Foam Daddy 
A well-used Foam Daddy
Trying to catch salmon and grilse in saltwater can be, at the best of times, extremely frustrating. Some anglers wouldn’t even consider having a go at them as the fish will either totally ignore the fly or to give half-hearted chase only to turn away at the last moment. There are however times when, for some unknown reason, an angler stands a fairly good chance of hooking a salmon in saltwater.
In my last blog I described a few occasions in July 2019 when I had caught some fresh-run grilse in saltwater. However the fish have since run up the burn and the few that have remained have become stale and extremely hard to tempt. Despite some periods of really heavy rain a few grilse have decided to remain behind and they rarely display their usual aerial acrobatics. Last Wednesday the rain during the night had been relentless. The head of the voe the next day was awash with peaty water an the burn a raging torrent. What could I use to tempt a few stale grilse? There was a strong south easterly wind blowing up the voe which would mean wading deep and fishing areas that were little more than waste to knee deep. The waves made me wonder if a Muddler would work so I tried a gold muddler and a Wickham’s Fancy on the tail with no response. Returning to my car I swapped my rod for my 9.5ft #4 Penn fly rod which I had been using for loch brown trout. I had a light cast (5lb breaking strain) with a size 10 daddy longlegs on the top dropper, a size 12 Wickham’s Fancy on the middle and a size 10 Blue Jay on the tail. Not the type of set-up for catching grilse but I thought I might get a sea trout . Fishing a few holding places for grilse on the way across resulted in nothing but as I approached the far side of the voe I saw a small sea trout jump and quickly covered it. It took the Blue Jay on the tail and after a spirited fight I returned it and carried on casting first in deeper water, then in mid depth and again in the shallows. Each cast I lifted the Daddy Longlegs up onto the wave and suddenly a decent fish head and tailed on the Daddy. I thought at first I had hooked a Sea Trout as it ran and jumped twice before making for a patch of seaweed near the edge. After another spirited run it began to tire and I was able to net it. “A grilse”! I couldn’t believe it! Only about 3lbs and beginning to colour but welcome catch nevertheless.
Buoyed up by my visit on Thursday I returned on Friday for an hour or so. I rearranged my cast putting a newly tied Daddy Longlegs on the top dropper, the successful size 10 Daddy (featured above) on the middle dropper and a size 10 Wickham’s Fancy on the tail. I was taking a risk using only 5lb breaking strain fluoro carbon when there were grilse around but something told me to fish light. I settled in to my favourite hot spot and after a dozen or so casts I saw a swirl at my middle dropper and I was connected to a strong fish that made off to the middle of the voe and jumped clear of the water. I immediately thought “grilse” but the strength of the fish quickly made me realise that this was a very good sea trout. It took a while to subdue and it brought the scales down to a shade over 3lbs. I did not have time to fish for very long as I had to drive into Lerwick for our weekly shopping. The fish had taken the same daddy that I had caught the grilse on the day before. Daddy Longlegs in the sea! I must continue with this madness in future. It works!
I managed to resist the temptation of fishing on Saturday and of course there is no fishing allowed on a Sunday in Scotland so it wasn’t until Monday that I returned to see if I could tempt another fish to the daddy longlegs. On Monday it was blowing a force 4 from the southeast. Ideal conditions for fishing in the sea I thought. The tide seemed much higher when I arrived but I had a feeling that there was a chance of another grilse in the hot spot where I had caught the sea trout the week before. I had been fishing for about ten minutes when a fish savagely took my flies and attempted to go for cover in the seaweed. Carefully I applied enough pressure to coax the fish out into open water and the fly line zipped past me with the reel singing. It was another grilse of around 3lbs and yes, you’ve guessed it, it took the same daddy longlegs! As you can see from the picture of the fly at the start of this blog, there is little left of the original six legs!
Flyfishing Experience Shetland 