The 2006 Season has been a tremendous success. The spring fishing during April and May was the best for many years with substantial numbers of large fish entering the system. The summer months of June and July were particularly hot and dry and the Thurso, like most other rivers, began to struggle. Anglers did however have success on the river either early in the morning or at dusk but generally contended themselves with the fine weather with some either going to the trout lochs or taking advantage of the excellent sea fishing. Rain at the beginning of August really "lit the touch paper"!
Vast numbers of fish, both summer salmon and grilse, that had been lying offshore for the previous few weeks began to run the system; conditions throughout the month were favourable and the catch for August on the river was 518 - the most productive month on the river for nearly 25 years! September continued to fish well with very encouraging numbers of fresh fish entering the system and indeed the last day of the season, October 5th, produced a good number of sea liced fish.
2006 is the first year for a very long time that the netting rights at the mouth of the river have not been exercised. Undoubtedly, significant numbers of "extra" fish entered the system during the summer and this helped the catches. The year finished with a total of 1,305 - making 2006 the most prolific season since 1990. There were a considerable number of new visitors to the Thurso during 2006, the vast majority of whom are intending to return next year and already there are further new bookings for the year ahead.
