Salmon fishing has long been regarded as a rich man’s game. This reputation doubtless stems from the fact that large numbers of anglers rent their fishing by the week, while residing bankside in stately lodges that come complete with an attendant array of cooks and cleaners, keepers and ghillies. While ideal for the decadent, you don’t necessarily need pockets as deep as the Marianas Trench to find quality fishing, however, as some of the nation’s lesserknown rivers still provide excellent sport in imperious surrounds. Here are 10 places where day tickets are available for less than £50 a day – a price that should encourage you to write off the recession and return to the riverbank.

River Farrar, Inverness

Glen Strathfarrar is as beautiful as Glen Affric, yet boasts the additional bonus of fine salmon fishing to boot. Tumbling down amidst some of the most spectacular scenery in Scotland, including heather, blaeberries and lofty Scots pines, its dark waters are home to kingfishers, otters and salmon aplenty – especially later in the year. One of the two major tributaries of the Beauly, the Farrar boasts an illustrious past and, although its powers have since been harnessed by a hydro scheme, the fishing has remained surprisingly stable. Moreover, it is thanks to the scheme that the river runs steadily even in times with little rainfall and, as an additional bonus, a ‘freshette’ is unleashed every Thursday and Friday. Culligran Estate owns five miles of double-bank fishing with some 30 named pools divided amongst its three beats, from which 102 salmon were landed last year.

Price: from £20 per day. Season: 1 June – 15 October Tel: 01463 761 285 www.culligrancottages.co.uk

River Nith, Dumfries

Well-known for its abundance of sea trout, the Nith’s salmon fishing really comes into its own at the tail end of the season, when fresh fish can legally be caught right up to the end of November – thus giving it an extra four weeks fishing than most other rivers in Britain. It is also known to be pretty egalitarian too, for some 62 per cent of its 45 miles is owned by local angling associations, making it one of the most accessible rivers in Scotland, and day tickets can be bought for many beats on the river, so the visiting angler is spoiled for choice.

Price: from £25 per day Season: 25 February - 30 November www.rivernithfishings.co.uk

River Tilt, Blair Atholl

Glen Tilt, a classic u-shaped glacial valley, has to be one of the most dramatic locations in Scotland, and the river that runs down it offers fishing with a true Highland feel. While the lower sections are quite heavily forested the top two beats boast barely a tree between them, allowing for comparatively carefree casting and wading is seldom required. Vast boulders and rocky protrusions create tempting lies and salmon can often be seen idling in the current, which can make for adrenaline sport. Tilt fish are some of the most athletic in the land – to get there they need to travel up the mighty Tay and the tumbling Tummel – so the fishing tends to be better later in the season. But, as part of the Tay system, it is also home to some very decent fish.

Price: from £30 per day Season: 1 June – 15 October Tel: 01796 481 355 www.atholl-estates.co.uk

River Lussa and the Home Loch, Isle of Jura

While more popular with stalkers than fishermen, Jura still boasts some excellent angling. And for those seeking a day ticket, the Lussa system is second to none. Visitors have the choice of either taking a boat on the Home Loch or the two rods on the river itself – the former being the better option in dryer periods, while the latter’s Guinness-hued pools are pure excitement when in spate. Given the remote nature of the island, the fish are seldom molested, and it’s a rare privilege to be able to fish a river from source to sea in a single day – most likely without seeing a soul as you follow its course down past Luing cattle, Jacob sheep and the island’s ubiquitous deer.

Price: £45: two rods on the river, £45: a boat on the loch. Season: 1 April – 15 October Tel: 01496 820 323 www.ardlussaestate.com

River Snizort, Isle of Skye

It’s a name you’re unlikely to forget and, considering the fishing, that’s no bad thing. For, under the auspices of fisheries manager Derek Dowsett, the Snizort’s catches are now heading towards levels unheard of for decades – last year saw some 193 salmon and 80 seat trout brought to book. Dowsett controls over eight miles of the river, which stretches from Loch Duagrich to the sea. The top third, while comparatively flat, is set amongst the splendid isolation of North-west Skye, so signs of civilisation are refreshingly thin on the ground; below an impressive falls the middle section meanders its way through a wide floodplain; while the lower section is squeezed through croys to create a tempting selection of channels and runs.

