Closing Day Salmon From The Don

I had a few hours out on the River Don today as it was the final day of the fishing season. I wasn’t expecting much action as the fish seemed to have switched to spawning mode this week but I did manage to land a wee grilse from the Aberdeen & District Angling Association beat at Kemnay. It was a nice way to round off my season. Roll on next year!

No.31 My final salmon of the 2019 fishing season.

A Day To Remember On The River Don

Friday 11th October turned out to be a good day for me on the River Don when I was fortunate enough to land four salmon for my efforts. The Don had been running at a good height following a rise in water the weekend before. This rise must have brought some fish on the take as my Dad landed 3 salmon of his on the Wednesday. 

The first salmon I landed was from the Manse Poll on the ADAA's Lower Fintray beat. It was a small grilse around the 5lb mark. I fished the pool several times after without a touch and I decided to head off around 11am. Whilst breaking up my rod and putting my gear back in the car I had a thought of heading up river to fish at Manar. This turned out to be a great decision as I landed 3 salmon there between 12.30pm and 1.45pm! Float/Hover/S1 shooting head with a 10ft 5ips tip and a 10mm Pink Franc N Snaelda doing the damage.

It is great to see the Don fishing well this season and although it is still a long way off it's best, it is another welcome improvement on the previous year. Hopefully this upward trend will continue next year too. 

A good strt to the morning. A 5lb hen Grilse from Lower Fintray.

Two's Up. A 5lb cock Grilse from Manar.

Hatrick! A 7lb cock Salmon from Manar.

Number 4. A 4lb hen Grilse alsofrom Manar.

Two Grilse From The River Don

The grilse keep on coming on the River Don and I was fortunate enough to land two last week in howling gale conditions. I hooked four salmon in the space of one crazy hour but unfortunately two of them came off. I was more than happy to land two of them though. Hopefully the fish keep on coming and we see a good back end run to bolster what has been a big improvement on the River Don this year.

A well conditioned grilse around the 5lb mark from the River Don last week.

Another fresh grilse comes to hand on the River Don. I hooked 4 in the space of an hour but only landed 2 of them.

He's Done It Again!

Not content with catching his first salmon on the 14th August, we had to venture out again on the 15th and this time we were fortunate enough to land two lovely fresh Grilse from Aberdeen and District Angling Association's Kemnay beat of the River Don. I'm one very proud dad!

The first grlise of the day. Safely returned.

Liam with his prized catch.

A sea liced grilse around the 4lb mark. The fish was safely released after a quick photo.

My Son's First Salmon!

On Wednesday 14th August my son, Liam landed his first salmon at the age of 7 years old. It was caught from the Aberdeen and District Angling Association's Lower Fintray beat and was taken on a spinning lure. I think his smile says it all!!

My son with his first Salmon. A lovely fresh grilse around the 6lb mark.

Liam into a fish on the River Don.

River Don Springers

The River Don has been having great Spring this year. In fact, it is the best start to a Don season since 2005 with over 200 salmon already recorded. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take advantage of the resurgence in the spring run and was lucky enough to land a couple of nice fish on Saturday. The first one was an older fish around 8lb from the ADAA water at Kemnay and the second one was a fresh fish of around 6lb from the beautiful Kildrummy Fishings. It was great to land a Don springer and just like buses, two came along at once!

A nice fish around the 8lb mark from the ADAA water at Kemnay.

Ready for release.

A wee beauty from Kildrummy.

Back to fight again another day.

ADAA XMAS FLY FEST

River Don Grilse For My Dad

My Dad finally broke a 2 year long wait for a River Don salmon when he managed land one a couple of weeks back. He lost one just 2 or 3 cast prior to this one taking and when it fell off I feared his chance was maybe gone. Undeterred, he cast the fly straight back in and was rewarded for his patience with a coloured cock fish around the 4lb. It took a size 10 Red Ally's. I was almost as delighted as he was when I got my hand round the tail of the fish.

Hopefully it's not another 2 year wait for his next one!

My dad about to release his salmon back into the River Don.

River Don Today

I made a last minute decision to divert my commute home and have a cast on a stretch of the Aberdeen and District Angling Association's water of the River Don. It proved to be a good one as I was lucky enough to land a nice salmon around the 7lb mark and my biggest River Don sea trout which was roughly 5lb in weight.

Caught this cracker today. My biggest River Don sea trout. Estimated at around the 5lb mark. 

