McCaffrey On Fishing: Salmon Fishing On A Frosty Night
Salmon fisherman Tim McCaffrey tells of an encounter with a giant fish in an ice-cold stream.
I was fifteen years old at the time and as autumn was progressing it would not be long before a salmon or two would begain to show up in our little river, and boy was it little.
In fact salmon should never have existed here at all. But a landlord who lived in a now ruined castle imported tiny salmon smolts from Scotland and by some extroardinary fluke salmon took hold and thrived in what turned out to be an indeal habitat.
These days the landlord is long dead and buried and his castle lies in ruins. However, the salmon were a very large breed of fish with twenty pounders showing up every year and one of these big salmon almost cost me my hand. I had a old gaff given to me by a neighbour and this was secured to a hazel, a sally rod. To make doubly sure it was secure I tied a length of builder's twine around it, tying the other end of the twine to my wrist.
We went out on a night that was white with frost, We were well used to cold water and made our way slowly upriver, trying any likely spot that might hold a fish. At last I moved a weed aside and a shovel-sized tail appeared, swaying gently in the little river which was no more than ten feet wide.
I placed the gaff beneath the head of the fish and pulled upwards with all my force. For a second nothing happened and then the heavy fish erupted in a great shower of spray, powering his way upstream until he was forced to turn back as the river became shallow.
"He's mine!'' I cried.
How wrong could I be? He flashed past me. I thought the builder's twine would hold. The salmon's strength was so great that he pulled me over. As I fell I was desperately trying to undo the twine from my wrist.
The twine snapped, leaving me with blood pouring from my arm.
I could hear the salmon throwing himself about with mighty splashes, trying to free himself from the gaff.
I also suffered pain. The scar of the stiches in my arm are still visible.
A few days after this incident a man walking his dog found the body of a salmon of well over 25 pounds, complete with gaff and twine, lying in the shallows near an ancient bridge.
An inglorious end for a beautiful fish.
