A group of about 30 anglers gathered on a clear, frosty morning at Halkirk to mark the start of the 2022 salmon season on the River Thurso.
Piper Alasdair Miller led the group down from the Ulbster Arms Hotel to the Comlifoot Pool, a beat of the river that runs through the village, for the traditional opening ceremony today.
Senior ghillie Geordie Doull pointed out that 2021 had been badly affected by months of drought before a remarkable flurry of catches in the last four days of the season.
Last year 633 fish were caught across all beats of the river, compared with 615 in 2020 when there were tighter Covid rules as well as a period of drought.
“It was a fine, crisp, frosty, clear morning – probably one of the better days that we’ve had in recent years,” Mr Doull said.
“The opening dinner [at the Ulbster Arms] was cancelled, unfortunately, because it wasn’t right with the restrictions we have in place to have a group of people in a hotel together having a meal. But thankfully, because of the nature of fishing being outside, we could still do the opening ceremony and there were probably about 30 people at it.