Fishing News for rivers Spey, Avon, Dee and Findhorn - 2003

Conservation will be at the forefront of many anglers minds as the 2003 season opens on Scotland's Salmon rivers. The Spey Fishery Board have introduced a firm policy for the Spey system and this has been supported by many anglers. Angling Association members at Aberlour and Speymouth have voted in favour of a full catch and release policy for all Salmon and Grilse in 2003. Full details of the Fishery Board policy can be found on the Conservation page.

Conservation policies already in place on the Rivers Dee and Tweed will obviously continue after their successful implementation over the past few years. The River Findhorn, which already has a good record with regard to catch and release, will introduce a fly only policy after the end of April. The message is clear - if we are to preserve the future of Salmon fishing in Scotland, we anglers have to take conservation issues seriously and be willing to return some of the fish we encounter back to the peaty waters.

Opening Day Report, Fishing at Park, River Dee Feb 1st 2003
The opening day dawned bright and crisp on Deeside, with the most beautiful sunny day to follow. One really couldn't imagine being anywhere else on such a wonderful day. The water height was holding at 22 inches and very clear, with a temperature of 33 degrees F. The day before had been so cold with heavy snow showers and the river had carried thick grue. Ghillie John Hearshaw was surprised to see such a difference overnight and had worried the opening day might be unfishable. My party of four were Graham Bruce-Gardner, Ronnie Sneddon, Mike Leach and myself. We were all determined to try and catch that first Salmon of the Dee season, a sea liced early Springer. Everyone fished hard on our short February day and it was certainly a great feeling to be casting a fly into the water once again. The air temperature soon climbed to over 40 degrees by mid morning and by lunchtime we were able to picnic outside by the cars, enjoying the warm winter sun. Despite our efforts we were only rewarded with some 7 well mended kelts between us. Despite not touching a fresh fish we all had enjoyed some excitement on feeling that pull of line from the reel.

Early reports tell me that there were several fresh fish taken up and down the river, including a sea liced fish of 8lbs taken on the second cast by a lucky angler on the Banchory Lodge water. The Blackhall beats did well with Lower, Upper and Little taking 3, 1 and 1 Springers, respectively. Crathes had a super fish of 15lbs. There were sightings of fresh fish in many of the lower beats which augurs well for the coming weeks. John McGinley, gillie at Kincardine O'Neill, has seen a good number of fresh fish showing in his beat whilst tending the banks pre season. There are clearly also a good head of kelts in the river so we assume that the spawning over the close season has been productive. So the Dee season is off to a good start and clearly there are numbers of Springers in all the lower beats. Don't let the weather put you off. We drove through blizzards to get into the Dee valley and yet had a delightful opening day at Park with 2 feet on the gauge and every chance of a fish.

Update 4th Feb:
The first springer was caught at Park today, a fine sea liced 7 pounder taken by Norman Matheson from the tail of Castleton. As always we will be frequently updating our fishing reports with the latest news from the Rivers Dee, Spey, Avon and Findhorn. We are now eagerly awaiting the opening of the Findhorn and Spey on February 11th.

Update 15th Feb:
The River Spey opened for fishing on Feb.11th and early reports indicate that there have been a number of Spring fish taken already, with fish taken off beats as far up as Knockando. Approx 12 fish have been caught so far. Most of these fish were returned and therefore the new Spey Fishery Board proposals on conservation are beginning to work.It's good to hear that the season has kicked off so well. We do not have any reports of fresh fish taken on the Findhorn as yet, but keep watching this space.

Update 1st March:
A sea liced salmon of 6.5 pounds was caught last saturday off the Forres Town water of the Findhorn, Red Craig pool by Sandy McClaughlan. Another big fish of 30lb mark was seen running through the town water, but not caught! The Spey continues its good early fishing with a couple of fish off the Aberlour Town water and we hear that at least one fish has been taken as far up as Grantown On Spey. The weather has been so very mild these last two weeks that the fish will run fast and hard in these unusual conditions.

I have been on the Dee at Park this week for a few days with Ewan and Debbie Anderson from London. The weather was almost tropical with bright warm days ideal for picnics! Park has now landed over 14 salmon so far. On Friday 28th Feb the water level was just 12 inches and the water temperature was an astonishing 40 degrees F. The air temp was up in the mid 50's F. Ewan took a kelt from Bakebare, but generally it was a little slow. However, news filtered downstrean to us of fish being caught just above at Crathes. It turns out that on Friday 28th, they caught and returned 9 Spring salmon for the day. Six of these were taken by one rod, who also lost another 2!! This shows a big run of fish going through very quickly, taking advantage of the mild conditions. There was a huge downpour of rain on Friday night and by Saturday morning the level was up to 28 inches, clear and rising. The rain must have washed off the snow from the hills above us. The level continued rising all day peaking at 50 inches by lunchtime, a rise of 3 feet! The water, however, remained clear all day. I really thought we would get a fish from Park Inn, especially as the rod below us took 2 Springers from the Long Pool. Things are hotting up-watch this space.

