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FISHING SOUTHERN SCOTLAND?

RIVER ANNAN WEBSITE

Contains details of all the fishing available on the river
Produced with the kind cooperation of the owners and angling clubs on the River Annan in Dumfriesshire, Southern Scotland

Newsflash

Thursday, 29th July, 2010. Upper river down to 5 inches above dead low and falling VERY slowly, crystal clear and perfect. Lower river 9 inches and falling slowly.

Stephen Hunter with last Wednesdays catch, 4 pound Sea Trout and 2 3/4 pound Brown Trout, both Applegarth and returned

Online Booking

FishAnnan.co.uk Most of the beats on the Annan have now signed up with Fishannan/Fishpal. You can go online anytime, find your ideal beat and book it with your credit card there and then. They also take 'phone bookings on 01573 470612. In many cases there also permits available locally through shops, garages, hotels, estate offices etc

Brown Trout weighed at 8 pounds 2 ozs from Lochbrow, Applegarth Beat. Caught by Richard Wiener from Surrey while under tuition by Keith Snow of Annan Flyfishing, and safely returned

Couple of nice Browns, Applegarth Beat 15th May, 2010. Paul Cosgrove

First Sea Trout of 2010? Lochbrow, Applegarth Beat 13th April, 2010. 17 inches, caught by John Findlay and safely returned

46 centimetre Grayling, Applegarth Beat 21st April, 2010. Caught by David Forrest and returned

Catch returns for 2009

Salmon and Grilse catch tumbled from 2,400 in 2008, best year since modern records began to 1,287 in 2009. Better news is that the 5 year average is 1,650 and overall the catch is well up on the 1990's. Even better news is most anglers are returning a lot of fish each year, and in 2009 the quantity liberated was 38% of the catch. Sea trout are not doing so well, but this seems to be a national and very worrying trend. Brown Trout are enjoying catch and release on 90% plus of the beats on the river and the Annan has a deserved reputation for BIG Brown Trout with the AVERAGE dry fly/nymph caught brownie on some beats being over 2 pounds, and fish of 5, 6, and 7 pounds not being rare.

Planning your fishing trips for 2010?
You don't need a rod licence in Scotland.

The Annan is not far north of Carlisle, it's about 35 miles long and has 14 beats open to visiting anglers. Until September day permits are available from £10 to about £35. After mid September, when its purely salmon fishing, prices range from £30 a day to about £100, but proportionately less by the week. On some beats you can just turn up and buy a permit on the day, on others it's advisable to book in advance. Your source for online booking/availability of permits for most of the river is Fishannan.co.uk or phone 01573 470612

Let us examine your chances of catching a fish, taking the mighty Tay as an example. The Tay is a world famous Scottish salmon river, it is a HUGE river, 15 times the size of the Annan and certainly costs 15 times as much to take a rod. So it produces 15 times as many salmon?? Well no it produces about six times as many actually. Simple arithmetic tells us that an individual angler has more chance of catching a fish on the Annan than on Tay, or Tweed, or any of the other more famous rivers, and at considerably less cost.

There are private stretches you and a couple of companions can book for a week and there's Association water which is surprisingly under fished. It's an excellent sea trout river and 2004 saw the biggest run of salmon anyone has ever seen!!

There are dozens of B & B's; Lots of nice hotels; There are holiday cottages to let; Award winning Caravan and Camping sites with the river a couple of hundred yards away.

Contact Webmaster for further information.
Andy Dickson, 01683 300592. Mobile 07971 764022.
E-mail andy.dickson1@btinternet.com for updates on conditions or where to get permits, or just for a chat about the Annan - afternoons or evenings are best.
NOT a morning person

SEPA site on here is metric and basic, for more detail or feet and inches go to fishpal.com (formerly Fishannan) and click on River Levels But DO check the time since this is updated at ROUGHLY 12 hour intervals (somewhere between 6am and 8am and again 6pm and 8pm usually)

2009 Brown Trout season

Thanks to the spread of catch and release most of these fantastic Brown Trout will still be there for you in 2010

21 inch Brown Trout caught by accident in October 09 and returned by Stuart McLean, Bridge Pool (Cogries Viaduct) Annandale Estates

Brown trout 5 plus pounds Upper Beat, Stephen Aitken "tail like a shovel", tiny Light Olive in June, returned

Brown trout 5 plus pounds Applegarth Beat 17th May 2006 Tony Donnely, size 14 Olive Dun, returned

And on 11th May, 2009, Upper Beat, Light Olive again, Stephen Aitken, around 5 pounds, returned

