Commonty - River Dee

I was kindly offered the chance of having a cast on the Commonty beat of the River Dee yesterday courtesy of my friend Patrick Taylor and his good lady, Joanna who had taken the week's fishing there. It was good to see them again and have a catch up on the river bank.

A cock fish around the 4lb mark but very welcome in the low water conditions yesterday. It took a large 1 1/2" Red Frances.

Once again, conditions on Deeside more more akin to mid summer rather than Autumn but at least there was some cloud cover which helped. The river was still low but despite this, there were one or two resident fish splashing about to keep the interest going.

Looking across to the fishing hut at Commonty from the Garden Pool.

I arrived at the beat about 9.30am and immediately got the wood burner going in the hut as it was quite cold as there had been an overnight frost. There was finally some cloud cover as well which was more than welcome because we have been experiencing an Indian Summer here in Scotland of late. My tactic for the day were more that of summer fishing than October so I opted for my 13ft hardy Uniqua rod, floating Rio Scandi shooting head and a 6ft 1.5ips. I decided on a long leader and a size 14 Red Frances to begin with and this changed once or twice through out the day.

The Garden Pool at around 10am.

Looking upstream from the Garden Pool.

As the Garden Pool is opposite the hut, I decided to give that a go first of all so I started up in the white water above a well known lie and began to fish my way into it. A couple of resident fish were splashing about in the lie so I covered it and varied my retrieve switching between a slow figure of 8, a long, slow pull and the Scandi style sink and draw tactic. None of these methods produced a reaction so I decided to have a square cast and mend the line down stream. I also pointed the rod downstream too and this made the fly come quickly across the lie but side on to the fish. My first cast  immediately produce a reaction from a cock fish which was probably around the 7lb mark and it lept out of the water after my fly. Unfortunately it didn't connect but it gave me confidence that there was a possibility of tempting these usually, stale and reluctant fish. I covered the lie a few more times without a touch so I fished the pool out but only with the same result.

Woodend House which over looks the Blue Chair. Not a bad place to live!

The big stone shaped like a chair hence the name of the pool Blue Chair.

By the time I had fished the pool out, Patrick and Joanna had arrived at the beat and after a good chat it was back down to the business of catching a salmon. Patrick fancied a go in the Garden Pool and he suggested I give the Blue Chair a go as there was also a few resident fish holed up in there so I made my down and as soon as I arrived at the pool I was greeted by a coloured fish which was lying in the faster water mid stream. As I had rose a fish with the size 14 Red Frances I kept it on and worked my way through the pool. Despite seeing a good few fish I didn't get a sniff so I decided to try an different approach. I had tied up several large Red Frances tubes the night before and one stood out. It was tied on an 1 1/2" aluminium tube and looked more like a small carrot than a fly! I made my first cast with the fly and began rocking it back and forth through the pool. As it straightened out about mid river, it was grabbed by a fish and I lifted into it. It was just a small grilse around the 4lb mark but it was certainly more than welcome. It was quickly played out and after a photo it was safely returned without ever leaving the water. I fished out the rest of the pool with out an offer so I made my way back to the hut shortly after 12 noon. Not a bad start to the morning.

A prize worth pursuing even in these challenging low water conditions.

After telling Patrick and ghillie, Ian the news about my fish over a beer back at the hut, our attention soon turned to where to fish next. We decided to head downstream to have a go in the Loop and Bend pools. The Loop and Bend are in a real secluded part of the beat and Patrick fished through the pool first and I was to follow him down. We both worked our way through the pool without success so it we headed off for a bite to eat before having one last crack at the Blue Chair and Garden Pools.

Decisions, Decisions. Patrick and I contemplating our next move in the Loop.

Patrick fishing the secluded Loop Pool at Commonty.

My turn for a go in the Loop. Nice photo Joanna!

After a quick sandwich it was back to the river with Partick and down to have a go in Blue Chair as there seemed to be a few fish willing to give away their positions in the pool. We both fished through the pool with managing to annoy one of the resident fish enough into taking our flies so we headed back up for one last go in the Garden Pool before close of play.

Patrick trying his luck in Blue Chair.

Sitting in the stone which the pool takes it's name.

Patrick decide to give the Garden Pool the once over with a big Sunray and not long after starting he rose a fish but it wasn't really interested in taking the fly, we thought it was more trying to drown it than anything else. We both worked our way down the pool without any other action so I decided to call time on my day and packed up around 5pm.

Fishing the tail of the Garden Pool before packing up for the day.

Below are a couple of photos of how the Suicide Pool looks at Commonty now that the croys have been removed from the pool. Sluie on the opposite bank also had their croys removed as part of the Pearls in Peril (PIP) which is aimed at restoring the river habitat to be more Pearl Mussel friendly. The mussels share the same habitat as salmon so the improvements will hopefully benefit the salmon in future too and we see an increase in numbers of both species as a result.

Before. Suicide with the croys.

After. Suicide without the croys.

It was great to be back on Commonty with Patrick and Joanna and it was nice to get a fish too. It's set in a really quiet part of Deeside and has some nice pools, even in low water. Patrick and Joanna made me feel as welcome as ever and getting the opportunity of a cast was much appreciated and thank you for the photos too. Much better than the ones I'd taken! Will look forward to catching up again in the Spring. Tight Lines

Commonty - River Dee

Last Friday, I was kindly invited to fish the Commonty beat on the River Dee by Patrick Taylor who had the fishing there last week. The river was sitting at around 4" on the gauge and was on the low side for the beat but there were fish showing in most of the likely pools but tempting them proved difficult. The water temp was sill relatively high around the 10c mark so finding the correct tactics was just a case of ringing the changes until something worked. I tackled up with my 13ft Hardy Uniqua, Floating AFS Shooting Head and a 6ft 1.5ips tip. My fly of choice was a 1/4" Red Francis tube.