Update 23rd March:
As we move into the last few weeks of March, the Spring run is now beginning to gain pace and all three of our main rivers in this area are having sport. The last two weeks have seen record breaking weather patterns in this area with average daytime temperatures reaching into the high 60 degrees F and water temperatures on the Dee already in the mid 40s F. So, I write this report with rivers running at summer level and we are in need of rainfall as we move towards April to encourage further runs of Salmon. There is very little snow in the hills so rain is much needed.

I understand the Spey river system has seen over one hundred Salmon landed so far with at least 90 of these being returned. This is good news as we see the new Conservation policy being implemented. I also believe that fish are being caught as far up as Grantown on Spey. There was an enormous landslide on the Dulnain River in the Carrbridge area at the end of February. The water of the Dulnain was very dirty and the Spey also was significantly coloured downstream of the confluence for a number of days. I am pleased to hear that a lot of work has been going on to stabilise the bank at this point and protect further slippage.

Over on the Dee, it appears that the beats are having mixed fortunes. I understand that Park has taken three fish last week whilst just upstream at Crathes they had eighteen. Further upstream at Invery and Upper Crathes they had fourteen. It would appear that because of the higher water temperatures the fish are running hard through the lower beats into the middle and upper reaches. The water height at Park is just 9 inches, which is surporisingly low for this time of year. My sources also tell me that beats as far upriver as Glentanar, Dinnet and beyond are enjoying early Spring success.

On the Findhorn, it would appear that there are good numbers of fish running the Forres town water. Many of them take a rest in the pools at Darnaway where I hear some good catches are being reported. Here again the river is at a low Summer level and rain is desperately needed. It could well be that due to these recent tropical weather conditions that the Spring run will soon be over the Poolie Falls and into the middle and upper beats earlier than ever this season. We shall see if this is true over the coming weeks but do not be surprised if the weather gets sharp again before the Spring truly arrives.

Update 4th April:

As I predicted in my last report, it wouldn't be long before the Findhorn salmon were on the move upriver. Sure enough, I was called earlier this week that indeed the fish were over the Poolie Falls and were heading upstream. I also hear that there is a good run of fish running through the town water in Forres. Some four fresh fish have been taken this week after a good rise in river levels mid week. Heavy rain upstream brought the river level up some 3 feet. I also took a water temperature reading yesterday and found an astonishing 48 degrees F. No wonder these fish are running hard, perfect for our Spring fishing over the next few weeks. I did actually go up to Glenferness on Friday to cast a line. Conditions were perfect, but alas no offers. However, these fish will soon be moving through all of our middle beats and sport should be good.

The Spey continues it's good fortunes at present, with fish being caught throughout the system. Here also, the water levels rose by some 9 inches on Thursday after rainfall in the mountains. The water temperature is also in the mid 40's F. Grant Mortimer told me that they have already taken 11 fresh Spring salmon off the Association water in Grantown On Spey. It seems that there are fish spread throughout the river and all beats have been taking fish, very good news all round for Spey angling.

The Dee Spring run is building up too and despite the low water conditions overall the picture is good. I gather from John Hearshaw at Park that they had better sport this week including a sea liced 16 pounder from Durris Stream. He also reported seeing many more fish steaming upstream. I shall be over there this week again and look forward to some sport with luck!

Ian has had a late cancellation for the group booking (6 rods)for the week beginning 14th Sept 2003 with fishing and accommodation at Glenferness on the middle Findhorn. This is one of the most spectacular stretches of Salmon water you are ever likely to encounter. If you have a group that might be interested take a look at the text and relevant pictures on the Findhorn page.

Update 26th April:
Another long period of dry,sunny and warm weather in North East Scotland has pushed the river levels way below norlmal summer levels, all very sad. However, I was over on the Dee at Park earlier this week with clients and the weather took a dramatic change on the 22nd with heavy overnight rain producing a rise of over 2 feet.The following morning the gauge was reading 36 inches, but the water clarity soon become incredibly dirty for the rest of the day, leaving virtually no chance of connecting with a fish, although one of the rods hooked and lost a fish later on in the day in Bakebare. I understand that this mini flood also took a lot of the fish from Invery and Upper Crathes and they must have moved on upstream! Jim Turnbull, the ghillie, said that they had 3 fish until this rise and then all gone! I gather that the beats further upstream are fairing better. Banchory Lodge landed 5 fish, Middle Blackhall 7 and Lower Crathes 4. Then I am told that a party of rods fishing up at Cambus O’May, at Ballater landed a staggering 28 fish for the week, last week. A party of anglers fishing Glentanar took 23 salmon! So, it would appear that these fresh fish are just hurtling through the lower beats and upstream in the Ballater area is the place to be fishing right now. I also gather there has been another rise in water to-day up 10 inches. So maybe next week will see new runs of salmon and sea-trout appearing in the lower beats. Hope springs eternal!

