My Son's First Salmon!

On Wednesday 14th August my son, Liam landed his first salmon at the age of 7 years old. It was caught from the Aberdeen and District Angling Association's Lower Fintray beat and was taken on a spinning lure. I think his smile says it all!!

My son with his first Salmon. A lovely fresh grilse around the 6lb mark.

Liam into a fish on the River Don.

River Don Today

I made a last minute decision to divert my commute home and have a cast on a stretch of the Aberdeen and District Angling Association's water of the River Don. It proved to be a good one as I was lucky enough to land a nice salmon around the 7lb mark and my biggest River Don sea trout which was roughly 5lb in weight.

Caught this cracker today. My biggest River Don sea trout. Estimated at around the 5lb mark. 

The River Don, despite the lack of angling effort, is fishing really well at the moment.And with the 2018 season into is final few weeks time is running out to get out there and give it a go. It's certainly not all doom and gloom as any would have you believe. Go on, give it a go. You might just be surprised!

River Don Grilse

Monday was a local holiday so my dad and I had a couple of hours out fishing on the River Don. The water levels were sitting at -5 on the Parkhil gauge. I was fortunate enough to bump into a nice fish of round the 5lb mark. This was my first salmon from the River Don this season and it was most welcome!

A hen fish around the 5lb mark from the River Don.

Lower Fintray - River Don

I had my first cast of 2018 on the River Don last week end as I ventured out to the Lower Fintray beat. Lower Fintray is part of the Aberdeen and District Angling Association water and the famous Manse Pool is part of the beat.

Looking upstream from the tail of the Manse Pool with the snowdrops in full bloom.

The Manse Pool, Lower Fintray. 

It was a cracking day to be out with bright sun and just enough wind to put a ripple on the water. The water height was reading 6" on the Parkhill gauge. I think the FishPal gauges are a bit out these days because going by experience of the stones in the pool I would say it was nearer 8 or 9" to be honest. The water temp was hovering around the 37f mark which is still pretty cold for the River Don.

Fishing down the Manse Pool. 

The hand drawn pool map of the Lower Fintray beat in the hut which over looks the Manse Pool. 

Although I didn't see or catch anything, it was just good to be back out on the Don for a cast again. To many, it's the poorer neighbour of the Dee but on it's day it can be equally productive. Maybe not in recent years to be fair but the potential is still there. When you can fish pools such as the Manse for a little over £200 per season then it would be silly not to give the Don a go. I have no doubt the Don will recover soon enough and hopefully we will see the start of that recovery this year. I'm certainly planning on doing a lot more fishing on the ADAA water this year just to see where the Don stands in terms of numbers for 2018. I'm looking forward to finding out.

Looking downstream in the Eagle Pool at Lower Fintray on the River Don.

Looking upstream from the bank of the Eagle Pool.

An under water still of a Monkey Fly in action as it flutters int he current at the tail of the Manse Pool.

River Don Sea Trout

I was out and about on the River Don last week fishing Lower Fintray beat of the Aberdeen and District Angling Association water. There wasn't much in the way of salmon in evidence but I was fortunate enough to encounter this fella. I nice and stocky 3lb sea trout. It's colouring up but it's still a nice fish all the same.

A nice River Don sea trout ready to be released back into the river.

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.

2014 Salmon Fishing Highlights

Despite the obvious lack of salmon running many rivers in the Northern Hemisphere this year, my catches have been reasonably good considering. I had a few Spring fish which was very pleasing, not so much luck during the summer months but I finished my season off with a number of fish which I was grateful for. I did however, have to put in the hours for my fish as the blank days by far outnumber the successful ones.

One pleasing aspect about my 2014 season has been catching fish from several beats I had never fished before. These included a cracking Springer of around 8lb from the Castle Forbes beat on the River Don in April. Then I got two fresh, back end fish of 4lbs and 15lbs from the famous Ballogie beat of the River Dee in September and I fortunate enough to land two fish in October weighing 5lbs and 9lbs from the Don on my first ever visit to Semeil Farm.

Spring

The Spring for me was very good in terms of fish caught considering the Spring run was well down on previous years. I managed to catch salmon in February, March and April. Not landing a fish in May prevented the full house.

