I recently picked up one of the LTS Explosive rods from Sean Stanton at FrancNSnealda.com and I can't wait to try it out properly. I had an hours casting practise with it last week and I must say I was really impressed with what it is capable of.
The LTS Explosive 12ft 6in. Casting made easy!
I use smaller rods more than the big 14ft or 15ft rods and I will now have a real beast of a go to rod for my salmon fishing. It's a very powerful rod for just being 12ft 6in in length. It certainly made casting effortless when I tried it out with a Rio Scandi and T Tip attached. I really can't wait to get out there and have a full day's fishing with it with the proper matching line from LTS. Hopefully it will be appearing in a number of my Blog posts this season with a salmon or two on the end of my line.
Sean Stanton, the head ghillie on the Ballogie Estate fishings has the full range of LTS rods as well as their lines, reels and clothing available from his on-line shop at Franc N Snaelda. If you are on the look out for a new rod then have a look at these. You won't be disappointed!
Last Friday I had a day on the lovely Laggan beat of the River Spey. Conditions were as close to ideal as I could have hoped but the fish had other ideas. It certainly wasn't for lack of effort as I gave it my best shot but I didn't get a touch all day unfortunately. The water was sitting around 2ft on the gauge when I arrived in the morning and was dropping away nicely. The water temperature was just above 40f and the clarity was spot on too.
The Laggan beat hut.
The comfortable interior of the Lagaan hut.
After an introduction with fellow rods and ghillie, Mike Murdoch I was drawn to fish the lower part of the beat for the morning session. This consisted of the Gas Pool. Mike showed me down to the pool and pointed out the likely spots at this height but the whole pool fished very well at this height. You were just waiting for the line to tighten but sadly it didn't. Still, it was a pleasure to fish it.
The Gas Pool.
Mid way down the Gas Pool.
Looking upstream from near the tail of the Gas Pool.
After a good lunch with the other rods it was time to get going again. I was to fish the upper part of the beat this time which consisted of the Big Griggle and Bridge Pools. Again, Mike took me up and showed me the water as well as giving me a few tips on how best to fish the water. The Big Griggle was a stunning pool and I would never tire of cast a fly here. It fished beautifully at this height. We did see a fish show in here as I made my way down it but I didn't touch anything. There were plenty trout rising for the March Browns and some crackers too. After a fruitless run through the pool, Mike suggested I try the Bridge Pool but from the Carron bank and starting above the bridge.
Big Griggle. A cracking pool for fly fishing.
Looking upstream in Big Griggle.
The Bridge Pool is a very iconic place and fishing by the Carron Bridge on this hallowed ground, I must say, was a privilege. Sadly, as with the pools previous to this, I fished through them without a touch. I tried several depth in here too but to no avail. Mike and I agreed that there must be fish running in this water and sure enough, the Carron rods appeared to say that they had caught their first and second fish of the season from the upper beat.
The iconic Carron Bridge from the Carron bank.
Fishing down the south bank above Carron Bridge.
The Bridge Pool looking upstream toward Carron Bridge.
At 5pm Mike asked if we were fishing on. I decided to give the Big Griggle another run through as I enjoyed it so much the first time. I tried fishing a bit deeper in there this time round but try as I might, I couldn't get the fish to play ball and I called it day around 7pm.
Fishing down the Griggle Pool for the second time with a sinking shooting head set up.
I have to say that I was glad I'd booked a last minute rod to fish this beat. It is a fantastic setting and the pools are not bad either! The middle Spey is a special place and I'd love to see it when there are loads of fish about. It must be great to be here when it's in full swing. Hopefully one day I will return here and have a go on the upper beat.
The Aberdeen and District Angling Association hosted a Junior Members day on the River Dee at Altries and Lower Drum today. The weather was kind to us today with just a slight breeze and good,
overcast conditions. The water was in really good ply and was sitting
around 1ft 10in on the gauge.
