Invery - River Dee

I was lucky enough to get another day on the fantastic Invery beat of the River Dee last Friday. The water was sitting around 1ft 4in on the beat gauge and with news of a few fish about the day before, I couldn't wait to get going. My set up for the day was my trusty 13ft Hardy Uniqua rod, an AFS floating shooting head and a 6ft intermediate tip.

Ghillie, Karl Revel and Paul Pritchard outside the hut.

I arrived at the beat around 8.15am and was greeted by the ghillie, Karl who introduced me to the other rods who were over from Norway and Sweden. Karl informed me that I would be fishing over on the opposite bank and pointed out the most likely spots to concentrate my efforts on. As I had never fished the water from that side of the beat before I decided to start at the top and fish my way down through the pools.

Signal Pool looking into the Station Stream.

The first pool I was to fish was the Signal Pool. This is the upper most pool on the beat and no sooner had I started a few fish showed just opposite where I was standing. I covered them several times but I couldn't temp one to take my fly. I did however, hook a small trout which took a liking to my #10 Kitchen Sink fly. Apart from a few parr I didn't touch anything else so it was on to the next pool.

A stunning view looking upstream from the path which runs along the banks of the Dee.

The next pool down is the Station Stream. Like a majority of the pools on the beat, this fishes the fly very well and is a pleasure to fish from either bank. As temping as it looked though, I didn't see nor touch a fish as I fished the pool. I'm sure there would have been fish in the pool but the bright sun and a cloudless sky wasn't helping and this maybe put them down.

Looking upstream from the Station Stream.

Karl suggested giving the Kirk Pot a go since I was passing so that's just what I did. The Kirk Pot is a short but deep pool which looked like it could harbour a fish or two. On this occasion it wasn't giving up it's bounty so it was on to the next pool.

Looking upstream into the Kirk Pot.

I made my way down to the Holly Bush and Karl had told me to really give this pool a good go as there were fish hooked in here the day before. Unfortunately, they weren't landed but it was a good sign and I was eager to get in there. I waded out up at the neck of the pool to the broken water that Karl had pointed out and fished my way down the pool. As inviting as it looked though, the fish had other ideas and I fished through the pool without a touch.

Wading down the Holly Bush.

The S Pool. I didn't fish this pool but I just went down to take a photo.

Fishing down most of the likely spots in the morning proved to be fruitless apart from a small brown trout and several salmon parr. It was good to see plenty parr about down the margins which will hopefully bode well for the future. Given the current crash to fish stocks in the river, a healthy juvenile population is always a welcome sight. The lack of fish returning to the Dee is very worrying though. Juvenile fish are leaving the river in good numbers but once they are out into the North Sea who knows what's happening to them. The ever growing population of dolphins and seals ambushing the returning fish is, in my opinion a major factor in the decline of fish returning to the Dee. The narrow harbour entrance is perfect for these creatures to get their fill of salmon without much effort at all. Anyway, it was back over the river for some lunch down in the floating bank hut.

The Hut at Invery.

After a very entertaining lunch with Karl and the fellow rods, it was back to business so Paul and I made our way up to fish the top beat but from the opposite bank this time. I was to follow Paul down so we started at the top and fished our way down through all the pools just like I did in the morning. First up was the Signal Pool but, by this time the wind had really whipped up and it was raining quite heavily. In between showers, the good old Scottish midge was out in force and I think I spent more time fending these little buggers off than concentrating on the fishing! As a result, I fished down through the pool without an offer.

Looking upstream in the Killing Hatch with some welcome cloud cover.

Paul and I fished our way down through all the pools without so much as a pull but we were encouraged to see a few fish showing. Especially in the Greenbank where a good run of sea trout appeared to be moving through the beat. Try as we might though it just wasn't our day. Paul decided to call it a day but I went downstream to give Floating Bank a going over.

The Floating Bank. A lovely cast and there were a few fish showing in here too.

