River Dee Opening Day 2019

The 1st February signal the opening of the River Dee salon fishing season. This year was a cold one and the river was full of grue for the first couple of days. This meant there was next to no fishing to be had so we had to sit it out at Park where we were due to be fishing. It was a bitter pill to swallow especially since we had waited all winter for this day to come round.

The River Dee at Park on Opening day. No fishing this year!

Looking downstream in the Cellar Pool.

Instead we ended up at the Opening Ceremony which was held at Banchory Lodge Hotel. the was a good turn out and it was great to meet up with friends to enjoy the day with. The first cast was made by Scottish rugby legend Rob Wainwright. After blessing the river and delivering a nice speech, the first cast was made and the river was officially open.

A good crowd gathered at the Opening Ceremony.

Nothing else for it with days of grue than to have a dram or two in the hut!

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.

River Don Opening Day 2016

The 11th of February saw the River Don opening it's doors to salmon anglers again after the winter and I ventured out on the Aberdeen Angling Association Kemnay beat with Bill Cook and Andy MacLennan. The water was in good shape and sitting around 1ft 5in but all that was landed were a few kelts and brown trout.

Mike Dutch, Bill Cook and Andy MacLennan fishing down the Dooker Pool on Opening Day at Kemnay.

We did hear of a fresh fish coming off the Kemnay Angling Club water which was encouraging and hopefully there is a good run of spring salmon this season after the poor runs in 2015.

Opening Day Success On The Dee At Park

I was delighted to accept an invitation from Philip Black to fish Park on the opening day of the salmon fishing season 2016. I had attended the ceremony earlier on that day (Monday) and made my way down to the beat around 11.45am. The water levels were sitting around the 31" mark but were beginning to rise due to snow melt. The gale force wind made things that bit more tricky as well but if your fly is in the water then there is always a chance.

A fresh run opening day springer from the River Dee at Park. 12lb and covered in sea lice.

Park Estate head ghillie, Keith Cromar unhooks my fish from the Durris Stream.

At around 4pm I had an offer in the Durris Stream and a strong fish took off down river like a steam train. It's first initial run had the backing tearing off my reel and I actually thought I'd foul hooked a kelt. I followed the fish down just to get the fly line back onto my reel. Philip called Keith the ghillie and he arrived with the much needed net. After a dogged tussle lasting ten to fifteen minutes I managed to get the fish up and I drew it into the waiting net. The relief and delight at seeing a fresh run opening day fish was fantastic. It was a cracker around 12lb and covered in sea lice. the fish took a 2" Willie Gunn tied on an aluminum tube with a black tungsten cone. A big fly for the big water.

Everyone was over the moon. Park has had a lean time of it during the Spring months these past two or three years and ghillies were just as pleased as I was to see the fish in the net. Hopefully it signals a return to form for the beat and an upturn in fortunes for the river as a whole.

Just another photo of me posing with my fish.

And one more before slipping it back.

 I'm back at Park again Friday and Saturday and I can't wait! Hopefully there are a few more sea liced springers about. Looking forward to it.