The River Don, despite the lack of angling effort, is fishing really well at the moment.And with the 2018 season into is final few weeks time is running out to get out there and give it a go. It's certainly not all doom and gloom as any would have you believe. Go on, give it a go. You might just be surprised!

Lower Fintray - River Don

I had my first cast of 2018 on the River Don last week end as I ventured out to the Lower Fintray beat. Lower Fintray is part of the Aberdeen and District Angling Association water and the famous Manse Pool is part of the beat.

Looking upstream from the tail of the Manse Pool with the snowdrops in full bloom.

The Manse Pool, Lower Fintray. 

It was a cracking day to be out with bright sun and just enough wind to put a ripple on the water. The water height was reading 6" on the Parkhill gauge. I think the FishPal gauges are a bit out these days because going by experience of the stones in the pool I would say it was nearer 8 or 9" to be honest. The water temp was hovering around the 37f mark which is still pretty cold for the River Don.

Fishing down the Manse Pool. 

The hand drawn pool map of the Lower Fintray beat in the hut which over looks the Manse Pool. 

Although I didn't see or catch anything, it was just good to be back out on the Don for a cast again. To many, it's the poorer neighbour of the Dee but on it's day it can be equally productive. Maybe not in recent years to be fair but the potential is still there. When you can fish pools such as the Manse for a little over £200 per season then it would be silly not to give the Don a go. I have no doubt the Don will recover soon enough and hopefully we will see the start of that recovery this year. I'm certainly planning on doing a lot more fishing on the ADAA water this year just to see where the Don stands in terms of numbers for 2018. I'm looking forward to finding out.

Looking downstream in the Eagle Pool at Lower Fintray on the River Don.

Looking upstream from the bank of the Eagle Pool.

An under water still of a Monkey Fly in action as it flutters int he current at the tail of the Manse Pool.

10lb Salmon From The River Don

I had a day out on the River Don with my dad yesterday and I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to land a coloured hen fish around the 10lb mark. It took a 10mm Junction Snaelda which I tied up the night before. It was safely returned with minimum fuss to do her business on the spawning grounds in the coming weeks.

Returning my fish back into the River Don.

10mm Junction Franc N Snaelda tubes which seem to do well this time of year.

River Don Grilse

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.

River Don Sea Trout

I was out and about on the River Don last week fishing Lower Fintray beat of the Aberdeen and District Angling Association water. There wasn't much in the way of salmon in evidence but I was fortunate enough to encounter this fella. I nice and stocky 3lb sea trout. It's colouring up but it's still a nice fish all the same.

A nice River Don sea trout ready to be released back into the river.

New Year Begins With Severe Flooding

2016 has begun with unprecedented river levels on the both the River Dee and River Don. The River Dee peaked at nearly 17ft on the Park gauge and has recorded it's highest levels since 1937. Ballater has been worst effected with the caravan park, which is situated on the banks of the river pretty much wiped out by a raging torrent caused by heavy rain and snow melt.

Tonnes of shingle dumped by the river in a field at Aboyne some 100 yards away from the river bank.

Some more shingle dumped by the Dee near Aboyne.

Trees uprooted and strewn along the banks of the Dee near the Queen's residence at Balmoral Castle.

Many areas of the Dee, right up and down the length of the valley have been badly effected and will take a lot of man power and effort to restore back to some kind of normality. The historic 16th century Abergeldie Castle, which was once 25-30 metres away from the river bank is now in grave danger of being the next victim of Mother Nature's power. even if the castle survives, it's going to be difficult to restore the bank enough to make the foundations safe again. Some of the roads in the surrounding areas of Ballater have been swamped by the river and many parts of Braemar are in danger of getting cut off from the main roads out of the town. The power of water is immense yet there are still a few idiots who think they can drive in these flooded roads and put the lives of the rescue services at risk when they have to pull them from their cars which have been submerged.

The Aberdeen and District Angling Association HQ surrounded by water today.

The Manse Pool on the Lower Fintray beat of the River Don today flooded way out over the banks.

The River Don has also seen a dramatic rise in river levels these past few days and many of the flood plains along it's course are now full with numerous roads around the Kintore area now underwater. The Don is much slower moving than the Dee which has probably saved many of the houses along it's banks from flooding as the flood plains tend to bare the worst the Don's spates. Saying that, the Don runs through farmland for much of it's course and tends to silt up very quickly which could have an adverse effect on the river's fish populations.

