Fishing News for rivers Spey, Avon, Dee and Findhorn - Season 2005
Latest Report
FISHING NEWS UPDATE - October 3rd, 2005
It has been a somewhat frustrating period over these last few weeks as we watched predicted weather forecasts of lashings of rain which never came to very much. When it finally did come it was more or less too late, but better late than never I suppose!
I was fishing with the John Woolgar party on the Altyre beat of the Findhorn in mid-September and after two days of light rain, the river suddenly raised in front of our very eyes on the morning of the 14th. It had obviously been raining steadily up river and as we were tackling up, the river came up by some two feet without going dirty. It was fantastic and we were soon fishing my favourite high water pools on the upper beat. I knew that the lower beats on the Forres AA were stuffed full of fish and it was no surprise to start seeing a big run of fish coming through Pallamore just before lunch. As we enjoyed our picnic in front of the hut, we soon began to see fish showing throughout Roehillock and many numbers of salmon were moving upstream.
Just after lunch, it was Jamie Burgess who hooked into a cock fish of 8lb from Roehillock taken on my favourite purple Cascade, size 8. This was Jamie’s first ever salmon and his excitement was clearly visible as we took photos and safely returned the fish to the river. A little later and it was the turn of Jamie’s wife, Kathy, who hooked and landed a really lovely fresh salmon of about 7lbs from the Soldier’s Hole; again this was her first ever salmon.
With the water in such good condition I decided to take a look at the Lower beat and on his first cast into the Roan pool, Kathy’s Dad, John Woolgar, hooked and landed another lovely fresh salmon of about 6lbs, this again was safely released to the water.
Later on the evening, I managed to hook another fish of about 5lbs from the Soldiers Hole; again on the Purple Cascade. This was a perfect day and a perfect end to their three days fishing on the wonderful stretch of the lower Findhorn. Unfortunately, the rain didn’t continue and the river soon fell away again back to low levels.
I was back at Park on the Dee again later in the week and the river had also benefited from a small rise in water levels up to eight inches on the gauge, however it soon fell away to 0” and the fishing was a little difficult for a day or two as the water was quite peat stained. On Saturday 17th, I was fishing with Mike and he started the ball rolling with a lovely bright salmon of around 7lbs. He managed to tempt this on a size 12 Executioner and on a full floating line from Redwell, below the Ash Tree. Then after lunch we were on the Lower Kirks and Mike hooked into a really cracking strong fish of 15lbs, this time on a size 10 Arndilly Fancy. Later in the afternoon, I managed to land another two salmon of 7lbs and 5lbs in two consecutive casts again from Lower Kirks on a size 12 Executioner. This was a really great day and another six salmon were landed to the other rods fishing on the beat during the day.
I was then back at Park for the last three days of the season from 28th-30th September. Our prayers had been answered and by now it was very Autumnal, with lashings of rain and strong winds! The river was up and down and reading fourteen inches on the Park gauge on the morning of the 28th, still with a very heavy peaty stain to it. My clients here were Alan Olivier, Stuart Bird from South Africa and Jon Jonik from Bath in England. The first day was really hard going in the gale force winds and trying to teach spey casting to first timer Stuart was interesting, to say the least. Anyway, he battled on and soon got to grips with a manageable left hand double spey cast down on the bridge pool. As the wind eased for a while, he soon got to grips with a good single spey cast off his right arm and hooked a fish, which sadly didn’t stay on for long. His old trout fishing habits got the better of him!
Later on in the afternoon, it was the turn of Alan to hook and land a fine hen salmon of around 12 lbs from Park Inn on a size 8 Ally’s shrimp fly. Alan only took up salmon fishing himself just last season and I introduced him to Spey casting in the autumn of 2005 on the river Tweed; and has now become a really competent Spey caster. On the 29th he was really on a roll and he hooked and landed another four salmon of 12 and 13lbs in Lower Kirks on a purple Cascade and 9 and 6lbs from Redwell on a Sun Ray Shadow!
Jon Jonik also hooked and landed a fish of 8lbs from Park Inn just before 11:00 a.m. on his third cast! The weather was really kind to us and casting was easier for everyone. It was Stuart who hooked and lost another fish in Durris Stream followed minutes later with another lovely fish of around 11lbs from Durris Stream which was quickly and safely released. This was taken on a red Francis tube fly. The river suddenly rose very dramatically at lunchtime and was reading some eighteen inches on the gauge. However, the fishing continued to improve all of the time and by the end of the day some seventeen salmon were landed from the Park beats, including a best ever day of four salmon hooked and landed by Elaine Hickman from Dess. These fish were hooked in the Greenbanks pool and Bridge run.
By the 30th the level was at ten inches, just perfect and it was back to wild and windy weather, with but not before Alan Olivier had struck again with another fantastic double of 7lbs and 18lbs from Bakebare on a Red Francis tube fly. Jon Jonik also managed to land a really bright fish of around 5lbs from the Bridge run, whilst Stuart connected briefly with a fish also in the Bridge run.
It was heartening to hear of some really fresh sea liced fish being caught the day before on the beats below us and certainly there were sightings all day of really silver fish in all of our beats. It was (GB) Malcolm Newbould from Banff who hooked and landed an absolute beauty of around 12 lbs from Durris Stream just before lunch and this was covered in long tailed sea lice. This was after a slightly frustrating period of losing several fish earlier in the morning.
The afternoon was really a story of several fish hooked and lost to most of the rods, but again the day ended up with another fantastic total of fifteen salmon for the Park beats. I also hear from Keith Cromar that a monster cock fish of some forty-nine inches was hooked and safely released at Tilbouries beat by local angler Kenny Reid. This would put the fish weighing some 43-45 lbs!
So the season has now finally drawn to another close here on the rivers Dee, Spey and Findhorn; and I think that it has been generally another great salmon season for most anglers, with figures not far behind our terrific fishing season of 2005. I think the only the main problem has been the lack of sufficient rainfall to keep water levels sustained and to entice fish to run these rivers, especially over this last month. Certainly from what I have seen throughout the Spring, Summer and Autumn there have been some really great runs of salmon and thus, it truly endorses the fact that Scotland is alive and well in the World of Atlantic salmon fishing.
