Fishing News for Rivers Dee, Findhorn, Spey, and Avon - Season 2010
Latest Report
Fishing News Update, August 17th, 2010
I am delighted to report that since my last update, runs of salmon and grilse continue to stream into the River Findhorn and therefore, fishing sport on the fabulous Findhorn continues to show no sign of slowing down. It seems that we have been blessed with continued unsettled weather and periods of heavy rain just keep topping up river levels from week to week and the fish keep coming!
I
was fishing up on Glenferness briefly on July 23rd after several days
of torrential rain and river levels remained very high. In fact, I wasn't
really certain if fishing conditions might have been against us that day
as the river levels were reading 2'1" at Shenachie and 5'4"
on the Forres gauge, according to the Fish Findhorn reading that morning.
It was still cloudy and overcast with a cool breeze when I arrived on
the Mini Daltra Beat. As I walked down the footpath from the Glenferness
cemetery, I was delighted to see that although water levels were certainly
very high, the clarity was really quite excellent and I felt optimistic
of a fish. After trying several of the usual high water pools like Maharajah,
Island Stream and Lady's Pool, I was finally rewarded with a cracking
fresh silver salmon of around 6 lbs. from the Island Pool. The fish was
hooked on a ¾" Orjok copper tube fished on a 5' Poly Leader
fast sink tip line. A little later on, another fish was briefly hooked
again in the Island Pool, but this one soon came unbuttoned.
For
the week commencing July 26th, I was back on the lower river on Altyre
Estate and once again, fishing levels and conditions were really quite
good with the river reading 9" on the Forres gauge and 3" at
Shenachie. The weather was reasonably sunny and bright earlier in the
day, but becoming overcast and more rain started to fall later on. Starting
up in Soldier's Hole, I.N. briefly hooked and lost a grilse and then hooked
and landed two fresh grilse of around 3 lbs. and 4 lbs. from the Roehillock
Pool; one of these on a 1" Sunray Shadow and the second on a size
8 Purple Cascade. A little later on in the afternoon and Brian Taylor
and Alan Greene both hooked and lost three more grilse; two of these from
Soldier's Hole and the other from the Roehillock Pool.
By
Tuesday, July 27th, the river was starting to show signs of rising once
again and reading 9" at Forres, but 6" at Shenachie and rising.
In the morning, I.N. hooked and landed another cracking sea-liced grilse
of around 5 lbs. from Soldier's Hole on a size 8 Purple Cascade. A little
later on and Gavin Nichol briefly hooked and lost a fish in Palamore Pool.
On
Wednesday, July 28th, the river was reading 10" on the Forres gauge
and 3" at Shenachie. It was another cloudy and overcast day and feeling
quite warm. There were fish showing in the Scur, Palamore and Roehillock
Pools throughout the day. In the morning, Evie Glass fishing with husband
Mike, hooked and landed a fresh grilse of around 5 lbs. from the Roan
Pool on a size 8 Cascade. I.N. managed to hook another couple of grilse
of around 3 lbs. each from Palamore on a size 8 Purple Cascade and the
other from the tail of Roehillock Pool and a small 1" Sunray Shadow.
On Thursday, July 29th, I was joined by the Mark Wilton-Steer party, which included his son Ollie, Chris Ponting and Mark Leach travelling up from the South of England. River levels had fallen back somewhat and reading 8" on the Forres gauge and 2" at Shenachie. It was another cloudy overcast day and raining heavily earlier in the day. However, fishing was really much slower and it was quieter on all beats with just a few fish running in Palamore and Roehillock Pools.
By
July 30th, river levels were rising once again after heavy and persistent
rain had fallen up in the Findhorn catchment with river levels reading
1'1" at Forres and 3" at Shenachie. It was a bright and sunny
start to the day, but clouding over with the onset of further rainfall
later on! Mark Leach got off to a great start earlier in the day with
a fresh grilse of 4 lbs. from the Roan Pool on a size 8 Ally's Shrimp.
On the Upper Beat, Chris Ponting was having some great sport in William's
Run and hooked three grilse just above the "Snozel Rock", but
just managed to get one of these safely beached and then released. He
hooked two of the fish on a home tied Park Shrimp, size 8 and the other
on a small Sunray Shadow.
By Saturday, July 31st, water levels had fallen again, reading 7" at Forres and 2" on the Shenachie gauge. The weather was feeling a little warmer with a mixture of sunshine and showers. However, there were still good numbers of fish running through and everyone enjoyed some good sport. Mark Wilton-Steer managed to hook a grilse of 3 lbs. from William's Run on a size 8 Cascade. Chris Ponting hooked and landed another 3 lb. grilse from Palamore Pool on a size 8 Purple Cascade. Later on and Mark Leach hooked a cracking fresh grilse of around 5 lbs. from the Scur Pool. Bob McIntyre also hooked and released another grilse of around 4 lbs. from the neck of the Roehillock Pool on a size 8 Cascade fished on a 5' Poly Leader sink tip.
As we moved into early August, the River Findhorn continued to fish really well with excellent runs of grilse and some larger summer salmon were starting to show up.
On Monday, August 9th, I was back on the Altyre Estate and after a somewhat drier spell river levels were reading just 4" on the Forres gauge and 1" at Shenachie. Therefore, after several weeks of really excellent levels and conditions, we were suddenly in need of rain fall to top up the river levels and encourage more fresh fish to move into the river. We weren't going to have to wait very long though! It was very quiet on all beats and very few fish seen by my guests all day.
On Tuesday,
August 10th, the river was rising once again and reading 1' on the Forres
gauge and 6" at Shenachie. It was another cloudy and overcast day,
feeling much cooler than of late. The river was looking in excellent order
on both Upper and Lower Beats and we were seeing another run of fish showing
in Roehillock, Palamore and Roan Pools.
I.N managed to hook and release a cracking fresh fish of around 9 lbs.
from the Roan Pool on a size 8 Orjok double fished on a 5' Poly leader
sink tip. A little later on and Clive Williamson also hooked a grilse
of around 3 lbs. from the Roan Ppool on a size 8 Cascade.
On Wednesday, August 11th, river levels were reading 1'1" at Forres and 11" up at the Shenachie gauge and rising! I was feeling a little fearful that we might be going to get a little more water than we had hoped for! However, levels and conditions remained in excellent order for the morning, although the river levels started to rise and sport was good. Colin McDonald hooked and released a sea-liced grilse of around 5 lbs. from Palamore Pool on a size 8 Flame thrower. I.N. hooked another small grilse of around 3 lb. from the tail of Roehillock Pool on size 6 Orjok. A little later on just after lunch and I.N. hooked a really superb summer salmon of around 11 lbs. and dripping with long-tailed sea-lice, once again from the tail of Roehillock Pool and once again on a size 6 Orjok double. By around 3:00 p.m., I could see that the levels were continuing to rise quickly and by late afternoon it was all over. My guests were completely washed off, as the river turned dirty and totally unfishable.
