A Springer From The Spey

I had a day on the Tulchan D beat of the River Spey last Saturday. I was fortunate enough to land a cracking fish around the 8lb mark from the March Pool not long after starting fro the day. Unfortunately, that was all the action for the day but it was great to get back in amongst the fish on the River Spey. This was my first Spey salmon for 3 years. Hopefully I won't have to wait so long until the next one!

Playing my fish in the March Pool at Tulchan. 

Nearly there!

Safely into the net.

A beauty of around 8lb.

A quick photo before release.

 A video I have put together of footage from my GoPro camera.

Tulchan C - River Spey

Last Saturday saw me fishing on the River Spey with good friends on the majestic Tulchan estate. This is a day we take annually and it's one we look forward to. There is some special about fishing on such a prestigious stretch of water and we have did fairly well here over the years with some lovely fish landed. None more so that a couple of 17lbers caught by Philip Black last year.

Good fishing to be had which ever direction you travel on Speyside.

The run up up this trip is always filled with excitement and this year was no different. The forum pages and messenger group chats were red hot at times as the trip grew closer and the excitement built. It's always good to catch up with the lads and enjoy the banter that coincides with the fishing.

Philip, Myself and Charlie outside at the "hut" on Tulchan C.

My good pal Charlie and I travelled up together and we arrived at the beat to be greeted by ghillie, Lawrence De Rosa as well as Some of the other lads who had arrived before us.Talk quickly turned to the fishing as the river had been rising over night due to snow melt and we were all eager to check the gauge and see what was happening. Lawrence was confident we would be fine in terms of the river conditions. The gauge was reading 9" on arrival but would end up at 1ft 5in by the end of the day.

Advie Bridge across the River Spey.

After a good catch up in the car park it was time to get fishing. I set up with my old favourite 15ft Vision GT4 Catapult and my line of choice was my I/S1/S2 with a 4ips tip on the end. My fly of choice was my new favourite - a 1" Chartreuse Monkey.

The Bridge Pool looking in fine fettle.

I was allocated the Bridge Pool and the Upper Tulchan Pool for the first part of the morning and then I was to swap with Charlie and fish the Tulchan Pool itself. The Bridge Pool is right up there with one of my favourite pools as it is where I landed my first ever River Spey salmon which was a belter of around 16lb which devoured one of my Kitchen Sink Shrimp flies. Despite the Bridge Pool fishing very well I didn't get an touch so it was off to fish the Upper Tulchan pool on the opposite side of the river.

Looking upstream towards the Bridge Pool from Upper Tulchan

Looking downstream from the Upper Tulchan pool.

The Upper Tulchan pool is another lovely cast. It's another pool I've had success in in the past but this time, it was not to be and my run through the pool proved fruitless. I felt my set up was fishing pretty well and it was just a case of persevering and trying to find a fish resting up in one of Tulchan C's lovely pools.

Looking upstream from the tail of the Tulchan Pool.

Next up for me me was Tulchan Pool. It is a cracking stretch of water and the run below were the Tulchan Burn enters the Spey is a joy to fish. Charlie was 50 or 60 yards below me and he managed to get hold of a fish on the Sunray Shadow. Unfortunately, it spat the hook not long after taking his fly but at eat he was doing something right and there were fish there to be caught. I eager fished down the pool with an extra bit of confidence but to no avail. I felt like I had at least been covering fish and just needed a bit of luck and something to take my offerings.

The fishing "hut" at Tulchan C.

Like most lunchtimes on the river, we spent ours putting the salmon fishing world to rights and enjoying hearing stories past and present about salmon caught or lost. Drams were off the cards as there were plenty sunk the night before by one or two and they were felling a little worse for ware!

Fishing down the Speenoch.

After lunch Charlie and I were to fish the Speenoch. This is another cracking pool on C beat and one that Charlie has fond memories of. This was where he landed a fresh fish a couple of years ago and we were looking forward to giving it another go. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts the fish were playing hard to get. Charlie did have an offer in the tail of the pool whilst fishing from the left bank but it didn't connect. It was just one of those days when you felt everything was good and you were just waiting for the line to tighten but when the fish have other ideas then there is absolutely nothing you can do about it but keep at it.