The opening of the new season is on February 1st, 2006 and I am now starting to arrange all of my numerous fishing venues on the Dee, Spey, Avon and Findhorn rivers. So, if you would like to make enquiries for your fishing trip to this beautiful part of the Highlands, then please contact me as always: ian@speycaster.net. I would like to thank all of my regular clients and friends for all of their continued support throughout the 2005 season and I look forward to meeting up with everyone on the river bank in 2006; and I also look forward to meeting and making new acquaintances in the forthcoming season. Good luck to everyone and may I wish you every success for 2006.
Ian Neale.
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FISHING NEWS UPDATE - September 12th, 2005
These last three weeks have seen some extremely changeable weather in this part of the Highlands of Scotland; from heavy rainfall to some very tropical days of relentless sunshine with the highest recorded temperatures of the summer through this last week, just when we were expecting more Autumnal conditions, with lashings of rain!
However, fishing on the Dee and Spey has been really very steady throughout most beats. Park over on the Dee has really been fishing well, with over thirty salmon landed this last week including a monster of 30lbs being caught last Wednesday! I was chatting with Keith, who is head ghillie at Park, and he tells me that most fish are very fresh and with long tailed sea lice.
The water level on the gauge was reading at zero inches on the Park gauge yesterday, therefore, a rise in water levels is much needed right now to keep these fresh late running salmon filtering through the system. I was also talking with Malcolm Newbould and he tells me that the lower Spey beats have also been fishing very well over the last few weeks; and I hear that the Brae water beats 1 & 2 landed over thirty salmon between them. But here, the water level is also low and reading just three inches on the Aberlour gauge.
Over on the Findhorn it's been the same old story with insufficient rainfall to keep levels sustained for any period of time. I was fishing with Simon and Susie Race from Hertfordshire in late August at Logie, when we witnessed the most astonishing spate, which came roaring past us on the morning of the 24th. It really was quite spectacular as the river rose by some five feet in just over ten minutes!
We had very little rainfall the previous day but this had obviously fallen as heavy rain way up in the head waters in the Monadhliath Mountains. Unfortunately, after such a long spell of dry weather the water was filthy dirty and, therefore impossible to fish for that day; and even the next few days the water quality was really very poor and the fish were reluctant to come to the fly for a while.
However, we managed to land five fish during their stay, including a bright silver grilse to the rod of Owen Williams from Wales; this fish being caught in the tail of the Slates pool on Relugas, which considering the conditions was a very good result.
The following week I was up on Glenferness with my regular autumn group staying at the Wooden House on the Estate. The week started up with levels at around the 1 foot mark after some rain on the Sunday. There was certainly no shortage of fish being seen on all beats, but it was a little frustrating once again with fish just pulling and tweaking at the fly. It was Graham Bruce-Gardner who started the ball rolling with a big hen fish of 12lbs being safely returned to the Garden pool on Monday evening. We kept on picking up a few fish each day, with newcomer Peter Duncan from Glasgow, landing two lovely silver grilse of about 5lbs each. One of these hooked on a stripped Sun Ray Shadow from the Hawk Stream on Church beat. Then another prolonged spell of rain on the Wednesday evening brought the river up into another big dirty five foot spate on the Thursday. The river settled and cleared by Friday and we had a good day of five salmon landed and another three lost, thus bringing a total of eleven salmon/grilse for the week. Ronnie “The Rod” Sneddon took home the coveted Findhorn Challenge for his excellent result over the week. However, it was a close run competition with Graham B-G taking the runner up position. His salmon of 12lbs, the biggest, would have given him the upper edge, but sadly points were deducted for the big wind knot in his intermediate tip; and also for managing to get his Land Rover well and truly bogged down in a muddy hole by the Maharajah pool!!
The Forres Angling Association is still fishing very well and I hear that a monster of some 33-35 lbs was hooked, landed and safely released from the Meg pool, by a visiting angler from France this last week. I hear that there are still many bigger fresh fish coming in off every tide and that both local and visiting anglers are having some very good catches here. With rain forecast for this week and a much cooler feel to the atmosphere, it looks as though the fishing conditions could improve significantly for these next few weeks.
It is amazing to think that the season is only just over two weeks away from closing on the Dee, Spey and Findhorn. I am busy on both the Dee at Park and on the Findhorn at Altyre and Glenferness over these next few weeks and will be updating the Fishing News page in early October for the last report of this season.
I shall then be concentrating on my fishing bookings for the 2006 season, therefore, please do contact me as always: ian@speycaster.net for information on guided salmon fishing trips, speycasting instruction; or if you would be interested in joining any of my Lodge parties throughout the Spring, Summer or Autumn, please do email me at the above address.
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FISHING NEWS UPDATE - August 17th, 2005 - Ponoi River, Kola Peninsular, Russia, w/c August 6th, 2005
It is always such a thrill to return to my old hunting ground out on the Kola, way up above the Arctic Circle. We arrived on Saturday 6th August to be greeted with so many smiling faces of my old friends as our helicopter landed at Ryabaga camp. It was also much warmer than the weather back in Murmansk and the river was running at an unusually higher level than normal for August. After a great first evening of sport on the Home pool, my group of ten rods, were all feeling very optimistic for the week ahead.
By the following morning, it was cloudy and much cooler and we thought that the summer had ended as we set off upstream that morning to our beat on Kolovai. Indeed, Ronnie Sneddon, who is my fishing partner, and I both enjoyed our day with Jamie Hammond; and we managed to land 10 salmon for the day, with a real big old lunker of 18 lbs to my own rod taken on a Sunray Shadow.
The following day was also cool, wet and very windy for most of the day and I was slightly fearful of another rise in water levels, which we really did not need at this point. By the Tuesday, the weather changed once again and this took us all by surprise as we awoke to find cloudless skies. The onset of a Tundra heat wave had established itself right over us lasting for the next three days! After the earlier rain at the beginning of the week, we also now had to contend with a slightly higher and much dirtier river. As air temperature soared into the high 80’s F, the water temperatures also climbed into high 60’s F and the fishing became somewhat slower on all beats.
The long awaited Fall run of salmon was also a little late, despite the fact that we were all catching our fair share of shining bright summer run salmon and grilse. It was first time salmon angler, Eileen Walker from England, who managed to catch the first genuine Fall run salmon of some 12lbs fishing on Tomba beat later in the week. A small group of guides went down to explore and test fish the lower river beats at Brevyeni. They came back a couple of days later with reports of good numbers of these Fall run fish being seen running through and also enjoying some sport by hooking several of these lovely fresh salmon of up to sixteen pounds.
