My Season Highlights 2015

Despite the poor returns of salmon on my local rivers, personally my season wasn't too bad considering. In the end I finished with 12 salmon/grilse and a few sea trout which I was fairly pleased about.

Particular highlights were landing my first ever River Tay salmon from the Dunkeld beat on the 4th July and a cracking 15lber from Lower Crathes in September but every salmon I land tends to be a highlight to be honest because that's why we go salmon fishing in the first place, to catch salmon. On the down side, this was the first season in a long time that I hadn't managed to land a springer although I did hook six in total but unfortunately they all came off. Hopefully I can remedy that next season and get a few on the bank.

May

As my spring salmon count was non existent I thought I'd share a photo of one my pal Charlie landed from the River Don. The Don seems to produce beauties like this most seasons now and if you are in the right place when they pause for a rest then great sport can be had as I managed to lose a fish of similar size on the same day.

A cracking 12lb springer from the River Don at Manar caught by my good pal, Charlie Robertson.

July

I was fortunate enough to share a boat on the Dunkeld House beat with another pal of mine, Paul Pritchard on  the 4th July and with the Tay having an excellent Spring I was glad to add to that tally with a 10lber from the Mouse Trap. This was my first ever Tay salmon and my first of the 2015 season for me. This fish turned out to be the beats 200th of the season which is good going as it was still just early July. A fish I'll always remember and I am grateful the the ghillie, Jim who played a big part in getting me the fish.

Finally! A 10lb salmon from Dunkeld House. My first fish of the 2015 and my first River Tay salmon.

July/early August sees me fishing with good pal Ade Warburton on the River Dee at Carlogie. I really enjoy fishing this beat and the company adds to that experience greatly. This 2-3lb sea trout was caught with my first cast of a night session and turned out to be the only fish of my trip. Night time fishing for sea trout is very exciting and I hope to do much more of that next year.

A River Dee sea trout taken on a Dark Mackerel from the Mill Pool at Carlogie during the early hours of the morning.

August

The River Don had been struggling for water for most of the summer and I headed out early one morning to have a cast before taking part in a River Dee casting day at Crathes. I had only been fishing for 10 minutes when I had a thumping take and after taking me into the backing twice I eventually landed this 11lb summer salmon. It was good to get my first Don salmon of the season after a bad run of losing fish.

A fine specimen of a River Don summer salmon caught on a small Cascade at Manar.

My next fish was a lovely sea liced grilse of around 5lbs and again from the River Don. My dad was on hand to land this fish for me at Lower Fintray.

A sea liced grilse from the River Don at Lower Fintray in August.

On the 22nd August I accompanied junior Aberdeen and District Angling Association member, Sean Rennie to a Junior Day at Park on the River Dee. It was a great day for fishing and the river was in good condition and there seemed to be one or two fish about to keep the enthusiasm going. After a bit of tuition from casting instructor, Gary Scott we headed off down to the Durris Stream. As we neared the tail of the pool where the water slowed down I suggested to Sean to start working the fly in various ways to speed it up. He tried this and just as the fly was coming in towards the bank he had a good solid take from a lively fish. This was soon landed expertly by Sean and the smile on his face made the day. As a result of Sean landing this fish I thought I'd nominate him for the Callum Mackenzie Cup which is presented to a young angler for a memorable catch from the River Dee. Sean was selected by the panel as the winner and he will receive his trophy at the River Dee opening ceremony at Potarch in February. Well done Sean!

Sean and his prize winning fish caught from Park during a Junior Day.

September

September saw me fishing the famous Ballogie beat of the River Dee with my pal Ross MacDonald thanks to an invite from ghillie, Sean Stanton. Just after lunch in a biggish water I was lucky enough to land a wee sea liced grilse from the Top Gannets pool on a Red Francis tube. My first fish from the upper beat at Ballogie.

A very welcome wee grilse caught on a Red Francis at Ballogie in September.

A couple of days after fishing at Ballogie I was invited by Paul Pritchard to fish at Lower Crathes on the River Dee. This was not to be sniffed at and I was in the right place at the right time again to land this big hen fish around the 15-16lb mark out of the Mill Stream.

A beauty from the Dee at Lower Crathes on a pink Franc N Snaelda.

October

Traditionally, October is normally the most productive month for me in terms of fish caught and this year was no different. At the beginning of the month I was thankful to another pal, Patrick Taylor and his good lady Joanna for inviting me to fish Commonty with them. I was lucky enough to land a 4lb grilse in testing conditions from the Blue Chair pool. The water was very low and there were few resident fish about never mind fresh ones. I had fished the pool with a small #16 red Francis without a touch so I decided to try the same fly but on a 1.5" tube! This did the trick straight away and the fish below was quick landed and released after a spirited fight.