Charlie and I fishing the left bank of the Speenoch.

 Although we blanked this time round, it was still a pleasure to be fishing at Tulchan again. There are worse places to spend a day and we will all be eager to return again next year. Sdaly, fishing there any other time of the year is out of my price range so I'll have to be content with a day in April again in 2019.

Orton - River Spey

My first trip to Speyside of 2018 saw me fishing on the Orton beat which is situated around 8 miles for the sea near Fochabers. River levels for our day were sitting at 2ft on the beat gauge and this was falling away nicely after a rise earlier on in the week due to melting snow. The beat had recorded it's first fish of the season on the Monday prior to our arrival and hopes were high. The water temps were still very cold and we were hoping that this cold water would slow a few running fish down as the made their way up river.

Looking upstream from the til of Lower Cairnty.

Charlie and I arrived at the beat around 8.30am to be greeted by ghillie, Richard Hold. We had a chat about tactics etc as we put on our waders so after taking Richard's advice, I opted for a I/S1/S2 shooting head with a 4ips versi leader. My initial fly of choice was a 1 1/2" gold body Willie Gunn tube with a red cone.

I started my day of fishing the Suicide Run.

After a brief introduction to the fellow anglers it was time for the draw. I was to be fishing the Suicide Run first then up to fish the Willows. Once that was fished through I was to have a cast in Upper Cairnty after that. Charlie was to start in the Lower Cairnty and continue down in to Arns.

Looking upstream from the Willows.

Suicide Run is just a small corner of a pool but you can see why a fish would stop in the quite bay for a rest before pushing on through the Willows and House Pool above. Kevin, the head ghillie had advised me to fish with a bit of stealth in the pool as the fish tend to be easily spook if you walk along the high bank above. This is what I did and despite my best efforts to fish the poll with minimal fuss, I didn't connect with anything but it was fishing really nicely with my current set up.

Fishing down through the Willows.

Looking upstream from the tail of Willows.

After a short walk upstream, the next pool I was to fish was called The Willows. The Willows is a fast flowing pool with the current predominately running down the south bank. My set up was ideal for this pool as it required getting the fly down through the stream quickly before being swept away by the strong current. I carefully fished my way down the pool trying to keep the fly as slow and deep as I could but the fish, if any there, were not interested in my offerings so I headed off down for another run through Suicide Run. This proved to be fruitless but you were just waiting for the line to tighten after every cast.

Looking upstream into Cooperee from Upper Cairnty.

Fishing down Upper Cairnty shortly before landing a well mended kelt.

The Upper Cairnty, as the name suggest, is the top part of a large pool which is probably around 400 yards long. With the river running the height it was, there was a good chance a fish or two might be holding in here. With Richard's advice fresh in my mind, I waded out into the pool and began fishing my way down. I continued to use the same set up as before as the pool was fairly deep in places. I got to about half way down the pool when I had a subtle take of my fly. I lifted into a spirited little kelt which was very well mended. Sadly, it wasn't the springer we were looking for but at least it gave a bit more confidence in what I was doing. Unfortunately, That was it for me during the morning session so it was back to the hut for a much needed heat up and some lunch.

Fishing the Upper Cairnty.

After lunch I was to start where I had finished so I made my way back down to the Cairnty Pool. The lower half of the pool was to be fished off the bank and I fished my way down stream. There were a few more kelts starting to show themselves but my heavier set up was proving to be too heavy for this section of the pool. I changed lines over to a F/H/I and a lighter 3ips tip. This seemed to be fishing much better and my fly boxes breathed a sigh of relief as one after another, I lost a fly to the bottom of the Spey. The howling wind and snow were not making casting any easier though and it was a real struggle at times just to get the line out straight. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't temp anything to take my fly so I headed off down to the Arns for a quick run through before having another go in Cairnty.

The Arns. Charlie had a well mended kelt from this cracking wee pool before lunch.

