I was fortunate enough to land a few Salmon from the Ballogie beat of the River Dee last week during my annual leave from work. Its always good to be in the right place at the right time when the fish are on the take. This seemed to be in the morning before the sun got too bright as catches tailed off during the afternoon before the fish came back on the take in the evening.
A grilse around the 5lb mark.
A nice male salmon around the 12lb mark taken on a Red Frances.
Another cock fish this time around 10lb taken on a Pink franc N Snaelda.
Last Saturday I had a day on the Ballogie beat of the River Dee. The water was sitting at good height of 1ft 9in and with a recent drop in air and water temperatures the fish seemed to be a bit more eager to take a fly.
A cracking hen salmon from the River Dee last week.
I was fortunate enough to land a nice wee fish of around 3lb in the morning. It was a slightly coloured hen fish which came at the Sunray Shadow twice before finally taking it. I initially thought it was a trout and hand lined the fish in. It wasn't until I got it on the bank that I realised it was a grilse!
A small but lively grilse which hammered a Sunray Shadow.
In the afternoon I ventured up above the Potarch Bridge and fished the Sands and Slips pools. I had a couple of offers in the Sands which didn't stick and I also had an offer int he Slips which also didn't hook up. I was fishing a 7ips tip and a 14mm Pink Frnac N Snaelda and as it seemed to be what they wanted, I decided to have another run through both pools. I was about midway done the top slip I had a thumping take! It felt like a very hefty fish and it was towing me around the pool with ease! I knew it was a good sized fish but it wasn't until it leapt out of the water that I realised how big it actually was. I landed like someone had thrown a boulder into the pool! After a dogged battle of wills the fish was beginning to tire but just when I thought I had the job done it made a lunge for a sunken rock and the line went tight. I thought the fish was going to come off as I could not move it. I waded out of the water and down the bank to below the fish and thankfully the line freed and the fish took off across the pool back to where I had hooked it. Another few minutes of the fish going round in circles was enough to tire it further and I soon managed to get my hand round it's shovel like tail and the fish was finally mine.
A quick photo before release. What a slab of a fish!
Tail like shovel!
Back she goes to do her business. Should be plenty egg in this one!
I took a quick photo of the fish and a measurement of it;s length. It measured in at 94cm or 37". It had a huge girth but in my haste to get the fish back I didn't bother to measure this and I returned the fish to the water as soon as I could. It was booked at 19lb but whatever it weighed, it was a beast of a salmon and one I will remember for a while to come.
Back at the beginning of March I had my annual three day trip to the Ballogie beat of the River Dee. This year there was no repeat of the "Beast from the East" we had to endure last year. In fact, it was the opposite. Bright sun, low water and warm air temperatures made for some tricky conditions but we plugged away in the search to land the most prized fish of all - a spring salmon.
A fine day on the River Dee at Ballogie.
The first day began with a nice dull day. The gauge on the Potarch Bridge was reading 1ft 1in which was a little lower than we would have liked but we were raring to go given that we didn't get any fishing done at all last year as the river was frozen from bank to bank.
Looking upstream toward the Potarch Bridge on the Thursday morning.
After meeting at the Potarch hut on Thursday morning and discussing tactics over a coffee with Sean Stanton, Charlie, Philip and I set off to our allocated pools. I was to fish the lower part of the beat which included Lower Inchbare, Kelpie and the Bulwarks. These are 3 pools I know well and I was itching to get my fly in the water. I tried various depths, flies and tactics but unfortunately I couldn't find any fish willing to take my offerings although I saw a belter of around 15lb jump out the water right in front of me in the Bulwarks. This was all the motivation I needed to give it a good go in the afternoon.
Looking downstream from Lower Inchbare. One of my favourite early season pools.
Looking upstream from Lower Inchbare,
The afternoon session didn't fare much better for me of Charlie. Neither of us managed to get a pull but Philip did temp a few Kelts in the Sands. The low water prior to our arrival wasn't doing us many favours but there we still had 2 days left to get something.
Looking upstream from the Sands.
Looking downstream from the neck of the Sands Pool.
Looking upstream from the New Pool.
Day 2 saw us up early and ready to go again. The water had dropped over night and was sitting at just 1ft on the Potarch gauge. Nursing hangovers was not was going to slow us down as we were all eager to get onto the water again. I was allocated the middle beat as I finished off on the top beat yesterday. This was from Flats down to Upper Inchbare.
Looking downstream from outside the Potarch Bridge hut.
Day 2, for me anyway, continued in the same vain as the first day. I had very little to shout about but as I begun to fish the Flats, I ha had a good solid take in the fast rush up in the neck. This wasn't your typical kelty spot and I initially thought I might be into a springer. The fish fought gallantly in the current and I got a nice glimpse of it's flanks as it turned in the stream out in front of me. It then turned and shot across the current back it's lie mid river. At this point I was getting a bit more nervous as I though it may just be the springer I was after. The longer the fight went on the more convinced I was that it was a proper fish however, the fish was now tired and I drew it in towards the bank. Upon beaching it, it soon became clear that it was just a big, well mended kelt and not the springer I was hoping for.
