River Don Grilse

I had a cast out on the River Don yesterday after work and was fortunate enough to bump into this nice, wee grilse. Not the biggest fish by any means but I was delighted to get another Don fish under my belt for this season. The river was sitting at 1ft 5in on the Haughton gauge and was carrying a peat stain which was decent fishing conditions for the beat.

A River Don salmon poses for a quick photo before being safely released to continue her journey.

The salmon fishing on the River Don has been pretty slow in recent seasons but the river is maintaining good river levels at the moment with rain coming almost daily so hopefully this will bring in some fish and get the older ones moving. I'll certainly look forward to seeing what the remaining few weeks of the season bring for the river.

Tube Flies For Spring

It's that time of year again where many fly tiers like myself are sitting down at the vice and tying their favourite patterns for the new season ahead. I will mostly be using Willie Gunns and Black and Yellows with the occasional Akroyd single if the previous to patters fail. I can't see past these flies for early season and I see little point else using anything else during February or March.

The new season can't come round quick enough and my first outing of the season is booked in for the 21st January on the River Tay at Lower Kinnaird with good pals. It's great to meet up them again after the winter and having a cast in the hope of landing a coveted January salmon is an added bonus.

Tight lines to all for 2017. Hopefully I'll have plenty to write about again this coming season and will look forward to sharing my experieces through out the year.

Gold bodied Willie Gunns and Black & Yellows all tied on plastic tubes with heavy Eumer S cones.

Black & Yellow. A big favourite on the Dee in Spring.

Gold Body Willie Gunn with a red cone.

Gold Body Willie Gunn with a gold cone.

Akroyd tied on a 5/0 single hook. A favourite of mine to use in the early spring months.

February Springer From The River Don

My good pal Charlie Robertson got his season up and running on Saturday with this cracking springer of around 8lb from the River Don. It was still carrying sea lice and was taken on a Black and Yellow tube fly. The spooky thing is that when I spoke to Charlie earlier that afternoon he said it was very quiet but he was away to have a cast and get himself an 8lb sea licer. When my phone rang not long after and it was Charlie saying that he'd just landed an 8lb sea liced fish, I couldn't believe it!

Charlie's cracking 8lber from the River Don on Saturday.

February springers on the Don are rare creatures and to predict catching one is even more of an achievement! Great to hear of fish coming off the Don though as that's three in the last week or so and all around the 8lb mark and all sea liced. Fingers crossed they keep on coming and that more anglers venture out to try and land one as there aren't many rods putting in the effort at the moment. 

Flies For The Spring

It's that time of year again when my attention turns to re-stocking the tube fly boxes in preparation for the early spring fishing. I would mostly use tube flies of various sizes and weights depending on conditions but occasionally I'd give an Akroyd tied on a large single hook a swim.

I tend to keep the number of patterns I carry to a minimum just to reduce the temptation to chop and change flies all the time through out the day. Here are a selection of my go to patterns which see most action.

An old Dee favourite - The Akroyd

Gold Willie Gunns and Black & Yellows. You won't go far wrong with these in the Spring months.

Park Shrimp. All the colours associated with spring fishing. Deadly wee fly.

Maggie's Shrimp. Probably my favourite fly to use in the Spring.

Black & Chartreuse and Willie Gunn Franc N Snaeldas.

Drowned Mouse. This is a new addition to my box for next year but by no means a new pattern.

Franc N Snaelda Salmon Flies

I have been busy tying up a few Franc N Snaelda tube flies for next Spring as this pattern turned out to be my most successful fly I used in 2014. It accounted for 5 out of 11 salmon I caught this year and it shall be my "go to" pattern again next year.

The pattern was invented on the banks of the River Dee by Ballogie ghillie, Sean Stanton and it incorporates both Francis and Snaelda characteristics. These types of flies were extremely popular, not only on Deeside, but on all rivers, so Sean decided to marry these two deadly patterns together and so the Franc N Snaelda was born.

Some Franc N Snaelda tubes I've tied up recently.

Some Pink Franc N Snaeldas which did well for me during the back end of the season.

Blank and Yellow Franc N Snaelda. Very popular colour combo for Spring fishing.

Green Highlander Franc N Snaelda. Not a pattern I use much at all but like the look of it tied in this style.

Junction Shrimp Franc N Snaelda. This pattern served me well during October on the River Don.

Munro Killer Franc N Snaelda. I really like this pattern tied in the Snaelda style.

Cascade Franc N Snaelda. Had some success with this pattern back in August.

Willie Gunn Snaelda. A very popular pattern in the Spring months.

Flies For The Spring

I've been busy at the vice lately and have been tying up all the usual patterns for fishing the Spring on the Dee and Don. Tying flies is a great way to pass time during the dark nights and to restock the fly box for the season ahead. As usual I have tied up plenty, probably more than I'll use, but when fishing deep  early in the season, there is always a chance of snagging up and losing your fly. Here are some flies I've tied. They are tied on a mixture of Copper, Brass and Aluminum tubes, bottle tubes and plastic tubes. Some with cones, some without. Hope you like them.

Dee Monkey. This has been tied on a silver Yuri Shumakov bottle tube and has a black Eumer cone head. The Scandinavians introduced this pattern to Scotland and I'm glad they did! Catches lots of fish and fishes well all season, not just in Spring.

Willie Gunn Snaelda. Tied on a 1/2" Copper tube, it also has a black Eumer cone head for added weight and stability.

Kinermony Killer. I've tied this on a 1 1/4" brass tube. A proven catcher of fish on the River Spey. Not fished these in the Spring but will be giving them a swim this February coming.

