Salmon Fishing on the River Ness
The River Ness is a big river, carrying the water from its large catchment on the five mile journey from Loch Ness to Inverness and out into the Moray Firth. One of the most productive salmon rivers in the north of Scotland, the Ness produces six to seven hundred salmon in a season and sea trout mainly in the tidal water.
The pattern of salmon runs on the River Ness has altered in recent years. The early runs of spring fish have decreased in favour of increasing runs of summer salmon and grilse. Much of the spring fishing on the Ness is done with the spinning rod, while any early fly fishing is done with long powerful rods of up to 17 feet and large tube flies fished on sinking lines. The summer sees a change to floating lines but long rods of between fifteen and seventeen feet are still favoured by the regulars on the Ness. The upper Ness beats are in private hands and may be difficult to get on but the Inverness Town water is run by the Inverness Angling Club which offers membership at £150 per annum (2023 rates). Permits are also available to visiting anglers on a day or weekly ticket at very reasonable cost.
For more information and photographs of the Inverness Angling Club water see: Fishing at Inverness
River Ness Map
Tap or click on a map below to view full size image
Note: the maps on this website are extracts from the Bartholomew “Half Inch” map series dating back to the middle of the twentieth century. There have been many changes since the maps were made, and much of the human detail, e.g. buildings and roads, will have changed over the period. It is to be hoped, however, that the unique character of our Scottish rivers, and the trout and salmon in them, will not have altered too dramatically over the years and that they may still offer the wonderful fishing prospects of days gone by. Bearing the above in mind, anyone planning a fishing or walking trip in Scotland is advised to equip themselves with a compass and the appropriate up-to-date Ordnance Survey map, the most useful for the angler probably being the Landranger series, scale 1:50,000. For the Ness, see O.S. map number 26.
For further information about the fishing on the Ness see River Ness Fishing
For information about the trout fishing in the area see Trout Fishing Scotland