By the Friday, the weather reverted once more to a warm, muggy and rain filled day with hardly a breath of wind. However, the group, as always, enjoyed a splendid week of superb hospitality provided by the all of the staff and guides at the Ryabaga camp. I would like to thank Will Cassella and Sarah Boulton for doing such a splendid job of overseeing the management of this splendid wilderness location.
The group, which included some three novices, ended the week with a respectable total of 151 salmon and grilse; and I would say that considering that even though we experienced some rather unusually difficult fishing conditions, was a very good result. If anyone would like information on my 2006 party leaving for Ryabaga camp on August 4th, please do contact me for details.
It is always wonderful to return home, of course, and I am now preparing to get ready for the last six weeks of our own season here in Scotland. As I write this report, I am pleased to say that it has been pouring with rain all day, therefore, conditions for my clients fishing on the Altyre and Logie beats of the Findhorn over the next ten days should be perfect.
Indeed, I was on the Forres AA only yesterday with a group of four novices and they managed to land two lovely fresh fat grilse of around the 5lb mark. I was really heartened to see so many salmon and grilse showing in all of these lower Findhorn pools throughout the day.
I am now fully booked right up to September 30th, which is when our season comes to a close in this part of the Highlands of Scotland. However, if anyone would like information for guided fishing trips, Spey casting instruction or lodge party holidays for the 2006 season, on either Spey, Dee or Findhorn rivers, then please do contact me as always: ian@speycaster.net.
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FISHING NEWS UPDATE - July 16th, 2005
These last few weeks have been a little on the dry side in this part of the Scottish Highlands, therefore, the fishing conditions have not really been ideal at all. However, I am pleased to report that the grilse runs arrived on the Findhorn right on time in late June.
The week commencing July 4th began quite cool and with the promise of rain I was very optimistic of our chances with my fishing groups on the Altyre beat of the lower Findhorn. The rain clouds circled overhead and just teased us through the early part of the week; although, the river did actually rise by some 6” on the 6th after some heavy rain fell high up in the hills above Coignafearn.
Despite the shortage of water, there was certainly no shortage of fresh grilse and summer salmon running off every high tide through the Forres Angling club water; and these fish didn’t take long to reach us just above the town.
Most of the pools on the Upper beat were stuffed with fish and it was Oliver Greaves from Yorkshire who saw some action with a fish lost in Pallamore Island and then another hooked and landed the following morning, again from the Pallamore Island pool. This was a lovely sea liced grilse of 4lbs and his first ever salmon. Then on the 6th July, it was John Clark from Derbyshire who took another grilse from the Roehillock pool on a size 12 silver stoat.
Later in the week, we were joined by the Silverwood Partnership from Bath, who were up to enjoy some of our fine links golf courses and to combine this with a spot of salmon fishing and the best of hospitality and great cooking at Dallas Lodge! The weather changed quite dramatically with cloudless skies and very warm sunshine, not quite ideal for salmon fishing. However, Des Dunlop caught his first ever salmon on fly, this another sea liced grilse of just under 5lbs from the Rock stream on the Upper beat taken on a 2” Sunray Shadow fished fast over the surface. On the 9th July, John Rippin was unlucky not to land either of the 2 fish hooked in the Roehillock pool, again on a Sunray Shadow.
I hear from Sandy McLachlan that the Forres Angling Association water has been fishing well these last few weeks, despite the low water conditions, with good numbers of grilse running through; and visiting anglers have been doing well here. He said that they have been averaging around 20 fish per week which is indeed encouraging in these conditions. I gather that there are also some big numbers of salmon and grilse waiting to run just off the tidal pools, so if we do finally get a rise in water levels this coming week, there will be good sport to be had for everyone!
It appears that the Dee and the Spey are also suffering from a lack of water over these last few weeks and fishing on most beats has been generally on the slow side, although there are sporadic runs of grilse and salmon to be caught. I was over at Park on the Dee earlier this week and the gauge was just below 5”. Fishing with small sparsely tied flies of #12 in the streamy head runs, seems to be the best approach for the grilse at this time. I have been hearing reports of large numbers of salmon and grilse waiting out of Spey Bay this last week. The weather forecast looks set to change this coming week with cooler and wetter weather coming our way. So, if we do get this much needed rain and a lift in levels, then we could well see some great sport on all of our rivers over the next week or so. My annual Ponoi fishing trip is just a couple of weeks away and as always my group is getting excited at the prospects of some good sport on the Kola Peninsular in Russia. I will be updating with a full report on this and all the news of fishing here in the Highlands as usual. Good fishing to everyone and please do contact me: ian@speycaster.net for any enquiries on speycasting instruction or guided fishing trips on the Spey, Dee or Findhorn rivers.
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FISHING NEWS UPDATE - June 19th, 2005
In my latest update, I did happen to mention that it was still pouring and that I was going up to Glenferness on the 16th, well….. the river was up by over two feet and looking absolutely perfect for fishing. It was a cloudy and warmish day and the water started to slowly fall away, with excellent clarity. First time down through the Lady’s pool and bang, hooked a fish which didn’t stay on for long. However, I had seen quite a number of fish running through the pool, so it was looking promising. Moved on down to Secret Spot, which looked a little high, but again first time down and into another fish. This one stayed on and a little coloured at around 7lbs, taken on a small micro PP cone head, Humus, on a sink tip line. I moved on down to the Island and again I saw plenty of fish showing and running. I moved a fish to the fly, but it didn’t take the fly properly. I worked my way down to the Island Stream and here again; I saw good numbers of salmon in the pool. In high water the tail is excellent and so it proved to be as I hooked another two big fish here of 15 lbs. and fresh, the other around 12 lbs. and a little on the dark side. Both fish taken on a small Orjok bottle brass tube fly.
