Keen fly fisher, His Majesty King Harald V of Norway, was presented with a uniquely inscribed, Hardy Salmon rod and Hardy Angel 2 rod to mark his acceptance on being given the Honorary Freedom of Newcastle Upon Tyne at a civic ceremony last week. This rod was specially commissioned by Newcastle City Council and underlines the relationship the Council has with businesses in the North East region, and the relationship Hardy & Greys Ltd have with Norway.

The annual "Salmon Sunday" event was held this past weekend at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Check out the short video inside which shows kids what it is all about to strip eggs from salmon, courtesy of Joe Pych from Hooked-In Fishing Reports.

2008 has been a great year for monster Atlantic salmon but now a giant Pacific salmon has also been found. A 51in (130cm) long monster was found dead after spawning in a tributary of the Sacramento River by biologists during a spawning survey. From length and girth measurements the biologists suggest the fish would have weighed approximately 85lbs (38.6Kg). This salmon has passed on its genes to a future generation and with clear water and a free passage we'll be seeing more of these great specimens return to the Sacramento.

For photos and full story click here.

Local wild salmon interests, including the Ness District Salmon Fishery Board and the Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust, have expressed their total opposition to an application to double the size of a fish farm on Loch Ness. Lighthouse Caledonia, which uses the Dores site to produce juvenile salmon, has applied to SEPA to have its maximum permitted production of fish in the loch increased from 120 tonnes per year to 240 tonnes per year.

Surely this is the real Loch Ness monster! ...Ed.

The Norwegian Tourist board part of Innovation Norway has complained formally to the BBC about the BBC's misleading television report on the treatment of Gyrodactylus Salaris (Gs) in Norway’s salmon rivers  (Broadcast Monday 20 October/Tuesday 21 October on Television and radio). The BBC even state on their website that ‘Hundreds of Norwegian rivers are being treated with chemicals to kill off bacteria which are destroying the country's freshwater salmon stocks’. This is simply not true as only 46 rivers out of 600 have been infected since the parasite first appeared over thirty years ago.

The North Atlantic Salmon Fund holds its major UK fundraising event of the year next Wednesday 29th October at Chandos House in London.

The annual live auction and reception hopes to raise significant funds to help the NASF meet its ongoing commitments to buying out nets that would normally be fishing for salmon and to continue its mission to see the Atlantic Salmon stocks returned to their natural abundance across their range.

Click inside to see the auction brochure for what is on offer......

To help you prepare for a trip of a lifetime to that salmon destination of your dreams or even if you want to learn the basics for fishing closer to home, Sportfish have designed these new courses specifically to give you the skills you need to make the most of your fishing.

With Norway awash with wonderful, powerful and pure salmon rivers this table should make mouthwatering reading. We examine the 21st century salmon rod catches from the top 60 salmon rivers of Norway and highlight those improving rivers (green) and those fairing not so well in recent years (red). The rivers are ranked in order of their 6 year average.