Kitchen Sink Shrimps

Been busy tying up some flies in preparation for the coming season. This lot are destined for a fly box on Speyside. Hopefully the Spey salmon will find them irresistible. These have been tied on silver Partridge Patriot hooks in sizes 8s, 10s and 12s.

Will look forward to hearing how they get in during the season.

KS Shrimps For River Dee Auction

I am delighted to donate a box of flies to the River Dee Trust auction again this year. These 12 flies are tied on silver Fulling Mill hooks of various sizes and will be presented in this Greys fly box. I was thrilled when I was asked last year and it was great to see my flies sell pretty well. It's all for a very good cause and I was a glad to contribute a wee bit to the final total.

I have varied it slightly this year and have tied 6 original Kitchen Sink Shrimps as well as 4 yellow KS Shrimps and 2 red KS Shrimps. Hopefully these will sell equally as well as last year.

Details of the auction can be found by following the link so please register and bid for any of the great items which will be on offer. The auction goes live on 1st November with all proceeds going to fund projects carried out by the River Dee Trust.

River Dee Trust Auction 2016

The Greys fly box with the dozen flies ready for the auction.

The original Kitchen Sink Shrimp.

Yellow KS Shrimp

Red KS Shrimp

 

Salmon And The Kitchen Sink Shrimp

My Kitchen Sink (KS) Shrimp fly has really started to prove it's worth this season with good numbers of fish falling for it's charms from various corners of the Northern Hemisphere. So far it has been successful in Russia, Norway, Iceland, Ireland and several rivers here Scotland such as the Dee, Don, Spey, Lochy and Naver to name but a few. It has a small band of faithful followers and hopefully it's success will grow as the pattern becomes a bit more widespread.

A lovley 13lb Summer Salmon caught by my good pal Charlie Robertson on the Manar beat of the River Don in July. The Kitchen Sink fly sitting on it's flank.

Here are a few pictures of salmon which have taken the Kitchen Sink Shrimp fly this season. Thank you very much for the use of the photos, David Littlewood, Paul Pritchard and Charlie Robertson. Much appreciated gents.

A batch of freshly tied Kitchen Sink Shrimps ready for action.

A Kitchen Sink Shrimp fresh from the scissors of a 14lb salmon on the River Spey in June.

The very exclusive Yellow version of the Kitchen Sink which is now picking up the odd fish throughout Scotland.

Another photo of Charlie's salmon from the River Don.

A cracking 16lb Salmon caught by David Littlewood from the Upper Dee.

Yours truly with a 14lb Salmon caught on the River Spey in late June.

Kildrummy Inn proprietor, David Littlewood with a nice River Deveron springer caught back in May.

My pal Paul Pritchard with a March springer from the River Dee which took a liking to a small tube version of the Kitchen Sink.

Paul Pritchard with the first of a brace of March springers from the River Dee on 11th March.

His second March springer of the day for Paul Pritchard from the Dee. This wee cracker also fell to a Kitchen Sink.

A nice close up shot the a Kitchen Sink Shrimp in the mouth of a nice River Dee springer.

Tulchan C - River Spey

On Saturday, I found myself on the majestic Tulchan C beat of the River Spey. I was kindly invited along by my pal Paul Pritchard along with a few of his other pals for a day's fishing. On the build up to the day I was like a child waiting for Christmas such was the thought of fishing on a beat like this during one of their prime months of the season. I've never been so excited to have a day's fishing before in my life and I hardly slept a wink the night before!

A cracking, fresh run River Spey salmon about 10lb.

I set off early on the morning of fishing as I was picking Paul up from his hotel in Aviemore. I arrived in Aviemore just before 8am and we set off down to the beat full of anticipation of what lay ahead. The topic of conversation rarely strayed far from salmon fishing and I actually had that feeling of butterflies in my stomach you get when you're nervous but excited at the same time. We got to the beat around 8.30am and were met by the ghillie, Lawrence de Rosa. We were advised on what tactics had been successful during the week but the water had risen slightly over night and had taken on a slight peat stain. I opted for my 14ft Hardy Demon rod and matched it up with a 9/10 Mackenzie floating shooting head. I attached a 10ft intermediate polyleader to this and tied on roughly 4ft of 12lb clear maxima. My fly of choice for to begin with was a #9 Kitchen Sink.

Looking down the Bridge Pool from bridge.

Looking upstream towards the bridge in the Bridge Pool.

