Fishing News for Rivers Dee, Findhorn, Spey, and Avon - Season 2011

Latest Report

Fishing News Update, October 16th, 2011

As we moved into early October, the weather became more unsettled, once again with heavy rainfall and strong gale force winds blowing for the first couple of days of the month, definitely an Autumnal feel after the mini heat wave!

On October 3rd, I was fishing on Crathes Estate on the River Dee with Max Fraser and Brian Taylor, and also Mike and Evie Glass. The river was reading 2' on the Park gauge and starting to fall, although the water was looking very peaty and stained. However, there was certainly no shortage of salmon and all pools were heavily stocked with fresh and older fish. The winds were quite atrocious, blowing up to gale force and making casting a little tricky! However, Mike Glass was eventually rewarded later in the afternoon with a 7 lb. salmon from Pantich Pool.

On Tuesday October 4th, the river was falling away reading 1'6" on the Park gauge and clearing a little. It was still breezy at times, although it was feeling much milder with some glimpses of warm Autumn sunshine. I.N .hooked and landed a 12 lb. fish on a ½" Red Frances tube fly in the tail of the Boat Pool. Another fish was briefly hooked and lost in Kashentroch Pool and then another lost in the tail of the Boat Pool just before the light faded.

On Wednesday October 5th, the river was reading 1'2" on the Park gauge, the water clarity was improving all the time and our chances were looking very promising. It was another fine day and the weather was feeling quite balmy with a mixture of sunshine and odd showers. I.N. managed to hook into a really big old crocodile of around 18 lbs., followed by another smaller fish of around 5 lbs., both fish from the tail of the Boat Pool and both hooked on the Red Frances. Just before lunch, Colin Macdonald who had come across for the day, hooked and landed a cracking sea-liced fish of around 5 lbs. on a small Red Frances tube from the Birkenbaud Pool.

By Thursday October 6th, I was just down the road on Park South with another group of regular clients, Des Dunlop and Jim Bishop. The weather remained more settled, although feeling much cooler and breezy, with river levels reading 12" on the Park south gauge. Again, there was certainly no shortage of fish, with some fresh fish running through and a good stock of older resident fish. Des Dunlop was rewarded with a deep cock fish of around 10 lbs., hooked on a Sunray Shadow in the Greenbanks Pool on beat three.

On Friday, October 7th, river levels had risen overnight after heavy rain falling in the catchment and was reading 17" on the Park gauge, rising to 19" later in the day. It was a strange day, feeling much colder and with further heavy rain showers. Despite some serious effort on behalf of the boys, they remained blank for the day!
On Saturday October 8th, river levels were falling once again, reading 16" on the Park gauge. It was feeling quite a different day altogether, much milder and no wind, with rain falling later in the day. Des Dunlop briefly hooked into a fish in the tail of Bulwarks before it threw the hooks. However, Jim Bishop had a cracking morning fishing down in Bakebare with a fish of around 10 lbs., taken on a Red Frances tube. Then a little later on he hooked into a much bigger fish, down towards the tail of Bakebare. This fish put up a great fight and after a a good tussle Jim finally managed to get the fish in and netted by Charlie Yates the ghillie. It was one of those classic fresh Autumn run salmon and weighing around 15 lbs., quickly photographed and released. Jim was absolutely thrilled. Just after lunch, Des Dunlop hooked into a fresh grilse of around 4 lbs. from the Upper Kirks Pool on a Red Frances. A little while later, he hooked into another much bigger fish which played hard and was a very strong fish. After about 15 minutes, the hooks finally pulled out and the big fish was gone! It had been a good couple of days for the Park Estate rods with a total of 43 fish being recorded for both banks.

I was back on Park South again for another three days from October 10th-12th. The weather was feeling quite settled on Monday, October 10th with river levels reading 16" on the Park gauge and fishing conditions looked very promising. Jon Jonic hooked and lost two fish from Greenbanks on Monday morning and Malcolm Bond also lost a couple of fish from Long Pool and Upper Kirks before lunch. Nick Armstead finally managed to hook a fish of around 10 lbs. from the tail of Bakebare Pool. By Tuesday, October 11th, the river levels were reading 13" and looking in good order. However, it was feeling much colder and with lower air temperature to water, the fish simply seemed to switch off and not a fish was hooked on either bank throughout the day!

