Winter On Donside At Alford

I took these photos of the water above the Bridge of Alford which is run by Aberdeenshire Council. The beats are called Waterside on the North bank and Haughton on the South bank. This is a part of the River Don that can be very productive given the right conditions and will hold fish during the later part of the Spring months. I only ventured a few hundred yards upstream but what I saw looked very appealing albeit very cold! This a beautiful part of Aberdeenshire and details of the fishing can be found using this link. Aberdeenshire Council Fishings

The beats above are Breda on the South bank and Littlewood on the North bank. I fished Breda last summer and really enjoyed it even though I lost a few fish! The Middle to Upper Don are areas I would like to fish a lot more and will try to do so this season.Click on the link to see a report I done in July of the Breda beat. River Don Breda Fishings

Hotel Pool (North Bank) or Boat Pool depending what side of the river you are on.

Looking upstream from the Bridge of Alford. Here the river splits forming the island, Cracking looking stretch of water.

Gird Pot. A nice looking pool above the bridge. Was quite shallow in places and would probably fish better in higher water.

Looking upstream from from the neck of the Gird Pot. A lovely run with the flow running more towards this bank. Looks very "fishy".

Linn O' Dee

I was at Braemar today with my wife and we visited the famous gorge at Mar Lodge Estate called Linn O' Dee. This is a truly stunning area of Royal Deeside which sees the River Dee flow through a narrow gorge between two granite cliffs creating some extraordinary shapes. These shapes or carvings are caused by the water grinding away at the rocks for thousands of years and slowly curving or flattening them as it passes by. It's amazing see the power water has when forced through a narrow passage like the Linn O' Dee and even more amazing that salmon can leap the falls during high water to carry on miles upstream to the spawning ground. Here are some pictures I took today.

Invercauld Bridge. This wade bridge was built in the early 18th century.

Linn O' Dee bridge spanning the majestic gorge which sees the River Dee narrow to carve away at the granite cliffs.

 

 

The water has rounded the granite to create some stunning landscape.

Looking down from the bridge to show just how narrow the River Dee gets as it passes through the Linn O' Dee.

Upstream from the bridge, the Dee is still quite wide for being in the upper reaches of the river.

Mar Lodge. This house has been rebuilt several times due to being destroyed by fires. This is the 4th house to stand at this site.

Classic Salmon Flies

I recently received some Classic Salmon Flies for fishing from a fantastic tier and gentleman based in Canada called Marc Le Blanc. He sent me some Silver and Black Doctors, White and Cinnamon winged Akroyds, a Jock Scott and a Lady Caroline. All are tied to a fantastic standard and in my opinion would look better in frames than tied to a leader! Enjoy!

White Winged Akroyd with Invercauld Bridge in the background.

Cinnamon Winged Akroyd on the Suspension Bridge at Mar Lodge.

Silver Doctor perched on a rock with Linn O' Dee bridge behind.

Black Doctor on the Mar Lodge bridge with the River Dee in the background.

Jock Scott with Mar Lodge house. Probably one of the most famous fishing flies of all time?

Lady Caroline sitting on a Silver Birch tree at Linn O' Dee. This fly is believed to be named after Lady Caroline Gordon Lennox of Gordon Castle situated on the banks of the River Spey near Fochabers. I'm fishing on the Brae Water this coming March so she will be getting a swim on the waters of her origin.