Brae Water - River Spey

I had 3 days fishing on the Brae Water beats of the River Spey last week with my pal Charlie. The water was on the high side for the lower beats the water temperature was hovering around the 48f mark. We were fishing Beat 5 on the Thursday, Beat 3 on the Friday and Beat 4 on the Saturday.

Beat 5

The Beat 5 fishing hut.

We arrived on Speyside full of the usual optimism before any trip away and we were greeded by the ghillies who we meet in the Gordon Arms Hotel car park on the morning on every day. We were introduced to the new beat 5 ghillie, The river was sitting at 1ft 7in on the gauge and was crystal clear. The sun was splitting the sky as well but despite conditions seemingly against us we fished hard. I did see a couple of fish through out the day, one in Lilley's and one in the Grilse Pool. One of the rods also had a good take in the Upper Dipple which didn't stick unfortunately.

The Dipple. Beautiful piece of water and

Lilley's. I saw a fish show in here down near the tail of the pool.

Bulwarks. The Fochabers Bridge in the backgorund.

Neither Charlie nor I had a touch for our efforts but we gave it our best shot. Despite the water being on the high side the pools fished very well and new beat ghillie, David, who has moved down from Beat 1 made sure we fished the likely lies and kept the encouragement going. I'm sure he will be an ample replacement for Blair Banks who has moved downstream to the Castle Water.

The Dipple pool from the opposite bank.

Looking upstream in the Grilse Pool. There was a fish showed in here just below the boat.

Looking upstream in the Upper Dipple. Another lovely cast.

Beat 5 is a cracking beat and has some fantastic pools. It was the first time I have had a cast in the Upper Dipple and I thoroughly enjoyed fishing it but I can't see past the Grilse Pool which is my favourite cast on the beat. I will look forward to fishing it on my next visit.

Beat 3

The view looking upstream into the Otter's Cave pool from the hut on Beat 3.

Our second day on the picturesque Brae Water was on Beat 3. Head Ghillie Ian Tennant is always good company and his enthusiasm for the Spey after 33 years in the job is infectious and he keeps your spirits high even on the quietest of days. This make the day much more enjoyable and it's always a pleasure chatting with him during the day.

Ian and Charlie pose for a photo with the red cliffs of the Lord March pool in the back ground.

Charlie and I on the Lord March pool.

The water height on our second day had risen about 2in from the day before due to snow melt and was now sitting at 1ft 9in on the gauge.The water temp was still around the 48f mark and we had the bright, cloudless skies to contend with for a majority of the day again. Charlie and I fished the lower half of the beat in the morning and this included the majestic Aultdearg Pool with the stunning red cliffs over looking the pool. Sadly it didn't produce any salmon but I managed to connect with one of the many sea trout kelts in the pool. They were feeding on the ample supply of upwinged flies that hatched every afternoon but one fish took a liking to a Sunray Shadow.

Aultdearg with the cliffs overlooking the pool just after starting about 9.30am.

Charlie and I fishing down Aultdearg around mid morning time. The cloud cover didn't stay for long!

The tail of Aultdearg basking in the sunshine.

 After a nice lunch and some good craic with fellow rods Iain and Rab it was off for a crack at the Lord March pool. Charlie and I bith had several ruins down the pool with out a touch and I had a run through the Lower Ewe with the same result. I did however have a cast with the dry fly for trout and managed to hook a few but I'm a bit out of practice with striking the trout and I managed to miss the lot of them!

Looking downstream in Otter's Cave from outside the fishing hut.

Fishing down the beautiful Lord March pool.

Looking upstream into Beat 2 from the Lower Ewe pool.

Beat 3 is another lovely bit of water which fishes the fly very well indeed. The Aultdearg pool as I have mentioned before is stunning and the scenery surrounding it makes it all the better. The red cliffs are a prominent feature on several beats on the lower Spey and it add to the character of the place. Sadly, again we didn't manage to winkle out a springer but I have blanked in much worse looking places!

3 Days On The Spey - Brae Water

Brae Water Beat 5

Charlie and I started our trip on the Spey at Brae Water Beat 5 with ghillie, Blair Banks. The water was sitting around 1ft 6in on the Boat o' Brig gauge. I tackle up with my Scott Mackenzie Float/Intermediate shooting head with a 6ft 3.9ips tip. My fly of choice was a small Monkey.

