The month started off with horrendous winds brought by Storm Dave.   Again, we were very fortunate to have very limited damage. The sea at Crosskirk was a sight to behold!

We have been walking the river from the Falls down to the sea on a daily basis in the hope of seeing some smolts migrating.  So far we have seen several small pockets of very active smolts and we would hope that this will continue through to the end of May. Unfortunately, these smolts are taking a bashing from some trout. I have informed the Board of this and suggested what might be done to combat the situation.  I will keep you updated on this.

Sadly, I have to report that Tom Stitt has passed away.  Tom was Fisheries Manager on the Forss from 2004 to 2006.   Tom was very well liked and respected.  His Funeral was well attended which included former Employees and present- day Owners.

It has been a better month weather wise which has allowed us to get a good assessment of works to be carried out along the river- banks.  Given the enormous spates, it is very pleasing to see that there has been no huge damage done and repairs should be relatively straightforward. 

There were some repairs to parts of the walkways and the problem with the riverbank at the Falls Pool is being dealt with.  Our original attempt at this repair in December of last year has been affected somewhat by the two massive spates but we are pretty confident that the present work will stand up to anything in the future.

There were very big tides in mid-month, but we did not see any sign of a fish trying to enter the river.

It was decided that, because of tradition, we should have a river opening ceremony despite the recommendation not to fish again this year.

A group of around twenty people gathered in the grounds of Forss House Hotel where they were piped down to the river at the Falls Pool by Piper Gordon Tait.

Dick Monaghan , who had travelled up from Cumbria with his Wife Melanie, welcomed the assembled company and thanked them for coming along on what turned out to be a reasonable morning weather wise, after the torrential rain of the preceding days.

Dick started by thanking Victoria for setting up the very well

organised gathering and went on to describe how much he loved visiting the Forss which was very evident, not only from what he said, but also the way that he said it

He went on to describe how the arrival of the dreaded disease some years ago has affected so many people.  He went on commend the Owners who gave up their rights to fish and to leave the very few salmon that were present to be able to access the redds and spawn. He also indicated that, having seen some graphs from the eletcro -fishing work,  there did appear to be the beginning of small signs of a recovery.

As we go forward in to another year, we have to hope that Mother Nature is more kind to us in the year ahead giving us some decent rainfall and an absence of the dreaded disease which has afflicted the river for several years.

Early January saw quite serious amounts of snow over a period of several days, making travel extremely difficult and dangerous.  When the thaw came, we had a huge river. Thankfully, damages were limited.

The remainder of the Month gave us our usual mix of wind rain and cold which is normal for January.

As the year moves along, I hope to be able to give you a report of more positive happenings than we have experienced in the last few years.

As we reach the end of another year we can reflect on the events of this season and look forward to what might lie ahead in the coming year.

As predicted by the Electro -Fishing Survey numbers from prior years, the numbers of fish returning were quite few.  We did not see a fish before mid-June when a few early grilse appeared. We did see small numbers of fish in Crosskirk Bay and, fortunately, there were a couple of small freshets which allowed them to access the river and  negotiate the Falls.

The Electro-Fishing results from last years spawning was much better than 2023.  The Lythmore sites gave up slightly better numbers of Fry  (although still very low) and reasonable numbers of very healthy Parr who should smolt in the Spring of 2026 and head to sea. We would hope that this will have been replicated on other sites throughout the system.  We will be keeping a weather eye out for these from mid-April onward, and will report accordingly.   Sadly, river levels have been too high to witness any spawning activity this backend but,  I would hope that the fish that we witnessed going over the Falls found a nice spot to deposit their eggs.

Looking to the year ahead I can only advise what the Electro fishing results predict. That is, there will be very few fish returning to the river this year!

For those who managed to join the Owners AGM and heard Alan Youngson, the Scientific Fisheries Advisor speaking, will have noticed that he laced many of his comments with a “perhaps” or “maybe”. This is simply because, although we know what is happening in- river, we have no idea how these fish might be faring at sea.

Board Members had many long and difficult discussions as to whether they should ask Owners to consider not exercising their right to fish in 2026.  The consensus of opinions was that, because there were very few fish predicted to be returning, they might ask Owners not to fish.  As it happened at the AGM, there were Owners who openly suggested that it would be best not to fish again in 2026.

On a personal level, I believe this to be the correct decision for the year ahead.    

I have heard the figure of ten years being mentioned regarding the Forss recovery!    The time period mentioned refers to when the river will no longer be under a compulsory Catch and release imposed by the government.  They make these decisions in five- year blocks!

I believe that the river is in the early stages of recovery and this is thanks, in no small way, to the Owners allowing the fish the respite to do what they do naturally.