On Wednesday, October 12th, the river was holding steady at 12". It was another cold start to the day, but air temperatures climbed and the fish seemed to be in a slightly better taking mood. Jon Jonic was back on Greenbanks Pool to finish and he hooked a sea trout of around 2 lbs. from the tail of Greenbanks. Then a little later on, he hooked a really silver fresh fish of around 7 lbs. on a Sunray Shadow, which he was delighted with.

Sadly, the sun has set on another season and that is the end of another fishing season for now and we have had some great fishing days again on the Rivers Findhorn, Dee and Spey. As always, I would like to take this opportunity of saying thank you to all of my regular clients and new clients for their support throughout the season. I am now taking bookings for the 2012 season and I look forward to meeting up with many old friends and meeting new clients on the river bank next season. Tight Lines and see you again soon!

~ Speycaster Photo Albums ~

>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here

Fishing News Update September 30th, 2011

Sport over the last month has continued to be really very good on all rivers in the Highlands, although the grilse numbers haven't been as high as previous years on some rivers. It has been interesting to note though, that there has been a steady run of the larger multi-sea winter salmon showing up throughout the summer months on many rivers including the River Findhorn, Spey and Dee.

For the week commencing August 22nd, I was back on Altyre Estate on the River Findhorn, where after several weeks of high water conditions, there was very little rain for the week and therefore, river levels continued to fall away steadily. However, there were still some good runs of fresh grilse moving into the river system each day. Regular clients, the Susan Hahn party had booked their usual week and I was also joined for the first three days by Peter and Paul Forshaw. River levels were reading 7" on the Forres gauge on Monday, August 22nd and conditions looked quite promising with overcast and cloudy skies above us. Peter Forshaw didn't waste any time on Monday morning, by catching a super grilse of around 4 lbs. from Palamore Pool on the Upper Beat, on size 10 copper Ally's shrimp. Later on in the afternoon, 17 year old Katie Moore caught a fresh grilse of around 3 lbs., also from Palamore Pool and also on a size 10 Ally's shrimp fly.

On Tuesday, August 23rd the river level was reading 6" on the Forres gauge and the weather was still cloudy and overcast, but no rain falling. Sian Williams briefly hooked and lost a fish in the tail of Palamore early on in the day and that was it!

On Wednesday, August 24th the river levels continued to fall away reading 5" on the Forres gauge. It was a much brighter and warmer day and the fishing became much slower on all beats. However, there was one moment of excitement when, after everyone had thrashed the Roan Pool and just before lunch, Susan Hahn decided to have a last cast. She went up to the throat of the pool and within minutes hooked into what was a very lively and much larger salmon. After some agonising minutes of a strong fighting fish there was a ping and the fish was suddenly gone, leader broken! Just heart breaking in these conditions!

On Thursday, August 25th, river levels remained steady at 5" on the Forres gauge and it was overcast, cloudy and feeling cooler. I was joined for the last three days by other regular clients Peter and Joanna Taylor. Peter was rewarded with a really lovely fresh fish of around 6 lbs. from the throat of the Roehillock Pool later on in the day. The fish was hooked on a size 10 Yellow Ally's shrimp pattern.

By Friday, August 26th, the river level had risen very slightly after rain in the catchment and was reading 5" on the Forres gauge. This slight increase in levels was enough to encourage more fish to run and certainly we saw more activity throughout the Upper and Lower Beats. On Friday evening, Peter Taylor scored once again with another fresh grilse of around 6 lbs., just off the fallen oak tree in the stream of the Roan Pool, where fish had been seen showing all week. Unfortunately, there were no other fish caught on Saturday August 27th, although again, there were plenty of fish seen running in most pools.