Seven junior members came along to learn spey casting with AAPGAI instructor Ben Dixon and also to learn the basics of fishing with spinners. Each junior in attendance was paired up with an adult member who was on hand to assist with their casting and to generally give advice when required.
Unfortunately, and not for the want of trying, nothing was caught this year but everyone went away happy at the end of the day and hopefully, a lot more confident about the way they go about their fishing.
A thank you must go to renowned, local fly tier, Philip Glendinning who kindly donated a bag of flies for each junior who attended today. I'm sure they will get well used judging by the good feedback we got from the kids who all said they would like to get out and try to catch a salmon. The ADAA would also like to thank an oil company (who would like to remain anonymous) for generously paying for the lunch laid on for all who attended today, it was very much appreciated. Finally, a big thanks to the beat and it's ghillie, Kevin Fleming for allowing us to have the day there and to all the volunteers who gave up their time to help out today.
It is always good getting the younger kids involved in fishing and to see some of them become competent casters having never tried it before is even more pleasing. Hopefully the seeds are sown and we see them all on the river bank in the very near future.
Here are a few pictures from today.
The ADAA Land Rover and the beat's fishing hut.
Alistair had never cast a double handed fly rod before today but was a really quick learner and his casting was very good by the end of the day, even into the wind. Well done Alistair.
17 year old Sean Rennie fishing the fly in the Hut Pool. Sean is an excellent caster and is a very keen angler already.
Looking downstream in the Hut Pool. Was bubbling with trout this afternoon when the March Browns were hatching.
Ghillie, Keviin Fleming rows us back over to the hut to begin packing up..
Some of the lads show off their packets of flies kindly donated by Philip Glendinning.
Discussing the day and handing out the last of the sweets!
Posing for a group picture after another successful ADAA Junior Outing. Looking forward to the next one.
The Aberdeen & District Angling Association held an open day on the Altries & Lower Drum beat of the River Dee. It was set up by my uncle Stuart Fleming and ghillie Kevin Fleming along with proprietor of the estate in order to encourage younger members to branch out into salmon fishing. With the aid of top casting instructors Jim Fearn and Ben Dixon, the young lads were soon inducted, tackled up and raring to go. Some of the lads were already keen fishers but had never caught salmon before and it was great to be able to help out and try to pass on tips or be on hand to offer advice when required.
The morning session started about 10am and the first fish of the day was soon landed. A lively wee sea trout kelt was netted which was caught by Matt. He soon followed this up by landing 2 more kelts of the same species and losing another. This sparked a bit of healthy competition between him and his pal Shaun.
I took a couple of the older lads down to a pool called Donal' Garth but apart for a hit on a toby which came to nothing, we didn't manage to connect with any fish. We went onto fish the Pike Hole and Greenbank without any joy either.
After a quality spread of bacon butties (expertly cooked by Benny), sandwiches, sweets and juice, we were back on the water. Kevin and Jim took a group of lads over the river on the boat and up to fish Alfred's Pot. Whist fishing the Pot one of them landed a salmon kelt which Jim netted and photographed for, I think his name was Conner? Apologies if I got the name wrong! Although a kelt, having never hooked a salmon before this made his day and you could see his delight in playing and landing the fish. This is exactly why the day was put on in the first place and these moments are never forgotten. They enthuse the youngsters to get out on the river fishing on a regular basis and hopefully onto become the next generation of anglers filling rods on the Dee and Don. Shortly before this, in the Hut Pool, another lad called Shaun hooked a big salmon kelt which after a good scrap was netted by the ghillie Kevin.
By the end of the days fishing, between 9 youngsters, 5 kelts were landed and many of them learned new techniques which will come in useful during their fishing careers. Even some of the adults were taught new things and how to cast double handed salmon rods! Overall, I think everyone left the beat eager to get out fishing again and hopefully keen to get out on the many miles of fishings the Aberdeen & District Angling Association has to offer.
Here are some pictures from today.