The Maharajah pool was looking superb and the water level just slightly over the square rock. I saw fish head and tailing close to our bank, but this time I drew a blank! After lunch I decided to try the Island pool once again and there seemed to be even more fish showing from the neck right down to the tail. This was really so exciting to see at this time of year, too. The fly was fishing perfectly and just where I was expecting a take, bang another cracking fish of around 10 lbs. was hooked. A little later on and fishing down from the neck of the pool, where I had seen so many fish showing, I hooked and beached another two silver fresh salmon of around 10 and 12lbs. each and then losing another shortly after. These again taken on a Poly leader fast sink tip and small brass tubes. All fish were safely released back to the river to continue their journey on upstream and to the spawning redds later in the season.
This is a perfect example of how good the Findhorn salmon fishing can be on its’ day, with these wonderful multi sea winter salmon still running hard. Yet again, 2006 is proving to be another memorable salmon fishing season here in the Highlands of Scotland, with Spey, Dee and Findhorn showing that Atlantic Salmon fishing in Scotland is alive and well!
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FISHING NEWS UPDATE - June 16th, 2005
Since my last update the runs of spring salmon have been improving right through the middle of May and into the middle of June on all three of our main salmon rivers in this part of the Highlands. Conditions have generally been ideal despite some really cold spells, with lashings of rain, sleet, hail and snow from time to time! Therefore, the river levels have been up and down throughout these last four weeks keeping water heights topped up and allowing all these fresh, multi sea winter salmon to move through the beats.
I was back over on Park from May 23rd-25th with the Peter Rippin party, which included several of my old Ponoi friends, including Simon Jones, Peter Greig, Patrick Hargreave and Anthony Luke. It was yet another manic Monday as the water level began to rise up to 28” on the Park gauge and really became very dirty. The fish were few and far between needless to say, however it was birthday boy, Peter Rippin who managed to hook and land a really fabulous sea liced 15 pounder from the Cellar pool later in the afternoon, on a somewhat garish Mad Max tube fly!
By the 24th the water was falling back very slowly and beginning to clear, very slowly! Peter Greig was soon into action on Castleton pool, with a lovely 9lb. sea liced salmon, on a #6 Orange double. Simon Jones had some good sport during the day with a 4lb. grilse from the Ash Tree and two sea trout from Upper Kirks. Peter Rippin also caught a 3lb. sea trout from Castleton after lunch. Later on the afternoon, it was Patrick Hargreaves’ turn and he landed a cracking fish of 14lbs. from The Durris Stream on a #10 silver stoat.
Later on in the evening, Peter R. stirred up a fish on a Sunray Shadow, which was briefly hooked and gone, just above the Ash Tree! By the 25th, the water was falling a little, but the colour was still very peaty which is not ideal for Dee fishing. Peter Greig managed another fresh salmon of 9lbs. from The Cellar just before lunch. Peter R. hooked and lost yet another from the Lower Kirks.
As we moved into the last few days of May, the weather remained very unsettled or actually perfect for fishing back on the Findhorn! I was back on Glenferness for Monday 30th and after a very wet weekend the river level was up by 2’6” and looking superb on Mini Daltra beat. Fishing with me was Lady Barbara, visiting from New York and hoping to catch her first Scottish Atlantic salmon.
We saw good numbers of fish showing and running in the Lady’s pool and Island pool. She finally achieved success with a cracking fresh 11lb. salmon from the Maharajah pool on a PP cone head tube fly. Conditions were ideal and the water fell back slowly. Then later on in the afternoon I hooked and lost a fish in the Lady’s pool, followed quickly with another pull, which resulted in a lovely deep fish of 12lbs, yet again on a Par Palm cone head tube.
I hear that most beats including the Forres AA have been enjoying great sport throughout these last few weeks, as water levels remain high. Over on the Spey it is also very good news with some really large runs of spring salmon. Last week there was a report of a huge fish being landed and returned from a beat near Grantown on Spey. The fish was measured at 47” which would put this monster at approximately 35lbs. Grantown water landed seventeen fish for the week.
The middle to lower beats are all enjoying great sport and I hear that the Knockando beats landed over thirty salmon last week, including a 21lb salmon from Lower Pitchroy. Carron also enjoyed a really super week of twenty-one salmon landed with an average weight of over 10lbs. Alan Williams had a terrific Tuesday morning with three fresh fish of 12, 14 and 15 lbs. from the Griggle pools. Two of these fish being hooked in successive casts! Wester Elchies had a wonderful Friday with seven salmon being caught with one of the rods taking three including a 21 pounder. I understand that the total catch for the river up to the end of April is 840, slightly behind the total of 1100 for the same period in 2004. I suspect that with the recent catches of late the figures should improve to the end of May. All in all, the picture is looking really good again this season and another great spring run has been recorded on all of these three rivers. Looking out of my window as I write this report it is simply pouring yet again and I shall be looking forward to a few days back up on Glenferness, Findhorn River to finish the week. It is hard to believe that we are already over half way through the season and it will not long before we see our first runs of grilse appearing, plus the larger summer run salmon over the next three months.
Please do contact me as always: ian@speycaster.net if you would like to join me for Spey casting instruction/ guiding or if you would like to have information on any forthcoming fishing lodge parties up to the end of the season. May I wish everyone a really wonderful summer of salmon fishing and look forward to hearing from you.
FISHING NEWS UPDATE - May 15th, 2005
The weather continued to throw just about everything at us all the way through late April and into early May! I was back at Park on the River Dee for a few days, April 18th – 20th with the Jim Ruddy party, consisting of Hugh Davies, Roger Head and Andy Weaver from south of the border. It was lashing down with rain as I headed over the hills and into Deeside that Monday morning. It had been raining hard throughout the Sunday also; and so it was no big surprise when the water began to rise shortly after 9:00 a.m. that morning. However, it certainly was a surprise to watch the river rising so quickly and dramatically. Within an hour of our arrival, the river rose by over 2 feet and continued to rise all morning and becoming a filthy dirty brown. All we could do was watch, as the river went into a full blown spate and rose by some 7 feet over the course of the day. It was an amazing sight to see so many huge trees and even the odd sheep being washed downstream! Luckily, my guests had brought some good supplies of first class claret and so even though the fishing was concluded we could at least drown our sorrows in style.