On Thursday
August 12th, I was joined by Charles and Hattie Helmore, who were fishing
the Findhorn for their first time. Unfortunately, river levels remained
very high and still looking very dirty, reading 3'3" at Forres and
1'8" at Shenachie and rising! 
It
may well be that the dirty water was coming in from the River Divie, which
is a tributary of the River Findhorn, just a few miles above us. I was
also aware that rising water up at Shenachie could only mean one thing
for us on the lower river with higher river levels to come later in the
day. Sadly, there seemed to be no respite in the weather either, as it
remained very overcast and drizzly throughout the day. It was really hopeless
to try and fish in these conditions and we all arranged to meet up later
in the day. The river did begin to fall and clear by mid-afternoon, but
before we knew it, the levels started to rise once again and no fish were
caught.
On
Friday morning, August 13th, the river was reading 3'8" at Forres
and 1'8" at Shenachie, but rising, yet again. It was another cloudy
and damp day with odd bursts of sunshine later on. However, at least the
clarity had improved and I was feeling a little more optimistic of picking
up a fish in one of our high water pools, before the water started to
rise later in the day. We had seen one or two fish moving in the Palamore
Island Pool, but no takers. 
I
took Hattie up to the Palamore Pool and got her to cast a short line fishing
down along the edge of the pool, just where the current slows down. This
is often a great place to pick up a fish in these conditions, as fish
tend to move in and lie close to our bank. Within a few minutes of starting,
Hattie got a good pull off a fish and connected with a lovely fresh 5
lb. grilse, which gave some great sport and Hattie was thrilled with her
first Findhorn fish hooked on a ¾" orange cone head tube,
specially tied up for her by their friend George. 
A
little later and she got another pull off a fish which came to the fly
four times before taking it and falling off before we knew it. However,
she had enjoyed some great sport in difficult conditions and both Charles
and Hattie had enjoyed a great day on the River Findhorn. Unfortunately,
the river started to rise again very rapidly by mid-afternoon and by 7:30
p.m., was reading 4' on the Forres gauge and hopeless.
By Saturday,
August 14th and at last things were settling down and the river was reading
2'9" at Forres and 1'8" at Shenachie and falling. The weather
had also settled down and feeling a little cooler with a North Westerly
breeze. I was also joined by Doug McKendrick from Elgin who had been given
a gift voucher by his wife Helen for a special birthday treat to spend
a day on the river with I.N. and learn the great art of Spey casting.
He had no experience of salmon fishing, having only done some trout fishing
earlier in his life. However, he was a fast learner and soon took to Spey
casting and within an hour I had him casting a manageable line over Palamore
Pool. 
I
had set him up with a 14 ft. Norway Speycaster and a Rio Wincutter line
with a 5' Poly Leader sink tip and size 8 Orjok double hook fly. By 11:00a.m.,
he had hooked and landed three grilse of between 3 lbs.- 4 lbs., all dripping
with sea lice and all really lively acrobatic fish. Doug couldn't believe
his beginners luck, but it got better. I decided to take him down to the
Scur Pool after a quick cast in Palamore Island Pool. 
The
Scur Pool is really an excellent high water pool and I was hopeful of
getting another fish before lunch. We waded in very carefully, just keeping
ankle deep and soon started to see a number of fish showing below us and
on our side. It wasn't long before Doug hooked number four, which took
off downstream and threw the hooks. He waded back in and confidently cast
his line across the stream and before we knew it, he had managed to hook
another three fish up to around 6 lbs. before lunch time. 
It
had been a really tremendous morning and Doug was clearly delighted with
his birthday gift.
We met up
with Charles and Hattie who had been fishing below us on the Roan Pool,
but had not caught a fish, despite seeing fish showing in the tail of
the pool. After lunch, I took Hattie down to the Palamore Pool and within
a couple of casts she soon hooked into a fish, which took off and quickly
threw the hooks. 
A
little while afterwards, she hooked another fish, which was a repeat performance
of the first and that was it. She didn't get another pull for the rest
of the day and few fish were seen by either of them. However, back down
on the Roan Pool and Doug McKendrick continued his run of good fortune
by hooking and releasing a really cracking sea trout of around 3 lbs.
He hooked the fish in the tail of the pool, where we were seeing good
numbers of salmon and grilse running through the pool all afternoon. A
little while after and he hooked another salmon down in the tail of Roan
Pool, which after a good long fight, came off right at his feet! This
had indeed been a red letter day for Doug, six grilse, one sea trout and
two other fish hooked and lost! What an introduction to salmon fishing
on the fabulous River Findhorn, I think he's hooked!
Just to let everyone know, Ian and Lady B have moved to a fabulous new location right by the River Findhorn and our contact details are as follows:
Bradbush, Darnaway, Forres, Moray IV36 2SU, Scotland
Telephone: 01309 641658
~ Current Availabilities ~
We really have some first class fishing on offer for 2010:
On the Findhorn we have availabilities from July through September on Altyre Estate and Glenferness Estate.
We have availability on Altyre Estate from September 27th-29th for two rods.
On Glenferness Estate, we have availability for two rods September 20th-25th.
On the River Dee, we have availability for two rods at Park Estate on August 31st. We also have a fantastic late season opportunity for up to four rods fishing on Crathes from September 30th-October 1st, 2010.
Should you be interested in booking up some excellent guided fishing on prime beats of the Rivers Dee (Aberdeenshire), Findhorn, and Spey, please contact Ian@speycaster.net for further information and dates.
If you feel like taking the trip of a lifetime, then we have availabilities for catching those magnificent Fall run salmon on one of our annual trips to the Ryabaga Camp on the Ponoi River, Kola Penninsula in August or September, 2010.
~ Fishing Gift Vouchers ~
Are you looking for a gift idea for that special person in your life or for the person who has everything, you may like to take advantage of purchasing a bespoke E-mail Gift Voucher?
For your special occasion shopping needs, we can provide a personalised gift voucher for a guided fishing trip with Ian Neale, which can be the perfect solution to meet your needs. It can be for one to three day's speycasting tuition, or towards a fully inclusive fly fishing holiday or break on one of those exclusive private beats on the Rivers Findhorn, Spey, Avon, or the Aberdeenshire Dee.
