Despite the cloud of doom and gloom that hovers of salmon fishing these days, my own season was a very good one. I finished up with 31 Salmon/Grilse for the season which I was pleased with. This was in no small part down to the upturn in fortunes with the River Don where it had it's best season for a number of years. Catches were up around the 800 mark from just over 400 the previous year.
A River Spey springer finds the net in April of this year.
This year was always going to be earmarked as a poor one. This was based on the notion that the fish running this year would have been the first adults from the Storm Frank spawning year of 2015. Next year may well see a drop in multi sea winter salmon returning but given that the grilse run wasn't too bad, I remain optimistic that things may not be as poor as forecast. We'll soon see how that pans out!
January
As usual, my season started on the banks of the mighty River Tay back in January with our annual pilgrimage to Lower Kinnaird for the opening Saturday of the season. The day is always a good one as its spent with good pals. It's also a fine way to blast off the cobwebs.The cold certainly wakes you up after the 5.30am start as I don't think the temperatures have ever been above freezing in the years we have been going!
Early January on the River Tay at Lower Kinnaird.
February
Opening Day on the River Dee (1st February) is really when my season kicks off though. However, this year I had to wait just a wee while longer as the Dee was frozen solid and full of grue (ice floes) which meant there would be no fishing until it melted. This took a week or so but thanks to the generosity of William Foster, Park Estate, we were given 2 days fishing for the dates we lost. On the 25th February whilst using one of my days from William, I was fortunate enough to land my first Salmon of the season. It was a lovely wee springer of around 6lb from Park North. I lost another fresh fish just a few minutes after landing this one. It was great to open my account with another February Salmon from Park. I am already counting down the days until we are back there for Opening Day 2020.
No Fishing! Opening Day on the River Dee at Park.
My first of the season. A lovely, February springer from Park
March
March turned out to be the only month of the season in which I didn't land a fresh Salmon. My annual 3 day trip to Ballogie was disappointing and we only landed a few kelts for our efforts. This trip is usually my best bet for a March springer but it wasn't to be this year. Hopefully next year will see normal service resume.
The Top Gannet at Ballogie in March.
April
April was a good month for me. I was fortunate enough to land a lovely fish from the famous Murthly 2 beat of the River Tay. Well known ghillie and expert Salmon angler Tony Black went out of his way to get me a fish and his skill with the boat and knowledge of his beat paid dividends as he netted a lively springer around the 6lb mark for me. The fish rounded off a great day in the company of our wee band of brothers who we call ourselves "The Salmon Nutters". There's never a dull moment when we meet up.
A fresh run Tay Springer from Murthly 2
Another significant fish I landed in April was from the River Spey. I took a last minute rod at Tulchan D with another good fishing pal, Sean McGarry. I was fortunate enough to land the only fish of the day which was a beauty of around 8lb from the March pool. It was also my first ever River Spey springer after a long time of trying! It snaffled a wee Monkey tude. I managed to capture the footage on my GoPro camera. The clip be be seen by following the link.
A cracker from the River Spey at Tulchan D.
May
May is usually a quiet month for me. As the days get longer and the nights short, the best fishing tends to be done during the unsociable hours of early morning or late into the evening. Neither of these times are practical for me with work and family commitments but I did manage to land a few fish for my efforts.
My first fish of the month was an absolute belter from the River Conon on the 18th of the month. I received a call from Philip Black and Gordon Mackenzie inviting me for a cast as one of their party had to go home that evening. Fishing the Conon would mean a 3 1/2 hour drive for me and as my wife already had plans for the Saturday evening it meant I would have to be home by 6pm. I deliberated the prospect for most of the night but when I was awoken at 5am by my daughter, my mind was made up! I jumped out of of bed and hit the road North. It turned out to be a good decision as I was fortunate enough to land a spilt fresh fish around the 12lb mark. It hammered a size 11 Kitchen Sink as soon as it touch the surface of the water. It was obviously meant to be!
The flying visit to the Conon was more than worth while!
A Don springer is a prize worth pursuing as they're usually as rare as hens teeth. This year however, was different. The River Don had been fishing really well and I made a point to using my Saturdays to try and get one for myself. Come Saturday the 25th, the water levels were on the drop following a nice rise at the beginning of that week. As the fish were running, I decided to book a day on the Kildrummy Water. Again, I was up early but as permits for Kildrummy are only collected from the hotel at 9am, I decided to have an hour on the ADAA water at Kemnay before hand. This turned out to be a very good decision as within my first few casts, I lifted into a nice fish. It was soon landed and after a quick photo, I released an older hen fish of around 8lb back into the water. The pressure was off before I had even got to Kildrummy and my first Don springer of the year was in the bank.