By the 19th the river was falling back and clearing a little. The Park gauge started the day at 62 inches and fell back to a respectable 42 inches over the day and clearing nicely. In fact, it was Andy Weaver who made contact first with a large fish in the Upper Kirks just before lunch; fishing a sink tip line and #6 copper Ally. He played the fish for a long time and just as he was about to beach the fish, the hook suddenly pulled out right in front of me. This was a real shame in view of the circumstances, but at least we got a good look at this fish which was about 14lbs, just before its early release! By the 20th, the water level had fallen back to 36 inches and clarity was very good. The water temperature was 42º F and the air temperature rose to a balmy 56º F. Optimism was high as they made their way to the beats. Just after 9:30 a.m., Hugh Davies hooked and landed the first fish of 8lbs. from the House Pool on a sink tip and a 1” purple cascade tube fly.
Then it was Jim Ruddy who hooked and landed a lovely sea liced salmon of 12lbs. from the Upper Kirks on a #6 copper Ally, followed by another deep fresh fish of around 13lbs. soon after. I took Roger down to Bakebare pool and he soon connected with another cracking fish of around 8lbs., this again on the 1” purple cascade tube. It was a glorious warm spring day and lunch was a delicious barbecue of local sirloin steak, salad and fresh crusty bread, all served with a glass of fine wine. After such a morning of great sport, who could ask for more! However, the day was not over and shortly after 3:00 p.m., Jim managed to make it number 3 for his day with another sea liced salmon of around 12lbs; this one was caught in Castleton pool on a #6 Ally. The other rod, Monsieur Chevalier from France, also hooked and landed another fish of around 10lbs. from the House pool in the afternoon. This was indeed a red letter day, with some wonderful sport for everyone fishing at Park that day; and in accordance with Dee regulations all fish were safely released to the river.
For the rest of the week I was back on the Findhorn at Altyre with David Clark, Roger Pardoe, Ronnie Sneddon and Graham Bruce-Gardner, who had decided on a few days on the lower Findhorn prior to their annual weeks’ stay at Dallas Lodge.
Unfortunately, all of the earlier heavy rain had seemingly missed the Findhorn catchments and, therefore, the river was looking a little lower than normal for this time of year. However I was still hopeful of finding a fish for them somewhere. The weather remained dry with a chilly SE wind. The water was very clear and a temperature of 42º F. On the 22nd, David Clark caught a fresh sea liced salmon of 12lbs. from the Soldier’s Hole on the upper beat. The next day, 23rd April, it was Ronnie Sneddon who caught another bar of silver from Pallamore pool on a #8 Ronnie Munro variant! As we progressed into the week commencing the 25th April, the weather remained dry until the 27th, then the rains began to fall. Despite the low water conditions, there were fish in most beats, but the few that were hooked all managed to come off. By the 28th the river had risen some 3 inches and it was Roger Pardoe who hooked and landed a fish of some 10lbs. from the Upper Streenoch on the Levrattich beat at Glenferness. The weather remained unsettled for several days and the river was up by 1 foot and looking very fishable. Roger managed to land yet another fish on the 30th, this one again around 10lbs. and from the Hawk Stream, Church beat, Glenferness. This was enough to ensure that Roger was a winner of the coveted Avon trophy for two years running. It was a difficult week and despite the tricky conditions another 6 salmon had been hooked and lost.
The week commencing May 1st saw the arrival of my good American friends the Warren’s and Clough’s from Bangor, Maine, who have been coming to fish with me at Glenferness and stay at Dallas Lodge for five years now. The weather remained very unsettled for most of the week with heavy rain showers falling, which gave the river another big lift of water and by May 4th was back up over one foot and good clarity. We saw fish running through the Mini Daltra beat all morning. Beth Warren pulled a fish in the Lady’s pool. Rick Warren got a pull off a fish in secret spot and then I hooked and landed a fresh fish of about 9lbs. on a #8 purple cascade, again in secret spot!
On the 6th May it was Robert Clough being ably guided by Mike, who hooked and landed a lovely sea liced salmon of around 11lbs. from the Pulpit on the Altnahara beat just before lunch. The river remained in excellent order for the rest of the week falling and rising, but despite the initial run of fish, it was very patchy with sporadic runs of fish coming through. Our friends had to leave on the morning of Saturday 7th and, therefore, Mike and I went down to fish for ourselves after lunch. The river was running high and up by some 1ft 6 inches when we arrived. I decided we should start at the top of the beat on the Princess pool and sure enough within 3 casts Mike was into his first salmon.
This fish was all over the pool, running and leaping and finally beached and returned a lovely silver fish of around 9lbs. This was taken on a small PP cone head, Humus, fished on a sink tip line.
The following week commencing May 9th started off with a bang and fishing on the Mini Daltra beat, the river was up by some 2 feet and looking just perfect for this high water beat. As I fished through the Island pool first time, I hooked and landed a brown trout of some 2lbs. on a PP cone head. Just before lunch, as I was fishing through the Maharajah’s pool, I got a pull off a fish and then saw another splash as it entered the tail of the pool. As I went back through the pool for a second time and in exactly the same lie I hooked into a really fresh salmon of around 9lbs; this again on the small PP cone head on a sink tip line. A little later on, I hooked into another fish and lost it going back through the Island pool. I had also started to see several fish running through the beat. I decided to finish up on the Garden pool and first time down hooked and returned number two. This was a fish of around 7lbs., which had been in the river a little while and had also encountered another angler; as I removed not only my purple cascade but another fly, a Munro pattern, #6 double, trailing a long length of leader which looked as though it had been cleanly broken! The fish was easily released and shot off back into the river none the worse for its double encounter. The weather then changed over the next few days with a return to warm and very sunny. Despite good water conditions for several days, the fishing was a little slow with few fish seen. My friends Malcolm Newbould and Graham Ritchie enjoyed a great day of sport on the Upper Dounduff beat on Monday 9th, as well. They landed some six sea liced salmon, all around the 10-12lb. mark, and lost another two between them through the day, so it would appear that there are still runs of spring salmon coming through. I am back over on the Dee at Park and Crathes for several days this week and back on the Findhorn later on with some more keen American Speycasting clients. I hear that the Dee has been fishing very well this last week or so, and hope to be able to put my clients into some good fresh spring salmon over this next week.