At the beginning of week commencing August 29th, the heavens opened once again and river levels remained very high for the first few days of the week, falling away steadily over the week. On Wednesday, August 31st, Mick Coughlan and Jeff Holloway enjoyed a really great day on the Lower Beat on Altyre Estate. They caught three grilse of 4 lbs., 4 lbs. and 5 lbs., two sea trout of around 3 lbs., and a cracking fresh salmon of around 10 lbs., all caught in the Roan Pool and all safely released.

On Friday, September 2nd, I was having a day off and enjoyed a very pleasant day on Levrattich Beat, Glenferness Estate. River levels were falling away a little and reading 5" on the Shenachie gauge and 1'1" on the Forres gauge. After further rain upstream, the river was rising again by later on in the day. I was really pleased to see such a large number of fish in the river, although they were being a little difficult to tempt to the fly! However, I was finally rewarded with a good solid pull off a fish in the tail of Lang Tail Pool, which turned out to be a lovely silver fish of around 10 lbs., hooked on a ½" Purple Cascade tube fly.

By Monday, September 5th, river levels were reading 4" on the Shenachie gauge and 9" on the Forres gauge. The weather was feeling really quite autumnal and very unsettled with further outbreaks of rain falling throughout the day. I was joined by another regular party, Peter Angus and Keith Simmonds from Yorkshire who were fishing on Glenferness Estate for the week and joined by Keith's son, Ged, later in the week for the last three days. The river was really looking in good order as we made our way up to the top of Levrattich Beat on Monday morning and fish showing in all pools. Keith got a good pull off a fish in the Upper Streenoch and perhaps still too much in trout fishing mode as he lifted the rod a little too soon! However, a few minutes later and down towards the tail of the pool, he did not make the same mistake and hooked into a lively fish which turned out to be a cock fish of around 10 lbs., hooked on a yellow and orange brass tube fly. By around 7:00 p.m. and after further rain, the river was starting to rise again reading 9" on the Shenachie gauge.

On Tuesday, September 6th, river levels were reading 5" on the Shenachie gauge and 1'2" on the Forres gauge, as levels had fallen back slightly overnight. However, it was another day of unsettled weather, feeling a little warmer and further rain was falling much of the day. Peter Angus managed to hook into a lovely big cock fish of around 12 lbs. in the Levrattich Pool on a black and orange cone head tube fly.

By Wednesday, September 7th and river levels were back up, reading 11" at Shenachie and 1'10" on the Forres gauge. It was another day of showers and feeling much cooler. Water conditions were a little coloured however, and despite seeing some really good numbers of fish in the Chain Pool on Levrattich, they were difficult to tempt. Peter Angus briefly hooked and lost a fish in Chain Pool, just above the goal posts before lunch. After lunch, things were suddenly looking up as Keith Simmonds hooked three fish in the tail of the Lady's Pool on Mini Daltra Beat. The first fish was hooked and soon fell off, the second fish was hooked and released, which was a lively bright fish of around 8 lbs. Unfortunately the third fish, which was a bigger salmon was hooked and after a brief tussle was lost as the leader snapped and broke! However, Keith was delighted to see such action and it was a great time of some hectic sport.

On Thursday, September 8th, the river was reading 8" at the Shenachie gauge and 1'4" on the Forres gauge. It was another cloudy day, breezy and feeling cooler. It was a red letter day for Peter Angus, who caught a cracking hen fish of around 10 lbs. from the Princess Pool on Altnahara Beat on black and yellow tube fly in the morning. After lunch, he hooked and released another fish of around 10 lbs. from the Lady's Pool on Mini Daltra on a Willie Gunn tube. Ged Simmonds briefly hooked and lost a fish in the Secret Spot earlier in the day.

Down on the Lower River on Altyre Estate, the fishing conditions were also in great order. On September 7th, local man, George Ross had an excellent day with two fresh salmon of 14 lbs. and 7 lbs., both from the Roan Pool and caught on a black and yellow tube fly fished on a sink tip. On the following day, September 8th , James Anderson also had a great day of sport, with 4 fresh fish, one of 4 lbs. caught in the Roan Pool and three other fish of 5 lbs., 7.lbs. and 10 lbs., all caught in the Garden Pool on a ½" yellow and orange tube fly.