A springer from the ADAA beat at Kemnay caught early in the morning.
When I arrived at Kildrummy, I was 4th in line to collect my permit, the other 3 rods fishing that day were trout anglers. I headed off down to the beat upon collecting my permit but the 3 trout lads were all parked up at the hut. Instead of going there myself, I tackled up at one of the pools. I wasn't being anti social but just thought it would be best to make my own decision of where to start fishing. Luck was definitely on my side this season as within minutes of starting my second run down the pool I was into a fish. It took the Sunray Shadow on the way down after it jumped about 3 feet in the air. It turned out to be a lovely fresh run fish around the 6lb mark. Two Don springers in one day is not to be sniffed at!
A beauty from the Don again but this time at Kildrummy Fishing.
June
June has always been kind to me in terms of catching salmon and this year was no different. On the 22nd I had the day off work and so I booked a day on the River Dee at Commonty. I met Ian Fraser, the ghille early in the morning and we discussed tactics before he set off. I took all Ian's advice on board and I set up with a floating line, slow sink tip and a size 10 Cascade. I got down to the taking spot in the Otter Trap when my fly was grabbed by a very aggressive salmon. It tore off like a runaway train and after one of the best battles I've ever had with a salmon ever, I finally tailed a fresh run salmon around the 12lb mark. It had a gaping wound in it's flank which may have been the reason it fought so hard. Upon removal of the hook I also noticed that one of the points of the hook was buckled so I was lucky to have got this fish in.
A fresh run Summer Salmon from Commonty. This one was estimated at around 12lb.
On the same day but in the afternoon, it was by this time bright and sunny and there was not many signs of fish showing in the pools. I had already fished the Loop and Bend twice when I saw what looked to be a fresh fish show near the neck of the pool. I tied on my trusty Sunray Shadow tube and began to work it through the pool. I had fished a cast out and was just starting to lift the rod when a fish took the fly on the lift! It took off down river but I soon beached my first grilse of the season. A fresh fish around the 6lb mark which was swiftly returned. Not a bad day in less than ideal conditions.
My first grilse of of the season from the Loop at Commonty.
My first sea trout of the year was landed on the 25th whilst salmon fishing. It was a nice fresh fish around the 2lb mark from the Kelpie Pool at Ballogie.
My first seas trout of the season from the River Dee.
July
On the 6th July I found myself fishing the Ballogie beat of the River Dee. I was on the river early as it was going to be a bright and sunny day and the river levels were on the low side. I started my day off in the Flats and as the Sunray Shadow had been doing the business for me, it was my go to fly on this particular day. I was just coming into the taking part of the pool when my fly was hit with some venom! A monumental tussle took place before I finally got my hands on the prize. It was a superb looking salmon estimated to be around 13/14lb. It was fat as a barrel and a proper summer salmon. It's always great to have a fish on the bank before 8am when you're out for a day's fishing.
Probably my best looking Salmon of the season. This belter was caught on a Sunray Shadow at Ballogie.
That turned out to be my only salmon of the month but I did land a few nice sea trout from Carlogie during my annual summer days with Ade Warburton and Philip Black. Sadly, unlike the bonanza we had last year, the salmon were just not there in any numbers this time round.
One of two sea trout from Carlogie that I caught in bright sunshine and in the middle of the day.
August
August 2019 will live in my memory for the rest of my days. I had taken a week off during the school holidays to fish with my son, who joined the ADAA this year. It just so happened that the River Don had risen at the beginning of that week (w/c 12th) and grilse run decided to run in good numbers. On the 14th, accompanied by my son (who is 7) headed off to fish the Lower Fintray beat. We had the pools to ourselves which was surprising but only a few casts into our morning, Liam's Flying C was grabbed by a lively fish. He was nervous at first and was reluctant to play the fish in fear of losing it but with my encouragement he played it well. Landing a fish with 5ft of bankside reeds is not the easiest task fro even the more experienced rods so to avoid the risk of losing his first salmon, I had decided to climb into the water to tail a fresh run fish out past the reeds. It was a beauty of around the 6lb mark. I was up over my wellies and soaking wet but I couldn't have cared less! I am not sure who had the bigger smile; me or Liam!
