Autumnal magic

The back end of the season commences when the weather changes, awaking salmon from their torpor and giving Scotland its most productive fishing period

- MUNGO INGLEBY

SEPTEMBER can be a glorious month for salmon fishing. After weeks of potentially dry and dusty weather, reliable rains sweep in from the west and, finally, our rivers will again run high and cool. Spring and summer fish, which have been hunkered down in bad humour and uncatchable, wake from their torpor. Flies that have passed largely unseen and ignored are taken with enthusiasm and aggression, and the back end (as September to the end of the season is known) remains Scotland’s most productive fishing period. It is this time when the year’s full quota of fish are in the pools and any day when water levels are up and salmon are sloshing around should be cherished.

From a fishing perspective, the autumn period is a movable feast. It commences the moment the weather changes, as meaningful rain starts to fall and water temperatures begin to drop. In 2022, this was around 10 September, while in 2021 it started later with prolonged rain not settling over Scotland until 25 September. Alternatively, in some years we have had gloriously (for an angler) wet summers. In 2023, many rivers have already had two if not three July spates. In a worst-case scenario the weather might not break until we are well into October. Generally, however, there is a block of weeks with reliably dependent water from mid-September through to season close.