The group of youngsters and volunteers pose for a photo along with Jim Fearn (centre), Ben Dixon (far right) and ghillie, Kevin Fleming (5th in from right).
Kevin ferries Jim Fearn and a few of the lads back to the hut after fishing Alfred's Pot.
Back ashore to tell of catches from the other bank.
Looking downstream toward Maryculter House Hotel from the Highbank pool. I had a cast in here with the fly before heading off for lunch.
Looking upstream into Donal' Garth from mid river. Stuart Fleming shows the lads where to cast in the Pike Hole.
Altries Hut Pool looking downstream. A lovely pool which fishes the fly very well and where Shaun landed his big salmon kelt.
This weekend saw Charlie and I out on the magnificent River Spey at Gordon Castle. We were fishing the Brae Water beat 5 which is one of the lower beats on the estate. The beat is situated about 5 miles from the sea and can produce fish through-out the season. The beat is ghillied by Blair Banks, who was a World Champion Spey caster in his younger days. Well, I say younger days but he's still only in his early twenties!!!
We met the ghillies at the usual rendezvous at The Gordon Arms Hotel in Fochabers and after a brief chat about catches etc we set off down to the hut to tackle up. As we were the only 2 rods booked on we had Blair's knowledge and expertise all day. He made us feel very welcome and did everything he could to make our day enjoyable. He set up our rods, tied on our flies, carried the rods to the pools and even waded out to make the first cast to ensure we started with a short line in the right spot. Along with all the advice and craic, it made our day thoroughly enjoyable.
We started at the top of the beat. Charlie fished the Intake pool and I fished the Grilse pool. Both these pools were lovely fly water and we expected a take every cast. As I was nearing the tail of the Grilse pool, there was several fish showed as they came up through the fast water from the run below. They all looked like good, fresh spring fish which got my adrenalin going on what was a cold, blustery day on Speyside. Just as I got to the spot where the fish showed, my 3/4inch Monkey conehead suddenly took off across the stream! I signaled to Blair who was up with Charlie and he arrived just as the fish took another storming run almost clearing out all my running line. My rod tip was bouncing all over the place. Surely this was a spring fish? After a rugged scrap for several minutes I finally got a bit of control over fish. Blair was positioned, ready with the net and as the fish showed itself for the first time, we realised it was a well mended kelt! Not one of the springers I saw coming up through the rapids. As I was drawing the fish into the waiting net, and just like last week on the Dee at Middle Drum, the hook pulled from the fishes mouth and my fly ended up over our heads and high into the trees behind! Whilst playing the fish and with some of the runs it made, I really thought this was the one we were after but not to be. Never-the-less, a fantastic battle but from one of last years models and the hunt for a springer goes on.
After lunch, Blair took us down to the Lower part of the beat. Charlie fished Lower Dipple and I fished the Bulwarks pool. The Bulwarks pool is about 850 yards long and apart from a wee bit in the middle of the pool, the whole lot fished very well. The lower part of the pool just above Fochabers Bridge, where the water channels into a lovely "V" shape midstream just screams fish. There was a springer lost there last week and I can see why a fish would stop and rest in this area. We both fished down the pool without a touch and we retired back to the hut just at the sun disappeared to reflect on another day "chasing silver".
Here are some pictures a a short video Charlie took of me playing and losing what turned out to be a very lively kelt. We're back on the Spey next weekend again so hopefully we will get some silver on the blog. Early days yet.
Grilse Pool. Looking upstream midway down the pool. A cracking pool that fishes the fly very well.
Looking downstream to the tail of the Grilse Pool where I hooked the kelt. It took just above the fast water at the side of a nice ripple caused by a stone below the surface. Blair informed us that the pool wouldn't even have been worth a cast in previous seasons as it was so shallow. Due to the nature of the area, gravel shifts are common and some of the pools change every spate.
Intake. Looking upstream at the tail of the pool.
Bulwarks. Looking downstream towards the bridge that crosses the Spey at Fochabers.