Just a few dead juvenile fish found dead in a small area of the Dee at Park.

On the fishing side of things, it's not looking very good for the juvenile fish stocks on the rivers. Salmon have spent the winter cutting redds for their eggs and many of these will have been swept away or dredged out by trees and other forms of debris floating down river. Not only this, there will be thousands of 0-3 year old fish killed by the torrents and many are now lying strewn along the tide marks of the river. These fish are now no more than bird feed and this will have a major impact on returning salmon numbers in the next 10-12 years. On a more positive note, salmon catches are historically pretty good in the year after unusually large spates so there might just be a short period of optimism for the rivers

The Dee at near Aboyne. Note the erosion on the opposite bank.

The famous Waterside Pool on the Dee at Waterside and Ferrar. The hut has been swept away on the opposite bank and tonnes of shingle has been moved by the water.

After the flood. Looking upstream from the Mill Pool at Cambus O May. There should be a fishing on the bank mid picture but as you can see it was consumed by the force of the flood water.

Before the flood. The same place at Cambus O May take in September. As you can the hut is there in this picture.

The road leading upstream at the Cellar Pool on Park Estate has taken a beating by the water.

The Park South fishing hut overlooking the Castleton pool is no longer there. Another victim of the ferocious power of the Dee in flood.

I sincerely hope that these rivers and surrounding areas can recover quickly from devastation that these floods have caused. My heart goes out to all those affected by the flooding up and down the rivers as many homes, shops, holiday homes and other belongings worth £100,000s of pounds have been lost or destroyed.

As many rural jobs rely on the river, the knock on effects of such an event can have a catastrophic impact on people's livelihoods. With the salmon fishing season starting again on the 1st February it is going to take a while for the pools to settle and many famous lies and pools will have changed dramatically, many not for the better either.

The salmon is a born survivor though and will overcome the wrath of Mother Nature like it always has done and no doubt will come back as strong as ever.

My Season Highlights 2015

Despite the poor returns of salmon on my local rivers, personally my season wasn't too bad considering. In the end I finished with 12 salmon/grilse and a few sea trout which I was fairly pleased about.

Particular highlights were landing my first ever River Tay salmon from the Dunkeld beat on the 4th July and a cracking 15lber from Lower Crathes in September but every salmon I land tends to be a highlight to be honest because that's why we go salmon fishing in the first place, to catch salmon. On the down side, this was the first season in a long time that I hadn't managed to land a springer although I did hook six in total but unfortunately they all came off. Hopefully I can remedy that next season and get a few on the bank.

May

As my spring salmon count was non existent I thought I'd share a photo of one my pal Charlie landed from the River Don. The Don seems to produce beauties like this most seasons now and if you are in the right place when they pause for a rest then great sport can be had as I managed to lose a fish of similar size on the same day.

A cracking 12lb springer from the River Don at Manar caught by my good pal, Charlie Robertson.

July

I was fortunate enough to share a boat on the Dunkeld House beat with another pal of mine, Paul Pritchard on  the 4th July and with the Tay having an excellent Spring I was glad to add to that tally with a 10lber from the Mouse Trap. This was my first ever Tay salmon and my first of the 2015 season for me. This fish turned out to be the beats 200th of the season which is good going as it was still just early July. A fish I'll always remember and I am grateful the the ghillie, Jim who played a big part in getting me the fish.

Finally! A 10lb salmon from Dunkeld House. My first fish of the 2015 and my first River Tay salmon.

July/early August sees me fishing with good pal Ade Warburton on the River Dee at Carlogie. I really enjoy fishing this beat and the company adds to that experience greatly. This 2-3lb sea trout was caught with my first cast of a night session and turned out to be the only fish of my trip. Night time fishing for sea trout is very exciting and I hope to do much more of that next year.

A River Dee sea trout taken on a Dark Mackerel from the Mill Pool at Carlogie during the early hours of the morning.

August

The River Don had been struggling for water for most of the summer and I headed out early one morning to have a cast before taking part in a River Dee casting day at Crathes. I had only been fishing for 10 minutes when I had a thumping take and after taking me into the backing twice I eventually landed this 11lb summer salmon. It was good to get my first Don salmon of the season after a bad run of losing fish.

A fine specimen of a River Don summer salmon caught on a small Cascade at Manar.