The Arns is another faster flowing pool on the beat and the little bay half way down looked like another spot where a fish might rest up. Charlie managed to winkle a kelt of it during the morning session so there were definitely something lying in it. By this time the cold snap had sucked the life out my phone battery and I never got a picture of the pool on the day but the photo below is one a took a few years back on a previous visit. There was nothing to report from fishing the pool for me anyway.

Having another run through Lower Cairnty.

I decide to give the Cairnty another go just before calling it a day so I switched back to the I/S1/S2 set up but opted for a 2" Black and Yellow tube with a silver cone. Almost immediately after restarting the poll I had a good take and lifted into what felt like a strong fish. It began taking a few yards of line off the reel and for a brief minute or two Charlie and I thought it might have been a fresh fish. Unfortunately though, it was just another very well mended kelt. It would have certainly been a good fish when fresh but not what we were after. It was quickly returned and I began fishing the pool down again. Several casts later I felt my fly snag the river bed and try as I might, i just couldn't free it. After a bit of gentle persuasion, I managed to free the line but the river bed had claimed yet another one of my flies! This was the ideal time to call it a day so I would the line back on the reel and headed off back to the hut.

The tail of Lower Cairnty basking in a brief period of sunshine.

It was great to be back at Orton after not managing the past 2 years due to being slow off the mark when booking rods. The Cairnty Pool is a cracker and you can see why it would produce lots of fish on it's day. Hopefully one day ion the not too distant future I will return again for another crack at landing a Spey springer. Tight lines!

Kitchen Sink Shrimps

Been busy tying up some flies in preparation for the coming season. This lot are destined for a fly box on Speyside. Hopefully the Spey salmon will find them irresistible. These have been tied on silver Partridge Patriot hooks in sizes 8s, 10s and 12s.

Will look forward to hearing how they get in during the season.

Springers From The Spey

I attended a meet at Tulchan C on the River Spey a few weeks ago which was organised by my good friend Bill Cook. There were 9 of us in attendance with 3 rods fishing on B beat. Conditions on the day were not the best for salmon fishing with bright sun in a cloudless sky but the water levels were good for the beat at 6" on the gauge.

Philip Black with his first fish. A cracking 16lber.

Philip with his 2nd fish . Again, around the 16lb mark.

Despite the overhead conditions the salmon didn't seem to mind as my pal Philip black landed two cracking fish which were both around the 16lb mark. One of which he caught on the Friday before we arrived. Both fish were in tip top condition and gave Philip a fair old scrap before he managed to land them.

Looking down the Bridge Pool on Tulchan C.

Lunch time in the Tulchan hut.

L/R: Me, Mel, Andy, Charlie, Sean, Philip, Kevin and Bill

The River Spey has been fishing pretty well at the moment with some large salmon coming off on a daily basis. It truly is a stunning part of Scotland and one which I never tire of visiting and it was great to be back at Tulchan again. I'm looking forward to my next visit whenever that may be but hopefully that time won't be too far off.

Tulchan C - River Spey

On Saturday, I found myself on the majestic Tulchan C beat of the River Spey. I was kindly invited along by my pal Paul Pritchard along with a few of his other pals for a day's fishing. On the build up to the day I was like a child waiting for Christmas such was the thought of fishing on a beat like this during one of their prime months of the season. I've never been so excited to have a day's fishing before in my life and I hardly slept a wink the night before!

A cracking, fresh run River Spey salmon about 10lb.

I set off early on the morning of fishing as I was picking Paul up from his hotel in Aviemore. I arrived in Aviemore just before 8am and we set off down to the beat full of anticipation of what lay ahead. The topic of conversation rarely strayed far from salmon fishing and I actually had that feeling of butterflies in my stomach you get when you're nervous but excited at the same time. We got to the beat around 8.30am and were met by the ghillie, Lawrence de Rosa. We were advised on what tactics had been successful during the week but the water had risen slightly over night and had taken on a slight peat stain. I opted for my 14ft Hardy Demon rod and matched it up with a 9/10 Mackenzie floating shooting head. I attached a 10ft intermediate polyleader to this and tied on roughly 4ft of 12lb clear maxima. My fly of choice for to begin with was a #9 Kitchen Sink.

