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 At Brae Water Beat 3

Earlier this year, my friend Charlie Robertson and I booked a days fishing on the Brae Water Beat 3. That day was yesterday. The river was in very good condition after last weeks spates and was running crystal clear. Weather forecasts for our day suggested it would be cold and sometimes wet. Well it was spot on. We experienced all four seasons yesterday! The temperature hovered around 4C all day and we endured some torrential rain at times. Coupled with some sleety showers it was bitterly cold.

We arrived at the Gordon Arms Hotel in Fochabers to meet the Ghillies. We introduced ourselves to our Ghillie Ian Tennant. Ian is a great laugh and we had some good craic whilst we waited for the other rods to arrive. We were told some of the catches made by the weeks fishers and our appetite was well and truly whetted! There has been some fantastic catches lately and we were full of anticipation.

We set off down to the hut and began tackling up for the morning session. Ian suggested that a floating line and slow sink tip would be ideal. My set up was my Monteith line with the intermediate tip and a slow sink polyleader attached. I tied on a #7 Cascade and Charlie opted for a 1" Monkey tube fly.

Ian showed us to the Lord March pool. He reminisced on how this used to be an amazing pool and the bumper catches it produced every year until a spate completely changed it during the 90s. It still looked very fishy to us and we couldn't wait to get going. I started at the top of the pool above the boat and Charlie started a few yards above the seat on the bank half way down the pool. We did see a few fish showing early on in here but most of the them were on the far bank out of our casting reach. Ian told us the fish come up through the fast water and rest nearer our bank and we should concentrate on this area. He also received a phone call from one of his ghillies downstream and a rod just landed a spanking 22.5lb fish! He also had an 8lber minutes later. We both flogged away on Lord March until lunch time in hope that we would encounter some of the fish coming in but without any success. This is a beautiful pool to fish and the surroundings are just stunning. For me, the Spey is nothing but a pleasure to cast a fly on. Outstanding fly fishing.

After having lunch in the very cosy hut we set off down stream to a pool called Altdearg. This was another quality looking pool. The very picturesque red cliffs on the far bank just add to the magic of the place. Once again, Ian's 32 years experience of his beat showed as he pointed out every possible taking lie where we would most likely encounter a fish. This time Charlie started at the top of the pool and I went in half way down opposite the cliff armed with a Sunray Shadow. Just opposite the diamond shaped stone on the far bank there was a thump! Something grabbed my Sunray but it didn't hook and unfortunately that was that. I covered it a few more times but nothing moved. We both fished down the pool without an offer but we did see an Ospray flying above us which was a nice sight. Ian told us there is 3 pairs in the area between Fochabers and Spey Bay.

During the afternoon some torrential rain seen us back in the motor to sit it out. The rain didn't last long so we were soon out the car and back in the river. We fished on to about 5pm and we said our fairwells to Ian who was a great help for the whole day. He suggested one of us nip up and fish the tail of the Otter's Cave pool so I followed him up and he showed me the hotspots and where to cast my fly to have it fishing perfectly. I headed down to the pool and Ian headed home. I fished through the pool twice without a touch but I did see a good fish show opposite the beat hut on the far bank. After I'd finished I made my way back down to Altdearg. I fished down through the pool a few more times as did Charlie but it just was not to be. We left the beat at 8pm shattered. We are already planning returning in the near future. No fish again but our luck must change one day. Soon hopefully! Here are some pictures from our day.

My good friend Charlie Robertson and I posing for a photo on the Brae Water Beat 3.

Looking upstream towards the red cliffs on the Lord March pool. The Lower Ewe pool is above here. Charlie fished it but I didn't get round to it. Pity as Ian told us it had been fishing very well.

Looking upstream as Charlie fishes the Lord March pool.

Looking downstream to the Otter's Cave pool from the tail of Lord March pool.

Looking upstream from Beat 3 hut. This is the Otter's Cave pool. Ian takes rods over to the other bank by boat. Looks a cracking pool but we never fished it from the other bank. I did fish it just before we left from outside the hut.

Looking downstream from the hut to the tail of Otter's Cave and neck of Altdearg.

Altdearg Pool from the seat half way down the pool. This pool is a joy to fish. An Osprey was seen flying overhead in this pool. Magical sight. Hope he had better luck than we did.

An upstream view of the Altdearg pool. This is where some of the Turus a' Bhradian was filmed for the second series with well known Spey Ghillie Ian Gordon.