Charlie Strikes Silver Again At Manar!

I was out today with Charlie Robertson for another go at Manar on the River Don. We arrived at the beat about 7.30am and already the sun was out and the temperature was rising fast. Not ideal, but we didn't let that stop us as you never know when a Salmon might grab your fly. This we would find out later! The beat gauge was reading 10" which is near perfect for the beat so we were optimistic about our chances.

There was a couple of pools to fish before then sun got to them about 10.30am, one of the was the Chapel Pool and the other was the Corner Pool. The latter was where we started our day. We both fished the pool with different tactics. I opted for my RioUnispey floating line with a 6ft intermediate tip attached. On the business end was a #10 Silver Stoat's Tail. Charlie was using his Mackenzie DTX G2 Spey line with a 10ft slow sink tip. His fly was a size 8 Munro Killer. We both fished through the pool without a touch so we headed down stream to the Chapel pool. The pool was very shaded and we thought it would be our best chance of picking up a fish. Well, it never happened but we were encouraged by the sight of 3 fish showing in the pool below. We headed back to the hut for a drink of cold juice and a break from the baking sun. It was only 10.30am!

After our wee refreshment break Charlie and I headed up to the Stone Pool and the Horseshoe Haugh. Charlie gave me the choice of where to start and I chose the Stone Pool as I never usually fish it. Charlie went in the Horseshoe Haugh just above a big boulder at the neck of the pool and I made my way upstream. I just arrived at my pool and I heard Charlie shouting. He was into a fish! I ran down to arrive just in time to net a sparkling 6lb beauty which hammered his #8 Munro Killer. Just goes to show there is no rule of thumb when fishing for salmon. The bright and warm conditions didn't put this fish off. Not sea liced, but not in more than a couple of days. The fish was heavily marked along it's flank and was still red raw. Possibly an encounter with a seal from the ever growing population which patrol the river mouth. These beasts in my opinion, are needing to be controlled as their numbers have increased rapidly in the last few years. Anyway that's another matter. After a few pictures the fish swam off stongly back to it's lie. I fished through the Stone Pool without a touch and then through the Horseshoe with the same result.

After lunch we fished the beat from top to bottom but apart from raising a salmon twice to my Sunray Shadow in the Long Pool, that was it for our day. Not bad considering the so called bad angling conditions. My wait for a springer goes on but I'm fishing the Dee at Lower Blackhall on Tuesday so hopefully it will be my time then. That will be my last chance this Spring!

Here are some pictures from our day today.

Another belter for the scrap book and the rogues gallery in the Manar hut.

Damage on the flanks of the fish. Possibly caused by a seal.

Slipping the fish back. The quality of the Don fish this year is fantastic.

Off we go. Another Don fish returned to continue it's journey.

The First Springer Of The Season!

On Wednesday I had arranged to buy a day ticket on the Manar beat of the River Don with my friend Charlie Robertson. Charlie is a regular rod on this beat and fishes there almost every week. Manar is one of, if not THE premier Spring beats on the middle Don.

Every year, for minimal angling effort, it produces more than it's fair share of these wonderful early running River Don salmon. It's only occasionally fished by day rods but there are a very dedicated group of anglers who spend many hours of their own time maintaining the banks and paths etc. Numerous benches and rod rests have been dotted along the banks to help make fishing Manar a pleasant experience. The cosy fishing hut, with it's stove is ideal for the cold early spring but if the weather is fair, the picnic bench and BBQ come in very handy.

On Friday the river rose about 8 inches due to heavy rain in the catchment. After a quick check of FishDon and the River Don Webcam we were happy to see the river running quite clear and dropping.We arrived at the beat about 8.30am and the Manar gauge read 1ft 9in. The water clarity was good so we tackled up with floating lines and sink tips. I opted for a Rio Unispey with a 10ft fast tip and a #7 Willie Gunn Flamethrower. Charlie went for a Mackenzie DTX G2 with a 10ft fast tip but with a 3/4" Silver Ally Shrimp tied on a copper tube.