A particular highlight for me was landing my first February Springer from Carlogie on the River Dee. I had lost a good fish not long after starting on the Thursday morning and hardly had a touch, even from a kelt, until 4pm on the Saturday when I landed an 8lber from Fraser's Pool which was the perfect way to end my 3 days there for anther year.

My first February springer from the River Dee at Carlogie.

In March, I was lucky enough to get an invitation to fish the River Dee at Inchmarlo and was delighted to land this sea lice Springer of around 6lb in a very high water.

A nice sea liced springer from Little Blackhall & Inchmarlo in March

Another highlight was hosting a Salmo Proboards Forum Meet on the River Don at Castle Forbes along with my friend Bill Cook. We booked the whole beat for the day and there was 8 of us fishing which included some rods who had never fished the Don before. Despite low water, we landed 3 springers for our day which was a fantastic result. I got 1 and Bill got the other 2. We took a bit of stick as we were local lads and the ones who got the fish but we had a great couple of days. Good company, good craic and good fishing. What more could you want?

A cracking River Don springer from Castle Forbes in April during the Forum Meet.

Summer

Summer salmon fishing for me was almost none existent in terms of catches. I spent more time fishing for Brown Trout on the Don than anything else and landed a few good ones along the way. I did however, land a salmon from the River Don at Manar on the 23rd August in a high water. A coloured fish around 7lb came to the net after losing a bigger and cleaner fish just a few minutes earlier.

Summer Salmon from the River Don at Manar.

A sea liced grilse from the Don caught by my pal, Charlie Robertson in August.

A nice sea trout from Headinch and Cambus O May which got a good tune out of my Uncle's old Sharpes Aquarex reel.

A nice sea trout from the Spey taken on a small Monkey tube..

Back End

The back end of the season was very kind to me this year and I had a several good days on the river. A small clean Grilse and a cracker of 15lb from the Dee at Ballogie on the 22nd September is a particular highlight. Both taken on small Red Francis double.

A wee grilse from Ballogie in September.

A cracker of around 15lb also from Ballogie.

During October my catches seemed to come in pairs and I landed another two fish on the 11th October, again from the Dee, but this time at Inchmalo. These were both coloured fish which were estimated at 5lb and 14lb. 

A coloured Grilse from Inchmarlo in October.

14lb hen Salmon from Inchmarlo also during October.

A few days later, I was out for an hour or so after work on the 16th and was lucky enough to land a nice, clean fish of around 5lbs from Lower Fintray. My first salmon off the ADAA water this season. Better late than never I suppose.

A bright October Grilse from the Don at Lower Fintray.

Later in the month, I booked a last minute outing on the Upper Don at Semeil Farm and was rewarded with two fish which were roughly 5lb and 9lb respectively. It was my first time on the beat and I really enjoyed it.

A coloured fish about 5lb from Semeil.

My second fish from Semeil. A heavily coloured hen of around 9lb.

My friend, Bill Cook's 13lb Salmon from the Don at Kemnay.

I am just in the process of booking up my fishing for the Spring and I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully it will be a better year for the Salmon this time round and we see decent runs through-out the season.Whatever happens, I'll be out on the river in the search of Silver!.

Roll on 2015!

5lb Grilse From The River Don Tonight

I was out for a cast after my work tonight on the River Don and I was fortunate enough to land this salmon of around 5lb. It put up a good fight and was very acrobatic but after a few minutes, I manged to beach the fish. I took this quick photo before it was returned safely to the river.

October silver from the River Don.

A Good Day On The River Don Today

I was out on the River Don today with my Dad fishing the Aberdeen and District Angling Association water. My Dad and I managed to get a fish each and both of them came out of the same lie but two hours apart. We didn't see much evidence of fish in the pools but there was a very brief spell when a few fish were showing and this possibly stirred up resting fish.

The pools were very quiet considering the water rose mid week for the first time since May and I never seen a fin until around 11.00am. This is very unusual for the Don at this time of year but I did hear there was quite a decent run of fish went through on Friday which is encouraging. The water was carrying a wee tinge of colour but a nice peaty whiskey colour rather than dirty which I quite like.