Charlie and I were drawn to fish the top part of the beat in the morning. I was to start in the Intake Pool and Charlie started in the Grilse Pool. The Intake pool was fishing really nicely and I was about half way down the pool, when I felt a fish grab at the fly and it was closely followed by another knock and then finally a thumping take! The fish immediately stripped yards of line off my reel and headed back towards Fochabers. After a cracking scrap lasting several minutes, I managed to beach a lovely sea trout about 2lb. After fishing through the remainder of the Intake without another touch, I headed down to fish the Grilse Pool.

Just not long after starting Blair and I noticed several fish heading and tailing up and down the length of the pool. This was a good run of fish making their way upstream but neither Charlie or I managed to connect with one.

The afternoon saw us fishing the Dipple Pool from the right bank. This looked a cracking pool, especially up at the neck. We fished it all afternoon without seeing a fish but I had a good pull at the tail about 4.30pm. Unfortunately, it didn't connect and it turned out to be the last action of the day for us. The Osprey fared a bit better when it caught a sea trout from the tail of the pool. Amazing to see it diving and coming up with a fish. There was however, 2 fish landed up in the Grilse Pool by anglers during the afternoon. A lovely 7lb salmon covered in long tail sea lice and another slightly older fish of the same weight.

Here are some pictures from our day on Beat 5.

Intake Pool looking downstream.

A Sea Trout from the Intake Pool taken on a small Monkey tube.

Grilse Pool. Nothing touched in here for me but 2 fish came off the pool in the afternoon.

Looking upstream in the Grilse Pool.

Charlie and I fishing the Dipple from the right bank in the afternoon.

The beat hut on the right and the ghillie's hut on the left.

Brae Water Beat 3

Friday saw us fishing beat 3 with ghillie Ian Tennant. The water was is good nick and sitting around 1ft  6in on the Boat o' Brig gauge. Ian suggested that a heavier set up would be better today so I went for my Scott Mackenzie Intermediate shooting head with a 10ft 5.6ips tip and a 2" Willie Gunn.

Charlie and I were to fish the Aultderg Pool in the morning. This is one of my favourite pools on any river that I have fished and we were keen to get going. We both fished down the pool twice each without a touch or seeing any fish move but every time the fly swung round, you were just waiting for the line to tighten.

After lunch we were to fish the Lower Ewe and Lord March Pools. Charlie headed of up to fish the Lower Ewe whilst I went in at the top of the Lord March. There was a massive hatch of March Browns coming off and the trout were rising everywhere you looked. I fished down the pool without a touch from a salmon so I put up the wee rod and had a go for the trout. I tied on a dry fly which was the closest resemblance to a March Brown that I had and I had about 8 offers and landed a couple of sea trout kelts. Since I realised that most of the fish were sea trout kelts, I put the rod away and went back after a salmon. Unfortunately, we both finished the day without a touch or without seeing a fish move. The pools were all in really good shape and were a pleasure to fish.

Here are a few pictures from Beat 3.

Aultderg. Fantastic fly water with scenery to match.

Looking upstream in Aultderg with the red cliffs in the background.

Looking downstream in Aultderg.

Lord March. Another lovely bit of water.

Lower Ewe looking upstream towards Beat 2.

Fishing down the Lower Ewe.

The fishing hut on Beat 3.

Brae Water Beat 4

Our final day on Speyside was to be spent fishing Beat 4 with ghillie, David Buley. The wind had really picked up and it made casting tricky at times. The water was dropping slowly and was sitting a 1ft 2in on the Boat o' Brig gauge.

It was back to the float/intermediate shooting head and a 6ft 3.9ips tip for today and I opted to give a Black & Yellow tube a good swim through the pools. Charlie and I were to start in the Cruive Pool. This was a cracking looking pool and David pointed out all the likely place we might encounter a fish. I started half way down the pool and Charlie started at the neck. We both fished down the pool twice, casting as well as we could between gusts of wind. Neither of us touched a fish and we headed back to the hut for lunch.

After lunch, David took Charlie and I over the river to fish the Pipe Pool. Here the Spey narrows considerably and is easily covered off the shingle bank. The wooded area opposite sheltered the pool and gave us a bit of respite from the wind. I changed fly to a heavier Franc N Snaelda just to get down a bit quicker in the fast stream. Just as I got to the tail of the pool whilst working the Snaelda back and forth, something pulled back. Not the salmon I was after but a greedy little brown about 3/4lb. That was the only action I had in the pool but like so many other pools on the Brae Water, you are just waiting for the line to tighten every cast.