Gift
vouchers can be just the perfect gift for a Husband, Wife, Father, Mother,
Son, Daughter, or other relative, friend or business associate.
Gift vouchers are suitable for a wide range of occasions, including:
- Christmas
- Birthdays
- Valentine's Surprise Gift
- Mother's Day
- Father's Day
- Retirement
- Anniversaries
- A surprise present for any other gift giving occasion
A fly fishing gift voucher makes the perfect surprise present and is flexible for a date to be mutually arranged and being valid for anytime throughout the fishing season. When you buy your gift voucher, you can call to book the date yourself or the recipient may call to schedule their own arrangements. Please contact ian@speycaster.net for further information on dates and prices.
Please note: Fishing season on the River Dee begins on February 1st and ends October 15th; and the fishing season on the Rivers Findhorn, Spey, and Avon begins on February 11th and ends September 30th.
~
Speycaster
Photo Albums ~
>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here.
Fishing News Update, July 23rd, 2010
As we slowly moved through the last couple of weeks of June, the rivers fell away as high pressure took a firm grip over the country and we were thrown into something of a heat wave! Therefore, for many beats fishing on the Rivers Findhorn, Dee and Spey, it was a case of fishing early and late with a variety of tiny flies or hitched tubes to achieve any kind of success.
I was fishing up on the Banchor Beat on the river Findhorn with two of my regular clients, Simon Lewin and Paul Humphries from June 24th-26th.
Banchor is always a delightful beat to be fishing and tucked miles away on the Middle Findhorn accommodating two rods. On Thursday, June 24th, the river was reading 0" on the Shenachie gauge and 2" at Forres. It was a cloudy and breezy day with the promise of rain in the air, but unfortunately it came to nothing. The fishing was very slow and very few fish were to be seen. I had heard that despite the low water conditions, that pods of fresh multi-sea winter salmon were still running through from the Sea Pool and moving swiftly upstream through the hours of darkness. Lethen and Glenferness had reported several sea-liced fish being caught on some of their beats just below us at Banchor. So, I was still hopeful that we might see some fish coming through from these beats.
By Friday, June 25th, the river was still reading 0" at Shenachie and it was another very warm and overcast day, with very little breeze. However, there seemed to be the slightest improvement in river flow and maybe there had been just a small amount of rain up in the catchment on the previous day. Another improvement was the fact that a run of fish had indeed moved into the beat and we were seeing some really lovely fresh silver salmon showing in the Buck and Grave Pools. Despite all offerings of hitched tubes, Sunray Shadows and smaller conventional flies, these fish were simply not interested!
Later on, we moved a little further downstream to the Throat of the Cow Pool, which again was alive with fresh fish showing throughout the neck of the pool, including one of at least 15lbs!
I started Paul in at the very neck of the pool and fishing a shortish line with a small 1" Sunray Shadow fished over the surface and slowly retrieving the fly very square. I was perched up higher above the pool and with a direct view down below me. As Paul moved slowly down and below me, we both saw a large fish come up from the depths and just nudged the fly and then sunk back into the deep pool. We gave the pool a rest for a few minutes and then Paul started again. Within a couple of casts, either the same fish or another came up at the fly, turned with a flash of silver and disappeared once again. Exciting stuff, but a little frustrating not to get a proper take from the fish! After all this excitement and with fish showing quite regularly, it suddenly went dead and we didn't see or move another fish.
On Saturday
June 26th, the weather cleared and it became extremely sunny and warm.
With the river falling away and with the brighter conditions, it was very
quiet throughout the beat and the fish that we had seen on the previous
day, seemed to have disappeared and may well have run on up and into the
Drynachan Beats above us.
As we moved into early July, I was getting reports of some big numbers of grilse and salmon getting stacked up in Findhorn Bay and with river levels reading 0" on all gauges. We were in desperate need of rainfall to rise the river levels and get these fish moving into the river system. It was also very heartening to see that the summer run of grilse had arrived spot on time this year, but water was really desperately needed now. The weekend of July 4th-5th started to see a change in the weather and we seemed to be losing the high pressure at last and weather forecasters were predicting an unsettled period over the forthcoming weeks. Luckily, the boys at the Met Office had got it right and for the week commencing July 6th, we saw a small rise in river levels on the Findhorn, which allowed the start of this big run to move into the system and up into the Middle Beats.
Lethen and Glenferness enjoyed some much improved sport over that week and Lethen were able to report their best week of the season so far with twenty-three fish caught. Little did anyone realise what was coming for the following week commencing July 12th, as river levels continued to rise as the unsettled weather continued to throw more rainfall over the river Findhorn catchment.
By Monday
July 12th, the Findhorn was reading a respectable 1'3" on the Forres
gauge and looking in excellent order. The weather remained overcast and
cloudy with further heavy rain falling by the afternoon. I was fishing
on Altyre Estate on the lower river with a party of rods for the week
and it was really heartening to see so many fish showing in all pools,
even though some of these fish seemed to be intent on moving upstream
at quite a pace! 
After
spotting a fish show in the tail of Roehillock Pool, I.N. soon hooked
and landed a lovely sea-liced grilse of around 5 lbs. on a size 8 Orjok,
fished on a 5' Poly leader sink tip and quickly released. A little later
on and moving up to Soldier's Hole, I.N. managed to hook another lovely
fresh fish of around 7 lbs., this time on a size 8 Purple Cascade fished
on the 5' Poly leader sink tip. The pool was absolutely alive with these
fabulous fresh grilse and salmon and it was a little frustrating as around
another eight fish came for a variety of offerings, including a small
1" Sunray Shadow, but no more fish were hooked that afternoon.
By Tuesday
July 13th, the river had fallen back and was reading 6" at Forres
and 7" on the Shenachie gauge, high up in the hills on Cawdor Estate.
The weather remained cloudy, feeling much warmer and the river started
to rise to around 1' by late morning. 
I.N.
managed another lovely deep grilse of around 6 lbs. from Soldier's Hole
in the morning, on a size 6 Orjok. Yet again, there were good numbers
of these fish showing and moving through quickly. Lethen Estate had already
notched up a very healthy score of twenty-six fish in these first two
days and so as I mentioned before, this run of Summer fish were certainly
not hanging around! After lunch Alan Greene hooked and lost another fresh
fish in the tail of Soldier's Hole. Brian Taylor hooked and released another
two grilse of around 5 lbs. and 4 lbs. from the neck of the Roan Pool
later in the evening, both hooked on size 8 Ally's shrimp, fly fished
on a sink tip line.
