PAUL LAWRIE OPENS THE 2016 RIVER DEVERON FISHING SEASON

Local anglers and friends of the Deveron Board & Trust gathered on the river this week to celebrate the opening of the 2016 salmon fishing season.

The Trust were delighted to welcome along Aberdeen-born golf champion Paul Lawrie MBE, winner of The Open in 1999 and Ryder Cup in 2012, who had the honour of presenting this year's Morison Trophy during the ceremony.

The Morison Trophy honours a remarkable event back in 1924, when Mrs "Tiny" Morison established the record for the largest fly caught salmon in the UK, weighing in at a whopping 61lb, here on the Deveron. It was in 2008 that her family teamed up with the trust to design a memorial trophy, known as The Morison Trophy, to be awarded annually for the largest fly-caught fish recorded from the river.

This year, the trophy went to Mr Craig Wyness, a familiar face at the ceremony having won the trophy once before in 2013. Mr Wyness's winning fly-caught salmon was reeled in right here on our very own Upper Netherdale beat, weighing in at 30.5lbs.

Following presentation of the trophy and prizes by Paul Lawrie and Gordon Morison, a piper led the procession down to the riverbank, where Mr Lawrie was given the great honour of blessing the river with a dram of Deveron distillery 18 year old whisky, toasting the river and wishing everybody “Tight Lines”for the 2016 season.

Trophy winner Craig Wyness was then invited to take the first cast of the season as the crowds watched on, eager to fetch their rods and have a go themselves.

So after a fantastic start, here's to a successful season and some big catches in 2016!