Highland Park Shrimp

With there being little or no rain in recent months the rivers have been very low and the prospects of catching salmon have been poor. As a result I've had no fishing trips of note in the past few weeks so I thought I would do something a bit different than normal. I am a very keen fly tier and I almost enjoy tying flies as much as I do fishing so this is a Blog post about a cracking salmon fly which was created by my good friend, Bill Cook.

A batch of the original Highland Park Shrimps tied by Bill Cook.

Born on the banks of the Don, the name Highland Park Shrimp came about primarily due it's colours as Bill took the inspiration for it's tying from the popular single malt whisky which bears the same name. It's amazing what can inspire new creations and with the fly having great success in the last few seasons I bet Bill was glad he was enjoying a wee dram or two whilst at the vice that evening!

Bill first tied the fly in May 2011 but due to the lack of water that summer it wasn't until July 22nd that the fly finally got off the mark. It was well worth the wait though as Bill manged to catch a fine brace of salmon from the Park beat of the River Dee. The Highland Park Shrimp was to go from strength to strength from there on in as it became Bill's "go to" fly whenever the water had a wee peaty stain to it. I should add that it works well in all conditions but it really does excel when a spate is running off. It has caught fish on numerous river such as the Dee, Don, Spey, South Esk, North Esk and the Stinchar to name but a few. I'm sure if the fly was more well known then it would be much more successful further afield too.

Bill has caught many fish with his fly since 2011 and it's best catch to date came on the 28th August last season when it accounted for 5 fish landed and 1 lost from the South Esk. That's a good day's fishing in anyone's book but made even better catching the fish on a fly you've created yourself. Bill informs me there is a copper bodied version of his fly which is as equally deadly. It certainly must be good to be on par with the original! Bill, like myself, just ties flies for his own boxes and occasionally for friends so unfortunately his pattern is not available to buy. I have included this Step By Step guide below which will allow any tiers who fancy giving it a swim the chance to follow the instructions and tie a few for their own boxes. The fly in the step by step is one I have tied myself so I hope it does Bill's original fly justice.

The Original as tied by Bill Cook

Thread :- Black

Tag :- Fine Oval Gold Tinsel.

Body Rear Half :- Flat Gold Tinsel ribbed with Oval Gold.

Centre Hackle :- Hot Orange Cock.

Centre Wing :- Mixed Orange & Yellow Bucktail and a couple of strands of Yellow Crystal Hair (Tied Flamethrower Style on top)

Body Front Half :- Black Floss ribbed with Oval Silver Tinsel.

Front Wing :- G.P. Tippet tied in flat on top (Strip away the outside fibres till you get the length you want)

Front Hackle :- Black Cock

Head :- Black

Materials required to tie a Highland Park Shrimp. *Jungle cock only used in copper bodied version*

Tie in the oval gold tinsel and form a tag.

Tie in the flat gold tinsel to about half way along the shank of the hook to form the body.

Tie in the rib over the top of the flat gold tinsel.

Tie in a hot orange cock hackle at the end of the gold body. Roughly half way along the shank of the hook.

Mix a small amount of orange and yellow bucktail and tie in over the top of the orange cock hackle Flamethrower style. Add in the 2 strands of yellow Krystal Flash on top.

Form a second body with black floss and tie in the silver rib over the top using oval silver tinsel.

Tie in the GP tippet. I tied it in to about the length of the hook.

Tie in the large black cock hackle. I used 3 turns here to reduce bulk.

Form a neat head and apply 2-3 coats of clear varnish to finish of the fly.

The Copper Version.

The only difference here is the use of red thread. The rear half of the body is copper tinsel, again ribbed with oval gold and a couple of J.C. nails are tied in before adding the black hackle at the front.

I varnish the head with clear varnish as it gives the red thread a nice colour.

A pair of copper Highland Park Shrimps.

Finavon Castle - South Esk

It rained heavily all day on the Friday before we arrived to fish the Finavon Castle Water which gave Kenny, Bill, Davie and I some extra encouragement for our day on the River South Esk. We planned an early start and I set my alarm for 4am so we could meet at the beat for 5.30am. We arrived just before 5.30 and made our way down to the hut on the Castle Beat. The water was sitting around the 9" mark and was running clear which signaled that the water had not risen as much as we'd anticipated. Still, we were all confident that there would be fish running.

The Castle Beat Hut at 5.30am.

The interior of the hut with wooden fish on the wall as a reminder of good catches of days past.

