Kelt

If you don't fish for salmon prepare to be confused. I could have titled this "fish on" as that is what it looks like, the rod bent, the line out with, yes, a fish pulling hard in the middle of the river. It put up a good fight and was as silvery as any spring salmon I have seen. But in fishing terms this fish did not go down in the record book as a 17 lb salmon because it was a kelt. A kelt is a spent fish that has gone up the river to spawn and is returning now to the sea to build up strength and weight to return and spawn again. Many do not make it back but this one will. It was what we call a "well mended" kelt.

I caught another one later that looked very kelt-like - frayed dorsal fin and thin, but again well-mended. The thing is, I thought this was a bona fide spring salmon - and I have caught many in the past - so being fooled was embarrassing, rather like having a genuine Van Gogh on your wall for years, only to be told it is a fake. So I've had two fish on the bank today but I've had no fish. I hope that's perfectly clear.

That's me in the pic by the way. Gill took it.