A small, coloured fish caught in difficult low water conditions on the Dee at Commonty.

My next fish was caught after my work during a spate on the River Don at Lower Fintray and weighed roughly 15lbs. It put up a heck of a scrap in the big water before I managed to land it. One of the perks living so close to the river is having a quick cast before heading home.

My 15lb Don salmon - caught during spate conditions is ready to go back.

I had a taken a week off in mid October and I spent the first half of the week on the river. I did very well for my 4 days fishing and was fortunate enough to get 3 in one session on the back of a wee rise in water with all fish were taken on my Kitchen Sink fly. First up was a small coloured cock fish about 5lb and quickly followed by a hen fish of the same size. About 10 yards further down the pool I landed my third fish which was just over the 2lb mark but reasonably fresh.

My first of three caught in a morning on the River Don. A cock fish around the 5lb mark.

Second fish of the morning. A hen about 5lbs.

Completing the Hat Trick! A small fish about 2-3lbs.

My final fish of the season was caught form the River Dee on the 15th October which is the last day of the River Dee season. It was caught just before lunch and was as fresh as the come. It was carrying sea lice and was caught from the famous Potarch Bridge Pool at Ballogie. This was a great way to sign off my Dee season and as there was still two weeks to fish on the Don I was hopeful of landing a few more.

A lovely fresh fish to end my 2015 River Dee season with.

My final fish of the 2015 season was caught on the River Don at Lower Fintray on the 15th October. It weighed around 7lbs and was covered in sea lice. It was also taken on a Kitchen Sink and my dad did the honours again of netting it for me. A perfect end to the season.

A cracking October salmon from the Don. A great way to end the season.

Thoughts are now turning to next season's Spring fishing and I've already got most of my days renewed for next year. In 2016 I will be fishing on a few beats I haven't fished before on the Tay and Dee so I'll certainly be looking forward to that. Add in a few days on the Spey and I am all sorted. Fingers crossed we get good runs of fish in 2016 and I have plenty to write about on these pages.

Commonty - River Dee

I was kindly offered the chance of having a cast on the Commonty beat of the River Dee yesterday courtesy of my friend Patrick Taylor and his good lady, Joanna who had taken the week's fishing there. It was good to see them again and have a catch up on the river bank.

A cock fish around the 4lb mark but very welcome in the low water conditions yesterday. It took a large 1 1/2" Red Frances.

Once again, conditions on Deeside more more akin to mid summer rather than Autumn but at least there was some cloud cover which helped. The river was still low but despite this, there were one or two resident fish splashing about to keep the interest going.

Looking across to the fishing hut at Commonty from the Garden Pool.

I arrived at the beat about 9.30am and immediately got the wood burner going in the hut as it was quite cold as there had been an overnight frost. There was finally some cloud cover as well which was more than welcome because we have been experiencing an Indian Summer here in Scotland of late. My tactic for the day were more that of summer fishing than October so I opted for my 13ft hardy Uniqua rod, floating Rio Scandi shooting head and a 6ft 1.5ips. I decided on a long leader and a size 14 Red Frances to begin with and this changed once or twice through out the day.

The Garden Pool at around 10am.

Looking upstream from the Garden Pool.

As the Garden Pool is opposite the hut, I decided to give that a go first of all so I started up in the white water above a well known lie and began to fish my way into it. A couple of resident fish were splashing about in the lie so I covered it and varied my retrieve switching between a slow figure of 8, a long, slow pull and the Scandi style sink and draw tactic. None of these methods produced a reaction so I decided to have a square cast and mend the line down stream. I also pointed the rod downstream too and this made the fly come quickly across the lie but side on to the fish. My first cast  immediately produce a reaction from a cock fish which was probably around the 7lb mark and it lept out of the water after my fly. Unfortunately it didn't connect but it gave me confidence that there was a possibility of tempting these usually, stale and reluctant fish. I covered the lie a few more times without a touch so I fished the pool out but only with the same result.

Woodend House which over looks the Blue Chair. Not a bad place to live!

The big stone shaped like a chair hence the name of the pool Blue Chair.

