River Alness
River Alness
 The River Alness (also known as the Averon) flows from Loch Morie in Easter Ross, just 11 miles to its mouth on the Cromarty Firth below the town of Alness. It is a beautiful Highland spate river with one of the steepest descents (over 600 ft) of any river of comparable length in Scotland. A dam on Loch Morie provides compensation flow during periods of low rainfall.
The salmon fishing on the River Alness is owned or controlled by 4 parties. Novar Estate own the majority of the fishings which are split into 2 different stretches of water, both double-banked. The upper Novar beats start below Loch Morie and extend for about 3 miles downstream to the junction with the Blackwater. The lower Novar Fishings start about 2.3 miles further downstream and extend for a further 3.7 miles ending just north of the town of Alness.
Raven's Rock, Novar Fishings
 The statutory season begins on 11th February and continues until 31st October, however the Novar Fishings do not open until March 15th. The Alness has a small spring run of salmon and sea trout from late April until early June, and the first main grilse run traditionally expected in late June, is now appearing in early-July. The most productive part of the season is generally from mid-July through until the end of October.
A First Salmon!
The Alness is not a wide river, and a 12-13 ft AFTM #8/10 double-handed rod is generally sufficient, though 14-15 ft AFTM 10/11 weight rods can be advantageous in high water. In summer months, great sport can be had with a 10-11ft single-handed rod, but these should be of a minimum AFTM rating of #7/8. Favourite flies for low water conditions are shrimp patterns such as Ally's Shrimp, Yellow Ally's, Cascade, Stoat's Tail (and variants), Munro Killer, Willie Gunn and Collie Dog (and variants) tied on doubles, as well as small bottle tubes. Towards the end of the season and in higher water conditions, 1" to 2" brass and copper tube flies such as Willie Gunn, Findhorn Killer and Ally's Shrimp are preferred.
The River Alness typically produces rod catches of 500-700 salmon & grilse per year of which about two thirds are caught on the Novar waters.
On the River Alness we can offer salmon fishing on the Novar Fishings.
Novar Fishings
 The Novar Fishings offer 6 rotating beats, allowing rods to fish a different beat each day of the week. The average length of each beat is 1.1 miles, with typically 15 to 20 named pools per beat allowing for 4 rods. The Novar Fishings are rotational and anglers normally fish all 6 beats during the course of a full week's fishing e.g. M6, T1, W4, T2, F5, S3 or M3, T6, W1, T4, F2, S5 etc.
Beat 4, Novar Fishings
The total catch for the Novar beats in the 2008 season was 398 salmon & grilse resulting in a 5-year average up to and including 2008 of 361.
For detailed information regarding the Novar Fishings including availability, pricing, catch returns, beat descriptions and maps, regulations, photos etc., please visit the Novar Fishings micro-site on AlnessFishing.com:
Click to go to the Novar Fishings website
Some More Photos:  Novar, Beat 1 |  Novar, Beat 2 | |  Novar, Beat 3 |  Novar, Beat 4 | |  Novar, Beat 5 |  Novar, Beat 6 | | | | |
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