St Valentine's Day Springer

I had an hour's fishing today on the River Dee at Ballogie courtesy of ghillie, Sean Stanton. I started in the Bridge Pool and I didn't have to wait long before my Willie Gunn tube fly was hammered by a strong fish only minutes after starting. It was bar of silver around the 7lb mark which gave a very good account of itself in the cold water.

I also lost another springer in the next pool down which some how managed to throw the hook after a thumping take. Pity it didn't stick but I won't be complaining with landing just the one fish! Hopefully my good start to the season will continue for a wee while longer yet.

7lb of River Dee spring salmon ready to be returned to the water.

New Season Approaching

Firstly, I would like to wish everyone a happy new year and I hope the fishing gods will be smiling on us all in 2017. Secondly, and more importantly, the new salmon fishing season in Scotland is almost upon us again! Rivers in the North of Scotland such as the Naver, Helmsdale and Thurso open their doors on the 11th of January and the River Tay follows soon after on the 15th. My local rivers the Dee and Don open on the 1st of February and the 11th of February respectively.

A fine opening day springer from park on the River Dee in 2016. It turned out the be the largest fish caught on opening day.

The River Oykel. One of the finest salmon rivers in Scotland.

I really can't wait for the season to start. It has been a long, but mild winter but I was really hoping for a bit of a cold snap just to bring back to some sort of normality for the salmon after the far from normal warm and wet Decembers of the last few years. Hopefully it will cool down in the early months of the year though and a bit of snow and frost wouldn't go a miss just to cool the river temperatures and slow down any of these early running fish.

A still from my GoPro of a lively 14lber from the Ballogie beat of the River Dee.

My first outing of the season is nearing ever closer where I'm on the River Tay just one week from now. The customary tying of flies and tidying out the the tackle boxes has been done and the online chats and messages are in full swing. As the anticipation grows, the days seem to get longer and run up to that first fishing trip of the year feels like it takes forever! I'm looking forward to sharing my fishing experiences with you again. Tight Lines to anyone lucky enough to be out on the river in the coming weeks.

A selection of salmon tubes for the early Spring. From left to right- (L) and (C) Gold Willie Gunn (R) Black & Yellow.

An annual necessity. Lines all cleaned and reels serviced ready for the new season.

Tube Flies For Spring

It's that time of year again where many fly tiers like myself are sitting down at the vice and tying their favourite patterns for the new season ahead. I will mostly be using Willie Gunns and Black and Yellows with the occasional Akroyd single if the previous to patters fail. I can't see past these flies for early season and I see little point else using anything else during February or March.

The new season can't come round quick enough and my first outing of the season is booked in for the 21st January on the River Tay at Lower Kinnaird with good pals. It's great to meet up them again after the winter and having a cast in the hope of landing a coveted January salmon is an added bonus.

Tight lines to all for 2017. Hopefully I'll have plenty to write about again this coming season and will look forward to sharing my experieces through out the year.

Gold bodied Willie Gunns and Black & Yellows all tied on plastic tubes with heavy Eumer S cones.

Black & Yellow. A big favourite on the Dee in Spring.

Gold Body Willie Gunn with a red cone.

Gold Body Willie Gunn with a gold cone.

Akroyd tied on a 5/0 single hook. A favourite of mine to use in the early spring months.

Flies For The Spring

It's that time of year again when my attention turns to re-stocking the tube fly boxes in preparation for the early spring fishing. I would mostly use tube flies of various sizes and weights depending on conditions but occasionally I'd give an Akroyd tied on a large single hook a swim.

I tend to keep the number of patterns I carry to a minimum just to reduce the temptation to chop and change flies all the time through out the day. Here are a selection of my go to patterns which see most action.

An old Dee favourite - The Akroyd

Gold Willie Gunns and Black & Yellows. You won't go far wrong with these in the Spring months.

Park Shrimp. All the colours associated with spring fishing. Deadly wee fly.

Maggie's Shrimp. Probably my favourite fly to use in the Spring.

Black & Chartreuse and Willie Gunn Franc N Snaeldas.

Drowned Mouse. This is a new addition to my box for next year but by no means a new pattern.

Rothes & Aikenway - River Spey

Yesterday I found myself fishing on one of the most prestigious beats on the River Spey thanks to a very kind invite from Mel MacDonald to fish his rod. I was very excited to get the opportunity to cast a fly on some of the finest pools on the river and as a result it was a long night of broken sleep on Friday!