The well equipped hut on the Commonty beat.

The wood burner came in handy on what was a chilly day.

I met Patrick, his fiance Joanne and ghillie, Ian Fraser at the hut around 8.30am where we discussed tactics for the day ahead whilst enjoying a dram. Due to the water conditions, fishing hard and ringing the changes seemed to be the general consensus for the day. Ian informed us that Red Francis flies were doing well on Ballogie and Carlogie so that's what I used to begin with. Ian suggested I start off in Suicide and work my way down to fish Benson's and the Garden pool whilst Patrick and Joanne fished the lower pools on the beat.

Suicide is a productive pool but as the name suggests, can be tricky to fish, especially in a bigger water. The wading was hard enough with just 4" on the gauge but with a few fish showing in the stream, it was worth the effort. Unfortunately, I couldn't interest any of them with my offerings so I headed off down river to the next pool.

I started my day off in Suicide which is named due to the treacherous wading. Quite a few fish were showing in the streamy water.

Fishing down Suicide with the Sluie hut opposite.

Looking upstream towards Suicide from the Otter Trap.

The next pool Ian suggested I fish was Benson's. This required a wade across the stream at the top of the Island pool but as the water was fairly shallow, it was easily negotiated. Benson's was a lovely cast but didn't produce any offers nor did I see any fish showing. Another pool that was well worth a go at this height though.

Benson's Pool. A nice little pool on the other side of the island.

Just a wee pot at the tail of Benson's. Patrick got his fish from here in the afternoon. The fallen tree creates a lovely run which would hold a running fish in low water.

As I fished down through Benson's, I stumbled a likely looking pot which, due to a fallen tree had a nice run coming off it at the neck. I was encouraged to see a small but coloured grilse show in here and covered it's lie. Trying to land the fly under the trees was tricky but I managed to cover the fish effectively but sadly couldn't temp it. Patrick did however land a grilse about 5lb from here about 4pm on a wee Red Francis cone head. Possibly the same fish I saw in the pool.

Island Pool. Ian pointed out a good lie beside the Fir tree on the bank.

After I had finished fishing Benson's, I headed back up stream to get off the island and to fish the Island Pool. Ian had shown me the water in the morning and suggested giving it a go as under the tree is on the far bank can be a good lie. Unfortunately, my run through the pool provided no offers so I made my way downstream to fish the Garden Pool which I had seen several fish in first thing that morning.

A nice bit of white water just above the Garden pool. Was a couple of fish showing in here during the morning.

Fishing down the Garden Pool. Was plenty fish showing here, especially up in the neck of the pool.

The Garden pool was holding several resident fish in it and they readily splashing around up near the neck of the pool. Catching one of them was a different matter altogether. I think they had probably seen quite a number of flies these past few weeks but it didn't hurt to put my offerings past them too. Two runs through the pool proved fruitless as I couldn't tempt any fish with my small, Red Francis nor large Franc N Snaelda.

Blue Chair. Never seen a splash in here but a nice pool which looked like it might have a fish or two holding up in the faster water.

Looking over to Woodend House which is part of the Woodend Estate.

The next pool I fished was the Blue Chair. I never asked Ian, but I'm guessing the pool is named after the big rock (pictured above) which the river has eroded to what looks like a chair. The neck of the pool has a nice fast run which looked like a probable lie at these levels but I didn't see any fish show in here whilst fishing it down.

The Bend. Also plenty fish showing in here but difficult to fish the fly due to the low water and several different flows in the current. The lower part of the pool fished very well though.

I carried on down river and came to the Bend. This pool had a nice deep channel running down the far bank under the big rocks and there were a good number of fish sitting in here. They were showing all the way down but fishing the pool was difficult due to the shallow water mid way across which made the fly line stick. Even lifting the rod and mending the line only slightly helped matters. The further down the pool you went, the easier it was to fish but I didn't get an offers. I fished it through 3 times with the same result.

Fishing down through the Bend and into Loop. Was a few fish in here too down near the big boulders at the tail of the pool.

A few years ago I fished this beat in September and although the gauge was sitting about 4ft then, the Loop pool was stuffed with fish. This time and probably due to the low water levels there were only a few fish showing in here. The first part of the pool fished well enough but as I went on, the water got really slow and didn't carry the fly too well. As like some of the other pools at this height, it was still worth a go even in really low water.

Looking downstream from Points. Saw a couple of fish show in here just out from the rocks.

Looking downstream to the bottom pool on the beat (The Wires) from Points.

The bottom couple of pools on there beat were the Points and Wires. I didn't fish these pools due to the low water but did go down to take a few photos. I didn't see any fish showing whilst I was down but given a couple more feet on the gauge, these pools looked like they would fish really well.

Although I didn't get so much as a pull for my day at Commonty, it was still a pleasure to fish and I am very grateful to Patrick for inviting me over. It's always enjoy fishing with Ian Fraser, the ghillie as he is good craic and knows his beat inside out. He took time to show me all the pools and likely spots in low water conditions and we had a good chat about the pools on his beat and their best heights etc. That info is all noted for future reference! In a way though, it was nice to see the beat on it's bones just to see where the fish would be when there was more water in the river because the two previous visits I've had here, the water has been 3ft plus on the gauge and the beat is totally different. I will certainly look forward to my next visit to Commonty.