D
IVE PARTNERJohn Mcintyre and
I arrived at a caravan park that
backs onto the River Tavy in the
hope of finding salmon. It was October, so
the trees were heavy with golden-brown
foliage and there was a nip in the air.
Leaves falling into the river provided
a surreal autumnal experience once under
water, and being Devon it was raining,
though the water had only a slight tea-
coloured tinge about it.
The pool was about 10m wide and
perhaps 7m at its deepest, which for a river
dive is pretty helpful.
The riverbed was lined with large
smooth rocks but the fast water kept any
silt from forming. Although some sections
were quite fast-moving the pool was fairly
slack, allowing for a stress-free dive.
Starting downstream, we slowly made
our way into the deeper parts, until we
could see large dark shapes.
This is one of the things I love about
river diving, not knowing what you might
come across. Pretty much all of our fish
species can be found in rivers, so a dive
can be a real lucky dip.
We skirted past large boulders, and
a cave likely worn down from years of
erosion looked promising.
Most of the fish we were seeing were sea
trout, and they would usually dart off
before we could get anywhere near them,
but the odd fish would remain still and
allow us to get close, caught between fight
and flight mode.
One of these fish was not a sea trout but
a beautifully coloured salmon, the king of
fishes, and it allowed me to take a fewdivEr 52
snaps. That the river was relatively low
was good for me, not only because of the
easier dive conditions but because it
meant that the salmon had to wait in the
deeper water until the rains came and
allowed it to move on.
It's the mystery of fish that intrigues
me most, Nature that for most people is
hidden out of sight, out of mind.‘Why I decided to
be the first person
to film every
species of UK fish
in inland waters,’
by JACK PERKSFRESH WATER MISSION