Kildrummy Water - River Don

I had booked a day on the Kildrummy beat of the River Don for last Saturday but I ended up having to work so I rescheduled it for today. The water was on the low side for the beat to fish well but I had never fished Kildrummy before and I was looking forward to it. The river levels were sitting just above summer lows at around 1inch on the gauge. I was armed with my 13ft Hardy Uniqua, full floating line and small doubles from size 10s to 15s.

I arrived at the delightfully charming Kildrummy Inn just after 8am to receive my permit from hotel owner David Littlewood. He gave me a very helpful beat map and talked me through the pool where I'd most likely encounter a salmon. He also informed me that I would be fishing in good company today in the form of Trout & Salmon magazine columnist and brown trout guru, Paul Procter.

I opted to start above the lower bridge in the Willows Pool and Brux Pot. These were two deeper pools and had the possibility of holding fish in the low water. I fished on through both pools without a touch s o I headed up to the hut and fished the Crooked Pot. Again, another deeper pool but not sign of any salmon, just plenty of trout rising down at the tail. I did have a fling with the dry fly rod but couldn't tempt any of them.

After studying the beat map, I decided to had up river and fish the Bulwarks and Joiners Pools. The Bulwarks pool was my favourite pool on the beat . It was a deep gorge like pool which was very deep and a likely place for salmon to hold up in whilst the river was low. I fished on down the pool without a touch and with the same result in Joiners. I headed back down river to the bridge car park for some lunch and to plan out my afternoon.

After lunch I fished the pools below the lower bridge . These included Dukestone Dykes, Knowehead Pool and Muckie Saugh. All the flow on these pools were on the far bank but the river at Kildrummy is easy to cover and these all fished the fly nicely but sadly, there was still no sign of any salmon in the pools so I made my way back to the car and headed off back to the hut where I deceided I would walk up river to fish through the top pools of the right bank. The pools in this stretch were called Burn End, Upper Clochter, Lower Clochter and a few wee runs that didn't have names. I fished down through these pools without a touch from a salmon but I did get hold of a couple of greedy brown trout which took a liking to my #11 KS Shrimp. That was to be the only action of the day and I left the beat around 5.30pm just as the wind was beginning to get stronger which was making casting quite tricky.

I was very impressed with some of the fly water that Kildrummy has to offer, it's just a pity there was no water today as I think the pools would be much better suited for salmon fishing with at least another 9" - 12" on the gauge. Still, good to be out on a new beat to me and it was good to fish the Upper Don for the first time too. The scenery around Donside is beautiful and I saw plenty wildlife today too. Hares were running about in the fields, Roe deer roamed, the call of the Curlew rang out along the river banks along with Pheasants and Oyster Catchers. I will be back again some time in the near future when the water levels are a bit higher but until then, here are some picture of the Kildrummy Fishings.

The Kildrummy Inn. Well worth a visit for lunch or an evening meal.

The bar at the Kildrummy Inn which is full of character.

Willows Pool. A deep pool which looked as though it might hold salmon.

Brux Pot. A nice streamy pool with a good flow for fishing the fly.

The Kildrummy beat Hut. Wouldn't look out of place on some of the bigger salmon rivers.

The Boat Pool. Looking downstream towards the lower bridge.

A no named pool above the Boat Pool. Was a bit shallow in here.

Bulwarks. My favourite pool on the beat. A lovely, deep pool which carves it's way through the shelf rock below the surface.

Joiners Pool. Not really enough water on here for it to fish well but plenty trout rising just off the far bank opposite the tree.

Another no named run just below Joiners.

Below the Bridge. This pool is called Dukestone Dykes.

Knowehead Pool. Very similar to Dulestone Dykes. All the flow runs down the deeper channel on the far bank. Could easily pick up fish in here.

Muckie Saugh Pool looking downstream to the beat limit.

Burn End. The top Pool on the right bank above the Kildrummy hut.

Upper Clochter. Again, will probably fish much better with a few more inches on the gauge.

Lower Clochter.

Neck of Crooked Pot looking downstream towards the beat hut.

A greedy wee brown trout from Crooked Pot. Not much sport on a 13ft rod!

A stunning wee brown trout from Upper Clochter. The photo doesn't really show just how golden this fish was.

Breda And Castle Forbes - River Don

During the close season, along with friend and fellow River Don angler, Bill Cook, we decided to host a couple of days fishing on the Don for members of The Salmon Fishing Forum. Since the Don is local to both of us, we thought it would be a good to show just why we enjoy fishing there so much and also to let others see what it was like.

The water on the Don has been very low for the last few weeks and we really needed some rain to get the levels up to encourage fish to move upstream. The week before we were due to fish rain had been forecast but it never materialised and we were left with the prospect of the river being very low with little chance of anything other than trout to catch. Or so we thought.

BREDA

On Friday I met up with Bill, Kenny and Brian as we had booked a day fishing on the Breda beat near Alford prior to the main meet at Castle Forbes on the Saturday. Breda can be really productive given good levels of water but when we arrived, the river level was sitting around 4 inches at most. Not ideal for salmon fishing so we spent most of the morning sipping whiskey and chatting about all things fishing! We did have a token effort for salmon before lunch but it was clear it was going to be tough to find a pool that would hold any salmon at this height of water so in the afternoon we decided to target really what the Don is famous for, the wild brown trout.