On July 14th, the river had fallen back to 7" on the Forres gauge and 3" at Shenachie and looking in good order especially on the Upper Beat. I was joined by casting guru and fishing tackle purveyor, Nick Armstead from Gamefish in Edinburgh and Roland Robinson from Advie. Fish were still showing in Soldier's Hole, but they were unable to connect. I.N. hooked and released a sea-liced grilse of around 4 lbs. from the tail of Roehillock on a size 8 Purple Cascade. Throughout the day we saw good runs of fish coming through Roehillock, Roan and Soldier's Hole, but no other fish were hooked.
By July 15th
and I should just mention, "St. Swithen's Day", the river was
reading 6" on the Forres gauge and 5" at Shenachie. The weather
was, needless to say, pouring all day! It finally cleared by late afternoon,
but I had a feeling that it would not take too long before the river started
to rise once again. 
Fishing
back up on Soldier's Hole and once again there were good numbers of fresh
fish moving through. I.N. hooked another sea-liced fish on the very first
cast off the ledge at the top of the pool, which after a really good scrap
was photographed and released. The fish was taken on a size 6 Orjok double
fished on the Poly leader sink tip again. A few minutes later and another
fish of around 5 lbs. was hooked, just a little further down the pool,
again on the size 6 Orjok. Another couple of fish came for a small 1"
Sunray Shadow but neither of these took hold of the fly. As the rain continued
to pour, the river soon started to rise and by mid afternoon it had risen
a good 6" and the clarity was starting to go. So, by the evening
the river was up over 2' 6" and very dirty, hopeless! Time to make
a hasty retreat a back home for a wee dram!
On Friday
16th and the river was reading 2'1" at Forres and 8" at the
Shenachie gauge and falling. However, further heavy rain continued to
pour throughout the morning and it became seriously windy as the day progressed.
The river started to fall away for a little while, but by the evening
was starting to rise yet again. Conditions really looked very good and
I.N. managed to hook a lively fat sea trout of around 3 lbs. from the
tail of Palamore Island on a size 6 Orjok. 
A
little later on in the evening and Colin MacDonald hooked a sea-liced
grilse of around 5 lbs. from the tail of Roehillock Pool on a size 6 Orjok
fished on a sink tip line. Just afterwards and Derek Keith hooked and
landed his first Findhorn grilse of around 3 lbs. from the neck of Roehillock
Pool on a size 8 Cascade. Soon after this flurry of action and the river
started to rise quickly soon becoming dirty once again!
By Saturday
17th July and the river was reading 2' 3" at Forres and 10"
on the Shenachie gauge, falling away with excellent clarity. 
It
was a fine fishing day, sunny and bright, with a little cloud and breezy.
Altyre normally fishes very well in these high water conditions, but unfortunately
it was quiet on all beats and the only activity of the day was a run of
fish seen coming through Roehillock Pool just after lunch. Clive Williamson
from Edinburgh managed to get a very tentative offer from a grilse as
they moved through the pool, but that was it and then they simply disappeared!
It had been a most enjoyable week and every one of my guests had enjoyed some good sport. It had indeed been something of a record on many of the other beats on the Findhorn with good catches being recorded. Looking at the Fish Findhorn catches I see that the six subscribing beats who report their catches reported a total of 193 salmon/grilse for the week, which is truly impressive and indeed, very welcome. So far, it has been yet another very wet week up here in this part of the Highlands with higher river levels for much of the week and therefore, I am hopeful that we should see another good week of Summer sport on all rivers in this part of the World.
~
Speycaster
Photo Albums ~
>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here.
Fishing News Update, June 15th, 2010
Since my last update, I am delighted to report that the fishing has been picking up pace on the Findhorn and we have seen some good runs of 2MSW Spring salmon moving into the river system. I was fishing up on one of my favourite high water beats, Mini Daltra on Glenferness Estate for a couple of days last week.
On
Tuesday, June 8th and river levels were reading 11" on the Shenachie
gauge and 1'2" at Forres, which is about as good as it gets! It was
a cloudy, overcast and fairly sort of damp day and the river was looking
in perfect order as I arrived at the Island Pool. Fishing with my favourite
Bruce and Walker 13' Norway Speycaster, I waded in at the neck of the
stream and decided to fish a small ½" Orjok tube fished on
a 5' Poly leader sink tip. Within minutes I hooked into a big fish of
around 10 lbs., which after a long fight suddenly threw the hooks! I couldn't
believe it! Then I moved back and soon hooked another, which was just
on and off! I decided to change the fly and this time I tied on a size
6 double, Purple Cascade. I waded back in at the top and the fly was pulled
hard and this time there was no mistake and after a good scrap I beached
and released a cracking little silver fresh salmon of around 7 lbs. A
little later on, I decided to walk down to the Garden Pool for a cast,
which was looking superb. About three quarters of the way down the pool
and as the fly swung through the hot spot, I got a solid pull, followed
by another and then the fish showed on the surface and quickly threw the
hooks!
After further heavy rain throughout Tuesday night the river was running very high on Wednesday June 9th and reading 2'2" on the Shenachie gauge and looking somewhat on the dirty side. However, by Thursday June 10th the river had fallen back and was reading 10" at Shenachie and 2'1" at Forres and looking in excellent order with perfect clarity.
I decided
to head back for the Island Pool on Mini Daltra and waded in at the neck
of the pool. I decided to try a size 6 Orjok double fished on the 5' Poly
leader fast sink tip. As the fly swung round across the stream, I soon
got a solid pull and had hooked a really cracking fresh salmon of around
8 lbs. and still with sea lice on its' head and gill covers. I moved back
into the pool at the same spot and hooked another fish which was slightly
larger and after a good fight and a lot of head shaking, managed to shake
itself off! A short while after and in exactly the same lie, I hooked
a third fish, which was a little coloured and around the 7 lb. mark. This
had been a really great day so far and I was feeling extremely content
with my morning's work! 
Therefore,
I decided to move a little further upstream and was feeling optimistic
that in these conditions the Lady's Pool would be worth a cast. I moved
up and onto the high water rock and started off with a short cast and
almost immediately the fly was grabbed and another fish was hooked. It
was a strong and very powerful fish and immediately headed off upstream
before I could turn him. Landing a fish here takes a bit of courage, as
it needs to be coaxed over the high rock face and then led down the steep
bank and into the tail of the Lady's Pool, before one can move the fish
into the shallower water and just hope that it doesn't make a bolt downstream
and into the Lairds Pool! Luckily, I managed to beach him in the shallow
water and quickly removed the hook and he shot off like a bullet. It was
another deep fresh salmon of around 10 lbs. and once again hooked on the
size 6 Orjok double. I moved back up above the big rock point and started
in at exactly the same spot and within another couple of casts the fly
was taken hard. Before I knew it, I was playing another lively fresh fish
of around 7 lbs., which was also quickly released after the same manoeuvre
and again shot out of my hands none the worse for the experience. 
