Manar - River Don

I was back on the lovely Manar beat of the River Don with my good pal Charlie last Saturday. The water was sitting around 4.5" on the beat gauge and crystal clear. My set up for the day was my 13ft Hardy Uniqua, floating AFS Shooting head and a 6ft intermediate tip.

The cracking new hut at Manar on the River Don.

This was my first trip to Manar this season and it was good to be back there again. It has to be one of the best kept beats on the entire river and it would grace any of the famous river is Scotland in terms of upkeep. It was also good to see the new hut as I hadn't been down since October last year when the old hut was accidentally burnt down. Charlie and the Manar regulars have been very busy over the close season and have done a fantastic job with the new hut and area outside.

Fishing down the Chapel pool in the morning.

As Charlie and I were the only rods on the beat, we had the pick of the pools so decided to give the Chapel a go first of all before the sun was on it. We made our way down and fished through the pool but neither of us had a touch so we made our way back up river to have a go in the Sheep pool.

The Corner Pool.

I went round to have a run through the Corner Pool and Charlie followed me down fishing the Sunray Shadow. I had finished the pool and fished through the Sheep Pool too without a touch. There were plenty trout rising so I made my way back to the hut to get my trout rod. I had just arrived at the hut when I heard a shout from Charlie. His rod was bent into a lively fish! I ran up the bank to assist him with the net and after a very hard fought battle I slipped the net under a chrome bright springer of around 12lb.

Charlie fishing the Sheep Pool.

Charlie fighting hard with a fresh run River Don springer.

Safely in the net!

What we are all after. Charlie with his cracking 12lb River Don springer.

Horseshoe Haugh. Nothing doing in here but a nice cast regardless.

We decided to go for lunch after Charlie returned his fish and we sat in the new hut reflecting on whats was a pristine specimen of a Don salmon. It just goes to show, you don't have to spend a fortune fishing expensive beats on the Dee or Spey when you have fish this good right on your doorstep. It is great to see the Don picking up the odd fish in what has been a lean season for most rivers. There is just something special about a River Don springer and you can see why.
After lunch we decided to head upstream to fish the Horseshoe Haugh and then into the Long Pool. Charlie let me have first run through the Horseshoe but it proved fruitless so we made our way down to the Long Pool. The Long Pool is a nice bit of water but we could see nearly every stone in the pool. Despite this, Charlie thought there might just be a fish lying in the channel which runs down the far bank. By this time, I had changed fly and was now fishing the Sunray Shadow and Charlie let me have first run down again. I must have had about a dozen casts when there was an almighty swirl at my fly. A fish had followed it right across the river and hammered it just as I was about to lift my rod to recast. I felt the weight of the fish and lifted into it but no sooner was the fish on, it was off again! It took me completely by surprise and if I had been expecting a take so close to the bank I might have been able to set the hook better. Sadly though, it was another fish lost for me this Spring which brought the tally to 4 having lost fish on my last 3 outings on the Don previous to this one. I was really miffed and I fished the rest of the pool but couldn't temp another fish to have a go.

Yours truly fishing down the Long Pool shortly before losing a good fish further down the pool.

We decided to call it day around 6.30pm but it was great to see the Don producing the good again when very few rods would have been out in such low water conditions. The fish are running hard just now and if you're in the right place at the right time when they stop, there is a good chance of connecting with one. I'll be back at Manar again very soon and I will look forward to it. Hopefully next time there is a springer with my name on it waiting for me in one of the beat's pools.

18lb Salmon From Manar Today

As it was the last Saturday of the fishing season, I was kindly invited to fish the Manar beat of the River Don today. On this day each year the beat plays host to a celebration to mark the end of the salmon season. Plenty beer is to be had and there is enough meat cooked on the BBQ to feed an army! I always enjoy the good craic in the hut during the "Manar Shindig".

Charlie and I arrived at the beat around 8.30am and the beat gauge was reading 8" which was up an inch or two from the previous day. The water was a good colour and we were fairly confident there would be fish caught.

We fished all the likely pools in the morning along with a few other rods but apart from the odd fish showing the beat was very quiet. I decided to go the pool right at the top of the beat called the Ree Pot as it is only lightly fished due to the tree line bank. Not long after arriving at the pool there was a big fish showed in the fast run at the neck of the pool. Firstly, I covered it with a #10 Cascade but it showed no interest. I changed over to a #9 KS Shrimp and proceeded to cover the same lie but to no avail. As I was fishing down the pool, the big fish showed again in the same spot so I walked up through the trees and this time I went right up to the start of the run. I changed my fly again to a #11 Red Marauder Shrimp which is a fly I created a couple of weeks back for the Salmon Fishing Forum Tie of the Month competition. First cast and Bang! The fish took straight away. It immediately took off down stream and attempted to leave the pool. As I was underneath some trees and had nowhere to go, I just had to put the brakes on the fish. Doing this made the fish turn and it headed back up stream. The fish tried this same move several times whilst playing it but luckily it stayed in the pool. After a very dogged fight which lasted 15 minutes or so, I finally beeched the fish onto the reeds. I removed the fly from its mouth and found one of the hooks on my #11 Partridge Salar had snapped! I quickly measured the fish with nylon and took a few photographs. I gently lowered the coloured cock fish back in the river and it took off almost instantly. After all that, I needed a beer and headed up to the hut to meet Charlie. I finished my fishing for the day!

The rest of the day proved fruitless for all the rods fishing but as the beer started flowing and the burgers and sausages were devoured, this was soon forgotten. Today brings the curtain down on another season for most anglers on the Don and it's certainly not one that has set the heather on fire by any means. The Spring run was decent but as of the 1st June, it was like somebody flicked a switch and the fish stopped coming. This trend continued for most of the summer due to low water conditions until September when wee runs of fish crept up river. If you were in the right place at the right time, you caught them.

I have a couple of days left to fish as I'm on holiday but already looking forward to 2014.

Here are a few pictures from today.

Sheep Pool. A cracking pool and a very productive one at that.

Chapel Pool. The best pool on the beat catches wise and always holds a fish or two.

Upper Wood. My favourite pool on the beat. 

Looking upstream from the Upper Wood into the tail of the Sheep Pool.

Ree Pot. Where I landed my fish. Not the easiest pool to land a fish in.

A big coloured cock Salmon we estimated around 18lb after calculating it's measurements.

Back he goes to cause havoc on the redds but hopefully to pass on his genes to the next generation of salmon.