By the time I had fished the pool out, Patrick and Joanna had arrived at the beat and after a good chat it was back down to the business of catching a salmon. Patrick fancied a go in the Garden Pool and he suggested I give the Blue Chair a go as there was also a few resident fish holed up in there so I made my down and as soon as I arrived at the pool I was greeted by a coloured fish which was lying in the faster water mid stream. As I had rose a fish with the size 14 Red Frances I kept it on and worked my way through the pool. Despite seeing a good few fish I didn't get a sniff so I decided to try an different approach. I had tied up several large Red Frances tubes the night before and one stood out. It was tied on an 1 1/2" aluminium tube and looked more like a small carrot than a fly! I made my first cast with the fly and began rocking it back and forth through the pool. As it straightened out about mid river, it was grabbed by a fish and I lifted into it. It was just a small grilse around the 4lb mark but it was certainly more than welcome. It was quickly played out and after a photo it was safely returned without ever leaving the water. I fished out the rest of the pool with out an offer so I made my way back to the hut shortly after 12 noon. Not a bad start to the morning.

A prize worth pursuing even in these challenging low water conditions.

After telling Patrick and ghillie, Ian the news about my fish over a beer back at the hut, our attention soon turned to where to fish next. We decided to head downstream to have a go in the Loop and Bend pools. The Loop and Bend are in a real secluded part of the beat and Patrick fished through the pool first and I was to follow him down. We both worked our way through the pool without success so it we headed off for a bite to eat before having one last crack at the Blue Chair and Garden Pools.

Decisions, Decisions. Patrick and I contemplating our next move in the Loop.

Patrick fishing the secluded Loop Pool at Commonty.

My turn for a go in the Loop. Nice photo Joanna!

After a quick sandwich it was back to the river with Partick and down to have a go in Blue Chair as there seemed to be a few fish willing to give away their positions in the pool. We both fished through the pool with managing to annoy one of the resident fish enough into taking our flies so we headed back up for one last go in the Garden Pool before close of play.

Patrick trying his luck in Blue Chair.

Sitting in the stone which the pool takes it's name.

Patrick decide to give the Garden Pool the once over with a big Sunray and not long after starting he rose a fish but it wasn't really interested in taking the fly, we thought it was more trying to drown it than anything else. We both worked our way down the pool without any other action so I decided to call time on my day and packed up around 5pm.

Fishing the tail of the Garden Pool before packing up for the day.

Below are a couple of photos of how the Suicide Pool looks at Commonty now that the croys have been removed from the pool. Sluie on the opposite bank also had their croys removed as part of the Pearls in Peril (PIP) which is aimed at restoring the river habitat to be more Pearl Mussel friendly. The mussels share the same habitat as salmon so the improvements will hopefully benefit the salmon in future too and we see an increase in numbers of both species as a result.

Before. Suicide with the croys.

After. Suicide without the croys.

It was great to be back on Commonty with Patrick and Joanna and it was nice to get a fish too. It's set in a really quiet part of Deeside and has some nice pools, even in low water. Patrick and Joanna made me feel as welcome as ever and getting the opportunity of a cast was much appreciated and thank you for the photos too. Much better than the ones I'd taken! Will look forward to catching up again in the Spring. Tight Lines

Commonty - River Dee

I had my final February day on the River Dee yesterday with good pals Dr Ade Warburton and Dr Patrick Taylor. It's always great to catch up with these lads and we have a good laugh along the way. The water was sitting around the 1ft mark on the Woodend gauge and was still very cold. There were some icy parts of the river banks down in the slow, deeper pools. My set up for the day was my 15ft Mackenzie rod, float/intermediate shooting head and a 2.6ips tip. Fly of choice was a Monkey conehead tied  on a silver Shumakov tube.

The Garden Pool first thing in the morning.

It was very cold in the morning with the air temperature sitting at -2C so the morning consisted of a few drams in the hut and a long chat with Ian Fraser the ghillie and fellow rod Dean Armstrong. We put the world to rights before finally deciding to go and have a cast around 10.30am as the sun was now higher in the sky and the temperature was lifting. Patrick headed off to the top of the beat whilst Ade and I went downstream to fish the Loop, Bend and Points.

Yours truly casting in the Bend. Photo courtesy of Dean Armstrong.

Fishing down the Bend. Cracking pool.

Picture of concentration as I make my way down the pool. Photo courtesy of Dean Armstrong,

The Bend is a cracking pool and has a nice streamy flow which runs down the far bank before it evens out. This is also a decent holding pool and fish can be caught from the neck all the way down. I fished through the pool without an offer on this occasion so I carried on down into the Loop.

Looking up to the Bend from the Loop.

The Loop is another good bit of water and it requires wading to able yourself to fish the likely lies effectively. Ade fished this pool first and I followed him down but neither of us had any luck in here. I did see a small fish splash in the pool but it was either a sea trout kelt or a brown trout as it was not a very big fish.

Looking upstream from the Points into the Loop.