Lawrence showed me up to the Bridge Pool for starters and explained all the areas to concentrate on as I worked my way through the pool. I waded out slightly just above the bridge as instructed and worked my way down the pool covering the seam which was coming off the bridge parapet. As I got to the other side of the parapet there was a couple of good fish showed near the tail of the pool. They were both decent sized fish and this raised my excitement levels even higher than there already were. I made sure I was covering the water as best I could and concentrated hard on getting my fly working through the lies. I was about half way down the pool and I made an upstream mend on my fly as it was starting to swing round just after casting. The fly was just above where the fish had shown earlier and about half way round, my line went tight and I lifted into a really strong fish. The fish tore yards of line off my Hardy Cascapedia reel and it was screaming, just how I imagined it would! The fish made a couple of attempts to leave the pool but thankfully on both occasions it thought better of it and came back into the main part. A really dogged fight ensured for a good five minutes or so before it started to give up some of the line it had taken off my reel. All my running line was off my reel at one point. These strong runs coupled with the fast flowing water had the fish tiring a bit and I managed to draw it into the side where Lawrence waited with the net. I thought it was ready and lifted it's head up to be netted but the fish had other ideas! It took off across the pool in one last bid for freedom. I soon had it under control again though and this time I managed to guide it safely into the waiting net.

Lawrence removing my #9 Kitchen Sink fly from the scissors of a cracking 14lb salmon out of the Bridge Pool.

Well worth the wait! My first ever River Spey salmon.

A #9 Kitchen Sink tied in a flamethrower style did the business. This is dressed on a silver Salar double.

My first River Spey salmon was finally landed! Lawrence quickly removed the #9 Kitchen Sink fly from the scissors of the fish. We estimated it to be in the region of 14lb. I held it up for a quick photograph before slipping him back into the river. It was still only 9.40am. The pressure was off and I could really enjoy the rest of the day whatever happened.

Looking upstream from Upper Tulchan Pool towards the Bridge Pool.

Fishing down the Upper Tulchan Pool. had another offer in here which didn't stick unfortunately. 

The next pool I was to fish was Upper Tulchan. Lawrence explained the pool to me before heading off to tend to the other rods so I made my way across the bridge and down to the pool. The pool had a good flow going through the middle of the river but there was a slacker bit of water near the tail and this was a good spot to pick up fish. I worked my way down the pool using the same set up as before and about half way down I had a good pull on my fly. Unfortunately it didn't stick but I knew my set up was working well in this pool too. I fished down the remainder of the pool hoping to temp another fish but it wasn't to be so I headed back over to have a run through the Bridge Pool again before coming back for another crack here later on.

Fishing down the Bridge Pool for a second time.

I made my way down to fish the Bridge Pool again hoping for a repeat performance from earlier on. There were a couple of fish showing as I fished my way down the pool but they weren't for tempting this time so I headed back across the bridge to fish the Upper Tulchan again.

Fishing down Upper Tulchan for a second time.  I lost a nice fish due to a mishap with my running line!

I decide to start right up at the neck of Upper Tulchan this time and fish the whole length of the pool to cover as much of it as I could. I had not long started when a nice wee fish showed opposite me. I covered it a few times but to no avail so carried on down the pool. I was just about half way down the pool and began hand lining my running line in ready to re-cast. Just as I was about to lift my rod, I had a good solid take and lifted into a decent fish. It quickly turned and began to take line. My running line was dumped on the grass bank and as the fish took off at a fair rate of knots, the line became tangled around my reel handle. I frantically tried to untangle it but with the fish pulling hard I just couldn't loosen the tension. This made the fish jump and a bright salmon around the 7lb mark made it's presence known. It tried to run again but I still couldn't get the line freed. This again, made it leap out of the water but only this time, it managed to spit the hook. I was really annoyed with myself as I usually coil 4-5 loops of line round each finger as I pull the running line in. This time however, I just dumped it on the grass out of laziness. In hindsight, it cost me the opportunity to land another salmon but I certainly won't be making that mistake again! I fished on down the rest of the pool felling very frustrated with myself but I couldn't temp another salmon to take my offerings so it was back to the hut for lunch.

The hut on Tulchan C beat. Not bad!

Back at the hut we chatted about the morning's fishing and there had been four landed. this was a good score given the heavy peat stain in the water and we were all looking forward to the afternoon session. Paul had also organised lunch for us all and there was a lovely spread of cooked meats, potatoes, salads and bread which was provide by Tulchan Lodge. This went down a treat and we were all raring to go in the afternoon.

Fishing down the delightful Upper Bog Pool. Lovely cast.

I was allocated Upper Bog for the afternoon. The had been nice fish from this pool during the morning so I was confident there were salmon present. On arrival to the pool there were a good number of fish showing down near the tail. Their presence really got me eager to get in and start. Lawrence showed me the taking spots and where to concentrate my efforts so I waded out to the to spot where he had shown me and began fishing down through the pool. I fished it down without a touch but there were a few fish about to keep my spirits up so I went back up to the neck of the pool to try again.

Looking upstream from the bank of  Upper Bog to where I landed my second fish of the day.

Looking down Upper Bog towards the tail of the pool.