Fishing down the Sands. An iconic salmon pool on the River Dee.
The rest of the day proved to be fruitless for me but Philip and Charlie did manage to land a few more kelts between them. Conditions made for difficult and our enthusiasm was starting to waiver a bit as the day went on.
Looking upstream in the Top Gannet.
Middle Gannet.
A nice view upstream into the Top Gannet. A lovely part of the beat.
Day 3 started the same way as day 2 but we were eager to get out and fishing despite another hangover. Bill literally had a sore head but the least said about that the better! Phil, Charlie and I headed down to our allocated beats but just like the hangovers, the fishing was the same as the day before with just several kelts to show for our efforts.
Looking upstream from just above Potarch Bridge towards the falls.
Despite the low water and lack of success, I think it's fair to say we all had a great time. It was good to just get fishing this year after the ice and snow of 2018. We will be back again in 2020 to do it all again and hopefully we will have some nice fresh run Dee Springers to show.
I had a day on the Park north beat of the River Dee earlier this week and I was delighted to open my account for the 2019 season with a nice wee fish from the Bulwarks Pool. Although not sea liced it was fresh as they come. The river was quite low for the time of year and was sitting at 14in on the beat gauge. It was a day for the floating line and sink tips with small tube flies. A wee Black & Yellow tube proved irresistible for this fish. The pressure is off now!
My first springer of the 2019 season ready to be returned to the River Dee.
Last Saturday marked the final day of the 2018 salmon fishing season and I was fortunate enough to be invited along to fish Ballogie by ghillie, Sean Stanton. The river was dropping back nicely after a spate a few day prior to our arrival and was sitting at 2ft 6in on the Potarch gauge. The air temperature was around 2 Celsius as we tackled up at the Bridge Pool so we were hopeful of encountering a fish or two.
Kelpie Pool - Stunning Autumn colours on the River Dee at Ballogie.
I set up two rods for my day. The first rod was my 12ft 6in LTS Explosive and this was matched up with a Rio Skagit line and a Intermediate/T11 mow tip with a 10mm Pink Franc N Snaelda tube on the business end. My second set up was my old, trusty 15ft Vision Catapult. Its a work horse of a rod and the sinking lines are ideally suited for it. Line of choice for this rod was a Guideline H/I/S1 with a 10ft 5.6ips tip and a 19mm Red Frances tube.
Fishing down the Bulwarks at the beginning of the morning session.
The deadly Pink Franc N Snaelda tube.
I was allocated to fish the lower part of the beat in the morning an this is a part of the river I know fairly well. Given the water height, I headed off down to the Bulwarks first of all as this can be a busy pool. It is also good in high water and thought it would be best to get first run down. The higher the water the more favourable it is for the Ballogie bank so I started off just opposite the first Bulwark and worked my way down the pool with my Vision Catapult set up. As the Bulwarks is a pool I have had much success in over the years I was confident that given the water conditions, there would a good chance of connecting with a fish or two. Maybe I was expecting too much as I fished the entire length of the pool without a touch or seeing a fish. That;s how it goes sometime though and never one for getting despondent, I strapped the rods back on the car and made my way up river to the Kelpie.
The result - a coloured hen around 4lb.
The Kelpie Pool.
The Kelpie can be really productive at this time of year especially in a good water like we had on Saturday. Its a pool that I haven't had much luck in to be perfectly honest but having excellent water conditions like we did, I fished my way down the pool confident that there would be a chance of a fish. I covered the water as best I could and when I was about half way down the poo I began to trip in some line to recast. I pulled three or four coulis of line when something pulled back! I lifted into the fish and treid my best to keep up with it as it swan strongly upstream. Just as I got the line onto the reel, the fish jumped out the water and spat the hook. It looked like a good sized cock fish. Probably around the 12-14lb mark. Its always a bit of blow to lose a fish but undeterred, I checked the fly and carried on down the pool. I must have had around another dozen or so casts when I had another offer. I lifted into the fish and slowly worked my way back in towards the bank. The fish didn't put up much of an effort in the strong current so it was swiftly landed and return with minimal fuss. It was a hen fish around the 4lb mark. The remainder of the pool didn't produce anymore action so it was off upstream to have a run through Lower Inchbare.
Looking upstream towards Potarch Bridge from Lower Inchbare.
Fishing down Lower Inchabare.
You really are spoilt for choice at Ballogie in a high water. Lower Inchbare is another great pool with water on it. the river bed in this pool has plenty big boulders and a few in particular can be good lies for the fish to shelter in amongst. I fished the whole length of the pool with the same set up that worked in the Kelpie but despite covering the pool as best I could, there were no takers willing to snaffle the Red Frances.
Looking down the Strath from the tail of Lower Inchbare.
Looking up the Strath towards Lower Inchbare.
The Strath was next up. This pool continues on from where Lower Inchbare tails off. It's a lovely looking bit of water and Philip Black and I tormented numerous kelts in here back in March. With the H/I/S1 and big tube, it was fishing round nicely but as with Lower Inchbare, there were no takers so I decided to head off up the the famous Bridge Pool for a quick run through before lunch.
