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.

Dunkeld House - River Tay

I had a day on the River Tay at Dunkeld House last Saturday thanks to my pal Paul Pritchard. We were to fish from the boat with ghillie for the day, Jim Ferrie. Heading down to Tayside involved an early start and the alarm was set for 5.30am. The prospect of catching a Tay salmon made sleeping the night before almost impossible but I couldn't wait to get down there. On arrival in Tayside, the rain was pouring down and there was a lot of water lying on the roads which was dirty and we feared the worst as we arrived at the river. We were soon assured that conditions were perfect and the water would be fine until at least late afternoon so we got our gear set up and ready for action.

As we were both fishing from the boat, Jim suggested that one of us spin and the other fly fish. I didn't mind spinning as I had my own spinning tackle with me so I set that up and tied on a copper 30g Toby Salmo to begin with. Paul's set up consisted of a floating line with a type 7 sink tip and a #8 double so after a cup of coffee we were ready for the off.

A nice bit of garden at the side of the road on the way down to the fishing hut.

The well equipped fishing hut on the Dunkled House beat on the River Tay.

We were to fish the Lower Beat in the morning and Jim took us down to our first pool we were to fish which was called the Girnal. Not long after arriving in the pool we saw several fresh grilse showing near the tail which looked like running fish so Jim positioned the boat and we began casting across the pool. We must have only fished about 50 yards of the pool when Paul had a good, solid offer on a #8 Bann Special. Unfortunately for Paul, it didn't stick but it was really encouraging to have an offer so soon after starting and this gave us plenty confidence. We fished our way down the pool and although we saw a few more fish showing we just couldn't temp any others so it was time to head off downstream to the next pool.

Paul eager to get going as Jim takes us down in the boat.

Looking downstream in the Girnal where Paul had a good offer not long after starting.

The next pool down was the Gauge Pool and the Grotto. Jim was confident we would see fish here and he was right. We saw quite a few in fact but try as we might, we couldn't find one in a taking mood. It was good to see plenty fish showing though and Jim guided us through the pools expertly. His knowledge of the beat was first class and he made sure we were fishing the right areas to give us the best chance of a fish.

Paul fishing the fly down the Grotto in the torrential rain.

The last pool were to fish before lunch was the Cathedral Stream which is named after the famous Dunkled Cathedral which lies on the bank of the pool. Although quite quiet at first, there was soon a few fish showing on both sides of the pool. Paul covered them with the fly whilst I continued with the Salmo. After 20 minutes or so, Jim changed my lure over to a Vision 120 lure. These are similar to a Rapala and swim just under the surface. Jim thought these prolific lures might just provoke a fish to take as they ran the pool. Despite our best efforts, neither of us could temp a salmon to take our offerings and it was time to head back to the hut for lunch and to dry off!

Looking across through the rain to Dunkeld Cathedral from the Cathedral Stream. A lovely run which fished very well.

Fishing down the Cathedral Stream from the boat looking toward the Dunkeld Bridge.

As we met for lunch, it was good to hear that a nice fresh 3lb Grilse had been landed by one of the rods from the Ivy Tree. There was also news of several lost and quite a number of offers so it was pleasing to hear. After listening to all the action that was had in the morning we were all eager to get going again and we were soon back in the boat and heading off to our pools for the afternoon.

The view looking over the River Tay from the car park at the hut. It was good to see the rain finally had stopped!

The first pool we were to fish in the afternoon was the Lady Pool and work our way down throughout the afternoon. I had set up my fly rod but decided to stick it out with the spinning gear as I thought though would give me the best chance of hooking into a fish. As we made our way down the pools we saw numerous fish showing all the way down a far as you could see. Paul and I were delighted to see so many and confidence was sky high! Once again, Jim positioned the boat in the most likely areas and guided us through each bit of water stating the depth and how to fish it effectively. This help enormously as the Tay is such a vast river and any knowledge like that is always welcome.

Paul launching a cast over the Cutty Stone during the afternoon.

Grey Stone Pool. Plenty fish showing just out from the Croy.

The Mouse trap. A very deep pool with plenty fish showing in here too.

By late afternoon we were down into our final pool for the day which was the Mouse Trap. Jim had told us that this pool was about 20ft deep and we needed to be getting down the fish. Jim fished the pool as well just to maximise our chance of connecting with a fish. Time was beginning to wear on and just as we were thinking of packing up for the day a fish took Jim's rod and it was over to me. It  tried to stay deep and I was as hard on it as I dared. The fish was giving a very good account of itself and made several strong runs. It was also underneath the boat on a couple of occasions but after several minutes I soon had the fish up on surface ready for the net. It was a nice fish around the 10lb mark and Jim did the hounors of netting it. After a quick photo it was safely released back into the Tay and that was as good a time as any to call it a day and we head off back to the hut. This turned out to be the 200th salmon landed this season for Dunkeld House. A fantastic achievement by any standards as it only just into July.

Almost ready for the net.

My first of the season and my first Salmon from the River Tay.

Safely returned back to the river.

I have to say, whether we caught fish or not, it was a great day on the River Tay. We saw loads of fish it every pool and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jim made the day even more enjoyable with good banter and he was only ever willing to share his vast knowledge of the beat. He did is utmost to get us a fish and tried everything to do so. I must thank Paul once again for his kind generosity for asking me to fish with him which I am very grateful for. I will be back to fish Dunkeld again that for sure. It was a lovely beat despite the heavy rain and very accessible from both bank and boat. It was good to land my first salmon of 2015 as well as my first ever Tay salmon and as for having the privilege of landing their 200th salmon of the season, that was just the icing on the cake!