My second run down was hampered by a wind knot in my leader so waded back to the bank and changed my leader over. As I was sitting on the bench there was a flotilla of kayaks made their way down through the pool so I decided to sit and wait for a while to let the pool settle again before restarting. As I was sitting it out, I thought this was a good as time as any to change my fly so I opted to tie on a Willie Gunn Flamethrower but kept it to a #9. I made my way back up to the neck of the pool and waded out above the stone where I had been instructed to start earlier on. Not long after restarting the pool I had a good, solid draw on the line and I lifted into a strong fish. The fish made some really energetic runs across the current but as I waist deep in fast water, I had to carefully navigate my way down past the bank side trees and onto the grass bank. This proved quite difficult as the fish kept trying to run upstream of where I had just waded down from. I managed to get the fish turned and by this time it was holding in the current opposite me. My floating line was drowned and the fish was tearing yards of line off my reel. My line had become stuck on a rock and I was weary of pulling too hard in case I lost another fish. I pulled the line as hard as I dared and somehow the fish freed itself and headed off down stream taking my line with it. Much to my delight!

This time a Willie Gunn Flamethrower did the trick. Again tied on a #9 Salar double.

I soon got myself back up onto the grass bank and began playing the fish from dry land. There was a net lying twenty yards away on the bench and each time I tried to get downstream to get the net for landing the fish, it ran up stream. Eventually, I gave up on the idea of trying to get the net and decide to beach the fish just above the boat which was situated in little cove at the end of the tree lined bank. The fish was now ready to be landed and I drew it into the side and managed to get my hand on it's tail. It was a spit fresh salmon around the 10lb mark. Just like buses, you wait ages for one to come along and two arrive at once! After a quick photograph it was released safely to continue it's journey up the River Spey. It was now about 4.10pm and I fished out the remainder of the pool but I couldn't temp another fish to take my fly. I wasn't really fussed to be quite honest as I was more than happy with total for the day and I headed off back to the hut to pack up at 5pm.

My second fish of the day. A "Bar of Silver" about 10lb.

There had been no further salmon landed in the afternoon for the other rods but there was a nice sea trout caught from the Tulchan Pool and another few pulls and offers which didn't stick. A total of five salmon and sea trout for the day was a good return given the rise in water overnight and Lawrence was happy with his weeks' total as well. We all chatted for a while before going our separate ways.

I was absolutely thrilled to be fishing at Tulchan during their prime time of the season and I will always be grateful to Paul for inviting me along. It was a fantastic gesture and one I will always be thankful for. I certainly won't forget the day in a hurry. So Paul if you read this, thank you very much. Hopefully one day I'll be able to return the favour.

The River Spey.

I'm now very proud to have caught my first River Spey salmon and to get it from such a famous part of the river was fantastic. To also catch it on a fly of my own creation made it all the sweeter and  in my opinion, it doesn't get much better than that. Tight Lines!

Murthly 1 - River Tay

I recently spent a day fishing on a delightful stretch of the River Tay at Murthly 1 thanks to Philip Black who invited me down. There were a good number of fish in the area prior to my arrival and I was looking forward to fishing some of the best fly water pools on the river with some good pals. I had high hopes of kick starting my season after a long run of very little to show for my time and effort.

My first pool of the day - The Bargie. A very famous pool where Miss Georgina Ballantine hooked her record 64lb salmon all those years ago.

I set off early and arrived at the beat around 8am where I was greeted by the ghille, Donald. We spoke of the good recent catches and he was telling me that there were plenty fishing in the pools the previous day but they were proving difficult to temp. Donald advised me that small flies and light sinking tips were were the order of the day so my set up consisted of my 14ft Hardy Demon, a 9/10 floating shooting head and a 10ft intermediate polyleader. Initially, my fly of choice was a #10 Kitchen Sink dressed on a Esmond Drury treble but this would change numerous time through out the day as it usually does!

A fly that does well on the Tay - the Ghillie. Designed by Tay ghillie, Tony Black from the neighboring Murthly 2 beat, this deadly pattern accounts for numerous fish where ever salmon swim.

The first pool I was to fish was the famous Bargie Pool. This the pool where the largest salmon ever caught on British water was hooked, albeit from the opposite bank on Glendelvine but it was still a thrill to fish a fly through such hallowed water. Donald suggested I start up the top of the pool in the fast water as they had seen a few fish in there the day before so this is exactly what I did. I fished down the pool as instructed and covered as much of the water as possible but I could only manage a half hearted offer which I think was probably a trout anyway. Philip Black followed me down from the opposite bank but there was nothing doing for him either although he had lost a nice fish on only his third cast of the morning up in the Garth pool which I will come to later. Philip suggested having a go through a wee run just above the Bargie so we headed off upstream to do just that.

Looking upstream towards the Bargie Stone, in which the pool takes its name from.

Looking across to Miss Georgina Ballantine's house which over looks the pool in which she made famous.

