What’s happening in the world of game-fishing

JUNCTION BEAT FOR SALE

The most famous salmon beat in the UK, the Junction, meeting point of the Tweed and Teviot rivers in Kelso, has been placed on the open market for ‘offers over

£2.8 million’. It is being sold alongside Sprouston, marching a short distance downstream of Kelso, for which offers are sought over £2.65 million. Both fisheries have been owned by the Miller family since the mid-1970s when they were bought from the Duke of Roxburghe. Robert McCulloch, head of estate sales at Strutt & Parker, explained that they are being sold because the “next generation” of the Miller family are “less passionate” about salmon fishing.

He explained that a beat valuation analyses many variables including its five- and ten-year rod catch averages, whether it is single- or double-bank, and primarily a summer and autumn river or spring to autumn, all of which leads to a “capitalisation rate of pounds per fish”. He added, “Then, you stand back and consider whether there is any additional premium, to reflect the scarcity of the opportunity, or the prestige. But, ultimately, the market will determine what these beats are worth.”

The 1½-mile, double-bank, six-rod Junction beat (pictured, top) has a five-year average of 330 salmon. The tally at two-mile, two-rod, single-bank Sprouston (bottom) is 310.