Salmon on the Fly.

     
    

Having fished the pool earlier in higher water conditions i hooked and lost a good fish while stripping the fly so i decided to rest the pool and come back to try it in lower water. When the dam releases water is quickly picks up pace and fills up to about 6 feet above low level but when it drops back down it takes about 45 minutes to catch up with it self and until then it is like a canal with little or no flow. So when fishing in those conditions i normally strip the fly to give it life and this can sometimes initiate an aggressive take as it did in this instance. As the water had started to gain normal speed i went back in and fished the beat and on the third cast in between the two stones i hooked the salmon that i had lost earlier in the evening. The fish threw a few times and then tried to get back between the stones but i played it upstream and away from what would have been a bad situation if it had got tangled up on any one of the big boulders.
Putting loads of side strain on the salmon i allowed the switch fly rod to absorb all the power from the fish and i kept turning it in circles quickly tiring it out and and bringing it in to shallow water. Beaching the salmon i noticed that it was a very fresh hatchery salmon of about 15 to 16 lbs very broad and thick across the back, as the fish was in great condition i quickly released it back into the river. Just as i was putting the camera away a Buzzard hovered above for a few seconds and i was lucky enough to catch this on camera. It's amazing the amount of wildlife that one can get up close and personal to when fishing.