The tails of the Bulwarks Pool as it flows under the bridge.
Charlie (left) Blair the ghillie (right) and their dogs. Poppy, Brae and Bracken.
Myself and Charlie had a day on the lovely Middle Drum beat of the River Dee. The water was a good height at 1' 7" on the beat gauge and carrying a nice whiskey colour. Middle Drum is a nice beat and I have fished here a good few times, mostly in the Spring time around March. It was fine to fish it later on in the year when the pools were filling up and running fish were to be seen almost the whole day.
We were allocated to fish the top part of the beat in the morning and I started in the Island Run and Charlie started in the Cairnton Pool. Apart from Charlie moving a salmon to his Sunray at the tail of the Cairnton, that was to be it. We swapped pools about 11.30am and I tied on a Black and White Sunray to my usual set up of a Float/Intermediate Tip AFS and a 10ft slow sink tip. I started at the top of the pool and within a few cast my fly was hammered by a fish! It was not a salmon but a wee finnock about a pound which took a shine to my fly. Between us that was to be all the action for the morning session but we had the Lawson Pool to come in the afternoon.
After a bit of lunch and a chinwag with ghillie Shane Christie we headed back onto the water to have a go at the Lawson. During lunch time there was torrential rain and the river quickly rose about an inch or so. Charlie set off down the pool and I went in at the top. Just as I got to the end of the concrete walkway, I hooked a salmon parr but as I was taking it in something bigger had a go at it!!! It grabbed the parr and as I kept reeling in the fish let go leaving me with a rather battered looking parr. I unhooked it and it seemed to swim off fine but I've never had that happen to me before. Not sure what method that would have came under if it was hooked and landed?
As I got to a good taking part of the pool just under the power lines I made a fairly square cast and began to use the figure of eight retrieve. Just as my #9 Ghillie Fly came round to the dangle it was drawn away in I lifted into a livley fish. It was a spanking fresh grilse about 4 or 5 pounds and it was cartwheeling all over the pool! It spent more time in the air than in the water. I played the fish for a couple of minutes and it made a few tearing runs and jumps. I thought the fish must have been well hooked and Shane was ready with the net but just as it was tiring and coming in, the fish threw my fly! I have no idea how the fly came out but as Shane and I looked on in disbelief we could only assume that all the acrobatics must have worked the fly loose. Who knows but that was to be the only action myself and Charlie were to encounter for the rest of the day. We packed up at dark and headed home wondering how we didn't catch anything as the Lawson pool especially was bouncing with fresh fish all day long. We must have seen about 200 or so during our day. That's fishing I suppose and it's another fish lost for me which, this season has been quite a few!
Here are some pictures from our day.
Island Run. Always a good chance of picking up a running fish in this pool. Tilbouries hut on the other bank.
Looking upstream from the Lawson to the tail of the Cairnton pool.
Lawson Pool. Just near where I hooked the grilse. Nice pool but we could have been done with another 6" on it. Still very good to fish a fly through though.
Fishing the Lawson. Charlie's dog Bracken searches out his stick and I fish down the huge Lawson Pool.
On Sunday, the Aberdeen District Angling Association hosted a demonstration day for Orvis and Mackenzie DTX at their Bothy on the banks of the Dee in Aberdeen. There was a good turn out to see 3 times World Spey Casting Champion Scott Mackenzie give a very good presentation on his range of lines and rods. He was also on hand for most of the day to give advice and casting lessons to anyone who needed. Ben Dixon from Orvis, Banchory was there too and he was showing the many youngsters who turned out how to cast single handed rods. He, along with Scott Mackenzie were involved in the distance casting which was good to watch. Some huge lines were being thrown across the Dee by some talented casters both amateur and pro. Regular Trout & Salmon writer, Paul Proctor was due to give a demonstration but he was held up and couldn't make the event which was a shame. In the Bothy itself, there was fly tying demonstrations by the Orvis fly tiers. Always interesting to watch and to pick up new skills and ideas from two very good fly tiers. The youngsters seemed to enjoy being taught how to tie up their own flies.
