LTS Explosive

I recently picked up one of the LTS Explosive rods from Sean Stanton at FrancNSnealda.com and I can't wait to try it out properly. I had an hours casting practise with it last week and I must say I was really impressed with what it is capable of.

The LTS Explosive 12ft 6in. Casting made easy!

I use smaller rods more than the big 14ft or 15ft rods and I will now have a real beast of a go to rod for my salmon fishing. It's a very powerful rod  for just being 12ft 6in in length. It certainly made casting effortless when I tried it out with a Rio Scandi and T Tip attached. I really can't wait to get out there and have a full day's fishing with it with the proper matching line from LTS. Hopefully it will be appearing in a number of my Blog posts this season with a salmon or two on the end of my line.

Sean Stanton, the head ghillie on the Ballogie Estate fishings has the full range of LTS rods as well as their lines, reels and clothing available from his on-line shop at Franc N Snaelda. If you are on the look out for a new rod then have a look at these. You won't be disappointed!

Carlogie - River Dee

I had a day on the Carlogie beat of the River Dee last Saturday under the guidance of head ghillie, Sean Stanton. Carlogie has to be one of my favorite beats to fish purely down to the peace and seclusion of the pools and also the quality of the fish available in the right conditions. Carlogie is more notable as prolific low water beat but I much prefer it when the water is high and the fish are confined to just tow or three pools. On Saturday I was lucky enough to be there when conditions were near as perfect as I could have wished for.

A cracking fresh run River Dee springer about to be released back into the water. 

On arrival tot he beat in the morning, the Potarch Bridge gauge was reading 4ft 6in but running clear after a recent spate due to snow melt. Despite the presence of snow melt water, the water temperature had warmed up during the course of the week and was hovering around the magical 40f mark which seems to get fish running.

Looking upstream from the seat overlooking the Village Pool. 

As the water was on the medium to high side, I opted to set up with my 14ft 9in Guideline AWM matched up with a Guideline I/S1/S2 shooting head with a 10ft 7ips versi leader. My fly of chose initially was a 1 1/4" Black and Yellow conehead.

Fishing down the Village Pool during the morning session. 

I started my day off in the Boat and Village pools. These are both cracking high water pools and offer anglers a great chance of hooking a fish. My run through the Boat Pool proved fruitless but I did manage to land a big kelt from the Village Pool which I initially thought was a fresh fish the way it was running about all over the pool. Sadly it wasn't but at least I knew my tactics were working reasonably well.

Looking downstream from the bench at Pitslug. 

After fishing the Boat and Village Pools I made my way up river to have a cast in the Pitslug Pool. The Pitslug is another good high water pool on the beat and can be very productive at most heights of water too. Sean had pointed out the likely lie in the pool at this height of water and I had this fresh in my head as I made my way down the pool.

An underwater still of the Chartreuse Monkey in action. You can easily see why the Salmon love them!

Pitslug is a fairly deep pool and my I/S1/S2 line with the 7ips tip was fishing well. I had not ling started fishing down the pool when I let my fly swing a bit too far into the bank and it was snagged up. Try as I might, I just couldn't shift it and the leader eventually gave way taking my Black and Yellow tube fly with it. I attached a new bit of fluro carbon and decide now was a good time to try out a different fly. I opted for a 1" aluminium Chartreuse Monkey this time. I began fishing again and was soon down to the hot spot pointed out by Sean earlier in the day. I could have not had anymore than half a dozen casts when the line tore off across the stream. Exactly where Sean said there would be a fish lying! I firmly lifted into what felt like a very strong fish and held on tight. It pulled hard as it went back and forth across the pool but all the while staying deep. It just wasn't for showing itself. I was 99% sure it was a fresh fish but I decided to wait before calling Sean for back up as it was lunch time and I didn't want him to come all the way up just to net a big kelt.

Well worth the wait! Posing with a cracking fish from the River Dee.

After a struggling to subdue the fish in the heavy current I finally decide to give Sean a call. By now it was well into lunch time and Sean was sitting at home enjoying a sandwich. He called Ian Fraser, the ghillie from Commonty as he was close by and Ian arrived just in time to slip the net under a beautiful springer. He quickly weighed it in the net and it tipped the scales at 13lb. After a quick photo it was safely released back into the Dee to continue it's journey. What a fish to open my account with!

Back he goes. Doing my bit for Catch and Release. 

Ian and I sat for a while chatting on the bank but as it was only just 2pm, we thought I'd better give it another run through in case there was another fish lying around. My second run through the pool proved fruitless but after landing that fish I was more than happy to settle for just the one for my day.


Next up for me is a trip to Tayside and fingers crossed I can replicate my success on the Dee down there too.