Price: half day £25, full day from £50. Season: 10 February – 15 October Tel: 01470 532 297 www.skyesalmon.co.uk 108

The Deveron, Aberdeenshire

While less well known than Scotland’s greatest rivers, the Deveron is in fact Britain’s fifth most prolific system, and so surely deserves to be ranked right up alongside its more hallowed neighbours of the North east. All the more so, as the largest salmon to have ever been caught on a fly in Britain, a 61-pounder, was landed on its banks. But fishermen should be thankful for its relative anonymity – the fact that it’s not as famous as the Tweed, Dee, or Tay means it is still accessible to mere mortals and you won’t need to remortgage your house to cast into its salmonfilled streams. Moreover, unlike the vast expanses of water that can face you on the ‘big four’, the Deveron’s 60-odd miles are considerably less daunting to fish.

Price: from £30 per day. Season: 11 February – 31 October Tel: 01888 562 428 www.fishingthedeveron.co.uk

River Carron, Wester Ross

One of a number of Carrons in Scotland, the Wester Ross version is distinguished from its namesakes by the recent meteoric rise of its salmon population. Indeed, only three fish were caught back in 1998, while last year the total was some 279, including a titanic 32-pounder. The reason for this astonishing turnaround comes in the shape of Bob Kindness, a local fisheries guru, who has helped to pioneer a number of methods to improve the breeding – anglers are given a keep-net to help ensure the future of the river’s fish. The best of the fishing occurs on the final two-and-a-half miles, between Loch Doule and its confluence with the sea at Achintree, where two rods are available on each of the four beats.

Price: £20 per rod per day Season: 15 March – 15 October Tel: 01520 722 229

Iorsa, Arran

A classic spate river, which rises in Arran’s rugged northern hills before flowing down into the Kilbrannan Sound, the Iorsa offers a good variety of fishing. The top beat includes an eponymous loch, which can be fished from a boat, as well as a stretch of river which descends through a selection of temptingly deep riffles and runs. As the glen widens the lower beat boasts holding pools surrounded in places by immaculate lawns and ornamental plants and fresh silvery fish can even be tempted from the sea pool, framed by shingle on the beach. Despite the river’s remote setting, a track makes all fishing easily accessible and unless there’s been a deluge of biblical proportions a trout rod should suffice.

Price: £35 per day Season: 15 June – 31 October Tel: 01770 840 259 www.dougarie.com

Esk and Liddle, Borders

These rivers, which rise in the high rolling hills of the Borders and drain into the Solway Firth, have long been favourite havens for sea trout and late-season salmon. Buccleuch Estates own some 20 miles of fishing, from the fast flowing stretch at Newcastleton, which boasts excellent value autumn fishing, to the more sedate and manicured surrounds closer to Canonbie, which offers the sort of ‘drive-in fishing’ that is suitable for those with ‘office feet’, according to fisheries manager, Ian Bell. Unsurprisingly, given the length of water available and the varied terrain of this part of Scotland, there are beats to suit all pockets and tastes. Drowners of molluscs will be pleased to here that there are several deep ‘linns’, in which worming is permitted, while in general the area offers fly fishing only, in fast-flowing water on intimate streams.

Price: from £10 per day Season: 1 April - 31 October Tel: 01387 381 951 www.elfisheries.co.uk/elfisheries/

River Luce, Galloway

The Luce has long been famed for the numbers of sea trout – Lord Stair recalls an angler catching over 100 in a single night, and being mildly disappointed to land only 90 the following evening! While, sadly, these halcyon days appear to have passed, the river still offers some excellent sport and a sea trout weighing in at an astonishing 18lb 4oz was caught in 1998. Moreover, the estate has run a salmon hatchery for the last 15 years, so numbers of the sea trout’s cousin are on the ascent. Although the river has traditionally only been accessible to members of syndicates, the bottom three beats have been recently made available to fisherman with day tickets and offer fine fishing amidst the leafy surrounds of Galloway’s remote, yet verdant, south-western extreme.

Price: £40 per day Season: 25 February – 31 October Tel: 01776 702 024 www.stair-estates.co.uk