By Friday, September 9th, river levels had fallen back reading 4" at Shenachie and 1' on the Forres gauge. Rain fell fairly persistently all morning and it remained overcast, feeling warmer and not a breath of wind! However, sport was indeed brisk and Ged Simmonds was unlucky to hook and lose two fish in the morning, one from the tail of Lang Tail Pool and one from the Doctor's Stream on Levrattich Beat. Then, just before lunch, he finally hooked and landed number three, a grilse of around 5 lbs. from the Doctor's Stream on a Willie Gunn tube fly fished on a 5' poly leader sink tip. Then, after lunch Ged hooked and released another big fish, which was a real crocodile of around 12 lbs. from the Lady's Pool on Mini Daltra Beat. This fish was hooked on a size 8 Purple Cascade double, after he had been through the pool twice before. Peter Angus also managed to hook a really nice fresh grilse of around 5 lbs. from the Levrattich Pool in the afternoon, on a black and yellow tube fly. A little further upstream, Keith Simmonds enjoyed some hectic sport hooking a fish in the Lang Tail Pool and after some hair-raising moments, he finally managed to land a fresh fish of around 10 lbs. down in the Upper Streenoch Pool. The fish was hooked on a 1" Willie Gunn tube fly and carefully released back in the river.

On Saturday, September 10th, river levels were back up again reading 6" on the Shenachie gauge and 9" on the Forres gauge and looking in excellent order. In the morning, I took Ged Simmonds up to the Lang Tail Pool on Levrattich where he soon hooked another fresh grilse of around 4 lbs. at the head of the pool on a 1" Willie Gunn tube fly. After lunch, I.N. hooked a big hen fish of around 11 lbs. in the Princess Pool on a ½" Purple Cascade tube fly, fished on a 5' poly leader sink tip. On Levrattich Beat, Keith Simmonds hooked and lost a very big fish estimated at around 15 lbs. in the Doctor's Stream. So, it had been another great week for the team and they all thoroughly enjoyed their time fishing on the River Findhorn on Glenferness Estate.

By Monday, September 12th, the river levels were back up again after further rainfall in the river Findhorn catchment, reading 10" at Forres and 1' on the Shenachie gauge. It was another unsettled day, cloudy, windy and raining! I was back on the Lower River on Altyre Estate, River Findhorn and joined by another regular client for the first 3 days, Huw Thomas from Wales. Huw only recently took up Spey casting for salmon and has really come on leaps and bounds since I first got him started last September and he hooked and lost three fish in a day! Huw was at last rewarded with his first Findhorn salmon, which was a really cracking fresh grilse of around 5 lbs., hooked on a Cascade tube fly fished on a 5' sink tip line in the Roan Pool. A little later on in the morning and Huw hooked another larger fish in the tail of Palamore Pool, which after a brief tussle managed to throw the hooks and was gone!

Tuesday, September 13th saw the river reading 2' on the Forres gauge and 11" on the Shenachie gauge and looking in good order, although it was another very wet and windy day. It was a little frustrating however, as despite seeing good numbers of fish in all pools, they were decidedly feeling very lethargic towards our offerings! However, Huw managed to get a good pull off a fish in Palamore Pool before lunch. In the afternoon, I decided to go down and have a cast in the Garden Pool, which would be at a perfect height for fishing. It's a little tricky getting out into the middle at this height and once I was in position, just pulled off a short line and made an initial roll cast across the fast headstream. Almost immediately, the fly was taken hard and before I knew it, I was playing a very large strong fish, which took off down the pool cart wheeling and taking off line. Having just got out into the middle, I then had to try and get on terms with the big fish and more importantly to get myself back into the side of the pool to find a suitable beaching point. It's not the easiest pool to wade and it's not so easy to find a beaching spot either, especially on your own. However, after a good strong fight, I was able to get the big fish into the side and managed to get a quick photo before releasing it and she took off like a bullet. It was a really cracking fresh salmon of around 16 lbs. and had taken a ¾" Orjok tube fly fished on a 10' poly leader sink tip.

