15lb Salmon From The River Don Today

I ventured out on the River Don today in the pouring rain and was rewarded with this cracker of around 15lb. The water was sitting at 1ft 4in on the Parkhill gauge as of 12.30pm this afternoon and it was carrying a bit of colour but surprisingly not too much considering how much rain has fallen recently. The fish put up a great scrap and used it's size and the heavy water to it's advantage. After a good 10 minutes or so I was able to beech the fish on a reed bed some 40 yards downstream! Not the best photo to gauge it's size with but returning the fish quickly was my main priority.

A very welcome fish given the current conditions but fishing just as the river was beginning to rise again seemed to pay off.

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.

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.

Success At Manar For Charlie

I was pleased to recieve some pictures from my pal Charlie from his outing at Manar yesterday evening. He landed a nice fresh grilse and also lost a couple too. He was telling me on the phone yesterday that there is a lot of fish being caught in the area just now with a few big fish coming off Inverurie Fishings. Manar is fishing really well just now and along with their opposite bank, catching a fair few fish between them. Long may it continue. Always good to hear that the River Don is fishing well as it is often overlooked due to it's famous neighbour, the Dee.

I was out for a couple of hours tonight on the lower Don at the Parkhill beat of the ADAA. I didn't see any fish apart from one big coloured fish showing in the Manse Pool at Lower Fintray. I was talking to a couple of well know faces on the lower Don, who were telling me of some good runs of fish coming in with every tide and how Saturday was a good day catches wise on the ADAA waters.

Here are the pictures Charlie sent to me last night.

A fresh run grilse from the Lower Wood pool at Manar. The fish was the first to fall to Charlie's Boar Bristle Cascades. Plenty fresh fish around at the moment.

Quick photo before release. Some net marks visable along the flank of the fish.

Charlie's Boar Bristle Cascades tied on size 10 Partridge doubles.

Grey Seal On The River Don @ Lower Parkhill

Had a day off work today and thought it would be a good idea to get on my bike and go for a cycle. I headed off from my house and made my way to the Parkhill road bridge crossing the River Don at Dyce. I cycled down to the pool called The Dooker.

I noticed a big wake moving upstream. I first though it was an otter or mink but when it bobbed it's head out of the water it was a Grey Seal. This part of the river must be about 7 miles from the sea and for a seal to get up this far in low water, over some of the big weirs at Cruives and Grandholm etc is good going. There can't be much fish hanging around the mouth since it came this far up-river to find food.

Here is a couple of short clips of the seal making it's way upstream and a picture. Not the best quality as I was sitting on my bike at the time. Hopefully you can make it out as I thought it would be interesting to see.

Not the best picture but you can hopefully see the Grey Seal's head bobbed up in the water.