Back on the Spey, things have gone a little quieter on the middle and upper beats according to Grant Mortimer at Grantown On Spey. The Association water has now had 17 salmon to date. However, the lower beats from Delfur to Arndilly are picking away quite nicely I hear. Again there was a 2 foot rise in water here on the 23rd, so hopefully that will encourage more fish to run soon.

Closer to home on the Findhorn I hear that fish are being seen on the Forres Angling Association water and despite the very low water conditions it appears salmon are running upstream quickly. Sandy McClachlan landed a sea liced 12 pounder from Red Craig yesterday and Jimmy King took a fish from the Broom earlier this week, bringing their total to 14 so far. Despite heavy rain overnight the river remains on its bare bones to-day. I was up at Glenferness and the water is just so low and gin clear.They have caught two fish this last week, but we so desperately need a lot of rain right now to improve our chances of catching these fresh Springers. Our regular Spring fishing groups will be with us over the next couple of weeks, staying at Dallas Lodge and fishing the middle Findhorn beats ,so I hope to be able to report good news before long! Time to get back to my rain dance right now!

Update 4th May:
FISHING THE FINDHORN WITH IAN NEALE

The Spring Dallas Lodge party group were reunited on Sun 27th April for their 10th Anniversary. We had fishing on five beats of the River Findhorn spanning the beautiful estates of Glenferness, Coulmony and Logie. We arrived to find the river low and clear. Ian's rain dance continued and we were rewarded with heavy spells of rainfall and repeated rises in the river level throughout the week. We were fortunate in that the river never became seriously dirty.

We did not have to wait long for action. Iain Ross had a beautiful 8lb springer with long tailed sea lice from Rock pool on Coulmony after 15 minutes fishing on the Monday morning! The fish took a size 12 Munro variant fished on a floating line. By Monday afternoon the rain had set inand the prospects looked good.

Over the next two days the river kept rising as the heavy rain continued. There was a corresponding fall in water temperature as the cold frontal weather moved across the Highlands. The mountains were again showing snow on their tops - more typical of this time of year. Plenty of fish were seen in the pools; no doubt many of them running hard in the good water conditions.

A few fish were pulled and tweaked but it was not until Thursday that a further fish was landed. Peter Grimwade caught and released a fine 10 pounder from the tail of Scum Pool on Logie. The fish took a two inch tube with single barbless hook fished on an intermediate tip - a somewhat different approach to that of Monday with the river running some 2 feet higher. The tail of Scum is a great place to see fish running into the pool so makes for exciting fishing as you present your fly from the rocky outcrops above. David Clark had a 6 pound fish complete with long tailed sea lice on the Friday morning from Lower Cairnglass on Coulmony. Not a single fish had shown on this beat all week but 2 Salmon had been landed. The message is that spring Salmon in high water generally keep their heads down.

On the same morning Graham Bruce-Gardner briefly hooked then lost a fish in the Skerries Pool on Logie. David caught and released a further fish around 9 pounds from the beautiful Whin Pool on Glenferness but the popular Daltra Pool nearby failed to give up it's bounty. The water was now settling nicely and we were not surprised when Ronnie Sneddon tempted a 9 pounder from the now very popular Scum Pool. Big flies were still the order of the day.

The party, therefore, had 5 springers for the week. We were fortunate to get rain and a corresponding rise in water but this made conditions difficult until the latter part of the week. As conditions settle, the prospects look good for the week ahead.

Update May 16th:
The week beginning May 5th started off quite slowly up on the Glenferness beats of the Findhorn despite the previous week of persistent rain and large runs of salmon moving through the middle beats. Yet again the weather remained very unsettled with river levels yo-yoing every day. By mid week it became apparent that there was another big surge of fish moving through our beats at Glenferness and Logie. We had managed to pull, rise and lose salmon all week. Thursday 8th May saw the river up very high and very dirty, but by Friday it was in really good ply for fly fishing and John Cornell from New York was rewarded with his first Scottish salmon from the Garden Pool, 7lb sea liced and ably guided by Mike. It transpires that the opposite bank were also doing well that day with 4 salmon landed. Conditions remained good for the Saturday too and fishing through the Upper Sawpit Mike spotted a fish at the tail of the pool coming in. Fishing a sink tip and large Munro Killer he soon hooked and landed a great fresh run 10 pound salmon. I understand that there were some 10 fish taken that week from Glenferness and 6 from Logie and it appears that all fish were safely returned to the river, which is a truly impressive return rate. It is good to know that the Findhorn proprietors and fishers have their heart in the right place to safeguard the future of our Spring salmon.