I have just had a cancellation for the w/c August 28th fishing Glenferness Estate with accommodation at The Wooden House for 1 rod. So if anyone is interested in joining our group for this week, or any other openings through the summer, please do contact me for further information: ian@speycaster.net
FISHING NEWS UPDATE - April 18th, 2005
It has been a wild and windy few weeks up here in the Scottish Highlands, with a real plateful of everything from rain, sleet, hail, snow and gales! However, the last few days of March were actually very pleasant and we enjoyed some great fishing at Delfur on the river Spey.
I was delighted to see my very good friend, Bill Currie, land a sea liced beauty of 11 lbs from the Collie Pool on March 31st; fishing a sink tip line and a #6 double cascade. Don Milne from Aberdeen also hooked and landed a fresh salmon of 12 lbs from Two Stones pool. The water level was really ideal at -6 inches on the gauge and good water clarity. It was also a mild spring day with the water temperature at a perfect 44 degrees F. Little did we realise what was awaiting us a few days later!
It is interesting to note that some very large salmon have been running these last few weeks. Willie Mair from Portsoy hooked and landed an absolute corker of 20 lbs from Two Stones (Twa Stanes) pool on April 1st at Delfur. Another guest was also rewarded with a hefty 17 pounder from Sourden pool the same morning.
My friend, Malcolm Newbould, the notorious green fingered champion rose grower of Banff, and his guests also enjoyed a momentous day a week later on April 9th; with a total of 11 salmon between them from 7 lb to 20 lbs.
Many Spey beats are just ticking away now with no real records being broken at the moment, although fish are pushing on through up to the middle and upper beats. I hear that Grantown on Spey had a good week with 15 salmon landed. May is usually the prime Spring month here and so let us hope for the spring run to keep on building in numbers.
Meanwhile, over on the Dee the spring run has also been in full swing; even though the weather conditions have been somewhat challenging with strong and biting cold winds of which to contend. From April 4th-7th, I was guiding Bill and Helen Pounds from Boston, USA, who are both keen and dedicated speycasters. This was really one of the windiest and coldest April weeks that I can remember in a long while. Despite getting several offers to the Sunray shadow and then losing a good fish in Upper Kirks on a Cascade, it was not to be for either of them this time. Air temperatures barely lifted from the low 40’s F. and by the end of the week water temperature had fallen from 47 degrees F. to 39 degrees F. It was a really tough week for all beats and to top it all off, I drove back home on the Thursday evening through a complete white out of a blizzard. I was indeed thankful to arrive home safely where in front of my fire I could relax with a very large dram of Balvenie Doublewood!
It was, therefore, only to be expected that as the week end became somewhat milder, a sudden thaw brought the rivers up and into another snow melt spate.
Over on my own home river of the Findhorn, I hear that salmon are being caught a long way above the Poolie Falls up at Lethen and beyond, although fishing pressure has been very light so far. However, this is a good indicator of warmer water temperatures and should be very promising for all of the middle and upper beats over the next few weeks to come.
This last week I was guiding some regular clients of mine at the delightful lower Findhorn beat on Altyre. Monday 11th was really hard going with high snow melt water conditions and very dirty water all day. It was only later on in the day as the water cleared slightly, when Paul Humphries from Norfolk hooked briefly into a salmon on the Roehillock pool, which soon parted company.
By Tuesday 12th, the water had risen somewhat but looking much clearer. It was, however, still very cold and windy, with the water temperature at just 42 degrees F. Paul Humphries pulled another fish in Roehillock in the morning. Then fishing on in the evening with Nick Armstead, I hooked into a lovely sea liced salmon of 9lbs in the Soldier’s Hole; this on a 1 inch PP cone head tube fly. Nick lost another fish from Roehillock just before we decided to call it a day.
By Wednesday 13th, the water was still holding well, but it was feeling much milder and with less wind. It was heart warming to see Simon Lewin hook and land his first ever spring salmon, this a 7 lb fish covered in long tailed sea lice from Pallamore pool on a # 6 purple Cascade.
Later on in the afternoon, he landed another sea liced fish of 9 lbs from the Soldier’s Hole on the same fly. This was indeed a red letter day for Simon who has been learning and improving his speycasting technique with me and he is now truly on the way to becoming a very good speycaster and salmon fisher.
On Thursday 14th I was joined by Lady Grant and Alasdair Milne from London for their first Spring outing of 2005. Despite it remaining cold and windy, the water conditions were perfect. Therefore, it was no surprise when Judy landed her first salmon of 10 lbs from Pallamore pool on a # 6 Cascade just before lunch.
She was also rewarded with another cracking salmon of 12 lbs, on Friday 15th, this was again landed in Pallamore pool, again just before lunch time. By the 16th with some heavy overnight rain the river had risen by about 4 inches and had become quite dirty again, so it was really no surprise that any fish were taken that day.
I hear that my Swedish friend Par Palm, who was fishing with a party of fellow Swedes ended up on a good note with some 20 salmon landed at Park for the week. Considering the conditions of late this was a really great result.
I am just getting ready to descend on Park again this week with a large party from south of the Border, and it looks like another unsettled period of weather in store for the first 3 days at least! I shall be updating as always in about another 3 weeks time with more news and stories from Spey, Dee and Findhorn rivers.
I am now fully booked for August and September. However, there are some available days still open for guided fishing or speycasting instruction with me through June and July. There are a few spaces open for the ultimate salmon fishing experience on the Ponoi River in the Kola Peninsular, Russia, for the week commencing August 6th 2005. Please contact me as always, ian@speycaster.net for dates and information.
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FISHING NEWS UPDATE - March 27th, 2005
Since my last report, it has been an interesting period of fishing on our Highland rivers and I am delighted to say that the Spring run is now in full flow on the Dee, Spey and Findhorn. The early part of March gave us a prolonged spell of freezing cold weather and lashings of snow up high on the hills.
During the week commencing March 7th, I was guiding a regular client, Robert Booth from Cambridge, who travels North every March for his spring outing. We were fishing as always at Invery and Upper Crathes beat on the Dee. There were already signs of the weather starting to change and over the three days, the river had risen by over one foot as some residual snow began to melt off slowly. However, the water clarity remained good and fishing conditions were really perfect. Robert was soon rewarded with a fine spring salmon on the morning of the 7th, 8lbs. from the Signal Pool. He hooked and lost another fresh fish on the 8th in the Pantich pool.