By Wednesday, September 14th, the river was running very high reading 3' on the Forres gauge and 1'10" on the Shenachie gauge. It was also running very dirty and conditions were not looking very favourable for us. At this height, I would normally expect to catch fish in the tail of Palamore Island, Palamore, Scur and off the big pink rock in Roehillock. We certainly saw fish showing in the tail of Palamore Island and Roehillock, but the colour remained bad and nothing could tempt these fish and so we were blank for the day!

On Thursday, September 15th, I was joined by another regular party of clients, Ian Vann from Edinburgh, Bill Hannan from Cheshire and Philip Blackburn from the Borders. River levels had fallen back and reading 1'2" at Forres and 10" at Shenachie and with water clarity looking much better, I was feeling optimistic of a good three days fishing. It was cloudy and overcast, becoming brighter and warmer throughout the day. Bill Hannan was fist to score with a lovely fresh grilse of around 4 lbs. from the Garden Pool, hooked on size 8 Cascade double. Ian Vann caught a sea trout of around 2 lbs. from the Roan Pool just before lunch. Later on in the afternoon, Bill Hannan scored again with a lively cock fish of around 10 lbs. from the Scur Pool on a size 8 Red and Silver Ally's Shrimp. Philip Blackburn hooked and lost a fish in the Garden Pool.

Friday, September 16th, the river levels were reading 1'2" at Forres and 6" on the Shenachie gauge. Water clarity was improving all the time. It was another bright start to the day becoming cloudy with rain after lunch once again! In the morning, Ian Vann got a good pull off a fish in the neck of Palamore Pool. Then a little later and just before lunch was rewarded with a big hen fish of around 12 lbs. from Soldier's Hole, hooked on a size 8 General Practitioner.

Interestingly, this was exactly the same fly that he caught his first fish of the season on in early March in the Roan Pool and the first salmon of the season for the beat! After lunch, Ian Vann hooked and lost another fish in the Roan Pool and then he caught and released another fresh grilse of around 4 lbs. on a size 8 Cascade, again in the Roan Pool.

On Saturday September 17th, the river was reading 10" on the Forres gauge and 1'2" on the Shenachie gauge, which meant that we were in for a rise in levels at some point in the day. We were joined by Paul West from Aberdeen for the day and he didn't waste any time by getting a grilse of around 4 lbs. from the Scur Pool at around mid-day, just as river levels were starting to rise. Virtually at the same time, Philip Blackburn hooked into a big fish in Soldier's Hole, which took off down through the pool and into William's Run. Philip somehow managed to get the big fish back into the pool and just as he was thinking of getting into a position to land the fish, the hooks simply fell out and it was gone! The river levels came up by around 1' and clarity remained very good, but for some reason that was it for the day and no more offers from the fish were forthcoming after the rise in water.

On Wednesday, September 21st, I was back on Glenferness Estate and river levels were reading a very respectable 7" at Shenachie and 1'3" at Forres with really excellent water clarity. It really was feeling like a good fishing day, but I was feeling concerned of what was coming our way once again, RAIN and lot's of it! Today, I was joined by a charming American couple, Lynn and Carlo Bongio, who had travelled all the way from Santa Rosa, California in the USA. They had been fishing on the chalk streams of the river Test in Hampshire, and various other trout fisheries and lochs in Scotland before trying their hand at fishing on the fabulous River Findhorn.

Carlo and Lynn are both indeed experienced fly fishers and have travelled all over the World to various destinations in the quest for their beloved fly fishing sport. Carlo had also been tutored by my very good friend, Simon Gawesworth in the art of Spey casting before he came to Scotland and I have to say that I was indeed impressed with his repertoire.

