My Salmon Fishing Highlights 2013

As the end of 2013 is fast approaching, I thought I would share some of the highlights from my fishing season. As well as my usual days on the Dee and Spey, one particular highlight for me was my first cast on the mighty River Tay. It was on the Newtyle beat near Dunkeld and apart from the Baltic conditions, I really enjoyed it. Below are my most memorable salmon fishing moments of 2013.

It took a while to get going for me this year but eventually on the 14th May, I landed my first fish from Horseshoe Haugh on the Manar beat of the River Don. It weighed 13lbs. My friend Charlie also had a cracking 13lber not long before me taken from the Sheep Pool. Both our fish took Charlie's deadly SS Assassin fly.

My 13lber from the Horseshoe Haugh at Manar.

Charlie with a cracking River Don Springer from the Sheep Pool.

My next fish was taken the following week when I took a trip to fish the South Esk on the Downie Park and Cortachy Castle beat. I had never fished the river before but really enjoyed myself and to get a spanking fresh 10lber was the icing on the cake. I am definitely heading back there in 2014 and looking forward to it already. The fish took a Dee Sheep tube and it also christened my new 13ft Hardy Uniqua rod.

10lb South Esk Springer. Beautiful river in beautiful surroundings.

As the dry summer wore on, the fish were only running in dribs and drabs but if you were in the right place at the right time, you would catch them. This happened to me one August morning whilst fishing the Don. I was not expecting much but was delighted to landed a sea liced grilse about 5lbs. Nothing special about a grilse you may ask, but to me it was very significant. It was the first fish I landed using a fly pattern designed by myself. My Dad named it the Kitchen Sink (KS) Shrimp because I had thrown everything else at the fish in the weeks before I landed this one! It's a name I like to be honest and two days later it claimed it's second fish. This time a slightly coloured hen about 10lbs from the same pool. (not pictured) See Blog post from August for picture.

A sea liced grilse from the Don. My first fish taken on a fly pattern I designed myself. The KS Shrimp was off the mark.

Another memorable moment was watching my Dad land a fish from exactly were I told him he would get one! Luck? Possibly, but you have to have an idea where the fish lie. He was actually on his way to fish one of his "Hot Spots" when I told him he couldn't walk by this lie without having a cast or two. Guess what happened? First cast and BANG! Straight into a fish. It turned out to be a beauty of about 7lb. Not long after my Dad returned his fish, I decided to have a go in the same spot and after only two or three casts I was also into a fish. My fish was slightly smaller but straight out the wrapper and weighed about 6lbs..

My Dad and his first fish of the season. It pays to listen to the Ghillie!

A fresh grilse from the same lie as my Dad's fish above.

September proved to be a difficult month on both the Dee and Don due to the continual low water. This should have been prime time on the Don but the runs just never came. I did however manage a few fish from the Dee. I finally broke my duck at Tilbouries with a coloured grilse about 3-4lbs from Alfred's Pot and I also got 2 grilse one morning from the lower Dee at Banchory Devenick. October however, would prove to be a good month for me. On the afternoon of the 2nd, I decide to fish the lower Dee during my lunch hour whilst at work. This turned out to be a good decision because during that time, I landed 3 grilse! All of which were take on a #11 KS Shrimp. The first was a slighly coloured fish about 3-4lb, the second was a freshish cock fish about 5lb but the pic of the bunch was a cracker straight from the sea about 6lb. It was dripping in long tail sea lice and has to be one of my best looking salmon that I've caught to date.

1st fish of my lunch break. A wee fish about 3-4lbs

Number 2. Slightly coloured cock fish about 5lb.

Pick of the bunch. A cracking sea liced River Dee October salmon.