The weather changed by the 9th March with heavy rain falling during the afternoon and evening and, thus, bringing the river levels higher by the 10th March. We were back on the Spey at Delfur for the 11th, but the river was running high at +16 inches. It was a biting and raw cold day and even the kelts were hard to come by! It remained bitterly cold for the rest of the week; however, the conditions ensured that the river levels began to fall away again and, therefore, as we went into the week commencing March 14th, the river level at Park on the Dee was just hovering on the 18 inch mark. It was still bitterly cold and my client, Mike Powell, from London managed to land three well mended kelts throughout the day. The water temperature was just above freezing and the air temperature barely lifted above freezing all day; so it was understandable that there was very little other activity to be seen.
The weather people were now telling us that spring was on the way and that temperatures were going to lift by the week end and my goodness didn’t they get it right this time! On Tuesday 15th it was certainly much milder and brighter, with an air temperature of 46 degrees F. and the water temperature had risen to 38 degrees F. The water level was showing 20 inches on the Park gauge and fish were showing in most of the pools. By mid morning, I took Mike down to the Keith pool on beat 6 and he was also rewarded with a cracking sea liced salmon of 10lbs, taken on a 1 inch aluminium black, blue and silver tube fly on a type 3 sink tip. By the next morning, with air temperatures soaring, the river started to rise very quickly as the snow high above us began to melt. By mid morning, it was totally un-fishable and had risen by over five feet and just so dirty.
We sat outside in shirt sleeves during lunchtime, drinking some fine wine and watching the levels continue to rise, before we decided to abandon the day! All rivers remained un-fishable for the next few days as the snow continued to melt away off the Cairngorm and Grampian mountains.
It was now a question of being patient. By Monday, 21st March, I was back on the Findhorn river at Altyre. Conditions were just perfect and the water clarity was excellent. I had already heard of some large fish being caught on the opposite bank at Darnaway in early March. I hooked and lost a fresh fish in the Roan pool on the lower beat; and one of the other rods fishing that day hooked and returned a big fish of over 18lbs, taken on the upper beat. On Tuesday 22nd, I was fishing with my good friend, Nick Armstead, from Edinburgh back on Altyre. This was his first visit to the Findhorn and a day he will surely remember; landing and releasing two absolute corkers of 9lb and 12lb taken on the Upper beat. He was fishing a type 3 sink tip and a 1 inch brass tube. He also pulled another two fish later on in the afternoon whilst fishing on the lower beat. The day was really perfect with a warm Westerly breeze and the water temperature now up to 46 degrees F. It surely will not be long before these spring salmon start to move up through the Poolie Falls at Sluie and into the middle and upper beats.
I have also heard of some other big spring salmon being caught on the Forres AA water this last week. Local lady, Patsy Grant, hooked and landed a monster of just under 22lbs from the Red Craig pool. I also hear that there have been others taken over the last few weeks ranging from 8lb to 17lbs. It is always amazing that this smaller river can see such runs of large multi sea winter salmon.
Finally it was a pleasure to be back on the Spey at Delfur this last Thursday 24th March. Conditions here were also perfect with good clarity and the water was running at +6 inches falling to +4 inches over the day. Willie Mair, assisted by head ghillie Ronnie Low, landed a lovely fresh fish of 8lbs in the Collie pool, by mid morning. Then it was the turn of Malcolm (GB) Newbould from Banff, who hooked and released the first fish from the Bridge pool of about 7lbs. Just before lunch, I was fishing on Sourden pool and hooked and then lost a fresh fish right at our feet of about 10lbs! The afternoon was fairly quiet, although the other rods were seeing fresh fish running through from Collie to Sourden pools. It was a perfect spring evening and so we decided to fish on. At last my week was redeemed with a lovely deep fresh cock fish of 12lbs, again taken on the Sourden pool. This was on a sink tip line, type 3 and a Per Palm, 1 inch, cone head tube, black and green. It certainly appears that after the big snow melt flood, there are good runs of fresh fish pushing on upstream and I am hearing of good catches on all of these lower to middle beats. Willie Mair was at Delfur again today, 26th March. He called me to say that he had just hooked and released a huge fish of 20lbs from the twa’ stanes (two stones) pool before lunch. This fish was also on a PP cone head special. This means that Willie is now a member of the elite Delfur badge club, awarded for any salmon of 20lbs and over! Another guest, fishing on Sourden hooked and released another salmon of 17lbs in the morning.
It is looking very promising for the next fishing week as the runs of spring salmon continue to build on all of our three rivers in this part of the Highlands. We are now entering prime spring fishing time here and I have a feeling that the results over the next few weeks will be really good. I am fishing with clients on Dee, Spey and Findhorn over the next few weeks; and as always, I will be updating the Fishing News page with all the latest information. If you are interested in fishing with me, I have some June, July, and September availabilities. Please contact me at ian@speycaster.net
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FISHING NEWS UPDATE - March 7th, 2005
As the Winter weather continues to take a hold here in North East Scotland, the salmon fishing on the Dee and Spey also continues show results. Keith Cromar, head ghillie at Park was delighted to report a total of 28 Spring salmon off the beat for February, with 16 0ff the North bank and 12 off the South bank. Last Monday they reported a total of 6 fresh fish taken off both banks, which is truly encouraging.
I was back there with some friends of mine last Thursday, 24th February and I was lucky enough to pick up another sea liced 12 pounder, this one from The House Pool, on a type 3 sink tip and another P.Palm cone head tube, black and silver with a lime head. The water was gin clear and 12” on the Park guage and hovering just over the 32 degrees F.mark! There was also a monster salmon of over 30lbs taken at Crathes last Thursday, I believe it was measured at 44 inches. This is a really huge Spring salmon.
I also hear that the Spey is ticking along nicely with at least 50 fresh Springers landed in February, from Grantown area to the Brae water beats at Fochabers. We enjoyed our first day back on Delfur this last Thursday, March 3rd. Again it was bitterly cold but at least it was a dry and bright day with little wind! Even the kelts were not easy to find,but the well known, hardened and over wintered, Malcolm Newbould, managed to hook and land a lovely 8lb Spring salmon from Twa Stanes pool, later in the afternoon.
