First spring salmon caught as local anglers enjoy plenty of success

The first spring salmon was caught on the Coquet at High Park near Felton, as Colin Mitchel from Amble caught the lovely bar of silver, which weighed in at seven pounds ten ounces.

The fish was tempted by a copper mepps and wins Colin the Coquet Trophy for the first springer from the Northumberland Federation waters. He will be presented with his trophy by the Duke of Northumberland in the near future, and also wins a free fishing permit for next year. On the river trout scene, one Federation angler is reported by the head bailiff, Keith Mather, to have caught a beautiful two-pound wild brown trout.

Thrunton Long Crag fishery held the final qualifying heat for The Big One Final. For a change the weather was kind with sunshine, cloud, and a gentle breeze, showing the fishery off at its best. Karl Nixon won the competition, netting and returning 22 trout. The other newly qualified anglers for the final - and a chance of winning the £3,000 first prize - were Tony Fox, Davy Kay, Michael Bell, Tony Rowley, and Michael Linney. There was a special presentation to Charlie McPhee who travelled a total of 2,500 miles to fish all five heats.

The grand final of the Big One will be held over two days in two weeks’ time. On the first day, the finalists will fish at Chatton fishery, and the following day they will fish at Thrunton fishery. The winner of the competition will be the angler with the best combined score over the two days. What a final it will be, with many of the top still water anglers competing for the massive cash prize - and that magnificent ceramic trophy.

On the leisure side of still water fishing, both Thrunton and Chatton report that anglers have had superb sport this last week. Anglers have returned bags of up to 30 fish as the warmer weather has resulted in more fly life. Trout have been feeding on the surface, and dry flies have been very successful. However, nymphs, buzzers, blobs, and lure patterns have accounted for many trout too.