I
sat down for a moment with my dog Tulla and couldn't really believe I
was having such a fantastic day of Spring salmon fishing, nor could she,
I think! It was at this point, that I suddenly saw another run of salmon
coming through the tail of the pool and within several minutes, three
or four fresh fish bolted past me moving up into the big pool. I, therefore,
thought that I should go back upstream and try another cast in the main
pool, but this time moved a bit further up and under the trees. It wasn't
long before that I felt the pull of another fish and before I knew, I
was playing number six of the day! Again, it was another cracking fresh
"Springer" of around 9 lbs. and hooked on the same Orjok number
6 and after another nerve wracking fight, was also safely released at
the very tail of the pool.
I decided to make a move back downstream and after a few casts back in the Secret Spot without a touch, thought that I should go and try my luck elsewhere before heading off home. I walked back up the top and wondered whether I should go and take a look at the Garden Pool, which is another one of my real favourites in high water. It had been a great day so far and as I stood at the top and looked down the sixty four steps leading to the Garden, wondered if it was going to be worth it, as I had already burned off a few calories! However, it didn't take me long to decide and so I headed on down the steep slope and down towards the pool. By now, the weather had made a dramatic turn around and it had become very bright and sunny and again I was having a few doubts as to whether my luck was going to hold. However, just after starting in at the top of the pool, I saw a large fish show well down the pool and on my side and thought I might just have a chance here after all. I was about three quarters of the way down the pool and sure enough, I got another solid pull from a fish which turned out to be a slightly coloured fish of around 7 lbs. and after a good fight was also quickly returned to the water.
I
waded back into the edge of the pool and carried on downstream, working
my way down to where I had seen the big fish show. Just at the very spot
and just as I started a slow hand retrieve, I got one hell of a pull and
this fish shot off downstream at a rate of knots. Before I knew it, all
of my fly line was disappearing and then I saw about thirty yards of backing
being stripped off the reel. This was really exciting stuff and I was
just hoping that it didn't try to go much further as I was now at the
end of my wading limit! I kept a good solid hold of him and slowly, but
surely was able to start moving him back up towards me and then was able
to walk him upstream to a beachable point, where after a really good long
struggle, I was able to get him into a small bay and quickly kept him
quietly in the water before removing the hooks of my good old faithful
Orjok double. It was glorious evening by now and I sat on the bank of
the pool quietly reflecting on my super seven fish day on the fantastic
Findhorn River, before the long walk back up the sixty four steps and
then set off for home to relax with a very large gin and tonic.
~
Speycaster
Photo Albums ~
>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here.
Fishing News Update, June 2nd, 2010
As we moved into late April, river levels and conditions remained generally very good, with ample supplies of snow melt water keeping the rivers topped up. However, despite the good fishing conditions and river levels, the numbers of Spring salmon moving into the River Findhorn was somewhat disappointing overall.
I
was fishing on Altyre Estate with regular client Simon Lewin in the middle
of the month and river levels were excellent and reading 2' on the Forres
gauge. Following Simon down through the Roan and I hooked into a cracking
fresh fish of around 10 lbs., which gave tremendous sport and after a
quick photo was safely released. The fish was hooked on a ¾"
Orjok copper tube fly, fished on an intermediate line and a 5 foot poly
leader sink tip.
Later in the evening of Saturday April 17th, Colin MacDonald hooked into a large salmon in the Roan Pool, which after a long hard fight finally threw the hooks right at the net! However, Colin returned on April 19th and was finally rewarded with another fresh cock salmon of around 15 lbs., which was hooked on a 2" Garry Dog tube fly fished on a poly leader fast sink tip line.
As we moved
into the week commencing April 26th, river levels held up really well
and as the weather warmed up, the snow melt from the Monadhliath Mountains
continued to seep into the river. 
On
Wednesday 28th, the river was reading 2'2" on the Forres gauge. Gavin
Nichol hooked and landed his first ever Findhorn Spring salmon of around
8 lbs. from the Roan Pool on Altyre Estate on a Cascade tube fly fished
on a sink tip line. On Thursday April 29th with the river reading 1'10"
on the Forres gauge, Jeff Holloway hooked and landed another fresh fish
of around 8 lbs. from the Roan Pool on Altyre Estate on a Temple Dog tube
fly fished on a sink tip line. With the warmer weather, the river temperatures
also began to climb and I heard that fish had been seen ascending the
Poolie Falls at Sluie. I soon heard that fish had also been caught that
same week on Logie, Glenferness and Lethen Estates.
For the week
commencing May 3rd, river levels remained fairly steady with a small rise
later in the week after some heavy rain falling on Tuesday, 4th May. 
Gordon
Evans hooked and released a 9 lb. salmon from the Roehillock Pool on Altyre
on Monday, May 3rd. On Wednesday May 5th, Gordon hooked and released another
cracking fish of around 14 lbs. from Palamore Pool on Altyre. On Saturday
May 8th, Bob Macdonald fishing a little further upstream on Coulmony,
hooked and landed his first ever Findhorn Spring salmon. The sea-liced
fish of around 10 lbs. was hooked on a Sunray Shadow tube fly, fished
sub-surface in the Logie Pool on Coulmony.
As we moved
into the week commencing May 10th, river levels were again fairly steady,
reading 9" on the Forres gauge and 4" on the Shenachie gauge.
However,
the weather had suddenly reversed and it became much colder throughout
the week and by Wednesday, May 12th, we even woke up to see a good covering
of snow lying on the ground and the cars, which was a real shock to everyone!
On Thursday, May 13th, Sandy Robb hooked and landed a salmon of 9 lbs.
from the Upper Streenoch Pool on Levrattich, Glenferness Estate. The fish
was hooked on a 1" Willie Gunn tube fly fished on a sink tip line.
By the week commencing May 24th, the river had fallen away and reading 1" on the Shenachie gauge and 5" on the Forres gauge. I was up on the Drynachan water on Cawdor Estate on Tuesday 24th May with Patrick Burns and Neil Cameron. On the way up to the beat, I bumped into Roddy Forbes, who told me that one of the other rods had caught two fish from the Bridge Pool, Daless Beat on the Monday.