We were fishing on Mini Daltra and as we walked up to the top of the beat, I was feeling really optimistic of catching a fish. We started in at the tail of the Lady's Pool, where several fish were showing, including a lunker of well over 20 lbs.! Carlo and Lynn were just getting excited at seeing these great fish showing throughout the pool. I had rigged up a 14 ft. Norway Speycaster for them, and with a floating line and a 5' poly leader sink tip and a size 6 purple Cascade. I could sense that Carlo was happy with the equipment and he was casting a perfect line over the pool. Before we knew it, he got a pull off a fish and I thought that his trout fishing instincts had got the better of him, but the fish was on and fought hard. After a good fight, Carlo managed to get the fish over the net and he was delighted with his first Scottish Atlantic salmon of around 9 lbs., safely released. A little later on and Lynn got a good pull off a fish, but unfortunately it did not stick. By now, the heavens had opened and it just poured on us and no more fish could be tempted to take the fly.

I decided it was time to move downstream and head for the Maharajah's Pool, which should be in good order. I put Carlo into the tail of the pool and he was soon covering it perfectly. A fish showed, head and tailed in the tail of the pool, and we were all excited. As Carlo moved into the very tail of the pool, he finally got a good solid pull off a fish and he had hooked another salmon. This was another strong fish and after a good fight was netted and released. It was another big hen fish of around 13 lbs. and had succumbed to the Purple Cascade size 6 double, once again. Carlo and Lynn were both delighted and we made our way back to the car in jubilant form.

I told them that there was another formality to indulge, a wee dram to celebrate a great day on the River Findhorn. They both agreed to partake in this national ritual and we toasted another great day on the river and to great friends from afar.

Unfortunately though, the rain continued well into the night and of course by Thursday September 22nd the river was in full spate reading 2'7" on the Shenachie gauge and 3'7" on the Forres gauge.

My client for today was Henry Grant and his girl friend Pippa, who had booked the day after travelling for a friends' wedding at Gleneagles. As we travelled over the bridge at Daltullich, I could see it was going to be fairly slow going, although the water clarity wasn't as bad as expected for these levels. We were fishing up on Mini Daltra at Glenferness, which is usually the best of high water beats. I thought that our best chance would be in at the side of the Island Pool, where fish would tuck themselves into the edge of the fast torrent or the Lady's Pool as the water fell away later on. Henry persisted with a variety of flies and by mid afternoon, the river was starting to fall and clear. We also started to see fish showing very close into where he was casting, but there were no offers and by 5:00 p.m. Henry had decided to make a move southwards as they had to travel back down to get a flight out of Glasgow. Glenferness Estate recorded three fish that day, all of them from the Princess Pool on the top of Altnahara, another classic high water pool and all three fish were caught after 6:00 p.m.!

On Friday, September 23rd, I was joined by father and son team, Neil and Alex Malloy from East Sussex. Neil's wife, Penny, had treated them both to a two day fishing trip to celebrate Neil's birthday and had purchased the two days fishing/guiding with myself through a gift voucher for the special occasion. The river levels had fallen overnight and reading 10" on the Shenachie gauge, 2'1" on the Forres gauge and water clarity was looking good as we made our way down to the Island Pool on Mini Daltra. They were both experienced trout fly fishermen, but this was their first experience of Spey casting for salmon. Therefore, after an introductory course on the basic elements of the double Spey cast in the Island Pool, they both soon got to grips with it and were casting with competence within an hour. However, the fish were not in much of a taking mood and continued to taunt us, as many fish seemed to be intent on running through the pool. We moved from pool to pool and Alex briefly had a good pull off a fish later on in the Middle Island Stream, but just a little quick on the uptake!

By Friday, September 24th, river levels were reading 7" on the Shenachie gauge and 1'5" on the Forres gauge. We were fishing on Levrattich Beat and I was feeling very hopeful of a fish from Lang Tail Pool at this height. Another introductory course on the single Spey cast off the right shoulder and they were again, soon getting into the swing of the cast without any problem. Alex started in at the very top of Lang Tail and within three casts he got a good pull off a fish and this time there was no mistake and he was playing his first ever Findhorn salmon. After several minutes and a good hard fighting grilse was finally netted. It was a really lovely silver fresh fish of around 5 lbs. and they were both truly delighted with his first capture. The fish was hooked on a ½ " Purple Cascade copper tube fished on a 5' poly leader sink tip and after a couple of photos was quickly released back into the river. It became really quite warm as we were making our way back downstream later that afternoon, little did we realise that Summer had just arrived and that a mini heat wave was about to descend upon us!