My good friend Charlie Robertson also managed to get a fish today from the Manar beat of the Don. An 8lb cock fish gave him a good tussle before being landed. His fish took an Ally's Shrimp which is a great fly for peaty coloured water and a proven catcher of fish. Well done Charlie. Good to see Manar picking up a few fish again after the low water we've had all summer. The rain forecast will help this week too.

My Dad's first fish of the season. A nice fish around the 7lb mark.

Back she goes to continue her journey to the spawning grounds.

A quick picture for the scrap book. Here I am posing with a nice fresh fish about 6lb.

Safely returned to fight another day.

10lb Hen Salmon From The River Don Today

Had a cast for an hour or so after work tonight and landed this Hen Salmon around the 10lb mark from the River Don. It was howling a gale and I wasn't expecting much but I was delighted to get a take and land the fish. As like Saturday, I was using my Kitchen Sink shrimp pattern and this time it was a #9 Salar double that did the business. The successful tactics were the same as Saturday; floating AFS Shooting Head and 5ft Intermediate tip. The Parkhill gauge was sitting around the 2" mark.

Fish on!

A quick photo before sending her on her way.

Back into the River Don and heading to the spawning grounds further upstream.

River Don Sea Trout

Had a few hours fishing on the River Don today between 11am and 2pm. Landed a nice wee Sea Trout weighing about a pound and a half which took a Sunray Shadow. Not much happening on the river at the moment due to very low water so it was a welcome bonus to get anything at all and nice to get a bend in the rod again.

A quick picture for the scrap book.

River Don Salmon And Big Brown Trout

The River Don has had a fantastic Spring this year and the good fishing continued yesterday for my friend Charlie fishing at the Manar beat. He landed and returned this 7lber on his deadly Sunray Shadow variant, named the SS Assassin. (SS standing for Sunray Shadow!) It certainly does the business and has had fish from the Dee, Don and Spey to it's name already since it's creation last summer.

Perseverance was the order of the day as bright sunshine coupled with low water conditions made fishing tricky but fishing whilst the clouds covered the sun was the answer and Charlie was duly rewarded. He also lost two others using the same fly.

Another victim falls to Charlie's deadly SS Assassin.

I ventured out myself in the evening on the Lower Fintray beat of the A.D.A.A water. Nothing doing salmon wise so decided to try for Sea Trout and just as darkness fell my Blue & Silver Sunray was hammered by this big Brown Trout estimated in the 4-5lb range. As it was dark, I initially thought it was a salmon until I landed it. Didn't really do the fish justice playing it on a 14ft salmon rod but still my PB Brown Trout by a long way. The fish was returned to the river and swam away strongly. Not long after returning it, I landed another beauty of a Brownie about 2lb but I didn't photograph that one.

The River Don is renowned for it's Brown Trout fishing and specimens like this are what anglers can expect from most beats up and down the river although not as abundant as before, there are still plenty about to entice anglers from all over the world to come and fish for them.

Not a great picture due to the poor light but a cracking brown trout and these specimens are what the Don is famous for.

8lb Salmon From The Don

Was out after work for a cast at the Manse Pool on Lower Fintray. With the water high I was not expecting much. Although the water had risen most of the day, it was running fairly clear. I started opposite the hut in the slow water which always holds fish when the water is high. After fishing for 10 minutes or so I connected with a strong, coloured cock fish. It made a few good runs and leapt a couple of times before I managed to land it several minutes later. After a quick picture the fish swam off unharmed.

A bonus fish whilst out in high water for 45 minutes after work.

Fresh 14lb Salmon From The Don Today

My Dad was out for a couple of hours this afternoon and timed it to perfection as he landed this beauty of about 14lbs. No sea-lice present but this Hen Salmon could not have been in the river long. He also lost a good fish which he didn't see after playing it for 5 minutes or so he and missed another take too. This was all in the space of 30 minutes so a run must have been moving through the pool. He was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Not bad for a few hours on the river. Has the Autumn run started to appear? Let's hope so!

A quick photo before being released. A cracking fresh fish from the Lower Don.