European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 21, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Outdoors casting around for a Good time in Scotland Story and photo by j. King Cruger . Bureau thur i Scotland in t the easiest place to get to. It s Rem to. It s closer to Oslo than o London and it is closer to the Arctic Circle than it is to the British capital a 22-hour train ride away. Thurso a Good five hour drive North of Edinburgh lies slightly West of Scotland s northeastern tip. Save for the rugged coastal scenery nearby there is Lille reason to journey there except logo fishing. And what fishing it is. The surrounding Rivers and lakes As Well As the North sea Are some of the Best fishing grounds on Earth. Roughly 300 americans live with 12,000 scots in Thurso about 190 Are sailors who staff the . Navy s communications station United kingdom. The station provides electronic communications support for . And nato ships. The sailors families comprise the remainder of the american population. For a Fisherman this area is Paradise. There s great Salmon and Trout fishing and the sea Angling is fantastic too said Stan Ogrodnik an avid Navy Angler who serves As the installation s command senior chief. The communications station is willing to let other members of the american military Community share in a Good thing and welcomes them to come up and join in the fishing. While the installation has no transient quarters available on base local bed and breakfast places Are fairly plentiful and affordable. Members of the american military Community Are Welcome to come up and draw equipment from our recreation services division said cmdr. Phillip m. 8alitle, the installation s commander another yank who is currently hooked on the area s fishing. We have some excellent gear available. We have Trout rods and 14-foot-Kmg Carbon fiber Salmon rods As Well As boats outboard engines and camping equipment to rent Oul. Ii Cost us $ 140 to buy a Salmon Rod and reel that we rent out for $1 a  the installation s recreation services division charges the following amounts per Day boat oars and outboard engine $3 Boal and oars $1 camping Lent $1.50, and camping trailer $5, the Freshwater fishing is mainly for Salmon and Brown Trout. Catches of 2-Pound Brown Trout Are not uncommon and they May weigh in Al up to 7 pounds. The average Salmon caught weighs 8 or 9 pounds and 20-Pounders Are no thai unusual. Salmon fishing can be expensive on some Rivers in Scotland. Fishing rights Are rented out on Whyl what Are known As beats apportioned stretches of a River and some Beals allowing six rods about 33 Yards to fish rent for As much As $1,000 per Day. However on the nearby 27-mile-Long Thurso River in Lirly owned by one Man. Lord Thurso beats rent Oul for Only a tiny fraction of that per Day ant the Salmon fishing is considered to be very Good with anglers averaging one fish per Day Balisle is sold on the Thurso River. It s fantastic. I love that River and fish it for Trout far More than 1 do for Salmon. I be Only caught iwo Salmon so far but i be Learned a lot about Salmon fishing in the Little More than a year that i be been Here including How to tie my own flies said the native of Idabel okla. Here we have some of the Best Trout fishing Lochs in the world to fish virtually All the Lochs have Trout in them. The Trout Are Brown Trout and their meat is As Pink As Salmon. Some of the Brown Trout Are Silver some Brown some Golden. It s incredible the Way they differ. They Are very spirited and even a 1 Pounder will give you a great Light Balisle said. The Waters Are Crystal Clear in the Lochs and Many of them Are quite difficult to get to. If you Are willing to walk for two or three Miles you can fish Lochs that May Only be fished once or twice a season he said. In order to find out what the fishermen were raving about i decided to have a go at Salmon fishing. After expert Tutelage Roll casting and Back casting by Ogrodnik a very patient Man on the technique of Salmon fishing i was turned Over the next Day to Eddie Mccarthy a local fishing guru who works for lord Thurso Ai superintendent of the Thurso River. No doubt because of Lack of skill i had never tried my hand at Fly fishing before failed to catch a Salmon despite Mccarthy s expert guidance. We were fishing beat 13 at the top of the River. Wilh its two Large pools the beat is judged to be the Best fishing spot on the River. Although i failed to Hook a fish there was ample evidence of Salmon about As the great ill very sometimes pinkish fish