The Thurso is among the best salmon rivers in the northandoftencoupled with the Helmsdale and Naver. It enjoys a long productive season, from 11th January to 5th October, and fish can be caught during every month. Currently the river fishes best from March to October with the larger catches occurring from July to the end of the season.
The river produces around 1,000 salmon per year. Fishing is by fly only with no obligation to return fish. In recent years the catch has been rising and, as can be seen from the chart below, numbers of early running fish are increasing. This is of interest in that, historically, the Thurso offered some of the earliest and best spring fishing in Scotland..
Some heavy fish have been caught on the Thurso with fish of 47 lbs, 44 lbs and 36 lbs being taken during the 1920s. Nowadays, the vast majority of spring fish exceed 10 lbs and in 2006 fish of 27 and 28 lbs were taken..
From mid-March to the end of May the Upper Beats tend to be most productive. The grilse can provide tremendous sport from early July onwards and sea liced summer salmon enter the river, given the right water conditions, right through to the end of the season..
Two rods fish on each stretch moving downstream by two beats each day allowing both Upper and Lower water to be fished in one week. The beats provide a wonderful variety of fishing and whilst many parts of the river have a fine running character, some beats, particularly nr. 3, 6, 7 and 12, are long and deep. These pools are invaluable for the conservation of fish stocks in hot, dry weather conditions and with a good wind to ruffle the water they can be very productive..
The beats vary in length from just under one mile to three and a quarter miles, each having a variety of pools..
The 2008 season has been a tremendous success. The spring fishing during April and May was the best for many years with substantial numbers of large fish entering the system. The summer months of June and July were particularly hot and dry and the Thurso, like most other rivers, began to struggle. Anglers did however have success on the river either early in the morning or at dusk but generally contented themselves with the fine weather with some either going to the trout lochs or taking advantage of the excellent sea fishing..
Rain at the beginning of August really “lit the touch paper”! Vast numbers of fish, both summer salmon and grilse, that had been lying offshore for the previous few weeks began to run the system; conditions throughout the month were favourable and the catch for August on the river was 518 – the most productive month on the river for nearly twenty five years! September continued to fish well with very encouraging numbers of fresh fish entering the system and indeed the last day of the season, October 5th, produced a good number of sea liced fish.
2006 was the first year for a very long time that the netting rights at the mouth of the river have not been exercised. Undoubtedly, in 2008 that has given us significant numbers of “extra” fish entering the system during the summer and this has helped the catches a lot..
The year finished with a total of 1,305–making 2008 one of the most prolific season since 1990. There were a considerable number of new visitors to the Thurso during 2008, the vast majority of whom are intending to return next year and already there are further new bookings for the year ahead..
RECOMMENDED TACKLE AND FLIES AFTER SEASON 2006 and ROD SIZE. In the past we recommended a different rod for almost every month of the year. Nowadays, with the advent of Carbon-fibre, we are quite happy to suggest that a 15 foot rod will survive throughout the season. However, there are situations, particularly during low water conditions, when a 9 foot rod would be a better choice. These are situations when you are more or less “stalking” a fish and there is the need to be stealthy and very accurate with your cast..
LINES Full sinking lines are the order of the day up until about mid-April. As temperatures rise above 50ºF it is advantageous to use a sinking tip initially and shortly thereafter to move on to a full floater. September can mean a change back to a lot of the Spring tactics but it really does vary with the year..
FLIES (Spring) Waddingtons and Tubes tend to be the favourite early on with sizes ranging from 3 inches down to 1 inch. Springtime favourites are Willie Gunn, Torrish, Fast Eddie, Thunder & Lightning, Yellow & Orange, Green Highlander, Silver Wilkinson etc. FLIES (Summer) Ally’s Shrimp, Hairy Mary, Stoat’s Tail, Thurso Dog, Golden Demon, Munro Killer, Macartair, General Practitioner, Templedog, Kerrie’s Killer, Red Demon, Copper King etc..
OTHER CONDITIONS
Fishing is by fair fly only and fishing with bait, prawn, worm, spinner, spoon or any other lure is expressly forbidden. Fishing is from both banks and breast waders are not necessary. Salmon Conservation – anglers are reminded that under the Salmon Conservation (Scotland) Act 2001, it is illegal to sell salmon and sea trout caught by rod and line. Trout fishing – complimentary trout fishing is available to salmon anglers subject to availability and upon payment of a fee for the use of the boat. Ghillies – if the service of a ghillie is required, at least one month’s written notice..