I arrived at the beat about 8.30am and was greeted by gillies Mike and Robbie. After a cup of coffee and a chat about the fishing Mike kindly set up my rod. On his advice, I opted for my Mackenzie Float/Intermediate shooting head with a 10ft slow sink tip. My fly of choice was a 1 1/2" Willie Gunn which I had tied the night before.

The fully equipped hut on the beat.

I was drawn to fish the Creechy pool first and work my way down to have a quick run through Jamieson's Cast before lunch. Mike drove me up to the pool and pointed out the areas in where I should concentrate my efforts. I started above the croy and worked my way day the pool. Every cast fished superbly and I was just waiting for the line to tighten. My first run down the pool proved fruit
Ess so Mile suggested getting down deeper so I changed over my slow sink tip to a 10ft 3.9ips tip and I changed my fly over to a Black & Yellow tube. I started just above the croy again and began working my way down the pool. Just as my fly was coming round above the boat I had a take and lifted into a fish. I quickly realised it was just a kelt and it was soon unhooked and released back into the river. The change of tactics had worked almost instantly. I fished out the rest of the pool without an other offer so I made my way down to have a run through Jamieson's Cast before stopping for lunch.

Creechy Pool. I started in here about 20 yards above the croy.

Fishing down through Creechy. I landed a well mended kelt in here just shortly after taking this picture.

Looking upstream in Creechy. An absolute joy to fish.

Looking downstream toward the tail of Creechy.

Jamieson's Cast was another nice bit of water. The water was slightly shallower on the left bank here so I needed to wade out a bit to cover the water effectively. As nice as the water looked I didn't get a touch and it was off to the hut for lunch.

Jamieson's Cast. A nice easy wade.

Fishing down trough Jamieson's Cast.

At lunch we were informed about a fish that had been caught in the Burnmouth by expert angler, Graham Ritchie. His 11lber came to the net about 10am. It was encouraging to hear of fish caught and it spurred us on for the afternoon. The hut is well equipped and was very comfortable but 2 o'clock was soon upon us and it time to get going again.

The interior of the main hut.

The "spare" hut over looking Jamieson's Cast.

Mike took me over the water in the boat to fish the Burnmouth Pool for the afternoon. After a brief chat about where and how to fish the pool I waded in above the boat and got going. I fished down the pool about 20 or 30 yards without a touch so Mike suggested me give the pool from the boat as it allows the fly to hang longer in the likely areas. Once in the boat I had only made about four or five casts when I had a good thump at the fly and I lifted into a fish. Apart from head shakes and the odd short run, the fish did very little and a kelt was soon in the net. It was swiftly released and we carried on working down the pool. All afternoon Mike was entertaining with stories of the old days and of memorable catches and the afternoon soon flew by. Apart from a few rugs at the fly nothing stuck and before we knew it, it was time to pack up.

Fishing Burnmouth first time down from the bank.

Looking upstream into Bluestone from Burnmouth with the hut in the distance.

My second run down Burnmouth but this time fishing from the boat.

Looking across Burnmouth from the left bank at finishing time.

There was nothing else caught in the afternoon session but it was good to see that the beat picked up a fish in the morning. I really enjoyed my day at Rothes and it was a pleasure to fish these pools. There is something special about the River Spey which in my opinion, sets it apart from any other river. Of all the beats on the river I have fished, I can truly say that I wasn't disappointed with any of them. I have several other dates booked this Spring but on different beats and I am looking forward to my next visit to Speyside on the 7th March.

Salmon Tubes For Spring

As usual, just like every other year, I've probably started to re-stock my tube fly box a wee bit early. Guaranteed, come the December holidays and the long January nights, I'll have nothing left to tie! Still, I find Fly Tying as much of a hobby as Salmon fishing and when I'm not fishing, the next best alternative is to tie flies.

The only problem with tying your own flies is you tend to have far too many which is why last year I totally cleared out my boxes. It took a minute or two to decide on what to strip down and what to keep but eventually I settled for just 6 or 7 patterns. These were the flies I used most often and most importantly, the ones I had confidence in. I have stuck to the same patterns again this year and will tie them up in various weights and sizes to cover most likely of Spring conditions.

A few flies tied so far. These are probably the flies I use the most. Top left: Gold Body Willie Gunn, Top Right: Monkey, Bottom Left: Park Shrimp, Bottom Right: Calvin Shrimp x2 and KS Shrimp

Good Friday!

I ventured out to fish the River Don today as I had the day off work due to it being Good Friday and the start of the Easter weekend. I headed down to one of my favourite pools on the Aberdeen & District Angling Association water. On arrival at the Manse Pool, I was surprised to see only one other car in the car park but it was snowing heavily right enough and not ideal weather conditions to coax anglers out. I fished down through the pool without seeing or touching anything and decided to head out to Manar to meet up with my friend Charlie.