As I write this update, the season is over for fishing on the River Findhorn and River Spey. We still have a couple of weeks to go over and fish on the Aberdeenshire Dee and I shall be there fishing with clients on Crathes and Park Estates for the next couple of weeks. I shall be making my final Fishing News update upon my return.

~ Speycaster Photo Albums ~

>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here

Fishing News Update August 21st, 2011

Since my last update, I am delighted to report that the Summer fishing continues to show continued improvement on all of our rivers, as we experience another fine soaking Summer! River levels held up quite well through the middle of July and there were some really great runs of larger multi sea winter fish moving into the river Findhorn throughout that period. However, we did start to see some runs of grilse also showing up although a little later than last year.

I was fishing up on Glenferness on July 19th and river levels were reading 6" on the Shenachie gauge and 1'6" on the Forres gauge. It was another cloudy, overcast day with further outbreaks of heavy showers, which was helping to keep the river levels topped up over the next few days. It really was a perfect fishing day and all of the pools were looking very inviting as I walked up towards the Lady's Pool. There were fish showing in the very tail of the pool and some of these seemed to be on the move. However, I decided to tie on a Purple Cascade size 6 with a 5' poly leader sink tip. Just about half way down and just in the hot spot, I got a good solid pull off a fish and that was it! I noticed that the river level had started to rise a little and thought that the Island Pool would be worth a cast. I waded in at the top and started to move down and was pleased to see more fish showing, which seemed to be getting stirred up by the rise in water. After several minutes, I got a good solid take and this time there was no mistake, as I hooked into a good sized salmon that fought hard. It was a really cracking silver fresh fish of around 12 lbs. and was quickly released back into the pool.

On July 21st, Alan Greene and son Phillip and Brian Taylor enjoyed some great sport down on the Altyre Lower Beat with perfect river levels and conditions. They caught two fabulous sea-liced fish of around 12 lbs. and a grilse of around 4 lbs. Brian Taylor managed to hook two sea trout of around 3 lbs. each. Over the next couple of weeks, we saw a return to more settled weather conditions and high pressure was back in control. Therefore, river levels fell away and fishing conditions become a lot slower on many beats.

I was back on Altyre Estate through the week commencing July 25th and river levels were holding steady at 6". Weather conditions looked quite favourable and the weather had become a little cooler with some showers of rain and drizzle. I was with regular client Simon Lewin for the day and despite covering all of the known hot spots, we remained blank, but fish were seen running in Palamore and Roehillock.

On Friday July 29th, I was with newcomers to the world of salmon fly fishing, Mick Kirby from Gibralter and Trevor Thomas from England. Trevor had been treated for his 60th birthday present to two days salmon fishing and Spey casting instruction on the River Findhorn with myself. River levels and fishing conditions were still not looking very promising, as the river was falling away and reading 4" on the Forres gauge. However, never say never in salmon fishing! I decided to take them both down to Palamore Pool to get them both started, which even in low water conditions often offers a chance of a fish.

After about an hour of instruction, I thought it was time to let them loose on the pool and see what they could do. We were fishing full floating lines and small flies. It was another cloudy and overcast morning, which would at least help in these lower water conditions. I put Trevor further down the pool and just as we were getting started a fish showed just below us. Within just a few minutes and Trevor was putting out a good line, when a fish took hold of the fly and he was playing his first ever salmon. It was a good hard fighting fish and after about five minutes the fish was beached. A fine fresh grilse of around 5 lbs. Trevor was absolutely delighted with his first salmon and within just a couple of hours of even picking up a fly rod. What could be better for a 60th birthday treat!