Tummel Monkey. Devised by expert angler, Donnie Whiteford to replicate the deadly Orange/Gold Rapala lure. I've tied this on a 1 1/2" copper tube. Ross Macdonald had this as his fly of the month in the Trout & Salmon magazine last month. It would not be in there if it was not a catcher of Salmon.

Gold Bodied Willie Gunn. Probably the most famous fly ever and one that catches scores of Salmon through out the season but it's particularly deadly during the Spring months. A must for any fly box.

Alistair. A fly designed on the Helmsdale river and one that catches plenty fish all over. I know a few good anglers on the Don who use nothing more than this fly during Spring and do very well. I love the simplicity of this fly and one I will be using a fair bit in 2013.

Black And Yellow. Another must have pattern for the Dee in Spring fishing. This fly accounts for numerous fish every year on every river. The old ones still hold their own against the new patterns.

Park Shrimp. Last but certainly not least! This fly has a huge following and was designed by Ross MacDonald. It catches tons of Salmon and is found in nearly every Salmon fisherman's fly boxes. It's a fly I've done well with and I always carry a few where ever I'm fishing.

First Outing Of The Season - Park On The River Dee 11/02/2012

Fished on the Park beat of the River Dee yesterday. I was drawn Beat 5 before lunch and Beat 1 after. Conditions were perfect, rising river temperature, nice height, clear and no wind. Sadly no fish either. A ghillie from the Spey's Wester Elchies beat landed a springer about 6lbs under the wires in the Durris Stream from the South bank. The beat was fished by some top class anglers on both banks(not me!) yesterday. Plenty kelts caught through-out the day and I could only lose 1 in the morning from Durris Stream and had another on and off later on. I tried various lines from a Guideline H/I/S3, Vision ACE S1/S2, an intermediate AFS and an AFS floater. A varied range of tips and many different flies of all sizes and weights. Nothing worked for me yesterday, just one of those days I think. I'll have to wait until the 23rd and try it all again. Here are some pictures from my day.

Fishing down the Durris Stream. The fisher on the South bank had a 6lb Springer about 5 minutes after I took this picture.

Making my way down the top of the Celler. Cracking pool to fish.

A photo of the hut at Park from the middle of the Celler.

Working my way down the Celler Pool. Most of the fish showing were over at the far bank and required wading out and a good long cast to cover them.

I started my afternoon in the Silver Spoon pool which is named after the spinning lure. Interesting to hear how pools get their names.

Looking down stream towards Bulwarks from the Park Inn hut. Fished all the way down from Silver Spoon through the Boat pool and Park Inn without a touch. A rod on the South bank landed a kelt from the Boat pool.

Keith Cromar the ghillie told me to fish Upper Kirks for the last hour before dark. I fished it all the way down to Lower Kirks but day light disappeared quickly and I called it a day about 5.15pm. Had a wee pull just off the stones but that was all for my afternoon's efforts.

Some More Flies For The New Season

Charlie Robertson has been busy at the vice this past week and has sent me some pictures of his work. His flies include the famous Dee Monkey, Gold Body Willie Gunn, Black and Yellows and his own creation, the Manar Monkey.

Some Gold Willie Gunns tied on copper tubes and a must have for the Dee in Spring, the Black and Yellow tube.

A team of Dee Monkey flies tied on bottle tubes. Charlie has used racoon zonker for the wing and it looks superb.

Charlie's own creation....The Manar Monkey. Tied on Eumer tubes with a cone head, these flies will be getting their maiden swim on February 11th at Manar. The opening day for the Aberdeenshire Don.

A nice picture of some more Dee Monkey flies. This fly is a "go-to" fly in the Spring and has many Springers to it's name.

Some Recent Flies Tied For Next Season

Been at the vice for a week or two now tying up some tubes for the Spring. Re-stocked up with Monkey Flies, Park Shrimps, Black & Yellows, Willie Gunns and a few Ghillie Flies I liked the look of from the Trout and Salmon Forum. Hopefully they will serve me well. Here are some pictures of my recent tying. Hope you like them.

The Monkey Fly. My take on the very successful fly on the Dee. I have tied these up in various sizes from 1 1/2" Copper to 1/2" Tungsten tubes. I have used Monkey Substitute from Foxy Tails for the wing on these. Hopefully do the trick come Februrary 11th on Park.

My take on the now world famous Park Shrimp tied by Ross MacDonald. This fly has been kind to me over the last few seasons and hopefully next year is no different. I have tied these on 1" copper and aluminium tubes as well as bottle tubes and crayfish eumer tubes with cone-heads.

The Black & Yellow tube fly. A must have for the Dee in Spring time. I have tied these on copper, brass and aluminium tube ranging from 2" down to 3/4". I have tied the hair on some in quarters unlike this version which is in halves. I'll shall try them both.

The Willie Gunn. I have also tied this fly in the same sizes and weights as the Black & Yellow. Another must have for Spring time. I have altered the mix of bucktail on some of my tyings just to suit water conditions ie more yellow/less black, more orange/less yellow etc. Some with gold bodies and some with the original black bodies, also my favourite copper tinsel body.. All anglers will have their own preference and all different variations have worked and will work again.

This fly was designed by Tony Black. an outstanding angler and Tay ghillie who catches tons of salmon. I got the tying from the Trout & Salmon forum and hope I have done it justice. I lost a fish on the Spey at Craigellachie in September on double version of this fly and with be giving the tube a good soaking this Spring.

These are the flies I recieved from a recent fly swap I took part in on the Trout & Salmon Forum. The flies were tied by ade, drpatrickt, ballingal512, gwelsher and yorkfisher. All these will be getting tried out during the Spring and look forward to hopefully reporting some success.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

TIGHT LINES FOR 2012.