I understand from my friend in Ballater that the River Dee beats in the upper river are fishing their socks off. They are having some really tremendous Spring sport in this area. Glenmuick beat produced 13 salmon last week to just two rods. They have also been catching some good numbers of sea-trout already. Again there is a clear picture that these fish are just running hard through the lower and normally productive beats. This has been the same story all season so far with beats from Park down river hardly seeing a fish! Invery and Upper Crathes has been doing quite well, with 5 sea liced salmon so far this week and several sea-trout. Crathes Castle landed 11 salmon last week. There are also early reports of some grilse being caught on some beats. However, the weather has turned much cooler lately and the water temperature has fallen this last week to just 45degrees F. There has been some heavy rain over this last week and the water levels have been fluctuating considerably. It was 1foot 9 inches at Invery this morning and prospects of more rain to come over this weekend, combined with Spring tides could bring in another solid run of salmon and sea-trout. Here again, the Dee Conservation Code is clearly being adhered to with almost all fish being returned to the river. Over on the Spey, the Spring run is really gathering pace in the Grantown area, where the Asssociation Water have now landed 82 salmon so far. There have been reports of some rods catching 2-3 salmon a day here. This is good news and the Grantown Association is always good value for money for either day or weekly tickets. Some friends of mine were fishing on the Knockando beats last week for 3 days and landed 9 salmon between 4 rods, another great result. Aberlour town water reports 4 salmon so far this week. I have also just heard of a 32 pound salmon being caught by a Mr.Fred Duncan from one of the Tulchan beats this week. There are also reports of sea-trout being caught up and down the river as well. Talking with Ian Gordon today he reports a 70% release rate so far on the Spey, which is really good to hear.

Update June 1st:

The Spring run of salmon continues on all of the three rivers, although there are some signs of a slowing down here and there. The weather has still been unsettled over these last two weeks, however, it has certainly been much warmer and sunnier over the last 3 or 4 days and the rivers have quckly fallen back to summer levels. I was with my old friends Michael, James and Giles Leather earlier this week at Park on the Dee. Also a friend of Michael's, was Graeme Caton from Edinburgh, who was joining me for his first as a Speycaster guest. When we arrived at Park on Monday 26th May, the water was still quite dirty and reading 26 inches on the gauge. Giles hooked and lost a fish in the Durris stream, but we saw very few fish showing that day. By Tuesday the water had cleared somewhat and fallen back to 18 inches. We saw fish running in the morning in the Upper Kirks and it was Graeme Caton who hooked and landed a fabulous fresh salmon in the Long Pool just after on lunch. It fell to a Thunder Thingy on a floating line, was quickly photographed and returned to the river. This was Graeme's first Spring salmon and was he a very happy chap! James Leather caught a lovely sea liced sea trout of 2 ½ pounds from Durris Stream on Wednesday morning. It appears that there are now a good number of sea trout running and with these warm balmy evenings sport should be good from now on.

There are still good reports of Spring salmon being caught further upstream. Last Saturday, Crathes landed 6 salmon for the day. I also heard of a story from Banchory Lodge beat. On one Saturday morning as the water had risen by some two feet, 2 anglers caught 6 fish in the morning between them. That is really great sport! I gather that the Ballater beats are still enjoying terrific sport, with reports of some beats catching 5-6 fish a day also. Meanwhile over on the Spey there are still some good reports here also. Most of the lower beats are doing well with catches of 10-15 salmon per week. Ballindalloch had an excellent week also, with 15 salmon landed by Wednesday and a total of 19 for the week. It seems that there are also some numbers of sea trout in the river now. One of Ian Gordon's guests at Lower Pitchroy caught a superb 9 ½ pound sea trout last week. Up at Grantown On Spey the fishing has slowed down a little, but the Association Water has now landed over 105 salmon already, compared to 47 this time last year! The Findhorn has also slowed down this last week with lower water levels, although there are still numbers of fish running through the middle and lower beats. I was talking to Sandy McLaughlan and he tells me that there is no shortage of fish on the Forres Angling Association water, with salmon and grilse pouring through and running like crazy upstream. Campbell Ross caught a 7 pounder from the Red Craig last Monday. We really need more rainfall at the moment to slow these fish down a bit and bring them into a taking mood. However, the signs are looking promising for the next few weeks at least with the tail end of the Spring run and the best of the sea trout and grilse about to start.

Update June 14th:

The week commencing June 2nd started with warm, windy and sunny conditions with the River Dee at Park running clear and reading 10 inches on the gauge. The water temperature was hovering just over 60 degrees. My guests for the first three days were William Kinread, Chris Thomson and Rupert Chambers. Chris was a novice at fly-fishing and Rupert was looking for his first salmon having learned to speycast a couple of years ago. However, it was William who saw some action before lunch having risen a fish in Cooper’s Pool. It was already apparent that Park was seeing a good run of salmon and sea trout. It was late on Tuesday afternoon when Rupert Chambers was rewarded with his first salmon, a 9lb. sea liced fish taken from the Bridge Pool. Later on that evening, William Kinread landed a bright grilse of 5lbs in the Durris Stream. He also caught a lovely 3lb. sea trout from the same pool on Wednesday evening and lost another.

