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Keep your fishing values up and write in the book
9May2011
I have previously noted that some of our fishing rivers have shown improved returns in recent years, but these returns depend on one thing: good records.
We have been asked to value some salmon beats this year, which is a task I am generally happy to undertake. From the valuer’s point of view there is however a difficulty which often arises and this year has illustrated this. The valuer will look at the nature of the beat: is it on a famous or a minor river, how long is it, how many pools are there and are they good holding pools, is it appealing to the fly fisherman but perhaps most important of all are there good records of fish caught? The valuer will pay great attention to the records: do they go back for five years or ten or more? Have the records been carefully kept with plenty of detail or are they sketchy with gaps or even worse: absent altogether?
Salmon and Sea-trout fishings are potentially a very valuable asset however their worth is, as I have suggested, to a large extent determined by their productivity. If that productivity is not faithfully recorded and/or if the integrity of the records is in any doubt the valuer will be forced to mark down the value of the beat accordingly. On large well managed beats where there are one or more ghillies it should not be at all difficult to ensure that the records are well kept. On a famous fishery where I was fortunate to be a guest this year all of the rods completed their returns and comments in a magnificent book kept in the drawing room of the lodge but I also observed the ghillies religiously completing returns for the rods in their charge each day to be subsequently collated by the fishery manager. This is how it should be done and what the valuer wants to see.
I have however visited beats where there is no ghillie and the records consist of a notebook left in the fishing hut for visiting anglers to complete if they remember. This situation can compromise the capital value potential in the valuer’s mind which is a great shame because with a little attention to good administration this difficulty can be overcome. Arrangements can usually be made for the Fishing Record Book to be regularly checked and a duplicate kept and if tenants fail to leave a record, then provided their contact details are kept then any omissions can usually be swiftly put right. So if you are a fishery owner and you are at all concerned about the standard of the records being kept make sure to put your ghillies and fishing tenants under a three line whip: ‘Write it in the Book’ and keep a duplicate!
alasdair.reynolds@bellingram.co.uk
