A professional career based salmon fishing guide's breakdown of the functionality of a Scottish river salmon fishing hut.
A Scottish salmon fishing hut is the true activity hub on all salmon beats and all properly organised and professionally run salmon beats have one. There's never two fishing huts that are alike either as they are all usually structured, designed & built differently. Salmon fishing huts often have real character and can instantly bring back special memories for many returning salmon fishers. The Head Ghillie on a salmon beat usually personalises his hut and makes sure the hut is clean, tidy, heated and has a source of hot water for tea & coffee and fascilities for heating food for fishing guests at lunchtime. Often a salmon fishing hut will be carefully positioned on the riverbank above the known high waterline to keep the hut dry during flood conditions although I used to work on the Tay from one which always flooded during the high water of early Spring!
A salmon fishing hut is a great meeting place of visiting salmon fishers and a place where they can build up their rods and take fishing instructions & advice from the Head Ghilie prior to the morning fishing session. At 1pm the fishing guests return to the fishing hut for their lunch break and then are re-allocated different salmon pools to focus on for the afternoon fishing session. At the end of the fishing day around 5pm the fishing guests usually return to the hut to report their catches and if they are going to fish on through the evening the Head Ghillie will again work out a fishing plan for the guests. The fishing hut also serves as a shelter during rough weather conditions when fishers need a break from the elements or to dry off soaked clothing during heavy rainfall days. Many of the fishing huts I've operated from have had shower & full kitchen facilities too for the salmon fishers and the ocassional caterers.
When a salmon fishing venue is booked exclusively for a guest party the salmon fishing hut can sometimes be transformed by caterers into a formal dining room which makes a fantastic place to have lunch. In periods of rough weather there's also nothing more welcoming than the warmth of the fishing hut's wood burning stove or coal fire to dry off beside before recommencing fishing. If you book a salmon fishing guide in Scotland you'll be taken to a salmon fishing venue that will have one of these fabulous riverbank structures. On a personal basis I got married in a River Tay fishing hut and some of my greatest riverbank memories also were formed with colleagues around the fishing hut fire at the end of the fishing day.