The final fishing day of my season saw me back on the Manar beat of the River Don for their annual "Manar Shindig" which traditionally happens on the last Saturday of the season. The "Manar Shindig" basically consists of a BBQ, copious amount of alcohol and some salmon fishing thrown in for good measure! This season will certainly not go down in the history books as a good one by any means but for me, it was pretty successful considering the low water conditions which plagued most rivers throughout Scotland. Almost as I last resort I had a cast in the Ree Pot. I'm glad I did because after a good battle, I landed a beast of a cock fish. It was taken on another fly which I designed myself called the "Red Marauder Shrimp". I designed this fly for the Salmon Fishing Forum Tie of the Month competition but thought I would give it a swim. I'm glad I did because the fish hammered the wee #11 double as soon as it passed over it's lie. It measured 35 1/2" long and we estimated it 18lbs. The fish had a huge girth but unfortunately I didn't get that measurement so we will never know what it could have been. Either way it was a great fish to sign off my season with.

18lb cock fish taken on a small Red Marauder Shrimp.

Back he goes to continue his journey.

Well, that's my season highlights from this year. Hopefully next year will have many more and I will look forward to sharing my outings and catches.

Thank you to everyone who visits my blog and hopefully you all check in again in 2014.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Tight Lines
Craig Fleming

18lb Salmon From Manar Today

As it was the last Saturday of the fishing season, I was kindly invited to fish the Manar beat of the River Don today. On this day each year the beat plays host to a celebration to mark the end of the salmon season. Plenty beer is to be had and there is enough meat cooked on the BBQ to feed an army! I always enjoy the good craic in the hut during the "Manar Shindig".

Charlie and I arrived at the beat around 8.30am and the beat gauge was reading 8" which was up an inch or two from the previous day. The water was a good colour and we were fairly confident there would be fish caught.

We fished all the likely pools in the morning along with a few other rods but apart from the odd fish showing the beat was very quiet. I decided to go the pool right at the top of the beat called the Ree Pot as it is only lightly fished due to the tree line bank. Not long after arriving at the pool there was a big fish showed in the fast run at the neck of the pool. Firstly, I covered it with a #10 Cascade but it showed no interest. I changed over to a #9 KS Shrimp and proceeded to cover the same lie but to no avail. As I was fishing down the pool, the big fish showed again in the same spot so I walked up through the trees and this time I went right up to the start of the run. I changed my fly again to a #11 Red Marauder Shrimp which is a fly I created a couple of weeks back for the Salmon Fishing Forum Tie of the Month competition. First cast and Bang! The fish took straight away. It immediately took off down stream and attempted to leave the pool. As I was underneath some trees and had nowhere to go, I just had to put the brakes on the fish. Doing this made the fish turn and it headed back up stream. The fish tried this same move several times whilst playing it but luckily it stayed in the pool. After a very dogged fight which lasted 15 minutes or so, I finally beeched the fish onto the reeds. I removed the fly from its mouth and found one of the hooks on my #11 Partridge Salar had snapped! I quickly measured the fish with nylon and took a few photographs. I gently lowered the coloured cock fish back in the river and it took off almost instantly. After all that, I needed a beer and headed up to the hut to meet Charlie. I finished my fishing for the day!

The rest of the day proved fruitless for all the rods fishing but as the beer started flowing and the burgers and sausages were devoured, this was soon forgotten. Today brings the curtain down on another season for most anglers on the Don and it's certainly not one that has set the heather on fire by any means. The Spring run was decent but as of the 1st June, it was like somebody flicked a switch and the fish stopped coming. This trend continued for most of the summer due to low water conditions until September when wee runs of fish crept up river. If you were in the right place at the right time, you caught them.

I have a couple of days left to fish as I'm on holiday but already looking forward to 2014.

Here are a few pictures from today.

Sheep Pool. A cracking pool and a very productive one at that.

Chapel Pool. The best pool on the beat catches wise and always holds a fish or two.

Upper Wood. My favourite pool on the beat. 

Looking upstream from the Upper Wood into the tail of the Sheep Pool.

Ree Pot. Where I landed my fish. Not the easiest pool to land a fish in.

A big coloured cock Salmon we estimated around 18lb after calculating it's measurements.

Back he goes to cause havoc on the redds but hopefully to pass on his genes to the next generation of salmon.