My next guests were Bob and Ryan Mead from New York whom I had met last year at the New York Anglers Club. Bob and his son Ryan had come to
Scotland specifically to learn the art of Spey casting. They were both
quick learners and had picked up the basics of a good single speycast
within hours. Therefore, it was not surprising when 24 year old Ryan,
hooked his first salmon on Thursday afternoon in Cooper’s Pool. This was
a hard fighting fish and after a hectic fifteen minutes, we landed the
fish way down in the tail of the Long Pool. It was a real belter of 10
lbs on a silver blue and black size 10. On Friday evening fishing with
Ian, Ryan managed to repeat his earlier success by taking another 8 lb.
sea liced salmon from the Bridge Pool on a size 10 Black Ally.

A dawn attack was launched on Saturday morning at 4:30 a.m. Bob hooked and was broken by a big fish in Durris Stream, rolled another in the same pool and lost yet another salmon a little later on in the Bridge Pool!
Just before lunch while on the Long Pool, Bob was fishing a stripped Sun
Ray Shadow; he hooked and lost number 3 for the morning! The day becamevery bright and hot; therefore it was decided to abandon the river until later on in the evening. We returned to the river around 8 p.m.
Unfortunately, young Ryan hooked and lost another fish just before dark in
the Durris Stream. It really was an exciting week and great to see Park
back on such good form again. The prospects for the Summer run look very good.

Update June 28th:

Right now we are all praying for rain in the North East of Scotland. It’s been very dry for over a month now, although there was a small lift in levels on the Findhorn over a week ago. There have been periods of heavy showers, but then they clear away and out comes the sun again , all very frustrating for keen salmon anglers!

Ian was fishing for a few days on the Spey last week at Inverfiddich and even he managed to catch a beautiful sea liced 6 pounder!. There were certainly intermittent runs of fish coming through every day and I saw 3 salmon taken on the opposite bank within quick succession, including two large fish in the 12-14 lb bracket. Fishing on the Spey has been fairly steady up and down river by all accounts, despite low water conditions. Grant Mortimer told me that there had been 9 salmon, 2 grilse and some 60 sea-trout caught this week, which again is very encouraging considering the low water conditions. However, the low water is generally good news for the hardy night fishing sea trout anglers. It looks like another good season for sea trout fishing this year.

Over on the Dee at Park this week were a group of 3 anglers from the U.S.A. who were fishing with Ian for 2 days mid week. None of these chaps had ever held Spey rods, despite being keen trout fishers. However, they soon mastered the art of Spey casting and Tom Gyory from Slatington, Pennsylvania hooked and lost a big fish from the Bulwarks (broken) on a small Executioner. The fish had taken the line around a rock and broke clean away. The next day fishing in Greenbanks he hooked briefly another fish and a little later on he hooked number three in the same pool.This one stayed on, a really lovely fresh fish of 8 lbs.Tom was clearly over the moon with his capture, as can be seen on the photo. He looked quite happy with his first minor trophy too!!

There are also good runs of salmon and grilse on the Findhorn, although most fish are running at night and early morning in in the low water. Fishing is pretty slow although the results from the Forres AA water is encouraging with good numbers of salmon and grilse caught last week. The middle beats also report fresh fish running but also difficult to tempt to the fly .A really good few days rain would certainly improve our chances right now .So we hope and pray, but the forecast isn’t hopeful at the moment.

Ian has got some really good fishing to offer on private beats of the Dee, Spey and Findhorn Rivers over the next two months. If anyone is interested in getting in some Spey casting instruction, or salmon fishing guiding please contact him on ian@speycaster.net for further details and availabilities. Given the right conditions July and August can offer some great fishing for summer salmon and grilse on all of these rivers. All fishing tackle,waders etc. can be supplied on a daily basis. Also if anyone would like to just fish for a day or two, Ian is always happy to arrange to collect clients from either Inverness or Aberdeen Airports and ferry them to and from the fishing each day. In the meantime it’s back to The Rain Dance!

The latest reports of fishing on the Ponoi in Russia are amazing .The total number of salmon caught in the first 4 weeks was just over 5000. I have just heard that this week they caught 1603 salmon up to Friday evening and with one day left it’s yet another record breaking week on this magnificent Kola Fishery. I know that my team of 12 will be getting really excited to hear this news, as we depart for The Arctic in early August! Not too long now chaps.

Update July12th:

I was really hoping by now that I would be able to report lashings of rain
and huge runs of salmon and grilse. However, the weather just teases us from day to day. Last Monday the 7th it poured for half the day and that was it, not enough to wet the ground!

Fishing over on the Dee has been pretty slow generally, though there was some sport at Park with 6 salmon and grilse landed last week. Banchory Lodge beat caught 11 grilse and 1 salmon, which was good. It appears that there were good numbers of fish seen running the Falls of Feugh. This is always a great place to get a close up view of salmon and grilse leaping these steep falls and even the low water does not deter them from running.

