A fishy business..

When Gail comes home from work she has a habit of telling me the news from the office (whether or not I asked). Last week, her Perthshire-based colleague Beth was apparently all excited to be attending a big event celebrating the start of the Scottish salmon fishing season. Beth's husband is a ghillie on the River Tay.

Well yesterday Gail and I went for an amble along our local salmon river, the Dee, but failed to spot any anglers standing in the icy waters. After the walk we passed by a shop in Banchory and, noticing a 'dogs welcome' sign on the door, went in to have a look round.

In one quiet corner of the shop, I spotted some interesting activity and called Gail over to have a look...

Within seconds I was surrounded by admirers.

"Ooh a fox terrier!"
'Such splendid dogs, we had them when I was a boy."
"What a fine specimen, this one, so alert."
"A real terrier, bursting with character."

All true of course.

Rather rudely, I thought, Gail interrupted my new fan club to ask about the equipment on the table.

We learned that we'd chanced upon a fly tying workshop and these men were engaged in the delicate art stitching together assorted feathers and fluff in the hope of fashioning a lure that will prove irresistible to our notoriously wary salmon.

Oh, and apparently the fish on the Dee can swim safely for another couple of weeks, as the men (it almost always is men) with the rods and flies are not let loose until 1st February in this part of Scotland.

I shall report back from the river next month.