frequently leaped about the pools to mock my Novice efforts. Never mind. The River was so peaceful and hauntingly Beautiful thai catching a fish was almost incidental to the pleasure of the Day. More importantly i Learned a great Deal about Salmon from Mccarthy a Small somewhat reticent genial Man who clearly loves his River and the creatures within it. Mccarthy said Salmon making their Way from the sea to their spawning grounds upriver can run the 27 mile Long course in less than 24 hours. Thai s nothing for a Salmon to do Mccarthy said. Salmon fresh from the . Are Silver in color and have not yet Starll of to turn Pink explained Mccarthy. The Silver ones Are to latest arrivals from the sea. They have certainty come into the River within the last 48  the Salmon who arc returning to the place where they were spawned begin arriving in the River As Early As january. The Salmon Don t Eal at All in fresh water. Ii  been proved without any doubt that they Are incapable of accepting food while they Are in fresh  he said no one seems to know Why the Salmon will take a Fly or lure while they Are fasting. Mccarthy said the Salmon turn Pink parti became of the effect of the fresh water on them and also partly because the colouring is linked in some mysterious Way with i Clr pre spawning process. The fish become Pinker the longer they have been in the River. Some turn nearly red by tale autumn when they prepare to spawn. After they spawn the fish Are known As Kelts and contrary to popular belief Kelt Don t necessarily die after spawning. We have a High survival Rale of Kelts on this River because we Don t have any enormous waterfalls or any huge rapids thai they have to make their Way past. It is canal like in Many places and there the fish can rest up for a wee while As they Mike their Way Back to the sea. It is exhaustion and the pounding they gel that kills so Many Salmon on other much longer and rougher Rivers Mccarthy said. The Salmon according to Mccarthy will return to the Thurso River to spawn again in a year or iwo. There definitely have been quite a lol of Salmon caught in this River that have shown by their Scales thai they have spawned in the River on two three sometimes four occasions thai s quite unusual Mccarthy said that people who study Salmon maintain that it is the number of years a Salmon spends at sea thai determines How big it will get. The life Cycle of the fish according to Mccarthy starts when the adult fish return Home to spawn. The female fish Wilh an Allen Dant male chooses the place where she is going to spawn. She use her Lail to excavate a trough in the Stream s gravel bed. She lays her eggs there. These Are fertilized by the male. In Britain spawning takes place mostly in november and december and .1 female fish can produce Between 450 and 000 eggs per Pound of body weight that Means a 12-Pound Salmon for example could Lay up to 10,000 eggs. After spawning the spent fish drop downstream. The Salmon Don t leave the River they have hatched in until they Are Al Leas 2 years old and in the Case of some Rivers not until they Are 3, Mccarthy said. Two anglers Are allowed to fish within any beat on the Tiu so. Mccarthy said lord Thurso has set up the Beals on his River so that in theory they should offer comparable fishing the beats Range in length from a half mile to three Miles. There Are 13 beats on the River and anyone fishing the River for a week will Start Al Beal 1, Lei s say and then alternate going id beats 3,5, 7, Etc. Anyone fishing a second week would then Start at Beal 1 and then skip to beats 4, 6, 8, Elc. By clicking to this pattern a Fisherman will be Able to fish every beat on the River within iwo weeks. Mccarthy said the Salmon fishing season runs from Jan. 11 until oct. S and the Trout season stretches from March 15 until the end of september. Ii costs 11.50 pounds about $17.25 per Rod per Day to a High of 28,75 about $43 pounds per Rod per Day to real a Beal allowing iwo anglers to fish it per Day. The higher Cost is for fishing from september to oct. 5. Trout fishing the Navy installation has a boat for hire on one of the Lochs is considerably cheaper since no License is required and in Only costs a Pound Aboul $1.501 or two for a permit to fish from the Banks of a River or Loch. More information about Salmon fishing in the Thurso area May be obtained from Eddie Mccarthy Braal Road Halkirk Caithness Scotland. Telephone Halkirk 591. Incidentally september is considered to be a prime month for i Shiffl in the Thurso area. Iuguit21,1986 it Pitt Mug Zine 17