Defence Driving System
Every river is divided into sections called a beat. A beat is Defence Driving System Review determined by who owns the land on either side of the river. The landowners are known as riparian owners which means that they own the land or river bank that runs alongside the river and own the fishing rights providing they haven't sold or leased out the rights. The size of a beat can be as small as a kilometer or up to 4 or 5 kilometers long depending on the size of the estate the river runs through.
Although there is no national rod licence required to fish in Scotland as there is in England you do need a permit to fish for salmon. Permits are issued on a daily basis by the individual beat owners and are bookable in advance. All beats issue a maximum number of daily permits which is usually restricted to 6 or 8 depending on the size of the beat. Permit prices vary quite considerably depending on the river, quality of the beat and the time of year. For the first six or seven months of the season permits can be from as little as £20.00 per day up to £75.00 per day.
The main salmon runs traditionally start in early August and last right through to the end of the season in October so permit prices start to rise quite considerably from August onwards. During the latter months of the season prices can be anything from £60.00 a day to in excess of £450.00 per day, again depending on the on the river and quality of beat. As a rule of thumb the higher the permit price the higher the annual catch rate will be on any given beat. You can still find relatively inexpensive salmon fishing on some of the smaller rivers or less productive beats of the major rivers for £30.00 to £60.00 per day.
If you hire a professional guide he or she will be able to advise you on the best salmon fishing available at the time to suit your requirements and budget and should be able to secure permits for you. If you want to fish without a guide then permits are available online either direct from the beat website or from an online booking agency. Local tackle shops can also provide permits. On the main rivers availability for the top beats in the latter months of the season, August, September and October is very limited so booking early is always advisable.
