10lb Hen Salmon From The River Don Today

Had a cast for an hour or so after work tonight and landed this Hen Salmon around the 10lb mark from the River Don. It was howling a gale and I wasn't expecting much but I was delighted to get a take and land the fish. As like Saturday, I was using my Kitchen Sink shrimp pattern and this time it was a #9 Salar double that did the business. The successful tactics were the same as Saturday; floating AFS Shooting Head and 5ft Intermediate tip. The Parkhill gauge was sitting around the 2" mark.

Fish on!

A quick photo before sending her on her way.

Back into the River Don and heading to the spawning grounds further upstream.

Grilse From The River Don Today

Well finally, after a long wait since my last one, I caught this sea liced Grilse from the Lower Don this morning. I hooked it just a few minutes after starting and with the river down to it's bare bones, I was not really expecting to see much never mind catch one so it was very welcome. The Parkhill gauge was reading just 1" and the river bed was covered in slimy algae/weed. The fish put up a spirited fight and after a few pictures it was returned back to the river.

The fish took a pattern I created last year. My dad named it the Kitchen Sink but I never really got round to using it. It's loosely based upon the Junction Shrimp and this is the first fish I have landed using it although I did lose a couple of good fish on the Dee last Thursday using the same fly. I did a Blog post on the fly last October and the dressing for the fly can be found HERE.

5lb River Don Grilse.

Sea lice present around gill plates.

Safely returned to the river.