The weather in 2022 was much colder and wetter than usual throughout the spring and summer in Shetland. For me, fishing was not a top priority in 2022 as I found myself struggling with arthritis and many other things in my life prevented me from spending time pursuing trout in the lochs and voes of Shetland. I did however have some good days both with grilse, sea trout and brown trout in Shetland, the Isle of Skye and in other parts of Scotland.
The season started quite well for me with sea trout up to 3.5lbs or so. The one with a piece of its tail missing was caught in early March so it is a little bit on the lean side. The top fly was a dark brown foam daddy which accounted for many sea trout and in August and September, 4 out of the five grilse I caught in 2022 were on foam daddies.
The small grilse on the right of the middle row fell to a dark brown daddy long legs fished completely static in the sea pool. First time I can honestly say I have caught a salmon on a dry fly. It came out of the water like a polaris missile. All I had to do was hold the rod up and it hooked itself!
By the start of September some salmon still had not run. They could be seen jumping at the head of the tide but for reasons best known to themselves had decided not to run up the burn even although there was plenty water for them.
Salmon are so unpredictable. Whilst in the sea they will generally ignore a fly then for some unknown reason they will follow and take a fly. One day in particular I had tried a few casts over some coloured fish with no response whatsoever. Another angler had been trying further down the voe with a spinner and was packing up his rod when I went down to have a chat with him. He had found the same story not one had shown the slightest bit of interest. As we were talking, a coloured grilse of around 4 to 4.5 lbs lept within range of us. I suggested to him that he should have a go but he had taken his rod down and was heading for the car. He knew about my success with foam daddy long legs and admitted to being a little sceptical of how good they were. Half jokingly I said to him “watch this Peter!” I gently cast out my team of two daddies and the fish responded immediately to engulf my tan coloured foam daddy on the top dropper. After a spirited fight I slipped the net under him, released the fly from his jaw, quickly took a photo and carefully returned the fish. I think Peter was astonished that a fish would take such a drab coloured fly on a difficult day. With salmon you just never know when the conditions are going to be right. That’s what makes fishing so exciting.
Flyfishing Experience Shetland 