Invery - River Dee

Thanks to a last minute shout, I was offered a days fishing on the Invery beat of the river Dee last Wednesday. Invery is a beat I always enjoy fishing and has some fantastic pools so I didn't take long to accept the invitation. The river was sitting around 2ft on the gauge and was is good shape with water temperature hovering around 46f. My set up for the day was a 15ft Mackenzie Shooting Head Rod, Intermediate shooting head and a 9ft tapered leader. Fly of choice was the Sunray Shadow.

The well maintained fishing hut at Invery.

Looking upstream at from the neck of the S Pool.

I arrived at the beat around 8.20am and met the ghillie Karl Revel at the hut along with fellow rod Craig. We were given the choice where to start and I opted to have a run through the S Pool first and then work my way down from the Signal and into Greenbanks. I started up at the neck of the pool and fished it down with a Red Frances to begin with but this didn't produce an offer so I had another run down with a Sunray Shadow this time. Again, it didn't attract a fish so I made my way up to the Signal to give it a go.

On my way up to Signal I stopped to chat with Craig who said he'd had hold of a fish on a Sunray Shadow which sadly threw the hook. This was encouraging so I was eager to get going. I started right at the top of the beat and began to work my way down, concentrating on the areas Karl had said were the most likely spots. There were one or two fish showing just down from the beginning of the wall but I covered them several times without a take. As well as the pool was fishing it proved to be a fruitless run through it so I made my way down stream a little to have a cast in the Greenbank.

Looking upstream from the Killing Hatch. A cracking pool.

Not long after starting in the Killing Hatch I spotted a fish show just downstream from me. I couldn't really see if it was a fresh fish or not but at least I knew where a fish was lying. I made my way down the pool with a Sunray Shadow and as I was level with the burn mouth my fly just stopped. I was stripping it slowly so I pulled on the line as normal and this seemed to wake the fish up! It made one or two short runs but I soon had it beached and it turned out to be a very well mended kelt. Not the springer I was after but at least I knew my tactics were working. I fished the rest of the pool and into Greenbanks without and offer so I headed off down stream to have a crack in the Jetties before lunch.

Looking upstream into the Greenbanks.

The Jetties as this height required a long cast to get into the likely areas so I stripped plenty line off my reel and fished my way down the pool. I saw a fish show just out in the streamy run so I covered it a few times but it didn't take. It showed a few minutes later and it appeared to be a kelt anyway but it's a good sign that kelts are in the pool just to help slow down the running springers.

The Jetties. You can see the concrete jetty where the pool takes it's name.

At lunch time my pal Paul appeared for a cast and after swapping stories and with fellow rods and Karl it was time to get going again. I was allocated the lower part of the beat along with Craig. Craig started in the Floating Bank and I started in Pantoch. We were to swap over mid session.

The Pantoch. There were several fish splashing about in here during the afternoon.

As I arrived at the Pantoch pool I spotted a fish show about mid river. This was followed by another soon after. It looked as though they were sea trout. Not like the kelt that have been around of late as these were short stocky looking fish. I fished through the pool first with a #7 Kitchen Sink and then second tIme down with a Sunray Shadow. Neither run through the pool produced anything so I made my way down to have a crack at the Floating Bank.

The hut on the lower beat over looking the Floating Bank.

Fishing down the Floating Bank. Probably my favourite pool on the beat.

The Floating Bank is up there as one of my favourite pools on the beat. It is a classic fly pool which fishes very well. There are usually a few fish lying in this pool and today was no different. As I made my way down the pool there were fish showing down it's whole length. They were howerver, what looked to be kelts and they didn't seem interested in what I had to offer. I fished the pool from top to bottom without a touch. Maybe the bright, sunny conditions were putting the fish off. I made my way back to the hut at 5pm to say goodbye to Karl and thank him for his advice. Karl suggested we fished on as the sun was now cooling down a bit. I decided to give it a few hours so I made my way back up to the Signal whilst Craig and Paul headed off downstream to fish the lower pools again.

An evening cast on the Dee at Invery.

The sun setting on another day fishing the Dee.