The downstream view of the Bridge Pool from the lower Ballogie fishing hut.
The Bridge Pool is one of the most iconic pools on the entire river and conditions on our day suited it perfectly. The river was now sitting at 2ft 4in but the H/I/S1 was still needed just to get the fly down that bit quicker and to slow the swing down a bit. I fished the pool from head to tail without a touch but decided to give it a run through with my other set up. Unfortunately, I just didn't feel this line was getting down deep enough and I didn't have time to change again before lunch so I called time on the morning session and made my way up to the Carlogie Calm pool to meet the rest of the lads for lunch.
Sean kindly supplied lunch in the form of bacon and sausage sandwiches from the Kincardine post office and these were washed down with a welcome cup of coffee. It turned out that there had been a total of 3 salmon landed between Ballogie and Carlogie. A good start to the day but the fish didn't seem to be as responsive as we had hoped for given the conditions. However, after we had put the fishing world to rights in the hut, our attention was soon back on the task in hand so it was off to our allocated pools for the afternoon session.
The Top Gannet fishing hut at Ballogie.
Fishing down the Top Gannet after lunch.
I was to start in the Top Gannet. This is one of my favourite pools to fish and I couldn't wait to get another crack at it. I skipped down the bank like a wee lad on his way to the toy shop! The Top Gannet has been good to me over the years but I fished down the length of the pool without an offer or seeing a fish. I was making my way back to the hut which over looks the pool and just as I put my rod in the rack, I spotted four or five salmon show in the space of a few seconds mid way down the pool. This was all the encouragement I needed to grab my rod off the stand and quickly get to the bank to attempt to intercept on of them. The fish were a good bit over towards the Borrowston bank and a long cast was required to cover where they were spotted. I threw as long a line as I possible could and tried to the mend the line a few times to slow it down a bit. I just felt that it was too far out my reach to cover the fish properly and despite trying, the fish didn't want what I had on offer so it was off down to fish the Sands.
Looking upstream from the top of the Sands Pool.
The hut on the Borrowston bank which over looks the Sands Pool.
The Sands is another famous pool on the River Dee and it was almost a dead cert for a salmon once upon a time. I always enjoy fishing these famous pools and my mind is forever thinking of the old days when the rivers were awash with salmon. It must have been something else to swing a dressed fly through these pools when there was so many salmon around. Although there aren't so many salmon around these days, there is still an excellent chance of connecting with a fish here and this time felt no different. I changed approach in here and opted for a 10ft 7ips tip and a 2" Sunray Shadow tied on an aluminium tube. I worked my way down the pool varying the speed of retrieve every cast until one work. Sadly, the only fish that took a liking to my Sunray in the Sands were greedy little brown trout. This wasn't much of a gauge to base my retrieves on so I just had o keep plugging away until something worked on a salmon.
Looking down the Top Slip at Ballogie.
The next pool down is the Top Slips. Storm Frank has done a number on the banks of this pool and it isn't the easiest to navigate your way down the bank in the high water. As there is always a good chance of a fish, it's well worth the effort though. It was holding a few fish and I stuck to the Sunray Shadow tactics but unfortunately the fish had other ideas. As I neared the tail I did get a reaction from a cock fish but it just leapt out the water as my fly passed by its lie.
Fishing the Bottom Slip under the wires.
The Bottom Slip was next up and by the time I reached the pool it was close to 5pm. I covered as much water as I could and as effectively as I could with the Sunray but it was another fruitless attempt to hook a salmon. I decided to have one final cast in the pool and I managed to snag the bottom. My line was stuck fast and I struggled to free it from around a big submerged rock. In the end I had to pull as hard as I could and this snapped my versi leader at the nylon part and my fly and leader were subsequently gone with it. At this point I decide it was as good a time as any to end my Dee season for the year and wound the remaining line onto my reel and set off back to my car to meet up with Sean at the hut.
Playing a fish in the Kelpie Pool at Ballogie.
Well, that's the final account of what has been a pretty successful season for me on the River Dee despite the low water that plagued the catchment during the long, hot summer. It started off on Opening Day at Park on the 1st February and finished on the Final Day at Ballogie with some great days, with great people sandwiched in between. I can't wait to start it all over again in 2019. It's not completely over for me yet though. I can still enjoy a cast on the River Don until the end of the month and I am fishing the South Esk again on Saturday with good pals Philip Black and Bill Cook. Hopefully there will be some more success to write about before the season is completely over. I'll certainly look forward to trying.
I was fortunate enough to have a few days off work last week which just happened to coincide with a timely rise in water levels coupled with a drop in temperature. This signals for me the time to break out the Franc N Snaeldas again!
Underwater release still from my GoPro camera
Junction Snaeldas
Pink Snaleda
I fished for a few hours each day towards the tail of the week and was rewarded with 5 salmon landed and 5 lost! Not often I hit it right but I did last week!
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.