Liam playing his first ever salmon.
The prize! A fresh grilse around 6lb. A fine fish for his first Salmon.
It didn't take long for Liam to land his second and then his third salmon of his young life. We ventured out the next day to fish Parkhill. After a fruitless morning we went and did the shopping before Liam decided he wanted to try fishing again. With the shopping in the boot we headed up river to the Kemnay beat of the Don. Again, we had the pools to ourselves and literally with the first cast of the day we hooked a fish. It was another fresh run grilse and again, I was up over wellies landing the fish as the reeds made it impossible to beach. It was a sea liced grilse around 5lb. It was quickly returned and we were straight back fishing again. Unbelievably, with just a few casts later, we were into another fish! It was another fresh grilse around the 5lb mark. After a spirited fight, Liam quickly had his second fish of the day in the book. It was a day to remember and we headed home soon after as we were soaked to the skin but at least we had huge grins on our faces!
Another Salmon for Liam the very next day.
And another! Three Salmon in 2 days for Liam is pretty good going for a 7 year old!
The very next day I decided to go out fishing again. Liam didn't come with me on this occasion though. I started at Parkhill and once again, on my very first cast of the day, I hooked into a lively wee grilse. It was quickly landed and after a photo I sent it on it's way. The grilse still seemed to be running. This proved to be the case as only a short while later, I hooked 3 more fish but only manged to land one of them. Losing one in the reeds as I tried to land it. Still, a brace was not a bad result at all for just a couple for hours on the river.
One of two grilse I landed from the River Don at Parkhill for my day.
September
Outwith the early Spring months, September is probably my favourite time to be on the river. The pools are usually filling up with fish and the first cold snap tends to see them come back on the take after the summer temperatures warm the river up and switch them off. This year, I had a very good month and landed quite a number of fish for my efforts. I won't bore you with details of them all so I will just relay the capture of a few of them. One fish in particular will live long in the memory.
I had been fishing my rod on the beat below the Ballogie Bridge on the 7th of the month. I had a small fish around 4lb in the morning but I was invited by ghillie, Sean Stanton to have a cast on the lower pools above the bridge. It didn't take much persuasion and I soon headed off upstream to fish the Sands and Slips.
A slightly coloured wee grilse from Ballogie.
My first run through the Sands saw me get a couple of half hearted offers which didn't stick but there were a few fish showing which kept my moral up. I carried on into the Slips but decided to change tactics so I opted for a 10ft 7ips tip and a big Pink Franc N Snaelda tube. This change of depth did the trick almost instantly and I was soon into a hefty fish just opposite the hut. It jumped out the water to reveal itself and my initial delight in hooking a fish turned to anxiety! This was a BIG fish! A 20 minute battle ensued and I let out a huge sigh of relief as I tailed the fish. It was a stunning hen salmon which was built like a torpedo! I took a few photos before measuring the fish with some nylon. I first estimated it to be around the 21lb mark due to the size of its girth but going by it's 94cms length, it was booked at 19lb. Whatever it weighed, it was a beauty and I was delighted to have landed it!
A lump of a Salmon from the River Dee in September. My biggest fish of the year.
A head shot of the same fish above.
A tail like a shovel!
The 14th September saw me fishing the famous Cairnton beat of the River Dee. I had fished Cairnton only twice before but in the early Spring months. I had never landed a fish there but I managed to end that run by catching a small grilse from Glisters. Not a fresh fish nor a big one but it had always been a goal of mine to catch a fish at Cairnton so it was great to tick that one off my bucket list.
A plump wee grlse from the famous Cairnton beat of the River Dee.
Another fish that sticks in my mind from late September was a coloured cock fish around the 14lb mark from Ballogie. I had got up early one morning as I had to be home for the afternoon. I got to the beat just after 7am and arrived to find two rods on the opposite bank fishing the same pool. This kind of took the wind out of my sails as it was the only pool holding fish on my side and it was already being heavily fished. The rush to get on the water was over so I took my time tackling up and sat on the bench awaiting my turn to fish the pool. I decided on fishing a very large Red Frances as I felt I needed to show the fish something they may not have seen that morning already. I waded out and began to fish to my optimum length when all of a sudden a fish grabbed the fly! I quickly beached the fish which as I mentioned was a coloured cock salmon around the 14lb mark. It was extremely satisfying landing a fish from a pool that the opposition had both fished through before me without any luck. The early bird doesn't always catch the worm it seems! I landed several more fish for September and details of all these fish can be found by looking back my earlier posts on this Blog.