I always really enjoy fishing the Floating Bank whether it's from the Crathes bank or from the Tilquillie side. It's just a cracking pool to fish and there were a few fishing showing up near the rocks at the neck of the pool. I covered them several times but to no avail. I called it a day around 6.30pm and headed home to treat my midge bites!

Cortachy Castle & Downie Park - South Esk

Early last week, I booked a day on the South Esk at Cortachy Castle and Downie Park. It turned out I was to be the only rod fishing the beat today and given the conditions, it was a bit surprising. I met the Andrew the ghillie at 8am and we set off down to the hut. The beat gauge was steady at 11" and the water was in really good order. I tackle up with my 13ft Hardy Uniqua and a Airflo Quick Spey Multi Tip Line and a 6ft 2.6ips Rio polyleader. Andrew suggested a Monkey fly would be ideal for the current conditions.

A stunning view over Glen Clova taken on my way down to the Sawmill Pool.

Andrew suggested I started my day off in the Sawmill pool and just on arrival, a fish showed near the tail which was good to see early on. It was not for the taking nor any others and I fished through the pool without a touch. A cracking pool and it fished the fly very well.

Sawmill Pool.

The next pool I was to fish was the Dairy. A lovely streamy run on the far bank but again, nothing touched so we moved on down stream to the Meetings. This pool is where the South Esk tributary, the Prosen join the main river. I fished the length of the Meeting without any offers so Andrew took me down to the next pool. I carried on down to the Laundry and although very "fishy" I didn't see or touch anything.

The Meetings. Where the Prosan meets the South Esk.

The Laundry Pool.

The Downie Stream was next to be fished and not long after starting the wind caught my fly and sent it into the trees on the far bank. I couldn't free the fly and eventually my leader snapped and my Monkey fly was gone. This was the third 3/4" Monkey fly I had lost in the trees already! I went to my fly box to tie on another one but had none left. I chose a 3/4" Dee Sheep and with-in a couple of casts it was hammered by a strong, lively fish. After some unstoppable runs and acrobatics, Andrew slipped the net under a 10lb "Bar of Silver". No sea lice present but it could have only been in a few day at most. Great start to my day.

Downie Stream.

Safely in the net!

A quick picture for the scrap book before releasing the fish.

I fished on through Beech Tree and the Drain pools with no joy but I saw a big fish jump right out of the water feet from where I was standing in the Beech Tree. We stopped for lunch as the sun was now high and bright so resting the pools was the better option.

Beech Tree.

After a good chat over lunch, Andrew took me down to fish the Kaimbridge Pools. Before we started fishing them, we looked down from the high bank and as the water was crystal clear, we could see if there were any fish present. We couldn't spot any fish moving but went down to give them a good go anyway. After fruitless runs down through Upper and Lower Kaimbridge, we headed back upstream to fish Carrity Moo.

Lower Kaimbridge. Looking down from the steps above the pool.

Carrity Moo is another lovely looking pool but not seen or touched in here so we headed back to try the Drain and Mary's as the sun had dropped enough to take the shine off the water. I changed fly to a Sunray Shadow but nothing looked at it as I stripped it across the pool. The wind had really whipped up and made cast difficult as it lifted the fly and I caught the trees a few times. There was a few fish splashing up near the gauge but they were not interested or had ran further upstream.

Carrity Moo.

Tail of the Drain Pool.

The conditions were starting to work against me and we decided to give the Beech Tree anther run through before heading home. I didn't see anything this time or touch anything as the wind really made casting dangerous so we called it a day about 7pm.

I had never fished the South Esk before and was really impressed by the fishing. I saw fish showing in several pools and to land a cracking fish was a perfect way to start my first foray on a new river to me. I will certainly be heading back to fish it more often. Andrew the ghillie is a top bloke who went out of his my to make me feel welcome and he even waded into the river to retrieve a fly for me which was snagged round a log! Being the only rod fishing was a bonus and I picked away at his knowledge of his beat and hope to use it next time I'm down fishing the South Esk.