Fulling Mill Tube Fly Box

I was delighted to be given the new Fulling Mill tube fly box recently and it wasn't long before I got to put it through it's paces on the River Dee. It stood up to the task very well and here is a quick review of what I thought of my new fly box.

The new Fulling Mill Tube Fly Box loaded and ready for action.

The tube fly box is slightly larger than the traditional fly box style but that just means you can store more flies in it! It measures 20.6cm x 14.7cm x 2.7cm and comes with 4 compartments which span the width of the box. These compartments can be split into any size you need as it comes supplied with 16 spacers. This makes it ideal to store anything from the smallest micro tubes to the largest Sunray Shadow type flies. Having a larger fly box will also limit the bulkiness of vest or jacket pockets that numerous boxes would take up and in turn makes things easier to find.

The adjustable compartment sizes are very handy to save squashing in larger flies.

I've lost the contents of several fly boxes over the years due to dropping the box into the river whilst open or losing flies as the wind blows them out the box. With it's clear plastic lid this box is perfect for picking out your desired fly pattern without having the box open as I search for it. The sturdy clips will also keep the box tightly closed if it was ever dropped into the river and the lightweight plastic construction allows it float for easy recovery in such situations.


If you are on the market for a new fly box then I'd certainly recommend giving this one a try. The fly box retails at £10.50 which is very reasonable for what you get as some fly boxes on the market today can be double or even treble the cost of this one and will hold no where near as many flies or hooks.

Fulling Mill Tube Fly Box

Orton - River Spey

My first trip to Speyside of 2018 saw me fishing on the Orton beat which is situated around 8 miles for the sea near Fochabers. River levels for our day were sitting at 2ft on the beat gauge and this was falling away nicely after a rise earlier on in the week due to melting snow. The beat had recorded it's first fish of the season on the Monday prior to our arrival and hopes were high. The water temps were still very cold and we were hoping that this cold water would slow a few running fish down as the made their way up river.

Looking upstream from the til of Lower Cairnty.

Charlie and I arrived at the beat around 8.30am to be greeted by ghillie, Richard Hold. We had a chat about tactics etc as we put on our waders so after taking Richard's advice, I opted for a I/S1/S2 shooting head with a 4ips versi leader. My initial fly of choice was a 1 1/2" gold body Willie Gunn tube with a red cone.

I started my day of fishing the Suicide Run.

After a brief introduction to the fellow anglers it was time for the draw. I was to be fishing the Suicide Run first then up to fish the Willows. Once that was fished through I was to have a cast in Upper Cairnty after that. Charlie was to start in the Lower Cairnty and continue down in to Arns.

Looking upstream from the Willows.

Suicide Run is just a small corner of a pool but you can see why a fish would stop in the quite bay for a rest before pushing on through the Willows and House Pool above. Kevin, the head ghillie had advised me to fish with a bit of stealth in the pool as the fish tend to be easily spook if you walk along the high bank above. This is what I did and despite my best efforts to fish the poll with minimal fuss, I didn't connect with anything but it was fishing really nicely with my current set up.

Fishing down through the Willows.

Looking upstream from the tail of Willows.

After a short walk upstream, the next pool I was to fish was called The Willows. The Willows is a fast flowing pool with the current predominately running down the south bank. My set up was ideal for this pool as it required getting the fly down through the stream quickly before being swept away by the strong current. I carefully fished my way down the pool trying to keep the fly as slow and deep as I could but the fish, if any there, were not interested in my offerings so I headed off down for another run through Suicide Run. This proved to be fruitless but you were just waiting for the line to tighten after every cast.

Looking upstream into Cooperee from Upper Cairnty.

Fishing down Upper Cairnty shortly before landing a well mended kelt.

The Upper Cairnty, as the name suggest, is the top part of a large pool which is probably around 400 yards long. With the river running the height it was, there was a good chance a fish or two might be holding in here. With Richard's advice fresh in my mind, I waded out into the pool and began fishing my way down. I continued to use the same set up as before as the pool was fairly deep in places. I got to about half way down the pool when I had a subtle take of my fly. I lifted into a spirited little kelt which was very well mended. Sadly, it wasn't the springer we were looking for but at least it gave a bit more confidence in what I was doing. Unfortunately, That was it for me during the morning session so it was back to the hut for a much needed heat up and some lunch.

Fishing the Upper Cairnty.

After lunch I was to start where I had finished so I made my way back down to the Cairnty Pool. The lower half of the pool was to be fished off the bank and I fished my way down stream. There were a few more kelts starting to show themselves but my heavier set up was proving to be too heavy for this section of the pool. I changed lines over to a F/H/I and a lighter 3ips tip. This seemed to be fishing much better and my fly boxes breathed a sigh of relief as one after another, I lost a fly to the bottom of the Spey. The howling wind and snow were not making casting any easier though and it was a real struggle at times just to get the line out straight. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't temp anything to take my fly so I headed off down to the Arns for a quick run through before having another go in Cairnty.