Ade fishing down through the Loop. Photo courtesy of Dean Armstrong.

We carried on fishing downstream and Ade and I both had a run through the Points. Despite having two pairs of thick woolen socks on, the cold water was starting to take it's toll so we headed off back to the hut to thaw out with a dram beside the fire. Patrick return to the hut shortly after to say he had landed a very large kelt in the Otter pool. At least is was a bit of action as we saw no salmon move down on the lower part of the beat.

The Chair looking across to Woodend House.

After an extended lunch I was to fish the upper pools of the beat. Ian explained the best parts of the pool to concentrate on so I made my way up to give them a go. I didn't bother with the aptly named Suicide Pool so I started my afternoon off in the Otter Trap. The wading in the Otter trap is not for the faint hearted as there are plenty large and slippery stones which will see you swimming with one wrong move. I waded out opposite the shelter and began casting into the streamy water running down the far third of the pool. Not long after starting I had an positive take on my Monkey fly as it swung out of the current. I lifted into a small but lively fish. After a minute or two I soon beached an un-spawned hen salmon of around 4lb. Not what I was after but at least I knew I was doing something right.

Looking up towards Suicide from the bank of Otter Trap. These croys will soon be removed as part of the Pearls in Peril Project which is set up to improve the habitat of the freshwater pearl mussel.

An action shot from playing the fish.

I don't normally take pictures of un-clean fish but I thought I'd share this one as some anglers often mistake these for spring fish at this time of year. The colour is more that of an autumn fish and the vent is protruding which are the tell tale signs of a late running hen fish (baggot). The male equivalent is a rawner. She probably won't spawn now and will reabsorb her eggs.

I made my way back into the pool and continued fishing it down and into the Boat Pool. This pool required quite a long cast at this height to cover the two lies which were a good way out into the river. Despite some strong gusty wind at times I was covering the water pretty well. Just as I reached the lies which Ian had pointed out, I had a good solid take from a fish. There was no head shaking this time and the fish made a couple of good runs. I was in two minds whether to make the tricky wade back to the bank as I hadn't seen the fish yet. It stayed deep and was reluctant to show itself and at this point, I thought it best to play the fish from the bank. I slowly made my way in and I played the fish for several minutes before I even got a glimpse of it. I still didn't know if it was a kelt or a springer but it was a big fish whatever it was. After a couple more decent runs and several more minutes later, I managed to get the fish ready for beaching and that's when I realised it was a very large kelt! I got it into the shallows and managed to tail the fish. I quickly removed the hook and sent it on it's way. If fresh, this fish would have been a good 20lb plus. I just wish it was fresh as it would have been the fish of a lifetime. Hopefully it's journey is a successful one and it makes it back to the Dee to spawn again in the future.

Looking down the Boat pool where I landed a huge kelt.

No springers were caught yesterday but despite this, it was a good day and it was great to catch up with Patrick and Ade. Ian the ghillie is always good craic too and we enjoyed swapping stories for most of the afternoon in the hut. Commonty is a lovely beat in a very secluded part of the Dee where peace and tranquility are almost guaranteed. I will very much look forward to returning again soon. Two springers were caught from the beat today, one by Ade and the other by Ian. The overnight lift in water levels must have done the trick. Well done gents! Thank you to Dean Armstrong for kindly sending me some cracking photos of which I've used on my Blog. Much appreciated.

Commonty - River Dee

Last Friday, I was kindly invited to fish the Commonty beat on the River Dee by Patrick Taylor who had the fishing there last week. The river was sitting at around 4" on the gauge and was on the low side for the beat but there were fish showing in most of the likely pools but tempting them proved difficult. The water temp was sill relatively high around the 10c mark so finding the correct tactics was just a case of ringing the changes until something worked. I tackled up with my 13ft Hardy Uniqua, Floating AFS Shooting Head and a 6ft 1.5ips tip. My fly of choice was a 1/4" Red Francis tube.

The well equipped hut on the Commonty beat.

The wood burner came in handy on what was a chilly day.

I met Patrick, his fiance Joanne and ghillie, Ian Fraser at the hut around 8.30am where we discussed tactics for the day ahead whilst enjoying a dram. Due to the water conditions, fishing hard and ringing the changes seemed to be the general consensus for the day. Ian informed us that Red Francis flies were doing well on Ballogie and Carlogie so that's what I used to begin with. Ian suggested I start off in Suicide and work my way down to fish Benson's and the Garden pool whilst Patrick and Joanne fished the lower pools on the beat.