The wee run under the wires above the Bargie is a lovely run and it usually held a fish or two. It was just short casts required to cover the water and I worked my down trying to keep stealthy mindful of the fact that the best part of the pool was narrow close to the bank. Despite this, I worked through the pool with out an offer so it was back up to the hut for a bite to eat. On our way back to the hut we noticed Gerry, who was fishing Minister's Pool was bent into a good fish. The fish seemed very acrobatic but Gerry played it well and just as he was drawing it into the side ready to beach, the hooks pulled and the fish was free. Such as pity, as the hard work was done and it was fresh looking too.

Another view of the Murthly 1 hut.

The comfy interior of the hut at Murthly 1.

The early part of lunchtime was spent discussing the ones that got away over a dram and a sandwich but attentions soon turned to the afternoon. By this time the rain was hammering down so we sat it out and waited for the showers to pass. Donald and Philip were on top form and poor Gerry took the brunt of the stick for his lack of movement whilst fishing a pool. Donald even referring to him as a Oak tree which had taken root at one point! It was all taken in good spirit but at least Gerry had had some sport for his morning which couldn't be said for a few of us!

Paul fishing down the Garth in the afternoon. Cracking pool for fishing the fly.

Looking down stream in the Garth.

I was to begin the afternoon off in the Garth and was to fish with Paul. Paul drove me up to the pool and explained the tactics so it was on with the Sunray Shadow in an attempt to provoke a fish into taking. The Garth was a lovely stretch of water ideal for fly fishing and as Philip had lost a fish in here early on in the morning we were hopeful that there would be one or two sitting about. Paul let me fish through the pool first but despite how well the pool fished my efforts proved fruitless as did Paul's. Every cast you were just waiting for the line to tighten or a fish boil at the fly but it wasn't to be so we headed off down river to have a go in Minister's.

Fishing down through Minister's Pool. A big, long pool which fishes the fly  well from top to bottom.

The Minister's is a big, long pool but the water is superb for fish the fly in. I kept on the Surnay and began right up at the neck of the pool and began to work my way down the pool, casting as far as I could in an attempt to cover as much water as possibly. As I made my way down the pool there was a huge hatch of flies coming off the river and the place became alive with trout of all sizes. Some were well into the 3-4lb range and would have been fantastic sport on a wee #5 rod or something but we were here for the salmon and ploughed on down the pool. Just as I got opposite the hut I noticed a nice salmon head and tail below me so I covered the area above it several times but it wasn't for tempting and was probably long gone as well. This really is a long pool and my casting arm was beginning to tire with fishing the Sunray all afternoon but I persevered and finished the pool out. I didn't get even a rise from a salmon but I did get an offer from one of those greedy trout which were hammering into the flies but it was off just as quickly as it was on so it was back to the hut for a wee breather before deciding on the where to fish next.

Looking across to the Murthly 1 hut from Minister's.

Fishing down under the wires in Minister's. Loads of trout rising in this part of the pool.

Sitting down at the hut after going down the Minister's with the Sunray wasn't the best idea and I soon felt tiredness kicking in. The early start and the constant casting and stripping had caught up with me and I decided to pack up around 7pm and head off up the road.

I really enjoyed my day at Murthly 1 and I was grateful to Philip and Donald for asking me down to fish it. It really is good to say that I have fished the pools where Georgina Ballantine caught her famous 64lb salmon all those years ago and it certainly gets the mind wandering back to the old days, especially when you look across to see her old house which over looks the mighty Tay and the pool where she hooked her fish. The only thing missing for me was a fish on the bank but you can't have it all and sometimes that's just how fishing goes. I'll certainly be back again one day to have another go!

River Dee Auction 2015

The River Dee Auction has gone live as of today and there are some fantastic lots up for grape including fishing on some of the prime River Dee beats, salmon flies tied by some top fly tiers (I was delighted to donate a box of 12 of my Kitchen Sink Shrimp) alcoholic beverages, art and much, much more.

Follow the link below to view the catalogue and register to vote if anything takes your fancy. All proceeds go towards the river which is a very good cause if you like salmon fishing or just Royal Deeside in general.

River Dee Auction 2015

To find out more about the River Dee and what happens on the river and catchment follow this link.

The River Dee

Sea Liced 7lber From The River Don

I landed this beauty around the 7lb mark from the Aberdeen and District Angling Association water on the River Don last week. It took a #9 Kitchen Sink fly and was covered in sea lice. A very welcome fresh fish for this time of year. It was safely returned after a quick photo to continue it's journey up river to spawn, possibly in the next few weeks. I am awiting scale readings from several fish I've caught, including this one and I will post the results when they come in.

Hopefully there are a few more like this fish still to run the river before the season is out. I'll certainly be trying my best to intercept one!

A cracking fish for this time of year. Fresh as paint and covered in sea lice.

One more photo before release.