Wishing everyone a great Christmas and a Good New Year.   Hopefully, I will be reporting good news in the year ahead.

Although storm Amy didn`t do any very serious damage, she did leave her mark.  The felt roof on the Toilet at the Bothy was damaged and needed repair and this was carried out immediately.  There were railway sleepers stored by the parking place at Crosskirk.  These, and several big boulders, were strewn across the field almost to the Bridge on the river.

The remainder of the month could not have been more variable.  We have had a bit of almost everything thrown at us!  We have had strong winds, flat calms, heavy rain, bright sunshine,very warm days, very cold days!!

With the river running quite high in the latter part of the month we have been unable to identify fish accessing the redds.  We did see a few fish at Lythmore prior to the rise in levels and are confident that they will spawn in the general area.

 With the very prolonged drought over the Summer there is a massive concern that, now the weather has broken, we will have continuous high water which may prevent us from accessing the river to catch up salmon to take eggs to the Hatchery.

That said, the Hatchery is ready to go and has the capacity take over 100,000 eggs.

As the season draws to a close, we will now be posting updates monthly. 

The season on most Northern rivers has come to an end and each and every one declares one of the worst years on record.  It feels almost as if the weather is taking the mickey with all rivers now running high with the season over!

For once the weather forecasters got it absolutely correct with storm Amy battering us with 100 mph winds.  I recorded a gust of 107 mph here in Halkirk.   A couple of slates at the Bothy are missing which will be taken care of immediately, before the real Winter weather sets in.

With the river running at 27 inches on the gauge the river- bed will get a much needed clean out and we now have to wait to see the numbers of fish who will be accessing the redds.  Hopefully, there will be a few more than last year.

Although we have turned over a new page on the calendar, the new month has started as the last month ended with little or no sign of real rain.

It has to be a worry that, when the rain does start, it will forget to stop, causing a massive river.  There is a chain of thought that fish who are preparing to spawn, might seek out a quiet spot to deposit their eggs and this might dry up when the river returns to a normal level.

Personally, I think that fish who can negotiate almost a thousand miles ( and back) to feeding grounds, will have an in-born instinct to hold off spawning until conditions are more suitable and safe to deposit their eggs.

The forecast for over the past weekend was very heavy rain-------- we ended up with a very light drizzle!!  Much of the latter part of the week was very pleasant with sunshine and showers.  This typifies what our year has been like weather wise.    It has to be said that this part of Caithness seems to have it`s very own weather pattern.

We walked upriver from Lythmore toward Shurrery Dam with a view to identifying fish numbers in those areas.   Not surprisingly, there were no great numbers, but the fish that we did see looked to be healthy.  There was also evidence of fish beginning to pair up.

There was little point in getting permission to go above Loch Shurrery at this time, as the lack of water during the year would make it unlikely that any number of fish might have accessed the area.

This has been one of the driest years that I can remember.  In 1976 it was almost as bad but the drought this year started earlier and has been much more prolonged.

Not surprisingly, all of the Northern rivers have had a pretty poor year and will be desperately hoping for some decent rain in the next few days to end the season on a bit of a high.

Although it has been a very poor year generally, the Forss has had a few positives:  Although few in number, the arriving fish have been disease free--------- the electro fishing results at Lythmore, which identified a decent number of parr who will smolt and head to sea in the coming Spring, are signs of the beginning of recovery for the river. It is hoped that these results will be replicated elsewhere in the system.

We now have to hope that the fish that do arrive next year, are also disease free.  Sadly, as with everything that has beset the

Although we have seen the river low several times over the Summer it seems as if someone has pulled the plug completely.  I can only imagine that there are several underground springs that help feed the river which have just dried up.   Also, I have never seen the water so completely gin clear.

There have been no sightings of fish in the Bay in the past couple of weeks.  This should not be very surprising as the majority of fish arriving would have already run.  There will always be a few late arrivals, but, in the main, any fish destined for the river are now selecting sites on where to spawn in October/ November.

STOP PRESS:: I have just spoken to the leader of the Electro-Fishing Team who tells me they have done the usual sites above Loch Shurrery. They found a reasonable number of fry ( much more than last year) which would indicate that the constant high waters in the back-end allowed more fish to access these areas.

They have also fished the Lythmore sites where they had good numbers of Parr and these should smolt next year and migrate to sea.

We are hopeful that these are further small signs of recovery.

These incredible drought conditions continue, with little sign of serious rain in the near future.  This has been the strangest year weather wise, and one can only wonder what the future holds on this front!

I mentioned last week that a few fish had been seen in the lower river.   I can now add to that by telling you that we have seem several fish on the upper river ( Beats 3&4) which is very encouraging for spawning activity this back end.

I will inform you of electro-fishing results as soon possible after the work has been completed.  