Patience pays off! A good sized Salmon fish from Ballogie.
October
I had a very good October on both the Dee and Don this year. Not to be out done by my Dad who landed 3 salmon just a few days before, I was lucky enough to land 4 for my day on the 11th October. The first of the 4 was a grilse around the 5lb mark from Lower Fintray. I then headed up river to fish Manar where I landed another 3. All in the space of 90 minutes! This was my best day on the Don and although all fish were coloured, it was great to see the river with healthy numbers occupying the pools; especially on the lower and middle sections.
1 of 4 from Lower Fintray on the 11th October.
2 of 4. A wee grilse from Manar which took a Pink Franc N Snaelda.
3 of 4. A 7lb cock Salmon which also fell to a Pink Franc n Snaelda.
4 of 4. Only a few casts later I landed this coloured fish around the 5lb mark. A cracking day on the Don!
I finished off my Dee season on the 14th and 15th October at Carlogie and then Ballogie thanks to an invite from Sean Stanton. I had 3 fish from my 2 days and between us all we had a cracking couple of days. It was nice to go out on a high by filling up the catch book a bit more. Hopefully next year things will improve as a total catch for the entire river of less than 3000 salmon is a very poor return for the rod effort the river sees on a daily basis. I am an optimist though and I firmly believe that the river will bounce back next year like it always has done.
An older fish from the Dee at Carlogie on the 14th.
A hen Salmon from the Boat Pool at Carlogie.
My final Salmon of the 2019 River Dee season. A feisty wee cock fish from Ballogie. All 3 fish fell to the deadly Pink Franc N Snaelda again.
The final few days of the season were successful ones for me and I was fortunate enough to land a few fish for my efforts. My final fish for the season was landed on the last day from the Kemnay beat of the River Don. It was just a small, coloured grilse but it was nice to end the year with another fish in my book.
Last but not least! My final Salmon of 2019 from the River Don on the 31st October.
I hope you have enjoyed reliving some of my highlights with me and I will look forward to updating my Blog on a regular basis next season with hopefully plenty more salmon. Until then though, it is time to get the fly boxes stocked up again with my favourite flies for attracting the coveted prize that is a fresh run springer!
Franc N Snaelda tubes. Absolutely deadly!
To all my fishing pals and ghilles, who have as usual, massively contributed to my salmon fishing enjoyment this year. You guys have done this by passing on your wealth of knowledge and, of course by putting me onto the fish! It is always much appreciated and I cannot thank you guys enough. Here's to doing it all again next year. Slange Var!
Back at the end of July I had two days fishing on the River Dee at Carlogie. Unfortunately, the salmon were playing hard to get but I did manage to connect with some nice sea trout. They were all around the 2lb mark and were taken during the day in bright and sunny conditions.
Back on at the end of April I decided to have a day on the Littlewood beat of the River Don. Littlewood is situated between Alford and Kildrummy and consists of 4.5 miles of fishing on the left bank of the river. There are some lovely glides and runs between the classic upper Don holding pools.
Looking downstream in the Inshdonald pool.
The water level was sitting at 6" on the Bridge of Alford gauge for my day which was a reasonable height for the beat. Some pools would fish better than other but as I was just there for the day I decided to fish the beat from top to bottom in search of a salmon or two.
Looking upstream in Inshdonald.
I started off my day in a pool called Inshdonald. I know this pool fairly well having fished it front he opposite back a few years back. It is a cracking wee pool with a nice flow which run down the Littlewood bank before centring out about 20 yards down from the neck. I just felt it was a little on the low side for the pool despite there being a nice depth to it up in the neck. I fished through it with a floating lien, intermediate tip and a size 9 Kinermony Killer. Nothing to report so I moved off down stream to fish the pool there.
Looking upstream from the tail of Upper Foresters.
Lower Foresters.
I fished a couple of small pots and runs before the next major pool on my route. The pool is called Forester's. It has an upper and lower part to it. Both lovely casts and looking very fishy. I immediately had a small brown trout around 10oz in the Upper part of the pool. I carried on into the lower part which look more likely to be a slamon holding pool than upper. I changed fly to a Sunray Shadow just to try and see if there was anything lurking in the pool that was willing to give up it's location. I fished down the pool without moving a fin until I was around half way down. I cast square across the pool and slowly began to strip the fly through the current. The fly reached about 1/3rd of the way over when it was hammered by a nice sized fish. Unfortunately, that was as close as I got to it as it let go almost immediately. Still, it was nice to know I was covering fish. The rest of the pool proved to be fruitless so it was off to the next part of the beat.
