I had a cast out on the River Don yesterday after work and was fortunate enough to bump into this nice, wee grilse. Not the biggest fish by any means but I was delighted to get another Don fish under my belt for this season. The river was sitting at 1ft 5in on the Haughton gauge and was carrying a peat stain which was decent fishing conditions for the beat.
A River Don salmon poses for a quick photo before being safely released to continue her journey.
The salmon fishing on the River Don has been pretty slow in recent seasons but the river is maintaining good river levels at the moment with rain coming almost daily so hopefully this will bring in some fish and get the older ones moving. I'll certainly look forward to seeing what the remaining few weeks of the season bring for the river.
I have been on a bit of a roll recently and have been fortunate enough to land a few salmon for my time spent on the river. I landed a cracking cock salmon yesterday which was roughly around the 12lb mark and today I landed a hen salmon around 15lb. Both fish were in their spawning colours and were safely returned to the river.
A cracking male salmon in his full spawning outfit taken on a Black Snaelda at Ballogie.
A still from GoPro camera of the fish in mid air shortly before landing it.
A video from my GoPro camera which captured the action of playing the fish pictured above.
Although these fish are heavily coloured, you can only catch what takes your fly. If I could choose, I'd certainly take a nice clean sea licer over an old hen fish any day of the week but these fish are as equally important as the fresh run ones and careful handing is paramount to ensure they are returned to the river with minimal fuss.
Underwater release.
Hopefully these fish will make it to the spawning grounds safely in the next few weeks and do what nature intended them to do. The more salmon that make it onto the redds can only be a good thing and this will ensure the river populations maintain a healthy level.
A big, old hen salmon from the River Dee today. Estimated at 15lb. A Red Frances did the trick this time.
I was out on the River Dee for a cast yesterday and was lucky enough to land a cracking hen salmon around the 18lb mark from underneath the wires in the Village Pool at Carlogie. The fish took a Black and Orange Franc N Snaelda fished off a H/I/S1 shooting head and a 4ips versi leader. The river was sitting around the 3ft mark for most of the day and was heavily peat stained.
A quick photo before release back into the river.
I don't normally take photos of fish lying on the bank but due to the high water and being on my own it was the only place I could safely land the fish. A quick photo whilst removing the fly and it was back into the water as soon as possible with minimal fuss.
Not the best picture but it gives a better idea of its size.
The River Dee is currently enjoying a nice rise in water levels this week and I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to come into contact with my biggest sea trout from the river. Caught from the famous Lawson Pool on the Tilbouries beat and estimated to be in the region of around 4lb, this beauty put up a helluva scrap and almost had me into the backing at one point. It was swiftly unhooked and returned after a quick photo to continue it's journey.
A fine River Dee sea trout from the Lawson Pool at Tilbouries.
Had a few hours out on the River Dee yesterday following a nice rise in river levels a few days earlier. The water was sitting at 1ft 1in when I arrived and it maintained a steady height for most of the time I was there. The water was carrying a dark peat stain and this seemed to keep the fish down but there were in the mood to take a fly. Due to the heavy peat colour and extra water I opted to fish my 15ft Guideline AWM with a Guideline PT Scandi H/I/S1 shooting head with a 10ft 5ips versi leader on the business end. Fly of choice for most of the day was a copper sunray.
A small River Dee grilse which took a liking to my fly yesterday.
Having had a few hits to my fly during the first part of the morning I finally managed to land a small grilse about 11.30am. The coloured cock fish would have been lucky to make 3lb. It was maybe the smallest fish in the pool but it was very welcome. A fish is a fish after all.
Despite the constant doom and gloom which seems to be surrounding the salmon fishing at the moment, on a personal level I am picking away not too badly at all and with the last 6 or 7 weeks of the season usually being the most productive, I'm hopeful it will be a strong finish for me. If these water levels hang around for a while and get the fish moving then I think there is a good day or two to be had.
