Fishermen fighting for the future

At the first Tweed Salmon Festival, our correspondent finds there is much to be optimistic about in the fishing world, even if Salmo salar continues to decline

- David Profumo

ON a glorious, cold, sunlit weekend in the Scottish borders, I attended the inaugural Tweed Salmon Festival, held near Kelso in the grounds of the luxurious Schloss Roxburghe Hotel. The idea—largely the brainchild of local angling guru Eoin Fairgrieve—was to showcase the fly-fishing opportunities afforded by this magnificent river system, to introduce newcomers to the delights of our sport and to highlight issues concerning the sustainability of Tweedside’s aquatic ecosystem. Entry was free and it was a great success.

The first thing I saw was children having casting lessons on the little education loch and several of them were already bending into their first trout—a welcome sight and very much the essence of the festival's spirit. Our pastime surely needs this sort of dedicated mentoring. There were casting demonstrations from a stellar series (or should that be ‘line-up’?) of internationally renowned anglers, including Norwegian world champion Tommy Aarkvisla, pioneering rod designer Scott Mackenzie and the congenial Simon Gawesworth, one of the world's leading instructors.

The programme kicked off with a flawless presentation by the glamorous Katka Švagrová from the Czech Republic—well, she is the ladies world fly-fishing champion—a globe-trotting young guide and influencer (my own moment of fame came when she posted a picture of me on Instagram, where she has 143,000 followers). I asked her about her travels: she has fished for jungle species in Brazil, for billfish in the Gulf and spends the summer guiding in Iceland. A real force of Nature.