My evening didn't produce any offers unfortunately and I called it a day around 7pm. At least I got a bend in the rod from a kelt and there were a few other kelts caught through out the day also. Just a pity that springer didn't stick for Craig in the morning. That would have been a good start to the day for him. It's a fantastic beat and has plenty pools to keep you occupied all day long. Each has their own characteristics and charm and they all produce fish from opening day until the last day of the season. The ghillies, Karl and Jim are great lads too and are always eager to help the vising anglers giving advice when needed and to point out the likely spots where fish can be taken. I will hopefully be back one day for another cast on at Invery in the future.

Invery - River Dee

I was on the River Dee at Invery today on what is the last chance of catching a Spring Salmon for this year. As of June 1st all salmon caught are classed as Summer salmon. I was very kindly asked to fish the afternoon by a friend of mine as he had a prior engagement and had to leave the beat early. As I had never fished the beat before, I was very grateful for the opportunity. The sun was high in the cloudless sky making conditions less than ideal but with the gauge reading 10" there was always the chance of picking up running fish. The temperature in the afternoon peaked at 23C. My set up for the day was my 13ft Hardy Uniqua, floating line, short intermediate tip and a selection of small flies ranging from size 10 to 14.

I arrived on the beat around 11.30am and met the Jim the ghillie at the top hut. He instructed me to head down to the bottom part of the beat as I was to fish the Pantoch and Floating Bank pools before returning for lunch at 1pm. I made my way down to the Pantoch but there was a rod from the Crathes bank fishing the pool so I carried on down to the Floating Bank. I had only ever fished this pool from the opposite bank so it was good to give it a go from the Invery side. I chose a wee size 11 KS Shrimp for my fly and I made my way to the neck of the pool. I fished down the pool and when I was about adjacent to the hut, I had a good solid take from a fish. Unfortunately, it didn't stick but it was encouraging to know that there were fish in the pool. Several more fish showed as I fished it through but were not interested in my fly.

As I had never fished the beat before it was good to have a chat with Jim during lunch. We chatted about the recent catches on the river and about stories from days gone by which I always enjoy listening to from any ghillie or fisherman.

After a bite to eat, Jim took me up to fish the top pools of the beat. These included Signal Pool, Greenbanks, Jetties and S Pool. I fished all the way down from the top of the beat without seeing a splash but the blazing sun and clear blue skies didn't help. There were also a group of young kids swimming in the Greenbanks pool which is not ideal either but given the fine weather, who could blame them for that? I would have done the same not so long ago. I missed out that part of the pool and made my down to the Jetties. Again, I fished it through without seeing a splash so I headed down to the S Pool. The neck of the pool was a nice fast, streamy piece of water which in these conditions, might have been a good chance of holding a fish or two. No luck to be had in this pool either.

I headed back to the hut around 4.30pm for a chat with Jim before deciding what to do in the evening. Jim informed me that there was a 4 1/2lb Salmon landed downstream by one of the other anglers. Always good to hear of fish being caught on the beat you are fishing. As I was the only rod left, Jim gave me the choice of where to go. As I had seen a few fish earlier in the Floating Bank, I headed down to the bottom pools of the beat again. As the Pantoch was free I give it a run though before I fished the Floating Bank. Nothing doing in here but was good to fish it regardless. I fished the Floating Bank twice before giving the Pantoch another try but to no avail. The sun was still high and bright so I called it a day around 8pm.

Invery is a lovely part of the Dee and when conditions suit, it can be very good indeed. It's a beat I will look forward to fishing again some day in the near future. Sadly, no May springer which ends my run of getting a fish every month so far but I would have gladly taken that at the start of the season so I can have no complaints. I will eagerly wait on the arrival of the grilse to both the Dee and Don which can provided some quality sport on lighter tackle. Hopefully there will be here in greater numbers than in previous seasons. We will soon find out.

Here are some pictures from my day.

Floating Bank. Had a good offer from a fish in here but it didn't stick.

Signal Pool which is the top of the beat.

Killing Hatch. Have spent many hours looking into this pool from the high wall on the opposite bank.

Fishing down through Killing Hatch.

Looking upstream from the tail of Killing Hatch.

Greenbanks. Lovely pool but equally attractive to swimmers today.

Looking downstream into Jetties.

The hut at the bottom of the beat with its immaculate banks.

S Pool. A nice run which goes into deeper water on the left bank.

Pantoch. Was good to fish it from the Invery bank.

Looking upstream in the evening sun from Pantoch.

A final run through Floating Bank before heading home.

The new hut at the bottom of the Invery beat which looks onto the Floating Bank..