The Arns. Charlie had a well mended kelt from this cracking wee pool before lunch.

The Arns is another faster flowing pool on the beat and the little bay half way down looked like another spot where a fish might rest up. Charlie managed to winkle a kelt of it during the morning session so there were definitely something lying in it. By this time the cold snap had sucked the life out my phone battery and I never got a picture of the pool on the day but the photo below is one a took a few years back on a previous visit. There was nothing to report from fishing the pool for me anyway.

Having another run through Lower Cairnty.

I decide to give the Cairnty another go just before calling it a day so I switched back to the I/S1/S2 set up but opted for a 2" Black and Yellow tube with a silver cone. Almost immediately after restarting the poll I had a good take and lifted into what felt like a strong fish. It began taking a few yards of line off the reel and for a brief minute or two Charlie and I thought it might have been a fresh fish. Unfortunately though, it was just another very well mended kelt. It would have certainly been a good fish when fresh but not what we were after. It was quickly returned and I began fishing the pool down again. Several casts later I felt my fly snag the river bed and try as I might, i just couldn't free it. After a bit of gentle persuasion, I managed to free the line but the river bed had claimed yet another one of my flies! This was the ideal time to call it a day so I would the line back on the reel and headed off back to the hut.

The tail of Lower Cairnty basking in a brief period of sunshine.

It was great to be back at Orton after not managing the past 2 years due to being slow off the mark when booking rods. The Cairnty Pool is a cracker and you can see why it would produce lots of fish on it's day. Hopefully one day ion the not too distant future I will return again for another crack at landing a Spey springer. Tight lines!

No Fishing! Beaten By The Weather

My annual three day trip to fish the River Dee at Ballogie was scuppered last week as the cold front brought in by the "Beast from the East" took it's toll. The river was full of grue (ice floes) and some areas of the Dee were completely frozen over. I had really hoped my Blog post from my trip to Ballogie this year would have been full of nice photos of fresh run, spring salmon but instead, it's just photos of snow and ice!

A stunning wintry scene at Potarch Bridge. Not what we wanted for our fishing though!

It wasn't just anglers on Deeside who suffered though. Large parts of the country ground to a complete stand still after the deep blanket of snow covered most of the UK. As I write this, the snow is still falling in the higher parts of the Dee valley and it looks as though there could be more frozen conditions coming to hinder anglers booked to fish the upper beats. 

The ice along the margins was around 6" thick in places!

Daytime temperatures in the Ballogie area of -8c with wind chill bringing that temperature down even further made travelling very difficult. The roads were impassible to all but the best 4x4 vehicles or tractors as snow drifts blowing off the fields reached some 6 or 7 feet high in places. Fishing was not going to happen anytime soon for us and we just had to sit tight hoping to 

Looking upstream from the Burn of Angels towards Potarch Bridge.

The tail of the Bridge Pool at Ballogie full of ice.

Friday did bring a slight improvement to the weather but the grue in the river wasn't going to shift anytime soon as temperatures struggled to get above -2c. Not sure what the water temperatures were but i'd be very surprised if the were any higher 31/32f at most. Access to our cottage was proving very difficult and after several failed attempts to drive along the access road, we gave up. The sobering thought of being stuck out in the middle of nowhere during the blizzards was enough to convince us to cut our losses and head for home. 

Looking downstream into Floating Bank at Ballogie. 

Looking upstream from the banks of the Dee at Kincardine.

I spent most of the day on Saturday gazing at the screen of my laptop as I sat watching the frozen River Dee flow past on the Potarch webcam. My thoughts soon turned to the success of the previous year's fishing before the realisation finally set in that it would be another year before we are back there again. There is a lot of fishing to be had between now and then though and I have plenty other days on the river to look forward to. Here's hoping the snow and ice has disappeared by then!

The Kincardine Boat Pool.

The fishing hut at Kincardine O'Neil looking across the Boat Pool.

Despite the disappointment of losing our fishing due to the bad weather, I can't really complain with conditions we have had these past 7 or 8 years. The chance of grue is just part and parcel of booking early season fishing. I remember losing about 9 days fishing in 2010 due to the weather conditions so at least it hasn't been so several as then. If the catches for this year reflect the excellent runs of salmon we had in 2010, the last real bad winter then this is only a small price to pay. I'd happily lose my fishing to see good numbers of fish caught up and down the river. We'll soon find out if that will be the case. Tight lines!