The lower beats on the Spey have been doing reasonably well with reports
of 25-30 fish being taken from some of those plum beats. I also hear that
they include some big multi sea winter summer fish. I was invited to a very enjoyable barbecue evening with some friends of mine who were enjoying some great sea trout fishing at night up at Kinchurdy last week. They landed some 56 sea trout up to 6 ½ pounds and 2 salmon fishing through the wee dark hours. I was certainly impressed watching the fish jumping behind us as we enjoyed a fine summer feast by the river bank.

The Findhorn is needless to say lower than ever! However, it appears that
there are fish running in off the tides into the lower pools and then moving upstream through the night. The middle beats are catching a few and it appears that the crafty early morning angler may just tempt a fish. I did hear that there was a big 22 lb salmon taken off the Altnaharra beat at Glenferness. The barometer is falling yet again, so maybe the much needed rain is getting closer!

Update 27th July:

The news from the Highlands of Scotland is not too good from a fishing point of view. All of the three main rivers in this area remain at below summer level. There was a small rise of water on the Dee last week after some heavy rain fell in the Cairngorm area. However, it didn't produce any significant run of fish in fact if anything it made matters worse. Anglers were picking up dislodged weed and algae on nearly every cast! I was fishing up on the Upper Dee at Monaltrie over a week ago where they have had some really great fishing this year earlier in the season. I took the water temperature and it was just on 70degrees F! Talking to Hamish Mitchell in Aberlour on the Spey it's the same situation with some very disappointing results on the lower and middle Spey beats. Anglers are basically not even bothering to fish very much. The lower Findhorn is still seeing fresh fish entering into the town beats off every tide. However there is very little flow of water and it is difficult to present a fly effectively. One or two of the locals have met with a little success. The weather forecast looks set to change over this next week and I do hope we start seeing some serious rainfall. It's all very well for sun worshipping tourists, but just too frustrating for we anglers at the moment. There is so much algae and green weed on the rocks that even when we do get rain the rivers will be unfishable until all the muck has been swept out to sea. So we will have to be patient for a while. I still have some fishing to offer on the Findhorn, Dee and Spey rivers during the last two weeks of September at the moment on some very good private beats. If we get the water then fishing prospects should be superb. Please contact me: ian@speycaster.net for further information. I am also taking bookings for the Spring salmon fishing on the Dee and Spey in February and March 2004 right now. So do contact me for information on Speycasting instruction, beat availability and costs. My next report will include all the latest details, photos and catches of my regular annual Ponoi fishing on the Kola in Russia.

Ian Neale Fishing Party Ponoi River, Kola Peninsular, Aug 2nd to 9th.
We have just experienced another amazing Ponoi week despite two very hot days upon our arrival. Bright cloudless skies and warm water temperatures of up to 76 degrees F. dominated our first couple of days' fishing. However, even in the immense heat we still caught 92 salmon over that period - unreal.

Where else in the World would this be possible? Suddenly on Tuesday 5th, summer came to a dramatic close as we returned to more seasonal conditions with cloudy and cooler weather dropping the water temperature to 65 degrees F. overnight! There came with it some overnight rain to cool down an overheated Tundra. The first Fall or Autumn run salmon was caught by Ronnie (the rod) Sneddon off Falls Creek on Wednesday 6th August, right on time. A beautiful sea liced salmon of 10lbs and taken on a small bottle brass tube fly of Ronnie's own creation.

Over the next 3 days we saw a dramatic increase in catches as the river cooled down, including a number of fresh Fall run fish. Thursday 7th recorded a staggering 119 salmon landed. Catches remained good and by Friday 8th the water temperature was down to 57 F. It really poured with rain all day, but not enough to dampen the spirits of my guests. We finished the week with a grand total of 455 salmon/grilse to 16 rods. Sixty two of these salmon were between 10 and 20 lbs. Fly patterns and sizes varied with small templedog style brass tubes on floating lines doing very well. There was also a lot of success to skated dry flies, particularly brown muddlers. Willie Lawson had a fantastic day of 14 salmon on dry in one day fishing on Gold Beach beat.

This now brings the total of fish caught to 10066 for the season so far. As ever our thanks go to all of the guides and staff at the Ryabaga camp who really make this trip so very memorable and just an amazing experience. It simply gets better and better! The accommodation is superb and the guides are first class.

My week for 2004 will start on August 8th and if anyone is interested in joining me for some of the best Atlantic salmon fishing in the World, please contact me on: ian@speycaster.net

Ian Neale.

Update: August 17th, 2003.
It is now nearly 4 months since the North East Highlands of Scotland saw any significant rain. It is really desperate on all of our main salmon/sea trout rivers in this area and water levels are now at record lows. There was a T.V. report on the news this week that several hundred salmon have died on the lower Dee due to high water temperatures and that they were unable to move upstream due to a gravel bar obstruction. However, the weather has now become cooler and this will reduce the overall high water temperatures seen of late. Unfortunately, there is still no sign of any significant rainfall due for this area. Even if and when we get the long awaited rain it will take several days to take effect and also clear out all of the accrued algae and muck! I did, however, hear of a monster salmon of some 35 lbs being caught on Middle Blackhall beat on Dee earlier this month along with another salmon and two grilse on the same day! Another salmon of 22 lbs was taken up on the Crathie beat in the same week. Despite this, most of the fishing is slow everywhere at the moment with many beats not being fished at all, just early morning and evenings giving the best chance.