The Manar gauge was reading 11" which is a prime height for the beat and the water temp was around 37f due to some cold nights and snow. I arrived around lunch time and not long after starting, a rod fishing the opposite bank landed an absolute cracking Springer which measured 33" and was estimated to be a good 15lb. After taking scale samples, the fish was swiftly returned. Always a good sign when you see fresh fish being caught on the beat you are fishing. After a run down through the Horse Shoe and Long Pools, Charlie and I headed to the Sheep pool where the 15lber had been caught earlier on. Charlie went in first and I followed down behind. Neither of us touched anything until Charlie reached the tail of the pool when his 3/4" brass Gold Willie Gunn was grabbed by a fish. I looked up to see Charlie's rod bent and made my way down to assist. Charlie initially thought he had hooked a kelt until we saw the flanks of the fish, This was no kelt! After a dogged scrap with lots of runs and the fish diving deep, I slid the net under a magnificent River Don Springer around the 9lb mark. Again, this was another cracking salmon and was in great condition. As I walked back to my rod, Charlie cast to the same lie and gave out a shout. He had hooked another fish out of the exact same spot! I turned and headed back down river but as I got near, the fish spat the hook. It came along side Charlie and he said it was another clean fish about 7-8lbs. Never good to lose a fish but at least the fish were in the taking mood. As I walked back to my rod, there was a fish showed just down from where my rod lay. I made a cast to where I saw the rise and immediately hooked into a fish. It made a couple of good runs but the fight was easily won and Charlie soon had the net under a very well mended kelt. Not a springer but it could have been disturbed as the Springers swam by it's lie on their way upstream. Good to see kelts in such good condition which gives them a better chance of reaching the sea and returning next year.

We both fished on until 6pm but nothing more was hooked by us, although Fred, one of the Manar regulars landed another well mended kelt from the Sheep pool.We retired to the hut for a much deserved beer before heading off. Just as we were leaving the beat, Duncan, another Manar regular, returned a sea liced fish weighing 9lb. 3 fish landed and 1 lost for a 1.5 mile stretch of the Don is great fishing by any standards. Long may it continue!

Good signs for the River Don to see such quality Springers in the system. If only some of the other beats would publicise catches etc to encourage rods to book fishing on this wonderful, forgotten neighbour of the River Dee.

Here are some pictures from today.

Looking upstream in blizzard conditions on the lower Don at the Manse Pool. Nothing doing here so I headed up to the Manar beat.

Cracking River Don Springer! Charlie and his first fish of the season from the tail of the Sheep Pool at Manar. The fish took a 3/4" brass Gold Bodied Willie Gunn on a floating line and a 10ft fast tip. He lost another from the same lie minutes after returning this fish.

The tail of the Sheep Pool where the springers stop for a brief rest after coming up through the fast water from the Upper Wood Pool below. Used to be a top Spring lie but has not produced in recent years for some reason. Hopefully now, after the big winter spates, the pool has returned to it's former glory. We shall soon find out.

Turus a Bhradain

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/

River Dee 2012

Good Luck to everyone fishing the River Dee tomorrow and 2012 season. Let's hope it's a good one and the river keeps on the upward trend in terms of catches. I'm off to the opening ceremony tomorrow  morning to see Paul Whitehouse deliver the opening cast. I will post some pictures and videos from the event later tomorrow evening.

The famous Potarch Bridge where the 2012 River Dee opening ceremony will take place on 01/02/12 on the Bridge Pool. The traditional first cast and blessing of the river will be preformed by comedian and Dee regular Paul Whitehouse.

Tight Lines To All For 2012

Some More Flies For The New Season

Charlie Robertson has been busy at the vice this past week and has sent me some pictures of his work. His flies include the famous Dee Monkey, Gold Body Willie Gunn, Black and Yellows and his own creation, the Manar Monkey.

Some Gold Willie Gunns tied on copper tubes and a must have for the Dee in Spring, the Black and Yellow tube.

A team of Dee Monkey flies tied on bottle tubes. Charlie has used racoon zonker for the wing and it looks superb.

Charlie's own creation....The Manar Monkey. Tied on Eumer tubes with a cone head, these flies will be getting their maiden swim on February 11th at Manar. The opening day for the Aberdeenshire Don.

A nice picture of some more Dee Monkey flies. This fly is a "go-to" fly in the Spring and has many Springers to it's name.