The Ness is the most accessible Inverness salmon system — a short, powerful, loch-fed river running straight through the city from Loch Ness to the firth, fishable from the opening day (15 January) to 15 October. Loch Ness buffers extremes, so it stays in order when neighbouring spate rivers are too thin or too wild. Access splits between Inverness Angling Club town water (the ordinary-angler route), the productive Ness Castle / Ness-Side beats, and the Dochfour / Loch Ness outflow beats. There is a hard conservation overlay: the Ness DSFB 2026 policy recommends no deliberate killing of salmon at all, with all salmon and grilse returned until stocks recover — so good conditions should never produce an aggressive 'go kill a fish' prompt. Sea-trout catches are in continued, severe decline; do not sell sea trout as an easy fallback.