As always Stuart, Julia, Jim and John put in a lot of effort to make the day possible. The bacon and sausage butties always go down well along with a cup of tea or coffee. These people give up their spare time to put these events on and a big thanks to them for a good day.
Here are a few pictures from yesterday.
A selection of the many rod and line combos available to be tried out.
Scott Mackenzie gives ADAA member Eddie Allan some advice about his shooting head lines. He was only too happy to help and was on hand all day to answer any queries.
The ADAA Bothy. I took this photo as I was leaving about 2pm. Still a good number of people taking advantage of the free casting lessons and advice.
I was lucky enough to be back fishing at Lower Blackhall yesterday. With good overcast conditions and a river dropping nicely after a wee rise on Thursday, our hopes were high. The water was sitting at about 1' on he gauge and the water temperature was 53f.
We tackled up about 9am and I opted for my Rio UniSpey with a 10ft slow sink tip. I tied on one of Charlie's Silver Stoat's Tail variants. Charlie went for his Mackenzie DTX G2 Spey Line, 10ft slow sink tip and a pattern of his own making. Eddie fished a full floating set up with a tiny Pussy fly.
Charlie and I headed over to the Kinneskie side to fish the Sheep Dip, Whinney Brae, Bohore and Sandy Haven. Charlie chose to fish one of his favourite pools, Sheep Dip and I went in at the neck of Whinney Brae. After only fishing for 20 minutes or so, I had a very subtle take of my fly which, initially I thought was a parr. That was until I lifted into it, suddenly the fish took off! I was praying I didn't lose this one and finally get my season started. After a dogged fight for 5 minutes or so, Charlie expertly netted a 5lb Salmon covered in long tail sea lice. I could now relax and enjoy the rest of my day's fishing. We carried on through the pools without another touch so we headed down to Bohore.
Charlie let me go through the pool first. The main lie is on the far bank between the steps and the pipe about 2/3 the way down the pool. I covered this area without success and was just coming to the end of the pool when I had a thumping take about half way across. This was a bigger fish than my earlier one. As it was hooked at the tail of the pool above some fast rapids, the only way the fish could run was upstream. That it did but with pace, and lots of it! I was reeling in my line as fast as my hand would go and still my line was not tight. I finally caught up with the fish when it was opposite where I was standing, then all of a sudden it turned to head back downstream and that was the last I felt of it. I didn't see the fish but it was a super take and felt like it had some weight to it. Looking back, maybe I should have hand-lined to keep up with the fish as it might have been quicker than reeling but who knows. I had lost the fish and I can do nothing about it now. You win some, you lose some. We fished on down the beat without joy but we were seeing a few fish but they had their heads down and were heading up river sharpish.
After lunch Charlie fished the Blackhall side and myself and Eddie headed up to the Whinney Brae and Sheep Dip pools to give them another go. The three of us fished all afternoon with only parr and smolts to show for our efforts so we called it a day about 6pm and headed off to the Banchory Legion for a few pints and a bite to eat.
Here are some pictures from our day. Finally a picture of a fish caught by me!
My first fish of the season safely in the net!
A quick picture for the scrap book.
A nice picture of the head before releasing the fish back to the river
Charlie launches a nice line on Brown's.
Bohore Pool. I lost the fish at the tail of the pool just above the fast water flowing between the two jetties.
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.
Earlier this year, my friend Charlie Robertson and I booked a days fishing on the Brae Water Beat 3. That day was yesterday. The river was in very good condition after last weeks spates and was running crystal clear. Weather forecasts for our day suggested it would be cold and sometimes wet. Well it was spot on. We experienced all four seasons yesterday! The temperature hovered around 4C all day and we endured some torrential rain at times. Coupled with some sleety showers it was bitterly cold.