As we were
on Daless Beat, I decided to take Patrick and Neil to the Bridge Pool
first to see if we could entice a fish here. 
Patrick,
who is soon going to Iceland, had just bought a brand new 10' rod, which
I suggested would be perfect in these conditions. He had never fished
a hitched fly before, and so I tied on a small black and yellow tube for
him and instructed him to go in at the head of the pool, keeping as far
back as possible. In the meantime, I took Neil down to the Carnoch Pool
and got him started in at the head of the pool. I had a feeling that Patrick
may well catch a fish in the Bridge Pool and drove back up to see what
was happening. 
Patrick
was really quite excited and told me that he had already hooked and lost
a fish and moved another to the tiny little hitched tube. Having never
fished in this style before, he wasn't too sure if he was fishing it correctly
and asked me for more instruction and guidance of the hitched method.
So, after some demonstration of line and fly control, I got him to start
at the top of the pool again to see if he could tempt another fish. In
these very low water conditions, chances of taking a fish are always fairly
slim and having already lost a fish, I thought that he might have had
his chance for the morning. However, he started to cast the little fly
across the pool and it was skating over the water perfectly. 
Within
a few minutes and as the fly bobbed over the surface, a head moved up
from the deep pool and engulfed the fly, almost in slow motion and this
time there was no mistake as Patrick tightened into the fish and it was
well and truly hooked. It was a hard fighting fish of around 9 lbs. and
gave Patrick some great sport on his new 10' rod. Patrick was clearly
delighted with his first "hitched fish" and after a couple of
photos the fish was quickly released back into the river and it shot off
like a bullet.
Meanwhile, on May 27th and fishing further downstream on Altyre, my friend Nick Armstead from Edinburgh entered the Findhorn hall of fame, by catching the smallest salmon of the season from Palamore Pool, or was it a very well grown smolt!
Then on Friday May 28th, Roland Robinson hooked and released a cracking fresh sea-liced salmon of around 9 lbs. from the neck of the Roehillock Pool on a size 10 Cascade fished on a full floating line.
~
Speycaster
Photo Albums ~
>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here
Fishing News Update, April 17th 2010
Since my last update in March, we have experienced just about all kinds of weather and water conditions! It has indeed been very frustrating and many days fishing have been lost due to extreme Winter weather and high water levels.
The week commencing March 22nd, I was back on Altyre Estate with some good old fishing friends, Max Fraser, Don Griffin, "Wee" Brian Taylor and Des Dunlop, who were fishing on Altyre for the first three days of the week. River levels on the Monday were really superb and reading 1'11" and rising on the Forres gauge. It was a really good fishing day with settled weather conditions, bright, sunny and quite mild for the time of year. In the afternoon, it was Brian Taylor who got the week off to a good start with a cracking little fish of around 7 lbs. and covered in sea lice. The fish was hooked on a 1 1/2"Sunray Shadow aluminium tube fished deep on a Wet Cel 2 sinking line in the tail of Palamore Island Pool.
By
Tuesday March 23rd, the river was rising once again and reading 2'10"
on the Forres gauge. The weather had suddenly changed, becoming cloudy
with strong winds developing and feeling much colder. The river level
fell away steadily throughout the day with excellent clarity. The morning
was a little slow, but after lunch, fishing picked up as air temperatures
began to rise. Max Fraser hooked an absolutely cracking big fresh fish
in the tail of the Roan Pool, which he played for some while. Just after
he jokingly announced, "I never lose fish", then "PING"
the hooks fell out and that was it! Better luck next time, Maxy. A little
later on in the afternoon, Brian Taylor hooked a kelt and lost another
two fish, also in the Roan Pool.
Wednesday
March 24th, the river levels were falling and reading 1'9" on the
Forres gauge. The weather was cloudy and feeling a little cooler, but
with very little wind. The water temperature was reading just under 40
degrees F. or 4.5 degrees C. In the morning, it was "Wee" Brian
who was in the action once again, and hooked a lovely deep "Springer"
of around 12 lbs. off the Whitehouse Rock in the neck of the Roan Pool,
yet again on the Sunray Shadow tube, fished on a wet Cel 2 sinking line.
By Thursday March 25th, I was joined by other regular clients, Peter Grimwade and Colin Brook, also Franco Sirtori from Italy and Giorgio Soldini from Switzerland who were both fishing the fabulous Findhorn for their first visit.
The
river had risen overnight and was reading 3'1" and falling on the
Forres gauge. It was once again cloudy, overcast and with occasional rain
showers throughout the day. River levels were just a little on the high
side for most of our pools, although Palamore Island Pool was looking
in excellent order, but sadly we didn't pull or a see a fish all day.
By Friday, March 26th, the river had fallen away and was reading 1'8" on the Forres gauge and rising. It was another cloudy day with rain showers falling on and off, but very few fish, except a couple in Palamore Island were to be seen all day.
On
Saturday, March 27th, the river had risen once again and was reading 2'7"
on the Forres gauge and steady. The weather was brighter, sunny, much
milder and feeling like a great fishing day. Therefore, after lunch, I
was delighted to hear that Franco Sirtori had hooked and released a cracking
fish of around 10 lbs. from the Roan Pool on a 1" copper Orjok tube,
fished on a fast sink tip line. Just a little later on, Colin Brook managed
to hook another large fish of around 15 lbs. from the neck of the Scur
Pool on his third cast, hooked on a Cascade tube fly fished on an intermediate
line.
By Monday, March 29th, I was back on Park Estate, South Bank on the River Dee, with Jim Pool who had been booked as a birthday gift voucher surprise by his wife Jo. It was simply a glorious day with bright sunshine, little breeze and the river was looking good at 29" on the Park gauge.
This was
Jim's first attempt at Speycasting and salmon fishing and he certainly
took to it very quickly. By the afternoon I had him casting off his left
and right arm with ease. Unfortunately, fishing was very slow and there
was only one fish caught of around 19 lbs. off both banks throughout the
day! 
I
think that the weather warnings being forecast for the forthcoming days
had been noted and we were bracing ourselves for a return to gale force
winds, followed by blizzard conditions throughout the Highlands of Scotland.
Therefore, by Tuesday, March 30th, conditions had indeed deteriorated and we were thrown into the "Perfect Storm" with severely strong north easterly winds blowing into our faces, lashings of rain, sleet and snow and I think one of the coldest days I have ever experienced on any river in this part of the World!
Jim braved the elements and despite the ferocity of the gale, did extremely well to hook a well mended kelt in the Greenbanks Pool, just before lunch. It was only a kelt, but this was his first ever Atlantic salmon and he was clearly delighted, indeed; and so was I, especially in those atrocious conditions!