Looking down the Bridge Pool from bridge.

Looking upstream towards the bridge in the Bridge Pool.

Lawrence showed me up to the Bridge Pool for starters and explained all the areas to concentrate on as I worked my way through the pool. I waded out slightly just above the bridge as instructed and worked my way down the pool covering the seam which was coming off the bridge parapet. As I got to the other side of the parapet there was a couple of good fish showed near the tail of the pool. They were both decent sized fish and this raised my excitement levels even higher than there already were. I made sure I was covering the water as best I could and concentrated hard on getting my fly working through the lies. I was about half way down the pool and I made an upstream mend on my fly as it was starting to swing round just after casting. The fly was just above where the fish had shown earlier and about half way round, my line went tight and I lifted into a really strong fish. The fish tore yards of line off my Hardy Cascapedia reel and it was screaming, just how I imagined it would! The fish made a couple of attempts to leave the pool but thankfully on both occasions it thought better of it and came back into the main part. A really dogged fight ensured for a good five minutes or so before it started to give up some of the line it had taken off my reel. All my running line was off my reel at one point. These strong runs coupled with the fast flowing water had the fish tiring a bit and I managed to draw it into the side where Lawrence waited with the net. I thought it was ready and lifted it's head up to be netted but the fish had other ideas! It took off across the pool in one last bid for freedom. I soon had it under control again though and this time I managed to guide it safely into the waiting net.

Lawrence removing my #9 Kitchen Sink fly from the scissors of a cracking 14lb salmon out of the Bridge Pool.

Well worth the wait! My first ever River Spey salmon.

A #9 Kitchen Sink tied in a flamethrower style did the business. This is dressed on a silver Salar double.

My first River Spey salmon was finally landed! Lawrence quickly removed the #9 Kitchen Sink fly from the scissors of the fish. We estimated it to be in the region of 14lb. I held it up for a quick photograph before slipping him back into the river. It was still only 9.40am. The pressure was off and I could really enjoy the rest of the day whatever happened.

Looking upstream from Upper Tulchan Pool towards the Bridge Pool.

Fishing down the Upper Tulchan Pool. had another offer in here which didn't stick unfortunately. 

The next pool I was to fish was Upper Tulchan. Lawrence explained the pool to me before heading off to tend to the other rods so I made my way across the bridge and down to the pool. The pool had a good flow going through the middle of the river but there was a slacker bit of water near the tail and this was a good spot to pick up fish. I worked my way down the pool using the same set up as before and about half way down I had a good pull on my fly. Unfortunately it didn't stick but I knew my set up was working well in this pool too. I fished down the remainder of the pool hoping to temp another fish but it wasn't to be so I headed back over to have a run through the Bridge Pool again before coming back for another crack here later on.

Fishing down the Bridge Pool for a second time.

I made my way down to fish the Bridge Pool again hoping for a repeat performance from earlier on. There were a couple of fish showing as I fished my way down the pool but they weren't for tempting this time so I headed back across the bridge to fish the Upper Tulchan again.

Fishing down Upper Tulchan for a second time.  I lost a nice fish due to a mishap with my running line!

I decide to start right up at the neck of Upper Tulchan this time and fish the whole length of the pool to cover as much of it as I could. I had not long started when a nice wee fish showed opposite me. I covered it a few times but to no avail so carried on down the pool. I was just about half way down the pool and began hand lining my running line in ready to re-cast. Just as I was about to lift my rod, I had a good solid take and lifted into a decent fish. It quickly turned and began to take line. My running line was dumped on the grass bank and as the fish took off at a fair rate of knots, the line became tangled around my reel handle. I frantically tried to untangle it but with the fish pulling hard I just couldn't loosen the tension. This made the fish jump and a bright salmon around the 7lb mark made it's presence known. It tried to run again but I still couldn't get the line freed. This again, made it leap out of the water but only this time, it managed to spit the hook. I was really annoyed with myself as I usually coil 4-5 loops of line round each finger as I pull the running line in. This time however, I just dumped it on the grass out of laziness. In hindsight, it cost me the opportunity to land another salmon but I certainly won't be making that mistake again! I fished on down the rest of the pool felling very frustrated with myself but I couldn't temp another salmon to take my offerings so it was back to the hut for lunch.