The story on the Spey is the same and with very low water and high water temperatures recorded 74 F over a week ago. Even the lower beats are struggling with very few fresh fish running and only stale fish being caught. On a good note I hear that plans for 3 hatcheries up and down the river should be operational within the near future producing up to 2 million salmon parr taken from natural Spey brood stock. This can only help secure future salmon stocks for the river.

The Findhorn needless to say being the smallest of the rivers looks like a wee burn. However, Sandy McLaughlin tells me that there are still great numbers of salmon showing up in the lower pools of the Forres AA. Again these fish are trying to cope with conditions and believe it or not are still running through the low water after dark. There are a few fish being caught on the middle beats and again the best times for fishing have been early and late. At least the very hot conditions seem to be over and it feels fresher and a little cooler now as we progress into the last few weeks of August. The weather may be on the turning point now and with the hope of rainfall on the way we could just see a revival of some great sport during the up and coming weeks through September leaving a difficult season on a high note.

I have also been offered some additional fishing on the River Don up by Alford Bridge. This is a really attractive beat of some 4.5 km which could offer some great sport over the months of September/October given the right conditions. If anyone would like to arrange a few days guided fishing either on the Don, Findhorn, Spey or Dee Rivers please contact me as always on : ian@speycaster.net

Update and Lodge Party report, September 21st, 2003:
I was really hoping by now to report some good news in terms of the river conditions in this part of the Highlands. However, after all these months of continuous drought and all rivers at record low levels there is still no sign of rain here. Our two weeks on the Findhorn in early September were needless to say hard going. After a little rain on August 31st the river had risen by about a foot and this did move some of the resident salmon in the pools. Roger Pardoe was quick to catch a salmon of 7lb from the Hawk Pool on Glenferness. After lunch Graham Bruce-Gardner was also rewarded with success, a grilse of 4lb from the Island Stream.

David Clark was back on good form taking two fish of 7lb and 4lb both from the Church Yard Pool on Glenferness water. On the 4th September he hooked and lost another fish from the Kennel Pool. The little rise in levels soon fell away to nothing and the fishing remained slow for the rest of the week. David Clark was the winner of the Findhorn Challenge, which gave him a double whammy of Trophies for 2003. With no signs of any change in the weather the following week was even tougher with just one fish taken by Ros Clarke, from the White Stream on Daltra beat. This was a salmon of 8 lbs. Ros was therefore the sole contender for the Findhorn Shield, making it two years in a row! Despite the frustrations of this desperately dry spell and low water conditions I have to say that all pools are just stuffed with salmon all waiting to move on the first big spate. Down on the Forres AA water it is the same story with many pools full of fish, with many very fresh salmon in this area. The locals have been meeting with some success here over these last 3 months. All fish being caught on a variety of flies mainly size 8-10, on floating lines. It really is an amazing sight seeing so many fish in these pools, it's a shame that with just over a week to go that there is not going to be much chance of enjoying some sport with these fish if the long awaited rains do not fall!

On the Spey and Dee it's the same old story I am sorry to report. However, I hear that a few of the lower Spey beats have met with some success from Spey bay up to Rothes. Grant Mortimer tells me that the Grantown water was catching some fish this last week, with 11 fish in total being caught despite very few anglers actually fishing. This brings their total so far to 198 for the season. I also heard that one of the lower Brae water beats caught some 40 salmon for their week, two weeks ago. Most anglers on the Dee have given up as the fish are all trapped in the estuary and unable to move into the river. Most of the ghillies I speak to are now resigned to the fact that this season is over and good riddance to it! So all in all it has been a desperately poor season for the anglers in this part of the World. I am now looking to the new season already and February 1st can't come soon enough. Please do contact me if you have any fishing queries or inquiries for fishing with me in the 2004 season. There will be a whole new Fishing Holidays and Lodge Party page, with a full calender of events and guided holidays shortly. As always contact me : ian@speycaster.net

Good luck to everyone and many thanks for all your support over this last season. I look forward to seeing all my old fishing friends on the River next year.

Ian Neale

Stop press, 23rd Sept: Salmon fishing never ceases to amaze. The rains have started here in the Findhorn catchment and there will be some juicy bits to report, I am sure, in the next few days.