Apart from a few small trout between 8-10oz no bigger fish were landed until expert trout fisher, Brian spotted a group of larger specimen fish readily taking flies off the surface. he made a few casts with an emerger type dry fly and was soon bent into one of the fish. At first he thought it was just an average sized trout but several seconds after hooking it, the fish woke up and tore off downstream taking Brian right into the backing! The fish left the pool and down the weir into the pool below. Whilst leaving the pool, Brian's line became snagged on a rock so he and Bill waded out to try and free it. The fish was still on and soon the line was free. No longer was the line free when the fish parted company with the fly and was lost. Bill had seen the fish going over the falls and estimated it around the 4lb mark. Fish like this are what the Don is famed for. It was not to be on this occasion for Brian but  hopefully something he will remember about his trip to Breda and the River Don.

We didn't really fish much after that so we headed off to the hotel for a few beers and some supper, raring to go for Castle Forbes the following day.

Here a few pictures from Breda on Friday.

Fishing down Smith's Brae. As you can from the picture, the water is very low.

Kenny Carr having a cast in The Rock before lunch.

Looking upstream in Beech Avenue.

A wee 10oz Brown Trout from Ghillie's Run which took a #14 Klinkhammer.

Looking downstream from the bench in Laird's Pool.

CASTLE FORBES

Yesterday was the main day for our River Don meet with Mel, Brian, Alan and Andy joining Bill, Kenny, Brian and myself to fish the Castle Forbes Water. Heavy overnight rain lifted the river an inch or two and added a bit of colour to the flow as well. Levels were sitting around 5in on the gauge but was to rise slowly and colour up all day.

We all met at the estate office around 8.30am. It was good to finally put faces to some of the names. Two lads had to call of late due to work commitments so we would have 4 rods above Keig Bridge and 4 below. We all had a good natter for a while then it was down to business. I was allocated the top half of the beat in the morning along with Kenny, Andy and Brian. After a wee dram in the car park we headed off to our allocated pools. I tackle up with my 13ft Hardy Uniqua, floating line and due to the coloured water, my fly of choice was a #8 Kinermony Killer.

I was to start in No Name Pool and work my way downstream taking in Upper and Lower Auchreddachie, Peir, and Phillips. I fished No Name Pool without a touch and headed off down to Upper Auchreddachie. Just as I got to the bend, I was taking a photo when I had a thumping take on my fly. Unfortunately, the photo was taken just a split second before the fish broke the surface. After a very dogged fight, Brian expertly tailed the fish for me which we estimated to be around 8lbs. I fished the rest of the morning without another offer but I was delighted to get a fish. As we made our way back to the estate office for lunch, it was pleasing to hear that Bill had landed a nice fish also around the 8lb mark. 2 fish for the morning was a great result considering the water conditions.

After lunch we were to fish the lower beats. This consisted of pools such as Dam, Craig Pot, Nursery, the 3 Deepstane pools and Upper and Lower Rake. I started in the Nursery Pool which was a lovely looking pool. Just about 3pm, Bill gave out a shout to signal he was into a fish down in Middle Deepstane. As I was on the opposite bank, I couldn't help him but made my down just to get a few pictures of the action. Brian had also heard Bill's shout and made his way down too. Fortunately, he was on Bill's bank and arrived just in time to tail a cracking fish of around 12lbs for him. Our total for the day was now 3 fish which was a great achievement in the low, dirty water. By about 4pm the wind picked up and the fog was rolling in from the hills which made it quite cold so we decided to call it a day and headed back to car park to talk over the weekend.

The feedback for the guys who attended the meet was all good. Those who had not fished the Don before were very impressed with what it had to offer, not only for salmon but the wild brown trout too. I also really enjoyed myself and to get a fish was a very welcome bonus. It has been one of the most successful forum meets in regards to fish caught and to achieve that on a low river which coloured up and rose all day was all the more pleasing. I wonder how we would have faired with 1ft on the gauge and dropping after a rise? Who knows. During this weekend, I have met some great, like minded people and look forward to meeting them all again at the next outing. Tight Lines.

Here are some pictures from our day at Castle Forbes.

Team Photo .> Me, Alan, Brian, Mel, Kenny, Andy and Bill. The other Brian is not in the photo

No Name Pool. Looks like it would maybe hold a fish or two later on in the year.

Upper Auchreddachie. Just as I was taking this photo was when the fish took!

A cracking springer from the Don about the 8lb mark.

Andy fishing Phillips pool.

Looking upstream from Nursery into the Craig Pot which is below the suspension bridge.

Looking downstream in the Nursery Pool. Nice bit of water for the fly.

Almost there. Bill playing his second fish of the day in Middle Deepstane and Brian on hand to tail the fish for him.

Bill's fish unhooked and ready to be returned.

Lower Deepstane pool from the right bank.