Nick Armstead from Edinburgh was unlucky to lose a fresh fish right at the net up on Sourden Pool. The conditions are really ideal for this time of year and it may well be that the extreme cold water temperatures are slowing the fish down, hence the lower beats on both of these rivers are getting better results. At the moment I have heard of 3 fresh salmon taken on the Findhorn over this last wekk, these I believe, were 18, 16 and 12lbs and were caught on the Darnaway beats, of the Lower Findhorn.
Looking out of my window right now and the snow continues to fall and it looks as though this cold weather is set to stay with us for a while yet. Prospects for March look very promising at the moment, as long as we don't suddenly get a very mild spell, which could give us a huge snow melt flood!
I still have some availability for guided fishing and speycasting instruction through the months of June and July on the Rivers Dee, Findhorn and Avon. If anyone is interested in booking a few days with me, please do contact me as always, ian@speycaster.net
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FISHING NEWS UPDATE - February 18th, 2005
The Rivers Spey and Findhorn opened on the 11th February and the usual opening ceremony was conducted at Aberlour to see in the new season on Speyside. It was a cold, but reasonably bright day and spirits were high in the hope of another great fishing season here on the River Spey. I heard of at least five fresh salmon being caught on the first day from Knockando, Aberlour, Orton and Brae water beats. I hear that Ian Smith from Cromdale, landed the first salmon of the season with a lovely fresh Spring fish of 9lbs, which earned him the coveted Spey Quaich, a bottle of 30 year old Glenfarclas malt whisky and a Walkers’ hamper! This was one of two landed during the day, off the Brae water on a 2” Willie Gunn tube fly and Ian was ably assisted by Colin Reid who is head ghillie on the Brae water beats.
The biggest salmon landed on the day was caught by Sandy Smith, who is the ghillie on the Phones beat, at Knockando. This salmon weighed a cool 14 lbs! Sandy has been ghillie at Knockando for 36 years now. He also, was rewarded with a warming bottle of Glenfarclas single malt and a Walkers’ hamper. I fished on the Findhorn on the second day of the season which was extremely cold and wet and sadly nothing to report from here as yet, however, I am quite certain that it will not be too long before I hear reports of the first fish being caught here.
Over on the Dee several beats are still picking away with fresh fish being caught up as far as Ballogie. Indeed, I hear that a salmon of 23 lbs was landed at Kincardine O’Neil, covered in long tailed sea lice! From what I gather though most of the beats are, as always in February, being very lightly fished.
I was over on Park this last Thursday with two of my friends. It was a glorious day, sunny and very mild and hardly a breath of wind. The water temperature was a cool 36 degrees F. We all managed to hook into several well mended kelts and also hooked two fresh sea liced fish. Nick Evans from Huntingdon landed a lovely fish from the cellar before lunch, weighing 7lbs and taken on an Ally's brass tube fly. The river rose a little during the morning from snow melt in the hills above and then settled at 21” on the Park gauge and with perfect clarity. At 3:45 p.m. I was also rewarded with an absolute cracker of 12 lbs and covered in sea lice. This fish was caught in Bakebare on a 1” Par Palm cone head tube fly and was my first fresh salmon of the season. What a day!
The river is up again today to 27” from more snow melt. However, it looks quite unsettled over this next week and the weather forecasters are predicting some very cold weather and more snow to come our way, which is really perfect. We need the snow up in the hills to give us a good supply of snow melt water over these next few months to keep the river level at a steady height. Also the colder the water, the slower the fish are inclined to run upstream.
So far, the season looks set to be another good year for us lucky anglers in this beautiful part of the Highlands of Scotland.
I still have some availability for guided fishing and speycasting instruction through the months of June and July on the Rivers Dee, Findhorn and Avon. If anyone is interested in booking a few days with me, please do contact me as always, ian@speycaster.net
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Opening Day at Park on the River Dee, February 1st, 2005
Another winter season closes in the fishing World for us lucky anglers as the new season opens on the River Dee. I met up with my usual gang of friends for this important annual event at Park Estate on the Dee last Tuesday morning. It was an amazingly mild morning for this time of year and for once not a sign of snow or frost on the ground! The river had risen over night from 21” to 37” on the Park gauge after heavy rain through the previous day. However, it was gin clear and as we tackled up it became obvious that there was no shortage of salmon in the river. They were in good leaping mode and it was just a question of getting a fly put across these fish before the action began!
Everyone connected with fish almost immediately and needless to say there were many kelts being hooked and most of these fish were in extremely good clean condition. The river was still rising to 42” by mid morning before it levelled off, however the clarity was superb. At just on 11:00 a.m. Ronnie Sneddon connected with a hard fighting fish and this indeed turned out to be a cracking fresh Spring salmon of 9lbs, an absolute beauty. Ronnie was fishing a type 3 sink tip on a Rio Mid Spey line and one of his own black and orange bottle brass tube flies. Keith Cromar, the Park ghillie, was soon on hand to net and return this first salmon of the season after a photo had been taken of captor and ghillie. Just before lunch, Malcolm Newbould, fishing the Long Pool, hooked and landed another fresh fish of around the 8lb mark. Malcolm was fishing a slow sink line and a small brass tube fly.
The day was improving all the time with the weather becoming warmer and sunnier. Lunch was enjoyed with a picnic outside and a wee celebratory dram all round! The water began to fall away a little during the afternoon. Another 10lb sea liced salmon was taken off the opposite bank from Durris Stream. A final count recorded some 40 kelts being hooked for our day on top of our tally of fresh fish. I see that many of the other middle and lower beats also enjoyed sport with these early Springers throughout the opening day. It looks like another very promising start to our fishing season on Deeside and we can only hope for a continued run of success in the weeks and months ahead.
At the moment, however, it remains mild and ideally we could do with some proper winter weather right now; along with some good dollops of snow up in the hills to keep river levels topped up throughout the forthcoming Spring months. It is still early and hopefully plenty of time left for some real winter weather to set in! February 11th sees the opening of the Rivers Spey and Findhorn, so everyone is now eagerly awaiting to cast a fly on these two rivers in the anticipation of another great fishing season here, as well. I will be, as always, updating the website with my usual fishing reports from time to time, with more stories and photos of our fishing activities in this wonderful part of the Highlands of Scotland. May I wish everyone a really wonderful season ahead and if anyone would like information on any of my guided fishing trips, Lodge parties or Speycasting instruction, please contact me: ian@speycaster.net for further details.
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