On the 1st of February every year the River Dee salmon fishing season begins again after a long winter. The event was held at Potarch again this year and the usual good spread of teas and coffees, along with bacon sandwiches were laid on for all that attended. The river was a good height and was sitting about 3ft on the gauge. It
was a nice colour too which was encouraging, especially after the
horrendous weather conditions we endured earlier on in the week. The River Dee Opening Ceremony is always a great occasion and it's good
to catch up with friends and ghillies who are all eager to get the
season underway again.
This year was the 150th Anniversary of the River Dee District Salmon Fishery Board and to commemorate the occasion the Ballater and District Pipe Band marched over the Potarch Bridge playing their newly composed tune called "Silvery Dee". This was the first time they had played the tune to the public and it went down really well. Also going down well were samples of the new "Dee Dram" which will be on sale shortly. I have to say, it is very nice indeed. It was also announced today that Ken Reid has decided to move on and will vacate his position of Fisheries Development Officer. Ken has done wonders for the River Dee in his time and notably helped launch the "Dee Dram" which brought in plenty money for the river not just to the Dee but the Spey, Tay and Tweed as well. His work has also brought lots of anglers to the area who in turn spend vast amounts of money on Royal Deeside. I'd just like to wish Ken all the best for the future. Someone will have big shoes to fill.
The honor of the "First Cast" this year was made by Formula 1 legend Ross Brawn. He has been the mastermind behind many of the World Champions of recent times including Michael Schumachar and Jenson Button. He addressed the 300 strong crowd from the banks of the famous Bridge Pool on the Ballogie beat and informed everyone of his passion for all types of fishing, especially salmon fishing. He then went on to say he has definitely retired from F1. That should give him plenty time to go fishing now.
Not long after the opening cast, news filtered through that the first fish of the season had been landed from the Dess beat just a few miles upstream from the opening ceremony. I shall look forward to checking FishDee later tonight to see what the final tally for the day has been. At the moment it is 9. The biggest being a 10lber from Dess.
After the first cast, there was a presentation by local photographer and writer, Mel Shand who has written a book about the River Dee and it's ghillies. The book includes some cracking photos and stories about the men who work up and down the river. I'll look forward to reading it when it's on sale in late March/early April.
I would just like to take a moment and wish everyone on the Dee this year the best of luck and hopefully it is a bumper season ahead. Tight Lines.
The 1st of February is always one of my favourite days of the year. It's always a day you look forward to during the cold winter months whilst you're tying up next seasons flies or tidying the tackle cupboard for the third time! It's also a day that many salmon anglers up and down the country dust off the cobwebs and put their new tackle to the test hoping to land the most prized fish of all, an opening day springer.
Today, I attended the annual River Dee opening ceremony which was held on the Ballogie Estate at Potarch Bridge. It was pouring with rain for a period of the morning but it didn't (pardon the pun) put a dampener on the proceedings. A good audience assembled in the marquee were on hand to sample the refreshments laid on once again by the staff of the lovely Potarch Hotel and Scotch whiskey supplied by Dalmore.
2013 is the 150th anniversary of the Dee District Salmon Fishery Board and the honour of the "First Cast" was given to elder statesman of the Dee and founding member of the Aberdeen & District Angling Association, Alistair Hume. Over the past 60 odd years, Alistair has put in 1000s of hours into conservation and well being of our rivers and all that swim them. Not just locally but nationally. He has probably been a board member of every major organisation associated with salmon conservation or angling there is. A very humble man, but hugely respected all over the angling community for his tireless voluntary work. It was good to see the River Dee give Alistair the recognition and acknowledgement he deserves for all the work he has done for the river over the years. Passionate and dedicated men like Alistair don't come around too often these days.
Here are a few pictures from the 2013 River Dee opening ceremony.
River Dee Director Mark Bilsby (left) and Chairman Ian Scott (centre) listen in as Alistair Hume (right) addresses the audience shortly before toasting the river.
Alistair Hume gets ready to bless the river with a quaich of Dalmore Dee Dram to officially open the salmon fishing season.
Ballogie head Ghillie Sean Stanton shares a joke with the crowd as Alistair Hume delivers the ceremonial first cast of the 2013 salmon fishing season.
Legendary River Dee ghillie Ian Murray of the beautiful Monaltrie & Lower Invercauld beat discussing the forthcoming season.
Angling celebrity Matt Hayes chats with Dave Gordon of DiverDave's Wader Repairs.
Here is a link to the Scottish TV show "Turus a Bhradain". It is now into it's third series and is aired on BBC ALBA channel 168 on Digital. The series is 6 episodes long and is onto episode 4 which starts tonight at 8.30pm. The link I have included below is for episode 2 and is about the Aberdeen District Angling Association and the River Dee. The show is in Gaelic but has subtitles for all none Gaelic speaking viewers. Enjoy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01dhdfl/Turas_a_Bhradain_Series_3_Episode_2/
I attended the 2012 River Dee opening ceremony this morning at the Potarch bridge. There was a really good turn out and excellent conditions for fishing. The first fish to filter through was caught from the Commonty beat about 10am. It weighed 12lbs. After some complimentary bacon butties and Dee Drams, the 200 strong crowd headed down to the Ballogie beat's Bridge Pool where comedian and Dee fisherman Paul Whitehouse had the honour of the first cast. He gave a speech about his love for the Dee and poured a quaich of whiskey into the river. Mark Bilsby also informed the crowd that the 2 week extension had been agreed to be made permanent. Good news! There was a few famous faces around from the world of angling here today and I managed to get my picture taken with fishing expert and Dee supporter Matt Hayes. I also had a chat with the inventor of the world famous Park shrimp fly, Ross MacDonald. Both were very nice guys and a pleasure to meet. After the ceremony I headed off downstream for a cast on the Aberdeen District Angling Association beat, Banchory Devenick. I didn't see anything but it was good to blow away the cobwebs and cast a line again. Here are some pictures and a video from today.
Comedian and Dee angler Paul Whitehouse giving an interview for TV shortly before officially opening the River Dee season 2012. Wonder if he used his new waders he bought with the money he saved on his insurance from Aviva!
Ross MacDonald and Matt Hayes having a chat. I did ask their permission to take this photo and Matt Hayes thought it would be a good shot to have them talking.
River Dee Fisheries Development Officer Ken Reid. Ken and his team have done a wonderful job promoting the river and Deeside in general. They have secured many funds along the way which all go back into improving this world class fishery. Also a big thanks for organising the event today which went smoothly from start to finish. Well Done.
Potarch Bridge. Lovely area of Deeside. The Potarch hotel supplied all the refreshments for today. The bacon buttie and coffee went down a treat! Whyte & Mackay also provided free Dee Drams. Cheers guys!
Paul Whitehouse blessing the river and Ballogie Ghillie Sean Stanton waiting to hand over the rod.
Apologies for the dodgy videos but I was taking stills with my other hand!!! Not such a good idea but it seemed like it at the time.
Myself posing for a photo with Matt Hayes. Matt has donated some fishing in June on the River Gaula in Norway. This is for the River Dee auction to be held in London on March 1st.
