Getting into hot water

The fish is often the make or break of a Macnab attempt but as water temperatures continue to rise, some difficult questions will need to be asked

- Mungo Ingleby

IF THE St Swithin's Day saying holds true and rain is still falling in September, there is much to look forward to. The coming weeks are Scotland's main Macnab season: stags are leaving the high ground; salmon can be remarkably obliging in the cool high water of autumn; and grouse are yet to pack up. Success should be a formality. And yet, there will always be an ‘and yet.

Last year, after a wet and fish-filled midsummer, our main September week was an exceptionally bright one: frost at night, mist in the morning and brassy sunshine by 6.15am. The home beat, high in the headwaters, had dropped right away leaving only pocket water and sulky salmon. Happily, we had been wise to this danger and had lower river options to turn to. However, it was still a struggle with 5.30am starts: micros, hitches, the plinking and plonking of Francises to bored fish. This September, taking inspiration from the original rascals who poached across different estates, we have taken fishing across three watersheds. With just about all conditions covered we are quietly confident (and therefore likely doomed). I will report back.