The upper most pool on the beat -- Invermossat.
After walking back to the car (there's a lot of walking involved at Littlewood!) I set off to try the upper most pool on the beat - Invermossat. Again, it looked a little on the low side for the pool but I thought I might as well give it a go since I was up there. My initial; thoughts were right and the pool just didn't fish that well in the current river levels so I quickly made my way else where on the beat to find a pool better suited to the conditions.
Looking upstream towards Bithnie Brig.
Looking downstream from Bithnie Brig.
Next up was the pool at Bithnie Brig. The water didn't really suit this pool either but there is a deep channel that runs off the opposite bank which may just have held a fish in the current conditions so I covered it as best I could but there didn't seem to be anything there willing to take my fly so I moved on again.
Looking upstream from the Rock Pool.
The tail of the Rock Pool.
There are plenty pool on this beat but as I had covered a fair bit of ground already I thought the next pool I would fish would be in easy access. The Rock Pool is one of the lower most pools on the beat and a cracking holding pool. This fishes really well and I know it well from fishing the opposite bank at Breda regularly a few years ago before it was no longer let. This pool was in good ply but despite my best efforts, I couldn't temp a fish to take any of my offerings on the two runs I made down the pool.
Upper Pond Ash.
I had a quite bite to eat after fishing the Rock Pool then after re-fuelling I decided to head upstream again. The next pools I fished were the Pond Ash Pool. It was a bit of a walk through a ploughed field to get to them but as you can see in the pictures it was worth the walk. Upper Pond Ash did not have the same appeal to a salmon angler as the middle and slower parts so I concentrated on these pools. I changed back to the size 9 Kinermony Killer and worked my way down the pool covering as much of the water as i could. I was about half way down when I had a good offer and lifted into a fish. It was soon apparent that it was just a trout so I quickly go it to the bank and released it with minimal fuss. It would have weighed around 1lb.
Middle Pond Ash.
The rest of the pool didn't provide me with any additional sport nor did the Lower Pond Ash. I was confident there was something in there but it was not to be on this occasion so I headed off down river again to fish another pool I know well - Laird's.
Looking upstream from the tail of Laird's.
Laird's Pool is another nice holding pool on the beat. It looked inviting and not long after starting up in the neck of the pol there was a nice fish around the 6lb mark show in the fast current as it headed for Corgaff. This was the first showing of a salmon I had seen all day so it spurred me on to try a bit harder instead of just going through the motions. I fished the pool down with a bit more confidence and as I approached the tail, I began to work my fly through the ripples to see if there was anything lying along side the boulders. My fly was immediately grabbed by a nice fish and I lifted into it. Fish on! The fish headed over to the far bank and as it did this, it leapt from the water to reveal itself. It was a slightly older looking fish around the 7lb mark. However, as it made it's leap for freedom, it had the desired effect and my fly was ejected from the clutches of it's jaws. Not the result I had hoped for but at at least it got the blood pumping and the adrenaline flowing.
The tail of Laird's.
I carried on down to fish Smith's Brae but there was no further action in here so I hot footed it back into Laird's for one last cast before heading home. I changed fly to a small Monkey bottle tube and worked it through the pool. This produced no reactions until I neared the tail of the pool again. Almost in exactly the same spot as before, something grabbed my fly. This time it managed to let it go almost as soon as it grabbed it but I was certain it was another salmon. It may even have been the same one. Who knows? I followed the same routine as before and fished through Smiths Brae again before having another go in Lairds. This time though, there was nothing to report so I packed up and headed home around 6pm.
Looking upstream in a nice pool that I cannot for the life of me remember it's name!
There are a number of pools in the middle section of the beat but there were a few torut anglers on the beat during the day so I left them to it as I had plenty other water to cover. It's always a good excuse to return again to dish the pools I missed! Although, I didn't manage to land any salmon, it was great to fish a beat that has been on my bucket list for quite some time. For whatever reason I had just never got round to fishing it. I am glad I now have and I will be back later on in the year to try again. I would love to see it with a bit more water on the pools to maybe hold one or two fish back from running upstream. I'll certainly look forward to giving it a try.