The hut on Tulchan C beat. Not bad!

Back at the hut we chatted about the morning's fishing and there had been four landed. this was a good score given the heavy peat stain in the water and we were all looking forward to the afternoon session. Paul had also organised lunch for us all and there was a lovely spread of cooked meats, potatoes, salads and bread which was provide by Tulchan Lodge. This went down a treat and we were all raring to go in the afternoon.

Fishing down the delightful Upper Bog Pool. Lovely cast.

I was allocated Upper Bog for the afternoon. The had been nice fish from this pool during the morning so I was confident there were salmon present. On arrival to the pool there were a good number of fish showing down near the tail. Their presence really got me eager to get in and start. Lawrence showed me the taking spots and where to concentrate my efforts so I waded out to the to spot where he had shown me and began fishing down through the pool. I fished it down without a touch but there were a few fish about to keep my spirits up so I went back up to the neck of the pool to try again.

Looking upstream from the bank of  Upper Bog to where I landed my second fish of the day.

Looking down Upper Bog towards the tail of the pool.

My second run down was hampered by a wind knot in my leader so waded back to the bank and changed my leader over. As I was sitting on the bench there was a flotilla of kayaks made their way down through the pool so I decided to sit and wait for a while to let the pool settle again before restarting. As I was sitting it out, I thought this was a good as time as any to change my fly so I opted to tie on a Willie Gunn Flamethrower but kept it to a #9. I made my way back up to the neck of the pool and waded out above the stone where I had been instructed to start earlier on. Not long after restarting the pool I had a good, solid draw on the line and I lifted into a strong fish. The fish made some really energetic runs across the current but as I waist deep in fast water, I had to carefully navigate my way down past the bank side trees and onto the grass bank. This proved quite difficult as the fish kept trying to run upstream of where I had just waded down from. I managed to get the fish turned and by this time it was holding in the current opposite me. My floating line was drowned and the fish was tearing yards of line off my reel. My line had become stuck on a rock and I was weary of pulling too hard in case I lost another fish. I pulled the line as hard as I dared and somehow the fish freed itself and headed off down stream taking my line with it. Much to my delight!

This time a Willie Gunn Flamethrower did the trick. Again tied on a #9 Salar double.

I soon got myself back up onto the grass bank and began playing the fish from dry land. There was a net lying twenty yards away on the bench and each time I tried to get downstream to get the net for landing the fish, it ran up stream. Eventually, I gave up on the idea of trying to get the net and decide to beach the fish just above the boat which was situated in little cove at the end of the tree lined bank. The fish was now ready to be landed and I drew it into the side and managed to get my hand on it's tail. It was a spit fresh salmon around the 10lb mark. Just like buses, you wait ages for one to come along and two arrive at once! After a quick photograph it was released safely to continue it's journey up the River Spey. It was now about 4.10pm and I fished out the remainder of the pool but I couldn't temp another fish to take my fly. I wasn't really fussed to be quite honest as I was more than happy with total for the day and I headed off back to the hut to pack up at 5pm.

My second fish of the day. A "Bar of Silver" about 10lb.

There had been no further salmon landed in the afternoon for the other rods but there was a nice sea trout caught from the Tulchan Pool and another few pulls and offers which didn't stick. A total of five salmon and sea trout for the day was a good return given the rise in water overnight and Lawrence was happy with his weeks' total as well. We all chatted for a while before going our separate ways.

I was absolutely thrilled to be fishing at Tulchan during their prime time of the season and I will always be grateful to Paul for inviting me along. It was a fantastic gesture and one I will always be thankful for. I certainly won't forget the day in a hurry. So Paul if you read this, thank you very much. Hopefully one day I'll be able to return the favour.

The River Spey.

I'm now very proud to have caught my first River Spey salmon and to get it from such a famous part of the river was fantastic. To also catch it on a fly of my own creation made it all the sweeter and  in my opinion, it doesn't get much better than that. Tight Lines!