We headed up to the Sheep pool to begin our days fishing. We fished all the way down past the hut to the tail which used to produce a good few fish without a touch. Charlie suggested we headed down to the Chapel pool. This is a delightful wee pool and holds fish before they decide to tackle the fast streamy water. Since we were passing I decided to have a cast in the Lower Wood on my way down and Charlie headed to the Chapel. After 15 minutes or so I heard Charlie shouting. He was into a fish! I wound in and took off on a 400m dash down river to see Charlie's rod bent into a strong fish. I got the net ready and after a very nervous 5/10 minutes, a pristine fish around 12lbs was netted. It was Charlie's first of the season and a very welcome one at that. This was one of his latest ever seasons to get off the mark. The fish just have not been there this year for some reason or other. Once the photographs were taken and scales samples done the fish was returned and swam off like it had never been caught!

Charlie kindly let me have a cast in the Chapel and we noticed a fish showing down in the tail of the pool. A few minutes later a fish showed opposite me so I quickly tied on a Sunray Shadow and cast square over where the fish showed. Nothing on my first few casts but I slowed down my retrieve and as the fly was coming onto the dangle there was a big splash. A fish went for my fly. I kept on stripping in the Sunray and the same fish went to grab my fly again! Both times it missed and it seemed to really want it but it didn't connect. I covered the lie several times more but not a flicker! The excitement was over.

We were encouraged by the opposite bank landing a couple of fish not long after Charlie landed his, so there must have been a good run of fish came through the pools. We headed up to the top part of the beat and fished the Stone Pool and the Long Pool. The Long Pool was fishing great in this height of water and Charlie had a brief encounter with a fish about half way down the pool as his Ally Shrimp came onto the dangle. No luck but at least the fish have finally arrived on Donside and not before time!

The rest of our day proved to be fruitless and about 7pm we packed up and headed home to see the Champions League final. At least Charlie got his season off and running but I'm still trying in vain to land a springer this year. Next weekend will be my last chance so heres hoping! Some pictures from Manar and Charlie's long awaited springer.

Lower Wood pool looking downstream. Lovely looking pool and there is a couple of good lies down near the tail which can hold fish all season long.

Fish On! Charlie bent into a strong River Don springer in the Chapel Pool.

First of the season safely in the net.

Worth the wait! A 12lb bar of silver poses for a picture before heading on it's journey again.

Fishing a Sunray in the Chapel. Shortly after a fish rose to my fly twice in quick succession. Both times it missed.

Rio UniSpey 10/11 Review

During the Deveron Fishing Festival I was fishing the Eden beat which was hosted by GuideFlyFishing. Their representatives were Willie Banks and Jim Fearn. After lunch that day I spent a couple of hours with them just casting some lines. Jim Fearn had a Vision GT4 Catapult set up with a 64ft Rio UniSpey line. He gave me a cast with it as I have a Vision GT4 Catapult and I was very impressed. So impressed I bought the line this week! I managed to get a good deal from an add on the Salmon Fishing Forum classified section. The line arrived yesterday and I spooled it up onto my Hardy Swift MKII. All I needed to do now was go fishing.

Today I tried out the line. It took me an hour or two to get the hang of it but once I discovered the optimum loading point of the line it flew out like a rocket! I spent all day casting with it and getting used to the longer head. The line is White in colour with a 15ft Black loading point. The overall line length is 130ft and has a weight of 750gr(64gm). It has has a long front taper and when I attached a 5ft fast sinking tip it made it even better. The line gripped the surface of the water a bit better and help load the rod. I tried all sink rates of tips and weighted flies. It turned over them all with ease. To me, it's just like a 64ft shooting head without the hastle of having loops of running line strewn over the banks or knotting up in your forward stroke.

Overall impression is this is a fantastic casting line. The black coloured loading point of the line helps to find where it loads your rod to maximise casting potential. I'm glad I have this line in my armoury and it will be very useful on bigger river such as the Dee and Spey where a longer cast can make all the difference.