Contact

Andy Dickson, Webmaster. 01683 300592. Mobile 07971 764022.
E-mail andy.dickson1@btinternet.com for updates on conditions or where to get permits, or just for a chat about the Annan - afternoons or evenings are best.
NOT a morning person in the Sea Trout season (or any other time some would say)

RULES etc for the whole River Annan updated 28th February, 2010

Legislation requires that NO Sea Trout or Salmon be killed on the River Annan before the 1st June each year

After the 1st June for the season 2010, the Annan District Salmon Fishery Board has decided that anglers may retain a MAXIMUM of two Sea Trout in any 24 hour period BUT that all Sea Trout over 3 pounds must be returned to the river unharmed

Davie with a 22lb hen salmon from the Kinnel on the Applegarth Beat, 14th November, 2008. The fish was returned

Joan Shuttleworth, from Carlisle, 20lb caught on a Toby on river Annan, at Royal Four Towns

5 pound brown, Upper Annan, dry fly, about to be returned

20 pounder being returned on Castlemilk's Shillahill Beat 7th November, 2006, Bill Morris

A 16lb salmon caught at Hoddom by Ali Mackay on 28 July 2007.

November 2009
Gray Stevenson looking happy - 20 pounds-ish. Fish looks happy too, it went back

Very Nice. Peter Wagner, Target Pool, Applegarth Beat, 7th November, 2009, 16 lbs+

Tony Croft from Holt, North Wales reports having caught and returned a 12 pound salmon at Lochbrow, on Applegarth Beat on 20th October, 2009. Fish took a size 10 "wee double"Silver Doctor

Ross Wardrope, Thursday, 10th September, 2009, Dryfeholm. The fish took a small orange pot belly pig copper tube fly fished on a fast sinking tip on a spey line.
20 pounds 4 ozs

George Rennick, 16 pounder, on a Cascade, Hoddom, August 2009

Grayling and Coarse Fishing

is available on some beats during some part of the salmon close season (15th November to 25th February) Of course you can fish for coarse fish or grayling during the salmon season as well if you wish.
Contact Upper Annandale AA, Annandale Estates, Kirkwood, Hoddom, or contact Fishery Manager at Newbie, Tel. 01461 202608)

Or book online at Fishannan.co.uk or phone 01573 470612

Grayling, 21 inches, approx 4 pounds, would be Scottish record but no witnesses so returned Applegarth Beat 17th May, 2006 Tony Donnely

Oh and by the way a NUMBER of Scottish record size Grayling have been caught in the Annan in recent years. Non of them are official because the fish was either killed or not enough evidence, just the angler and his camera etc etc but the fish are there - literally in most cases since they were returned!!!

The current Scottish record Chub was caught on the Annan in 1999, see Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling and only a couple of miles away Scottish record Carp, Tench and Bream, have all come from Scotlands Premier Coarse Fishery, Castle Loch, Lochmaben. It is the only fishery in Britain to hold three records. To put it into perspective that's FOUR Scottish record fish from an area about 3, maybe 4 miles across.

Scotlands Premier Coarse Fishery, Castle Loch, Lochmaben.
Now holding three Scottish records. The only fishery in Britain to hold three records.

Dormont Lake Coarse fishery between Lockerbie and Annan, map on their page. Run by the guys at Scottishproanglers who are deeply involved in angling for special needs, angling for kids, fishing in schools programmes, and special teaching days. They are all about professional qualifications and caring and deserve support

Other Annan websites

FishAnnan.co.uk Is now up and running and looking good. Main difference from this site is you can book your fishing etc online with a credit card and its DONE. You can also get messages sent to your mobile about river heights, fish catches etc etc. It's kinda advanced!! Check it out. They also take 'phone bookings on 01573 470612

Annan and Borders Flyfishing Keith Snow is a fishing instructor/guide based in Annan. Can arrange a fishing holiday package with instruction, guiding, tackle and safety equipment or whatever combination you require. Seems he's an ex cop - there's a lot of us about!!

Damselflyfishing Sue McNiven - Flyfishing guide and instructor

Scotster.com New website for and about Scotland. Its different and new and will be interesting to see where it goes

Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast

E &OE Any errors are mine and no fault of the people or organisations shown on these pages.
Copyright (c) 1999/2010, all rights reserved.

Contact Webmaster for further information.
Andy Dickson, 01683 300592. Mobile 07971 764022.
E-mail andy.dickson1@btinternet.com Most recent revision, 24th July, 2010