Suicide is a productive pool but as the name suggests, can be tricky to fish, especially in a bigger water. The wading was hard enough with just 4" on the gauge but with a few fish showing in the stream, it was worth the effort. Unfortunately, I couldn't interest any of them with my offerings so I headed off down river to the next pool.

I started my day off in Suicide which is named due to the treacherous wading. Quite a few fish were showing in the streamy water.

Fishing down Suicide with the Sluie hut opposite.

Looking upstream towards Suicide from the Otter Trap.

The next pool Ian suggested I fish was Benson's. This required a wade across the stream at the top of the Island pool but as the water was fairly shallow, it was easily negotiated. Benson's was a lovely cast but didn't produce any offers nor did I see any fish showing. Another pool that was well worth a go at this height though.

Benson's Pool. A nice little pool on the other side of the island.

Just a wee pot at the tail of Benson's. Patrick got his fish from here in the afternoon. The fallen tree creates a lovely run which would hold a running fish in low water.

As I fished down through Benson's, I stumbled a likely looking pot which, due to a fallen tree had a nice run coming off it at the neck. I was encouraged to see a small but coloured grilse show in here and covered it's lie. Trying to land the fly under the trees was tricky but I managed to cover the fish effectively but sadly couldn't temp it. Patrick did however land a grilse about 5lb from here about 4pm on a wee Red Francis cone head. Possibly the same fish I saw in the pool.

Island Pool. Ian pointed out a good lie beside the Fir tree on the bank.

After I had finished fishing Benson's, I headed back up stream to get off the island and to fish the Island Pool. Ian had shown me the water in the morning and suggested giving it a go as under the tree is on the far bank can be a good lie. Unfortunately, my run through the pool provided no offers so I made my way downstream to fish the Garden Pool which I had seen several fish in first thing that morning.

A nice bit of white water just above the Garden pool. Was a couple of fish showing in here during the morning.

Fishing down the Garden Pool. Was plenty fish showing here, especially up in the neck of the pool.

The Garden pool was holding several resident fish in it and they readily splashing around up near the neck of the pool. Catching one of them was a different matter altogether. I think they had probably seen quite a number of flies these past few weeks but it didn't hurt to put my offerings past them too. Two runs through the pool proved fruitless as I couldn't tempt any fish with my small, Red Francis nor large Franc N Snaelda.

Blue Chair. Never seen a splash in here but a nice pool which looked like it might have a fish or two holding up in the faster water.

Looking over to Woodend House which is part of the Woodend Estate.

The next pool I fished was the Blue Chair. I never asked Ian, but I'm guessing the pool is named after the big rock (pictured above) which the river has eroded to what looks like a chair. The neck of the pool has a nice fast run which looked like a probable lie at these levels but I didn't see any fish show in here whilst fishing it down.

The Bend. Also plenty fish showing in here but difficult to fish the fly due to the low water and several different flows in the current. The lower part of the pool fished very well though.

I carried on down river and came to the Bend. This pool had a nice deep channel running down the far bank under the big rocks and there were a good number of fish sitting in here. They were showing all the way down but fishing the pool was difficult due to the shallow water mid way across which made the fly line stick. Even lifting the rod and mending the line only slightly helped matters. The further down the pool you went, the easier it was to fish but I didn't get an offers. I fished it through 3 times with the same result.

Fishing down through the Bend and into Loop. Was a few fish in here too down near the big boulders at the tail of the pool.

A few years ago I fished this beat in September and although the gauge was sitting about 4ft then, the Loop pool was stuffed with fish. This time and probably due to the low water levels there were only a few fish showing in here. The first part of the pool fished well enough but as I went on, the water got really slow and didn't carry the fly too well. As like some of the other pools at this height, it was still worth a go even in really low water.

Looking downstream from Points. Saw a couple of fish show in here just out from the rocks.

Looking downstream to the bottom pool on the beat (The Wires) from Points.

The bottom couple of pools on there beat were the Points and Wires. I didn't fish these pools due to the low water but did go down to take a few photos. I didn't see any fish showing whilst I was down but given a couple more feet on the gauge, these pools looked like they would fish really well.

Although I didn't get so much as a pull for my day at Commonty, it was still a pleasure to fish and I am very grateful to Patrick for inviting me over. It's always enjoy fishing with Ian Fraser, the ghillie as he is good craic and knows his beat inside out. He took time to show me all the pools and likely spots in low water conditions and we had a good chat about the pools on his beat and their best heights etc. That info is all noted for future reference! In a way though, it was nice to see the beat on it's bones just to see where the fish would be when there was more water in the river because the two previous visits I've had here, the water has been 3ft plus on the gauge and the beat is totally different. I will certainly look forward to my next visit to Commonty.