The final week of the season starting with the first ground frost of autumn, this was as cold as it would get, temperatures climbed well into the teens through the day and rarely dropped into single figures even at night. It was only once storm Amy arrived in Caithness towards the end of the week did it feel more like autumn with gales and 2 inches of rain in 48 hours lifting the river to its highest level since January. 

Although conditions were often against our visiting anglers there was still a few notable catches. Ken McGeorge caught a cracking 15-pounder from beat 8 on Monday. Dave Booker had a grilse from beat 10. Gary Hendry picked up one from beat 7 weighing 14-pounds. Dr Mike Leach had two, the best a 12-pounder from beat 8. Andrew Rettie, John Robbins and Peter Duncan all with a fish each. Saturday was the only fishless day due to a rising and coloured river. And although this rise was a too late to benefit anglers the river will get a good clean out and the fish will now have the water to move freely throughout the river and its tributaries.

From an angling perspective the 2025 season has proved a difficult one. Like many other rivers across the North the Thurso suffered from prolonged droughts with only a handful of brief lifts in levels which were all to short lived. The final total of 202 does not accurately the number of fish that was in the river, but rather the poor conditions.

The River Thurso team extends a huge thank you to all who visiting the river in 2025. We also want to express our gratitude to Jess and her hard working  team at the Ulbster Arms Hotel. And finally to the ghillies, their steadfast dedication, whit and banter made those difficult days more bearable, enjoy a well earned break.

Thank you.