When fishing always wear plenty of clothing as, even during the summer, wind-chill can make you feel cold especially out on a boat. You can always take items off if you're too warm. Rainwear should be carried also as our weather can change quickly and your fishing time will be wasted if you have to go home. Rivers and lochs are dangerous: a buoyancy aid will keep you safe and is a MUST. Flotation fishing jackets or automatic inflating collars are available in junior sizes. Wearing Polaroid sunglasses takes the glare off the water. This makes it easier to see your line and the riverbed if you are wading. Glasses also protect your eyes from a wayward hook.
At this time of year, if you are river fishing, there is a good chance any salmon or sea trout you catch could be a Kelt. That's a fish, which is recovering after spawning. It is illegal to keep these fish therefore they should be very carefully returned to the water
KELT- THIN, VENT PROTRUDING, GILL MAGGOTS, EYES POINTING DOWN
BAGGOT - OFTEN EGGS POURING FROM PROTRUDING VENT, BELLY SOFT AND SQUIDGY.
SPRINGER - SILVER, WHITE BELLY, VENT TIGHT, MAY BE SEA-LICED, SOLID BELLY, BRIGHT RED GILLS, EYES POINTING STRAIGHT OUT.
Both, the fresh run fish and the kelt may be silvery in colour and fight quite hard but as you can see on the fresh fish (on the upper sketch) the middle body is much wider than the head, where as on the kelt the body is almost the same width as the head. Other signs of a kelt are its fins and tail may be ragged due its effort digging a red (the whole in the gravel where the eggs are laid), the vent will still open and there may be maggots in its gills. <>Baggots must also be returned. These are fish that have not yet spawned and are full of eggs, which makes them flabby.
An effective method for catching salmon, trout and sea trout is using the up stream toby lure. The toby wiggles and flashes through the water resembling a small fish. Wade out safely using a wading stick and Polaroid glasses to help you see the bottom. Cast upstream, about six times at varying angles to cover all the water then if not successful, wade upstream about the length of your cast and repeat the process. You can only do this if no other angler is fishing behind you in the pool. The weight of toby used depends on the depth and speed of the water but generally 28gr. will do. You must turn the reel handle as fast as you can to make the toby work, as it is being pushed down stream by the river flow. If the toby is breaking the surface slow down your retrieve slightly.