We arrived at the Gordon Arms Hotel in Fochabers to meet the Ghillies. We introduced ourselves to our Ghillie Ian Tennant. Ian is a great laugh and we had some good craic whilst we waited for the other rods to arrive. We were told some of the catches made by the weeks fishers and our appetite was well and truly whetted! There has been some fantastic catches lately and we were full of anticipation.
We set off down to the hut and began tackling up for the morning session. Ian suggested that a floating line and slow sink tip would be ideal. My set up was my Monteith line with the intermediate tip and a slow sink polyleader attached. I tied on a #7 Cascade and Charlie opted for a 1" Monkey tube fly.
Ian showed us to the Lord March pool. He reminisced on how this used to be an amazing pool and the bumper catches it produced every year until a spate completely changed it during the 90s. It still looked very fishy to us and we couldn't wait to get going. I started at the top of the pool above the boat and Charlie started a few yards above the seat on the bank half way down the pool. We did see a few fish showing early on in here but most of the them were on the far bank out of our casting reach. Ian told us the fish come up through the fast water and rest nearer our bank and we should concentrate on this area. He also received a phone call from one of his ghillies downstream and a rod just landed a spanking 22.5lb fish! He also had an 8lber minutes later. We both flogged away on Lord March until lunch time in hope that we would encounter some of the fish coming in but without any success. This is a beautiful pool to fish and the surroundings are just stunning. For me, the Spey is nothing but a pleasure to cast a fly on. Outstanding fly fishing.
After having lunch in the very cosy hut we set off down stream to a pool called Altdearg. This was another quality looking pool. The very picturesque red cliffs on the far bank just add to the magic of the place. Once again, Ian's 32 years experience of his beat showed as he pointed out every possible taking lie where we would most likely encounter a fish. This time Charlie started at the top of the pool and I went in half way down opposite the cliff armed with a Sunray Shadow. Just opposite the diamond shaped stone on the far bank there was a thump! Something grabbed my Sunray but it didn't hook and unfortunately that was that. I covered it a few more times but nothing moved. We both fished down the pool without an offer but we did see an Ospray flying above us which was a nice sight. Ian told us there is 3 pairs in the area between Fochabers and Spey Bay.
During the afternoon some torrential rain seen us back in the motor to sit it out. The rain didn't last long so we were soon out the car and back in the river. We fished on to about 5pm and we said our fairwells to Ian who was a great help for the whole day. He suggested one of us nip up and fish the tail of the Otter's Cave pool so I followed him up and he showed me the hotspots and where to cast my fly to have it fishing perfectly. I headed down to the pool and Ian headed home. I fished through the pool twice without a touch but I did see a good fish show opposite the beat hut on the far bank. After I'd finished I made my way back down to Altdearg. I fished down through the pool a few more times as did Charlie but it just was not to be. We left the beat at 8pm shattered. We are already planning returning in the near future. No fish again but our luck must change one day. Soon hopefully! Here are some pictures from our day.
My good friend Charlie Robertson and I posing for a photo on the Brae Water Beat 3.
Looking upstream towards the red cliffs on the Lord March pool. The Lower Ewe pool is above here. Charlie fished it but I didn't get round to it. Pity as Ian told us it had been fishing very well.
Looking upstream as Charlie fishes the Lord March pool.
Looking downstream to the Otter's Cave pool from the tail of Lord March pool.
Looking upstream from Beat 3 hut. This is the Otter's Cave pool. Ian takes rods over to the other bank by boat. Looks a cracking pool but we never fished it from the other bank. I did fish it just before we left from outside the hut.
Looking downstream from the hut to the tail of Otter's Cave and neck of Altdearg.
Altdearg Pool from the seat half way down the pool. This pool is a joy to fish. An Osprey was seen flying overhead in this pool. Magical sight. Hope he had better luck than we did.
An upstream view of the Altdearg pool. This is where some of the Turus a' Bhradian was filmed for the second series with well known Spey Ghillie Ian Gordon.
