I was kindly invited to fish at the Upper Drum & Lower Durris beat of the River Dee by River Dee board member Dave MacDonald and the Cordery party who take the fishing for the week. The beat was still to record their first fish of the season but I had never fished it before and was looking forward to it. When I arrived the gauge was reading 2ft 3in but was dropping quickly from a rise earlier in the week brought on by snow melt.
After the introductions to the party and ghillie, Jim Paton, we discussed which tactics would be the best for the day. I opted for my Scott Mackenzie float/intermediate shooting head, a 10ft fast sink tip and a 1" copper Maggie's Shrimp. We headed off to the top of the beat on the Lower Durris side to fish the Bridge pool and Keith's Pot. I started above Park bridge and worked my way down the the bottom of Keith's Pot. Dave started just below the bridge and fished the same pool. Apart from Dave seeing a fish show just opposite the gauging station, we didn't see or touch anything else in the morning.
At lunch, we all tucked into a cracking spread laid on by the Cordery party and after and hour or so of the usual fishing hut discussions, we headed off to fish our beats for the afternoon. Dave and I were to fish the Upper Drum side in a pool called the Kirks. As it was slightly quicker than Keith's Pot, I changed to a 10ft super fast sink tip and put on an 1 1/4" Swallow tied on a copper tube. The Kirks was a lovely pool to swing a fly in and was a pool which was good for holding spring fish. Unfortunately, nothing doing for us this time so Dave showed me the rest of the pools on the beat where the water was just a bit too high for us. As the water had dropped several inches through out the day, Dave thought it would be a good idea to go up and have a crack in the Otter pool just before it got dark so we said our goodbyes to the party and headed off upstream. Dave pointed out the likely spots and where the fish run but we didn't see or touch anything so we called it a day around 7pm.
The Cordery party made me feel really welcome and I was grateful for them to ask me along to fish. It was also good to be fishing with Dave MacDonald again. The wait goes on for the beat's first fish of the season but I enjoyed being out, especially as I had never fished there before. Some of the pools look great and it would be good to see them later on in the season when there are plenty fish in the river. I'm sure they will have their first fish in the book soon enough.
Here are some pictures from my day.
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| Bridge Pool. I had only ever fished this pool from the Park bank before yesterday. |
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| Keith's Pot. A cracking holding pool which produces fish all year round. |
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| Looking upstream toward Park Bridge midway down Keith's Pot. |
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| Kirks Pool. Another good holding pool which fishes the fly very well. |
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| The tail of the Kirks looking downstream towards the Middle Drum and Tilbouries beats. |
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| The well equipped fishing hut on the Lower Durris side. |
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| Looking downstream from the hut into the Boat Pool. |
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| Having a go in the Otter Pool at dusk. |
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| Looking upstream in the Otter Pool. |
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