It was still dark when we arrived at the hut so we lit up a few candles in the hut and contrary to popular opinion, Kenny produced a bottle of 25 year old GlenFarclas so we had a wee dram as we waited to get going. I tackled up with my 13ft Hardy Uniqua, Floating line and 10ft intermediate tip. My fly of choice to begin with was a 1/2" Silver Ally. Kenny and I were to fish the Milton Beat in the morning whilst Bill and Davie were to fish the Castle Beat.

Kenny and I decided to start at the top of the beat and work our way down. The first pool we were to fish was the Bridge Pool. I started at the croy and Kenny went above and started just below the bridge itself. Just as I entered the water a fish showed just next to a boil which the handy beat guide suggests you will pick up a fish. I covered it several times but nothing doing. That was the only fish we saw in the pool so we made our way down to the next pool which was Tyndals.

Looking upstream at dawn in the Bridge Pool.

Fishing down the Bridge Pool. A fish shown just as I started in the boil about half way down but it wasn't hanging about.

Tyndal's is one of the most productive pools on the beat and looking through the catch book, it produces fish all season long. It is fished from the North bank so a wade across the river just above the pool is needed to fish the pool. Bill and Davie had fished this pool whilst we fished the Bridge and said they had seen several fish, mostly coloured showing up near the neck of the pool. Kenny and I fished down through the pool, covering the likely spots but to no avail. Kenny did however see a fish show on his way down but we couldn't temp anything. 

Tyndals Pool. A nice easy wade all the way down and the depth is over on the opposite bank right down the pool. Most of the fish seen were just off the current towards the North bank.

The next pool down was Willows but at this height of water it looked really shallow and when the sun was out, you could see every stone so we decided to leave it for later and see if we got some cloud cover. We headed off down to fish Volcano and Lower Boat pools. Both were clearly defined pool with fast water at the neck which tapered off as the pool widened out. This time, the deeper parts of the pool were on  the North side and they were to be fished from the South bank. As tasty as these pools looked, neither Kenny or myself touched anything in either of them. By this time, the sun was high ain the cloudless sky and conditions were starting to go against us. Kenny headed back to the hut for a cup of tea and I headed back up to have another crack in the Bridge Pool. Sadly, I didn't see or touch anything on my second run down so I headed back to the hut around 11.30am to join Bill, Davie and Kenny for an early lunch.

Looking downstream from the footbridge towards the Red Brae Pool on my way over to fish the Castle Beat.

Looking upstream from the Bridge into the Castle Stream.

After lunch, Kenny and I were to fish the Castle beat and Bill and Davie were to fish the Milton beat. The first pool on the Castle beat is the Castle Stream so I started off in the whilst Kenny headed down to the Red Brae pool below. The water looked a bit on the low side for the Castle Stream but I fished down it regardless just to give it a go.

Castle Stream. There are groins either side at the neck of the pool which gives it a nice flow down the far bank.

I carried on down stream to fish the Kirkinn pool which is really just the tail of Red Brae. There is a nice looking run down the far side which fishes the fly quite well but I didn't get an offer in here and carried on down to the next pool. I had a quick run down through Pheasantry on my way down to fish Nine Maidens

Kirkinn. Looks like an excellent summer sea trout pool.

The hut overlooking Pheasantry which is named David's Tree House Hut. As you can see, it's built around an large tree.

Next pool down was Nine Maidens. This pool had a good bit of depth to it and looked like it could hold a fish or two up near the neck. I concentrated on this area and slowly made my way down the pool but as much as it looked a likely place for a fish, I didn't get an offer so it was onto the next pool.

Kenny Carr sitting on the croy at the neck of Nine Maidens deciding what fly to try next.

 The bottom pool on the beat was called Beaches. It was a long pool in comparison to the others on the Castle beat and also looked like it would give a good chance of a fish. Kenny and I both fished our way down to right under the Viaduct without an offer so we decided to head back upstream to have another go in Red Brae.

The Viaduct at the tail of Beaches. Below the bridge is the Haugh's Pool on the Finavon Bogardo beat.

As I never fished Red Brae on my way down I was eager to give it a go and on arrival we were met by regular River Esks fisher Alan Mowat who was taking with Bill and Davie. Bill said he had seen a fish show up thear the neck of Red Brae so I went up to give it cast. I changed to a Sunray Shadow and worked it through the pool but I didn't get so much as a boil from a trout. It was a very fishy looking pool and one, which I 'm sure, given better conditions would produce plenty fish. Just a pity the sun was water and overhead conditions were not in our favor today.