My next fish was a lovely sea liced grilse of around 5lbs and again from the River Don. My dad was on hand to land this fish for me at Lower Fintray.

A sea liced grilse from the River Don at Lower Fintray in August.

On the 22nd August I accompanied junior Aberdeen and District Angling Association member, Sean Rennie to a Junior Day at Park on the River Dee. It was a great day for fishing and the river was in good condition and there seemed to be one or two fish about to keep the enthusiasm going. After a bit of tuition from casting instructor, Gary Scott we headed off down to the Durris Stream. As we neared the tail of the pool where the water slowed down I suggested to Sean to start working the fly in various ways to speed it up. He tried this and just as the fly was coming in towards the bank he had a good solid take from a lively fish. This was soon landed expertly by Sean and the smile on his face made the day. As a result of Sean landing this fish I thought I'd nominate him for the Callum Mackenzie Cup which is presented to a young angler for a memorable catch from the River Dee. Sean was selected by the panel as the winner and he will receive his trophy at the River Dee opening ceremony at Potarch in February. Well done Sean!

Sean and his prize winning fish caught from Park during a Junior Day.

September

September saw me fishing the famous Ballogie beat of the River Dee with my pal Ross MacDonald thanks to an invite from ghillie, Sean Stanton. Just after lunch in a biggish water I was lucky enough to land a wee sea liced grilse from the Top Gannets pool on a Red Francis tube. My first fish from the upper beat at Ballogie.

A very welcome wee grilse caught on a Red Francis at Ballogie in September.

A couple of days after fishing at Ballogie I was invited by Paul Pritchard to fish at Lower Crathes on the River Dee. This was not to be sniffed at and I was in the right place at the right time again to land this big hen fish around the 15-16lb mark out of the Mill Stream.

A beauty from the Dee at Lower Crathes on a pink Franc N Snaelda.

October

Traditionally, October is normally the most productive month for me in terms of fish caught and this year was no different. At the beginning of the month I was thankful to another pal, Patrick Taylor and his good lady Joanna for inviting me to fish Commonty with them. I was lucky enough to land a 4lb grilse in testing conditions from the Blue Chair pool. The water was very low and there were few resident fish about never mind fresh ones. I had fished the pool with a small #16 red Francis without a touch so I decided to try the same fly but on a 1.5" tube! This did the trick straight away and the fish below was quick landed and released after a spirited fight.

A small, coloured fish caught in difficult low water conditions on the Dee at Commonty.

My next fish was caught after my work during a spate on the River Don at Lower Fintray and weighed roughly 15lbs. It put up a heck of a scrap in the big water before I managed to land it. One of the perks living so close to the river is having a quick cast before heading home.

My 15lb Don salmon - caught during spate conditions is ready to go back.

I had a taken a week off in mid October and I spent the first half of the week on the river. I did very well for my 4 days fishing and was fortunate enough to get 3 in one session on the back of a wee rise in water with all fish were taken on my Kitchen Sink fly. First up was a small coloured cock fish about 5lb and quickly followed by a hen fish of the same size. About 10 yards further down the pool I landed my third fish which was just over the 2lb mark but reasonably fresh.

My first of three caught in a morning on the River Don. A cock fish around the 5lb mark.

Second fish of the morning. A hen about 5lbs.

Completing the Hat Trick! A small fish about 2-3lbs.

My final fish of the season was caught form the River Dee on the 15th October which is the last day of the River Dee season. It was caught just before lunch and was as fresh as the come. It was carrying sea lice and was caught from the famous Potarch Bridge Pool at Ballogie. This was a great way to sign off my Dee season and as there was still two weeks to fish on the Don I was hopeful of landing a few more.

A lovely fresh fish to end my 2015 River Dee season with.

My final fish of the 2015 season was caught on the River Don at Lower Fintray on the 15th October. It weighed around 7lbs and was covered in sea lice. It was also taken on a Kitchen Sink and my dad did the honours again of netting it for me. A perfect end to the season.

A cracking October salmon from the Don. A great way to end the season.

Thoughts are now turning to next season's Spring fishing and I've already got most of my days renewed for next year. In 2016 I will be fishing on a few beats I haven't fished before on the Tay and Dee so I'll certainly be looking forward to that. Add in a few days on the Spey and I am all sorted. Fingers crossed we get good runs of fish in 2016 and I have plenty to write about on these pages.