Update: September 30th. 2003.
At last with just over a week of the season remaining , we were blessed with the long awaited rains, which fell high in the Monadhliath mountains at the source of the Findhorn. It took a little while to have any real effect, but by Tuesday 23 the river was alive again and a rise of some 18 inches certainly began to have the desired effect. However there was a lot of muck and algae coming down together with wind blown leaves adding to the general floating congestion! Two of my regular clients, Willie Mair and Alec Robertson from Portsoy decided to take a day ticket on the Forres Association Water on Wednesday 24th. By lunchtime they had hooked and landed 9 salmon and lost another 6 between them. All of these fish being caught in one pool of the Forres AA water, which has been holding big numbers of salmon and grilse all summer. Many of the fish were coloured and returned, but I did see several bright fish also taken by some of the regular local boys. The river was rising steadily all morning and began to get a little dirty. It was really stirring the fish up and some were clearly moving on upstream, having waited long enough in these lower reaches. There are some huge numbers of salmon in the system and at least now they will be able to make a bid for their spawning redds.

Further upstream it was also looking a different picture and during the course of the week the river was given a good taste of fresh water over many days. I was invited to fish up at Glenferness on the Thursday 25th and the water was looking in good order although beginning to fall away. During the day I hooked and returned 5 salmon and grilse, lost a couple of others and generally had an absolutely brilliant time! The heavens opened again on Thursday night and by Friday the river had risen another two feet, but very dirty for a while. I also returned on Saturday 27th and managed to catch another 3 salmon up to 15lbs, losing 3 others. The big 15 pounder was a cock fish with prominent kype and dark flanks: I suspect it had been in the river since the Spring. This fish would have been around the 18-20 pound mark when it had first entered the river! I caught all these fish on my Bruce and Walker Norway Speycaster 13 ft., floating line and a size 8 Cascade. I was talking to Roddy Robb who had been on Daltra the same day. He had also landed and returned two very large fish of over 20 pounds, one of which he thought would have been nearer 30 pounds when it was fresh in the river! This is just tremendous sport that only the Findhorn can produce given the right conditions.

Willie and Alec couldn't resist having another last cast on the Forres AA and were back again on the 29th. Conditions were again ideal and during the course of the day they managed to land another 13 salmon, which was really amazing. Most of the fish were fairly coloured but Alec did catch one very fresh fish of about 8lbs. Another one of my clients, Bob Mallet from Jersey also enjoyed some fabulous sport on the Findhorn at Forres last week. He landed 6 salmon with a best of 25lb, again all safely returned to the water. It has been a really great finish to a difficult season and just shows that the salmon are there in good numbers, with a good percentage of 20lb + fish in the system. So it looks like it bodes well for the future and a good spawning season ahead for these fish. So as the sun sets on another season we can now look forward to the dawning of the new season beginning in February, not too long to wait! Please contact me:ian@speycaster.net for any enquiries for Speycasting tuition or guiding on any of our 3 main salmon rivers in 2004.

My very best wishes to all regular readers.Good luck and tight lines. Ian

The River Spey, looking to the future
By the end of August 2003 the Spey Fishery Board had planted out its crop of 700,000 salmon parr which had been reared at SFB's Sandbank hatchery. These fish had survived the long drought of the summer under the careful eye of Jim Woods, SFB Hatchery Manager. After very careful and intensive juvenile habitat surveys these young salmon were planted where they will thrive and in time produce extra wild smolts. Some 300,000 were planted in the River Dulnain, whilst the other 400,000 were stocked into other small tributaries which are inaccessible to salmon due to man made or natural obstacles.

I was treated to a tour of the Sandbank hatchery at Glenlivet in late October where they were keeping some 460 brood salmon up to 30lbs! These fish had been caught by rod and line, by anglers and ghillies alike during the closing weeks of the season from beats up and down the length of the Spey system. As I peered into their temporary circular tanks all fish appeared to be in excellent condition with no signs of stress or disease. I understand also that the new hatchery at Tulchan is also now up and running and between these 2 hatcheries they have successfully stored some 2 million eggs from these brood salmon stripped several weeks ago now. These young salmon once hatched in the Spring will be fed on for several months and then taken up to the miles of tributaries in the late summer to be planted out again. This development is really very encouraging and can only be of great benefit to future runs of salmon in the Spey system in years to come.

I gather that the recently implemented catch and release programme has also been a great success with a total of 70% of salmon being released by the end of the season, this is a figure of over 4300 salmon released. The SFB regards this as a real step forward and applauds the efforts of all proprietors, Ghillies and anglers concerned.

On a final note it would appear that the salmon spawning has also been really excellent on all three of the main rivers in this area, the Spey, Dee and Findhorn. So despite a long hot summer the fish just waited until the autumn to make a move upstream to their spawning redds. These salmon were presumably waiting offshore until the autumn rains invited them to make their move! So as frustrating as it was for anglers this last season, at least we can take some comfort that our future stocks may well have been taken care of.

The new season is just around the corner already and I am looking forward to joining my friends in February along the riverbanks to try and catch my first Spring salmon of 2004. If you would like to join me please contact me, ian@speycaster.net for information and prices.

Good Luck, Happy New Year and Tight Lines.
Ian Neale. December, 2003

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