Although much has been negative in the year, the fact that the dreaded disease has not been seen, can only be positive.

The forecast storm named Floris paid us a visit on Monday and Tuesday.  As we walked downriver being buffeted all over the place, we had several other choice names for the storm, which are unprintable.

Incredibly, there was very little damage, with a couple of branches blown in to the river and little else to speak of.  The Bothy took a pounding, but all is well there.

 What was quite amazing was the fact that the river hardly moved despite quite heavy rainfall for some time.

We have not seen any fish in the Bay which is hardly surprising with the very heavy seas running.

The river is now completely off the marker and still no sign of any real rain in the immediate future, although we have been visited by the odd heavy thunder-plump!  There is little comfort in the knowledge that all other rivers are suffering with the same conditions.

We are still seeing the odd fish splashing about in the Bay and the presence of a seal makes us think that these fish are destined for the Forss as he visits on a regular basis.   As yet, we have not seen the seal take a salmon.

We have been seeing the odd fish in the lower part of Beat one in the canal water, and I am delighted to report that they appear to be free from any disease.

In reality, we do not need hundreds of fish to enter the system. Rather, if we can get 20 pairs of fish safely on to the redds we will be witnessing the first signs of recovery.

We did see a small swim of fish in the Bay at the weekend.  There is no evidence of them having run the river and I can only assume they were just having a look on their way to another river. With the river having dropped away to almost zero, we feel certain we would have seen any fish present.

These are very difficult times and we are doing everything that we can to overcome the present situation and bring the river back to her former glory.

   It would be wrong not to give huge credit to the Owner/Anglers who have agreed not to fish again this year.

With compulsory Catch and Release we can never be sure what happens to a returned fish.  I have heard stories of the same fish being caught two or three times in the same week.  I have also witnessed fish that were returned, floating downriver, belly up after release.

The electro-fishing survey suggested that there would be virtually no early running fish this year.  This proved to be correct.   This same survey further suggested that there might be a minimal run of grilse.

This also seems to be correct as I have just seen a swim of about 20 or so grilse jumping about in the Bay. Unlike the earlier swim that we saw, these seem to be more keen to access the river.   We need some rain to get them safely in!  

Temperatures rose to an incredible 30 C over the past weekend which is almost unheard of in Caithness.  With the river dropping away and water temperature increasing, we have to be on the alert for any problems.

It really is a very difficult time for the Forss River.  We are quite limited in what we can do as the dreaded disease basically decides what out next step should be.   In the past couple of years we have carried out some repairs to the Spawning areas around Lythmore which had been somewhat washed away by the high waters over the past couple of Winters.. This has been successful as we witnessed fish spawning in those areas in 2024.

The Hatchery in the old Ice House is up and running with the capacity to hold over 100,000 eggs.   The Hatchery was built with the long term in view.  The Trestles are made from scaffolding tube instead of wood, giving it a much longer life.  There is absolutely no reason why this present system should not be in place in fifty years time and still running as efficiently.

I firmly believe (always have done) that every river should have a Hatchery in place for that “rainy day”.

I understand that the Chairman will be adding a photo of the Hatchery to the Picture Library on the site very soon.

The very strange weather continues.   The threat (and forecast) of heavy rain was very much present in the early part of the week.  As ever, very little actually fell!    One could be forgiven for thinking that these forecasters are trainee politicians as they never seem to get anything right!!

I am delighted to report that we saw a swim of fish in the Estuary on Wednesday morning.  It was after low water that we first saw the small swim of about half a dozen fish which mulled around as the tide came in. Hopefully, the beginning of greater things.  We visited again in the early evening and witnessed a couple of very healthy- looking grilse ascending the Falls.

On Thursday morning around the same stage of tide we saw another small swim which should have no problem accessing either the river or the Falls.

We have had quite a remarkable variation in weather conditions during the week.  It has been very wet, very windy, very warm, very cold and, on occasion, very dry!!    We await the Tornado!!

The constant showers have kept river levels around four inches on the marker.    On our river walks we have still to see any salmon. However, as we are only around for 4/5 hours every day, it is quite possible that there have been fish running as they would have no problem negotiating the Falls which is running very nicely.

The forecasters almost got it right this time.  A lot of rain was predicted, and we eventually did get some of it.  The river rose from being completely off the marker to five inches on Sunday but had fallen back to 3.5 ins by Monday.  Although we have had a heavy drizzle for part of the week, it has not impacted on river height.

As ever, we continue with our daily “river-walks”.    I have to report that, as yet, we have not seen any salmon.

What I must add to that statement is that, for the past four days, any fish that did enter the system during the night or when we were not present, would have been able to negotiate the falls without any problem.    We can only hope this has been the case.