I was due to fish myself the following day, Wednesday, March 31st, with a friend of mine from Edinburgh. However, after a lengthy phone call, we both decided that with blizzard warnings in force; that it would be fool hardy to try and brave the weather elements and I decided to head for home!
I must say that it was one of the best decisions, as on the following day the weather was just appalling as several feet of snow fell over the North East of Scotland and the Highlands. Nearly all main roads were either closed or blocked on that Wednesday and virtually all traffic came to a stand still until the snow ploughs could clear the roads of drifting snow. The snow continued to fall over the area on April 1st and I gather that some 3-5 feet had fallen in many parts of the Highlands and access to many rivers and beats was impossible for a couple of days until access tracks could be cleared.
As
we moved into Monday, April 5th, I was back on Altyre Estate with Bill
Chard, Mark Dyer, Alastair Dunbar and David Ecclestone. The river was
reading 2'8" on the Forres gauge and was looking quite promising
to start with. However, as the day progressed we soon started to notice
the levels were rising quite dramatically and becoming very dirty by late
afternoon. It was a much milder day and became really quite warm and consequently
the residual lying snow soon began to melt from the catchment area up
in the Monadhliath Mountains and Dava Moor draining into the River Divie.
However, just before the river started to rise, Alastair Dunbar hooked
and released a lively, but smallish Spring fish of around 5 lbs. from
Palamore Island Pool. The fish was hooked on a 2" Willie Gunn aluminium
tube fly, fished on a Wet Cel 2 sinking line.
By
Tuesday, April 6th and as the thaw set in, the river had blown into the
mother of all floods and was reading some 7'9"on the Forres gauge
and still rising! By Wednesday, April 7th, the river had fallen back a
little, but still reading 5'1" on the Forres gauge and still too
high and dirty for fishing.
On Thursday, April 8th, I was joined by another of my other regular clients, Andrew Shaw from Oxfordshire. The river was still high and reading 3'5"on the Forres gauge, although the clarity was much improved. Andrew managed to move and pull a fish on a Purple Cascade tube fly first time down through Palamore Island Pool, which just came for the fly as he was lifting into the next cast!
By
Friday, April 9th, the river was back up to 3'7" and falling, but
clarity was superb. The weather was bright, sunny and feeling very warm
in the Spring sunshine, but becoming cloudier later on. As the day progressed,
we started to see a run of fish moving into the tail of the Roan Pool
on the Lower Beat and I was feeling a little more confident that we might
just connect with a fish. I managed to convince Andrew that we should
fish down through the tail just one more time before calling it a day.
It was a good decision, as Andrew hooked and landed a really fresh fish
of around 7 lbs. half way down through the tail of Roan Pool, on a 2"
aluminium Purple Cascade tube, fished on a floating line with a super
fast Poly Leader sink tip. The fish was quickly released and we were both
delighted as persistence had paid off and we enjoyed a wee dram on the
back of the Land Rover before heading off back to the Hotel.
By
Saturday, April 10th, Grand National Day and the river was falling back
a little and reading 3'2" on the Forres gauge and looking in excellent
order. The weather had become much warmer and feeling like the perfect
Spring day, I was feeling really confident of catching a fish or two today.
The river was still a little on the high side for most pools, but as the
day progressed, levels fell away quickly and the Roan Pool was clearly
looking promising as we started to see more fish showing right down into
the tail of the pool. After a brief under water encounter and a change
of clothing, waders etc, Andrew was back in the pool and soon battling
a really big strong fish of around 15 lbs., which was eventually hooked
and safely released. The big fish had taken the same 2" Purple Cascade
aluminium tube again and fished on the extra fast Poly Leader sink tip.
So,
after a brief interlude we decided to listen to the Grand National on
Five Live at the back of the car. I was jumping up and down with delight
as my backed horse "Don't Push It" ridden by the great A.P McCoy
sailed past the winning post to win his first Grand National. Sadly, Andrew's
horse Mon Momme had been a faller! However, it was soon time to get back
into the river as the late afternoon sun was beginning to dip and the
pool was becoming shaded. It wasn't very long before Andrew hooked his
second fish of the day, another cracking sea-liced fish of around 9 lbs.,
once again hooked on the deadly Purple Cascade tube and safely released
after a couple of quick photos. It had been a really great day for Andrew
on the fishing front and I was delighted to start seeing a good run of
fish showing up in the tail of Roan Pool. I had also heard of some good
catches of Spring salmon being caught below us on the Forres AA, including
one or two monsters of the 20-25 lbs. mark being hooked.
~
Speycaster
Photo Albums ~
>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here
Fishing News Update, March 19th 2010
First of all, I apologise for the lack of "Fishing News" of late, but sadly there really hasn't been very much to report on, except the weather! As I mentioned in my earlier report in February, we have experienced the Winter of Winters and just when we thought it was safe to go into the water, back it came again with severe ferocity!
However,
I was actually getting quite excited and enthusiastic about the prospects
on February 14th, just after the Findhorn season had opened. I was delighted
to receive an email from James Holder late on Saturday afternoon with
his glowing report that he had caught a magnificent fresh Spring salmon
from the Red Craig Pool on the Forres AA water at around 3:30 p.m. He
and his father had been fishing and said that it was a fantastic afternoon
and the weather was quite pleasant on the river. They had noticed several
kelts showing in the Stoney and Newton Pools before moving up to the Red
Craig, where his dad caught a kelt in the Rack on a Snelda. 
James
moved up to the neck of the pool where he saw more fish splashing just
opposite the groyne, one of which looked like a more sizeable fish than
the usual kelts. He started a few rod lengths up above the groyne and
worked his way downstream where he hooked the fish about twenty to thirty
feet below the groyne just below the two big rocks. The fish was hooked
on a self-tied orange Templedog, fished on an intermediate/sink 1 shooting
head and quickly released after the photo was taken.
By Monday 16th February and with river levels holding nicely at 1' 11" on the Forres gauge, the weather was really pleasant and with no wind, so I was feeling optimistic of catching a fish on Altyre Estate. I went down to the Roan Pool on the Lower Beat and put up my 15 ft. Bruce and Walker Norway, with an intermediate line and a 5 ft. Poly leader, slow sink tip and a 1" Orjok copper tube fly. On the third cast I got a really great take and the line pulled away and off the reel. I was soon playing a hard fighting fresh cock salmon of around 14 lbs., which took off down the pool and eventually, I was able to beach and release my first salmon of the season. This was the only pull of the day, despite fishing the pool several more times, but I am always delighted to get an early Spring salmon in February; what an absolute pleasure! I heard from Moray Estates that one of their tenants fishing on Darnaway, Meads Beat had also reported another fresh fish of around 10 lbs. and released. So, suddenly within a few days, things were starting to happen on the Findhorn and that's where it all came to a grinding halt, as the weather soon began to return to Winter, once again.
