettyhill he knew that he would probably
be the only fisherman on the beat. This short stretch of tidal water contains
few 'holding pools' in which salmon will rest for any time, but one pool,
known as 'Ally's' which lies just below the car park, can hold a number
of fish in the right conditions.
The weather was partly overcast and the river was at medium level that day,
and there was certainly enough water to allow fresh fish to run. Conditions
were therefore quite good, provided the angler showed a modicum of skill.
Having tried the upper streams and fished the whole length of Ally's Pool
without success Charlie decided to try the deep narrow stream immediately
below Ally's. To fish this stream requires wading out to a gravel island,
and with the water level as it was he just made it across. Not expecting
any sizeable offers he tied one of his favourite flies - an Ally's Shrimp,
size 8 double - onto 12 pound breaking strain nylon and resumed fishing.
About a third of the way down the stream the fish took - below the surface,
so he did not actually see it - before boring down into the deepest part
of the stream, giving no quarter. And so the battle commenced. |
This extract from Charles Mackay's acceptance speech at the Tennents
Malloch Presentation Dinner, held in Perth on 8th December 1997, tells the
rest of the story.
"Now the angler is not important, it's the fish that's important I'm
sure you'll all agree. I'm quite delighted that the winner of the trophy
for this year was a salmon from a Sutherland river, partly because I'm a
native of Sutherland myself. My father was the gamekeeper and stalker for
many years at Strathmore in Sutherland - half way between Altnaharra and
Loch Hope in a very remote part of the country. That was where I was brought
up and where my father taught us one or two things about fishing, probably
as soon as we were able to walk, and maybe even before that. First of all
in the burns around our home, then on the Strathmore River, and then on
Loch Hope, which in those days was a splendid sea-trout loch. So I remember
my father very much on this occasion, and I remember him with a lot of affection.
This fish is to be mounted and placed in Altnaharra Hotel, just 12 miles
from where I was brought up, so it will be there long after I've gone to
other pastures, and I'm quite pleased about that. He's presently with the
taxidermist, but I tell people he's with the chiropodist. We didn't learn
big words like that, away up in Sutherland ...
I'd like to thank the Water Bailiff on the Scelpick Estate side of the River
Naver. I hadn't met him before that day, but he came up the river and very
politely asked to see my permit, which I showed him, and I then asked him,
just as politely I hope, who he was. And he said, "You won't believe this,
but I'm Archie Baillie the Water Baillie."
Well, later on in the afternoon I just happened to be in the right place
at the right time when this fish took, and Archie, very properly I think,
watched me from the road for about an hour and twenty minutes. First of
all I saw him disappearing - he told me afterwards he'd gone into Bettyhill
for his messages - and then he came back and he found I was still playing
this fish. He waited another ten minutes and then went home to get his waders
because he knew I was needing a wee bit of a help. He came down to the river,
and I was still into this fish and I hadn't even seen a fin at this point,
but eventually I managed to get his back fin up and we knew then he wasn't
foul hooked.
Archie offered me a bit of assistance in landing this fish, and do you know
what he said? He said, "You may want to net him yourself." I think we all
know exactly what he meant by that, because if anything had gone wrong at
the net … So I said, "Well that's a good idea Archie, because my arms are
just about out of my armpits!" Archie took the rod and I waded right out
into the river - artificial hip and all, let me say - and as I was going
out Archie said to me, "Now for goodness sake make sure that you get his
head in the net", and I stopped and turned round and said, "Now you remember
Archie, that's twelve pound breaking strain nylon I've got on there!"
Eventually I managed to get the net underneath his tail and his belly and
his head just hovered on the edge of the 24 inch net, then fortunately fell
back in. Archie came out and the two of us pulled that fish ashore. Archie's
away on holiday just now but I phoned his son the other day and I told him
that I thought our fish was going to be the winner, and up there in the
north they're absolutely delighted ...
There have been a lot of 'fun' stories connected with this fish and one
of them was an occasion in the summer when my wife and I went down to the
Morangie Hotel in Tain with a friend from Edinburgh for an evening meal.
There we met a lady who very kindly took our photographs with our own cameras,
and later on I was sitting by myself when this lady came across to speak
to me.
She told me that for many years she and her husband went up to Altnaharra
to fish, where she was taught by the late Charles McLaren. I told her that
I knew him, and she was quite surprised at this, and I said I even knew
the Christies who had the Hotel before that, and she was even more surprised.
Then she said that they normally fish on Loch Hope, and I said "Oh, I know
Loch Hope quite well. My father was the Keeper at Strathmore." So the
eyes got bigger and bigger, and then she told me that her favourite beat
at the south end of Loch Hope is Beat 2. I said, "Oh yes I know it well,
it's across from the Eriboll shore." And the eyes got bigger and bigger
still.
And then she said, "Of course there's only one thing they're talking about
up there just now, that's this big fish that was caught on the Naver." And
before I could say anything she went on, "I understand the fellow that caught
the fish is the father of the young man that used to have the butcher's
shop in Lairg." I said, "Well that's not quite accurate, it's not his father,
it's his uncle."
She looked at me and said, "Oh, you know about the fish do you?"
"Yes," I said, "I caught it."
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