Here are a few pictures from Beat 4.

Sign above the door of the ghillie's hut.

Fishing down the Cruive Pool.

A downstream view of the Cruive Pool from the bank.

Fishing the neck Cruive Pool.

The Pipe Pool. A lovely cast and a pleasure to fish. Cracking pool.

Looking upstream into the Pipe Pool.

Looking downstream from the bank at the tail of the Pipe Pool.

The fishing hut on Beat 4.

The quest for an elusive Spey Springer continues but we had a really enjoyable 3 days on the Brae Water. All the ghillies were first class. Friendly and very knowledgeable lads who went out their way to help and keep the enthusiasm going during some tough conditions. The other rods fishing with us for the 3 days were all good craic too which makes fishing a lot more enjoyable. We look forward to our next visit to the Brae Water beats in the near future.

River Spey - Brae Water Beat 5

This weekend saw Charlie and I out on the magnificent River Spey at Gordon Castle. We were fishing the Brae Water beat 5 which is one of the lower beats on the estate. The beat is situated about 5 miles from the sea and can produce fish through-out the season. The beat is ghillied by Blair Banks, who was a World Champion Spey caster in his younger days. Well, I say younger days but he's still only in his early twenties!!!

We met the ghillies at the usual rendezvous at The Gordon Arms Hotel in Fochabers and after a brief chat about catches etc we set off down to the hut to tackle up. As we were the only 2 rods booked on we had Blair's knowledge and expertise all day. He made us feel very welcome and did everything he could to make our day enjoyable. He set up our rods, tied on our flies, carried the rods to the pools and even waded out to make the first cast to ensure we started with a short line in the right spot. Along with all the advice and craic, it made our day thoroughly enjoyable.

We started at the top of the beat. Charlie fished the Intake pool and I fished the Grilse pool. Both these pools were lovely fly water and we expected a take every cast. As I was nearing the tail of the Grilse pool, there was several fish showed as they came up through the fast water from the run below. They all looked like good, fresh spring fish which got my adrenalin going on what was a cold, blustery day on Speyside. Just as I got to the spot where the fish showed, my 3/4inch Monkey conehead suddenly took off across the stream! I signaled to Blair who was up with Charlie and he arrived just as the fish took another storming run almost clearing out all my running line. My rod tip was bouncing all over the place. Surely this was a spring fish? After a rugged scrap for several minutes I finally got a bit of control over fish. Blair was positioned, ready with the net and as the fish showed itself for the first time, we realised it was a well mended kelt! Not one of the springers I saw coming up through the rapids. As I was drawing the fish into the waiting net, and just like last week on the Dee at Middle Drum, the hook pulled from the fishes mouth and my fly ended up over our heads and high into the trees behind! Whilst playing the fish and with some of the runs it made, I really thought this was the one we were after but not to be. Never-the-less, a fantastic battle but from one of last years models and the hunt for a springer goes on.

After lunch, Blair took us down to the Lower part of the beat. Charlie fished Lower Dipple and I fished the Bulwarks pool. The Bulwarks pool is about 850 yards long and apart from a wee bit in the middle of the pool, the whole lot fished very well. The lower part of the pool just above Fochabers Bridge, where the water channels into a lovely "V" shape midstream just screams fish. There was a springer lost there last week and I can see why a fish would stop and rest in this area. We both fished down the pool without a touch and we retired back to the hut just at the sun disappeared to reflect on another day "chasing silver".

Here are some pictures a a short video Charlie took of me playing and losing what turned out to be a very lively kelt. We're back on the Spey next weekend again so hopefully we will get some silver on the blog. Early days yet.

Grilse Pool. Looking upstream midway down the pool. A cracking pool that fishes the fly very well.

Looking downstream to the tail of the Grilse Pool where I hooked the kelt. It took just above the fast water at the side of a nice ripple caused by a stone below the surface. Blair informed us that the pool wouldn't even have been worth a cast in previous seasons as it was so shallow. Due to the nature of the area, gravel shifts are common and some of the pools change every spate.

Intake. Looking upstream at the tail of the pool.

Bulwarks. Looking downstream towards the bridge that crosses the Spey at Fochabers.

The tails of the Bulwarks Pool as it flows under the bridge.

Charlie (left) Blair the ghillie (right) and their dogs. Poppy, Brae and Bracken.