A Week On The Dee At Kincardine

I am just back from fishing a week on the River Dee at Kincardine. This was a beat I had always wanted to fish and when the opportunity arose back in October, I decided to bite the bullet and book up.

On Monday, I arrived at the beat about 8.30am and was met by the very knowledgable and entertaining ghillie, John McGinley. I was to be fishing the week with 37 year beat veteran Dr Dai Jones. Good company and good craic certainley make the experience much more enjoyable. Dai was a pleasure to fish along side and his stories of years gone by made lunch times something to look forward to. Also fishing on the opposite bank were some well known guys from the Salmon Fishing Forum. I met them in the Potarch for a pint on a couple of occasions and also had my lunch with them on Wednesday. It was also a pleasure to meet them and good to put faces to the names. By all accounts, they had a really good week and sunk a few drams to go along with it!

On the Monday afternoon, I hooked a good fish in the Calm Pool. After playing it for a few minutes the line went solid. The fish had taken me round a rock and the line was stuck! I walked up and down the bank to try and release the line but it didn't budge. I give it slack line and still nothing. Eventually my leader gave way and the fish was gone! On inspection it had been rubbed against the rock and had freyed until it broke. Pity, because it was a nice looking fish and would have been a good start to the week. Little did I know that this would be the only action I would get until Thursday afternoon.

On the Thursday after a rise of 8" from the night before, I was fishing down the Village pool behind legendary Tay ghillie Tony Black. I looked on as he landed a couple of grilse and a sea trout in quick succession. I followed him down the pool but the only action I got was a brief encounter with a fish which was off as quick as it was on. The rise was finning off by evening and conditions would be good for the Friday. Their beat finished with 12 salmon and 2 sea trout.

I started my day in the Village pool on Friday morning and due to the bright sun I tackled up with a Rio AFS intermediate tip shooting head and attached was a 10ft slow sink polyleader. My friend Charlie had given me some flies for  my trip and I opted for the now named  Crathcade #10. As the name suggests, it's a cross between a Crathie and a Cascade. I fished my way down the pool and just as I got the the wall I hooked into a lively wee grilse. John arrived just in time to net a 4lb fish which had been in the river for a week or two. Bouyed by this I was feeling confident and was casting really well and suddenly the line went tight again! I lifted into a much stronger fish and it took off downstream like a train. As I kept the tension up, the fish managed to get rid of my fly and it was gone. I fished the rest of the day without and offer but at last I had something for the book. I have been hit hard by the sun and where my sunglasses have been, I'm now sporting a couple of panda eyes and a scorched head! It was worth it though.

On Saturday, which was my final day, again the conditions were bright and sunny. The water had dropped a good bit but was still slightly whiskey coloured. I stated in the Village pool again before the sun was faced downstream about 1pm. I went in where I stated yesterday and stuck with the same line set up but changed my fly to a #13 Cascade. At about 9.30am I lifted into a very strong fish. It lead me a merry dance around the pool and due to the high wall behind me, I had to hold my ground and try to bully the fish into my waiting net. After a very dogged fight I slid my net under a sparkling fresh fish about 10/11lbs. This made up for the blank start to the week and put a huge grin on my face. After a quick photo the fish went back to it's lie. I continued down the pool and almost where I lost the fish yesterday, I had another take. I lifted into a fish but like on Thursday, it was off as quick as it was on. I fished hard for my fish this week and when I called it a day about 7.30pm I headed off to the Potarch Hotel for a well earned shandy and burger with chips!

Here are some pictures from my week.

A view looking upstream into the Calm pool from the old Kincardine hut.

The Village Pool. A fish splashes in the centre of the picture. This is where I landed both my fish and lost two others.

Ghillie John McGinley releases my first fish of the week. A 4lb grilse which had been in the river a couple of weeks.

The fly now named the "Crathcade" which was tied my friend Charlie Robertson. The grlise was taken on this fly.

A spanking fresh fish about 10/11lbs comes to the net. This beauty was straight out the wrapper and took a #13 Cascade. A great way to end my week on the Dee at Kincardine. A lovely area of Royal Deeside.