By
Monday 22nd February, the river was steady at just 7" on the Forres
gauge and we were once again experiencing sub zero daytime temperatures.
The river was bank to bank ice with a steady flow of grue flowing down
through the middle stream of water and therefore, fishing conditions were
hopeless! As the week progressed, conditions slowly got worse and by Wednesday
24th February, we were once again experiencing heavy snowfall and blizzard
conditions, which swept across the North East of Scotland. Over the next
two days the snow continued to fall, with around 2 feet of snow settling
in this area. Needless to say with the beats inaccessible and continued
low freezing water conditions, fishing for the week was abandoned.
As we moved into the first week of March, the freezing conditions and heavy lying snow made fishing almost impossible once again on most rivers in the Highlands. However, by the end of the week the weather began to feel slightly milder and at last the ice and grue slowly began to melt away and thus, at least it was possible to cast a fly into the river.
I
was guiding Bill Smith from Vermont in the USA on Altyre, Lower Beat on
March 4th & 5th. This was his first experience at Speycasting and
fishing for Atlantic salmon, so he was really quite delighted to hook
into a couple of fish, albeit kelts, in such difficult conditions.
On Monday March 8th, I was back on Altyre Estate with David Bain and Clive
Williamson and fishing conditions were once again looking really promising,
after a release of snow melt water; and with river levels reading 1' 11"
on the Forres gauge, I was feeling hopeful that we would connect with
a fish, if they were there! It was a really glorious day, with plenty
of Spring sunshine and the river was looking in excellent order. Just
at around 5:00 p.m., Clive Williamson hooked into a big fish in the tail
of Roan and I just knew that this was a real one at last. 
After
a really good long fight, the big fish was finally landed and released
after the photo was taken. The great fish was hooked on a home tied Cascade
tube fly of Clive's own device and fished on an intermediate line.
River levels fell away over the next few days and no other fish were seen or hooked on any other beats. Then, as the week progressed, the weather changed again and this time we started to see milder conditions prevail. The warm Spring sunshine soon began to melt the overlying snow and river levels began to rise dramatically over the last couple of days of that week, and no other fish were seen or hooked.
Finally, the week commencing March 14th has seen the river running at continued higher levels as the warmer weather continues to melt the snow at an alarming rate, therefore, fishing this last week has been impossible. The river levels at Forres have never fallen below the three feet mark all week! It seems hard to believe that just a few weeks ago we were shivering with sub zero conditions with below summer levels; and now we are basking in warm sunshine with higher than normal river levels and fishing is really hopeless.
However,
there are plenty of ample snow and ice accumulations lying high up in
the corries and mountains above the catchments of the Dee, Spey and Findhorn
Rivers and we can only hope that the valuable reservoir of snow melt will
not dissipate too quickly over these forthcoming weeks. Ideally we would
welcome another spell of colder weather conditions very soon to keep the
melt in check. Hope springs eternal!
STOP PRESS…. February 9th, 2010
I
have heard from my good friend Nick Armstead of that famous fishing emporium,
www.gamefishltd.co.uk in Edinburgh
that he was fishing with a group of friends known as the DTYS party, who
were fishing at Park Estate last Friday and Saturday. I hear that David
Adamson (Jonesie) hooked and landed this cracking sea-liced Springer of
around 12 lbs. in the House Pool on Park North. The fish was caught on
a black and yellow tube fished on a slow sinking line.
Fishing News Update, February 8th, 2010
After what has now been classified as the coldest December and January on record, a new dawn broke over Deeside in Aberdeenshire on February 1, 2010.
Having
arrived on the Sunday evening in blizzard conditions, once again we weren't
even sure if we would get to the river on the Monday morning. However,
the weather settled and my party of friends arrived at Park Estate for
our usual annual opening day get-together. It was a grey and overcast
day with not a breath of wind and feeling really quite pleasant and we
were all keen to cast a line over the water.
The river
was reading 24 inches on the Park gauge with perfect water clarity and
water temperature was just over 32 degrees Fahrenheit. With such perfect
conditions on opening day, we were all feeling optimistic of hooking into
one of those glorious Spring salmon. Unfortunately, despite hooking a
small number of kelts, we were denied the feel or sight of that bar of
silver, which was disappointing and indeed the first opening day blank
for many a year at Park Estate. 
I
see from the Fish Dee Reports a total of eighteen fresh fish were recorded
for the opening day from the river with the largest fish being 15 lbs.
from Little Blackhall & Inchmarlo. The final tally for the opening
week was sixty fresh salmon with the largest of 24 lbs. from Invery.
Looking a little further ahead, we are all excited at the prospects of the new season opening on the rivers Spey and Findhorn on this coming Thursday, February 11th. I am feeling particularly optimistic that 2010 could prove to be one of those classic salmon fishing seasons, as the cyclical turnaround for multi-sea winter salmon is generally four years on our rivers. The 2006 season was particularly one of the best fishing seasons on the River Findhorn within the last ten years. Assuming a successful spawning season followed, we hope for some great sport in 2010.
As I mentioned earlier in this update, we have seen some huge amounts of snowfall in this part of the Highlands and indeed, the local ski resorts are boasting their best season over thirty years. Therefore, these accumulations of snow combined with severely cold overnight temperatures high up in the corries of the Grampian, Cairngorm and Monadhliath Mountains will have compacted into solid ice. Assuming we do not get a prolonged mild spell, which at this time of year is unlikely, we should expect a slow release of snow melt from the headwaters high up in these mountain ranges. Therefore, with this plentiful supply of snow and ice, I expect that we should see excellent river levels and conditions over the next few months and our Spring sport could be tremendous.
I shall be fishing on Altyre Estate, Findhorn over the forthcoming weeks with regular clients and friends and shall be updating the Fishing News Page with the latest reports of our first Spring salmon of 2010.
~
Speycaster
Photo Albums ~
>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here
~ Season Reports ~
CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE 2001 SEASON
CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE 2002 SEASON
CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE 2003 SEASON
CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE 2004 SEASON
CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE 2005 SEASON
CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE 2006 SEASON
CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE 2007 SEASON
CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE 2008 SEASON
CLICK HERE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE 2009 SEASON