The 2025 Scottish salmon fishing season got underway on the 11th of January when a number of rivers opened there banks to anglers. Rivers like the Thurso, Helmsdale, Oykel and Halladale amongst others all saw anglers grace the banks.
Unfortunately through the early part of January Scotland was in the grip of a bitterly cold snap and so very little fishing was possible on opening day with ice in the water being a problem. The good news was that temperatures rose very quickly in the subsequent days and these rivers became fishable. Indeed the weather was quite pleasant during the second week of the season and many anglers enjoyed banishing away those winter blues with a day on the river.
The salmon fishing season on the mighty River Tay opened on the 15th of January. There were some fantastic opening day ceremonies held up and down the river to mark the special day. These ceremonies were well attended and fun was had by all.
The first salmon in Britain in 2025 was caught from the River Tay on opening day weighing a magnificent nineteen pounds. The fish was caught from the Dunkeld Beat in the afternoon and put up a great fight. It was great for the Tay that again for another season the river produced the first fish in Britain. Towards the end of the month it was good to hear that a fresh springer was caught from the River Moriston estuary on the Ness system. Hopefully there will be many more of these magnificent fish caught across Scotland in the upcoming weeks.
Looking ahead the River Tweed and Dee will open at the beginning of February and the Spey on the 11th of next month. This will give anglers more options when it comes to chasing that elusive spring salmon.
The summer run across Scotland was truly remarkable last year with many rivers producing excellent catches. It was not only the numbers of fish that were caught but also some of the quality of fish caught, which were second to none especially during the early part of the summer. It would be fair to say that the favourable weather conditions also played a part.
There was no prolonged drought, which meant that river levels were decent for the most part. This led to salmon and grilse running freely up the Scottish rivers. In addition to this there was no heat wave so water temperatures did not rise too much hence we had almost perfect fishing conditions.
Looking ahead to 2025 hopefully there will be a good spring run with decent numbers of fish caught from our Scottish rivers. You never expect to catch large numbers of fish especially early in the season but the quality of fish are absolutely superb as well as the fish usually being a decent size. However a steady spring coupled with a similar good summer run of the previous year would make for very a decent season.
Much of course will depend on weather conditions as it always does when it comes to salmon fishing. Hopefully the weather gods will be kind to anglers this year making 2025 a salmon fishing year in Scotland to remember!
With the 2025 Scottish Salmon Fishing Season now under way, many rivers in Scotland are available to book now. Contact us for details.