We all headed back to the Milton Beat hut for a cup of coffee and a farewell dram before heading home. We had a good chat in the hut about all thing fishing and it was good to catch up with Alan again who we fished with on the River Don back in April. We said our goodbyes and left for the journey back up the A90 around 5.30pm.

I really enjoyed fishing this cracking part of the South Esk. We were lucky that there were 4 rods fishing in our party which gave us a bit more pools to fish given the lowish water. We all agreed that it was a good day and with a few more inches of water, we could have had some decent sport. The overnight rain, although heavy, didn't come to much but as it has rained all day today (Sunday 7th) I'm sure there will be fish caught this week if the water goes up. I will look forward to seeing the catches and what these beats can produce.

Left to Right - Kenny, Bill, myself and Davie pose for a picture before heading home.

For more info please visit the very informative Finavon Castle Fishings website.

Cortachy Castle & Downie Park - South Esk

Early last week, I booked a day on the South Esk at Cortachy Castle and Downie Park. It turned out I was to be the only rod fishing the beat today and given the conditions, it was a bit surprising. I met the Andrew the ghillie at 8am and we set off down to the hut. The beat gauge was steady at 11" and the water was in really good order. I tackle up with my 13ft Hardy Uniqua and a Airflo Quick Spey Multi Tip Line and a 6ft 2.6ips Rio polyleader. Andrew suggested a Monkey fly would be ideal for the current conditions.

A stunning view over Glen Clova taken on my way down to the Sawmill Pool.

Andrew suggested I started my day off in the Sawmill pool and just on arrival, a fish showed near the tail which was good to see early on. It was not for the taking nor any others and I fished through the pool without a touch. A cracking pool and it fished the fly very well.

Sawmill Pool.

The next pool I was to fish was the Dairy. A lovely streamy run on the far bank but again, nothing touched so we moved on down stream to the Meetings. This pool is where the South Esk tributary, the Prosen join the main river. I fished the length of the Meeting without any offers so Andrew took me down to the next pool. I carried on down to the Laundry and although very "fishy" I didn't see or touch anything.

The Meetings. Where the Prosan meets the South Esk.

The Laundry Pool.

The Downie Stream was next to be fished and not long after starting the wind caught my fly and sent it into the trees on the far bank. I couldn't free the fly and eventually my leader snapped and my Monkey fly was gone. This was the third 3/4" Monkey fly I had lost in the trees already! I went to my fly box to tie on another one but had none left. I chose a 3/4" Dee Sheep and with-in a couple of casts it was hammered by a strong, lively fish. After some unstoppable runs and acrobatics, Andrew slipped the net under a 10lb "Bar of Silver". No sea lice present but it could have only been in a few day at most. Great start to my day.

Downie Stream.

Safely in the net!

A quick picture for the scrap book before releasing the fish.

I fished on through Beech Tree and the Drain pools with no joy but I saw a big fish jump right out of the water feet from where I was standing in the Beech Tree. We stopped for lunch as the sun was now high and bright so resting the pools was the better option.

Beech Tree.

After a good chat over lunch, Andrew took me down to fish the Kaimbridge Pools. Before we started fishing them, we looked down from the high bank and as the water was crystal clear, we could see if there were any fish present. We couldn't spot any fish moving but went down to give them a good go anyway. After fruitless runs down through Upper and Lower Kaimbridge, we headed back upstream to fish Carrity Moo.

Lower Kaimbridge. Looking down from the steps above the pool.

Carrity Moo is another lovely looking pool but not seen or touched in here so we headed back to try the Drain and Mary's as the sun had dropped enough to take the shine off the water. I changed fly to a Sunray Shadow but nothing looked at it as I stripped it across the pool. The wind had really whipped up and made cast difficult as it lifted the fly and I caught the trees a few times. There was a few fish splashing up near the gauge but they were not interested or had ran further upstream.

Carrity Moo.

Tail of the Drain Pool.

The conditions were starting to work against me and we decided to give the Beech Tree anther run through before heading home. I didn't see anything this time or touch anything as the wind really made casting dangerous so we called it a day about 7pm.

I had never fished the South Esk before and was really impressed by the fishing. I saw fish showing in several pools and to land a cracking fish was a perfect way to start my first foray on a new river to me. I will certainly be heading back to fish it more often. Andrew the ghillie is a top bloke who went out of his my to make me feel welcome and he even waded into the river to retrieve a fly for me which was snagged round a log! Being the only rod fishing was a bonus and I picked away at his knowledge of his beat and hope to use it next time I'm down fishing the South Esk.