River levels continued to fall away over the next week and we were desperately needing rain and plenty of it. Before long, all of our prayers were answered and by Sunday, August 7th, low pressure was sitting right over the country and the heavens opened all day. What a lovely sight for a Sunday! Therefore, by Monday, August 8th and river levels were running very high, reading 4'7" on the Forres gauge and 3'2" on the Shenachie gauge and rising. I was back on Altyre Estate and all we could do was to sit and wait for levels to fall away and water clarity to clear. It was starting to look fishable by late afternoon and fish were showing in Palamore Island and Palamore Pools, but no takers.

By Tuesday, August 9th, river levels had fallen back and reading 3'4" on the Forres gauge and 1'5" falling at Shenachie. It was a really great fishing day, cloudy and cooler, feeling much more like early Autumn than mid-summer! The water clarity was also just spot on and fish were showing in the tail of Palamore Island. I was feeling confident of a fish today! I opted to fish a small copper ½" Purple Cascade tube fished on a 10' poly leader sink tip in the heavier water conditions. Within a few moments of starting, I got a good solid take and had caught my first fish of the day, a small sea-liced grilse of around 3 lbs. I then moved up to fish down Palamore Pool, feeling very optimistic after seeing fish head and tailing close in. I got two good pulls off two fish, but neither of these connected, so I decided to move upstream to Roehillock Pool.

It was still big water and the big rock where we wade in was still covered. However, I started off just below the rock and let the fly swing round into the deep hole below me and saw a swirl, followed by a pull and number two was on. This turned out to be another cracking grilse of around 5 lbs. and covered in long tailed sea lice, perfect. Later on in the day, Colin MacDonald caught another grilse of around 4 lbs. from the tail of Palamore Pool, on a size 6 Cascade fished on a 5'poly leader sink tip.

On Wednesday, August 10th, the river had fallen back and was reading 2' on the Forres gauge and 9" up at Shenachie and falling. However, it was another very wet day and continued to pour heavily throughout the day and I knew it was only time before levels were starting to rise again. In the morning I.N. hooked and landed a lovely deep sea-liced grilse of around 4 lbs. in Palamore Pool on the ½" copper Purple Cascade. There were also several bigger fish showing in the pool. The water was looking in really great order and I was delighted to see fish showing in the Roan Pool, but only two good pulls and nothing hooked. It seemed like these fish were intent on running! Later on in the afternoon, I moved back up to the top beat and decided to take another swing through the Roehillock Pool. I had seen a couple of grilse show, but no offers. I moved down a little further and lengthened line and before I knew it, I had hooked a really big fish, which took off downstream fast. It was one of those difficult fish to play and kept quite deep with the odd head shake, which always makes me nervous! After a while, I was able to move it upstream and managed to get the big fish a little nearer to me. Then it gave two more hard thumps of the head and the hooks fell out. I knew it and that it was time to go home, as by mid-afternoon the river was indeed starting to rise once again.

By Thursday, August 11th and the rain had finally eased but the river was a raging torrent once again reading 7'7" on the Forres gauge and rising! We went down from the back of the house to inspect the river which was running high and very dirty. It was going to have to be another day of quiet patience before the river would fall and clear for us. I went down to Altyre later in the evening and to my surprise it had fallen back considerably and water clarity was looking good. I knew that the only place that there might be likely chance of a fish would be the tail of Palamore Island. I started in with the shortest cast that I could muster and let the fly swing. It looked perfect and then a hard pull and I hooked a lively small grilse of around 3 lbs. Who would have thought it! When we looked at the river earlier in the morning! I was feeling extremely confident that the next day could be a red letter day for us.

On Friday, the glorious August 12th, I was joined by some regular guests, Peter and Joanna Taylor and Nick Armstead from Edinburgh. The river was reading 2'8" on the Forres gauge and 1'1" at Shenachie and falling. It was a cloudy start, but soon became brighter and warmer as the day progressed. We saw some good fish showing in Palamore Island Pool in the morning and Nick managed a good pull off a fish and that was it! Down on the Lower Beat however, Joanna Taylor hooked and landed a lovely fresh fish of around 5 lbs. in the Roan Pool on size 6 Copper Ally Shrimp fished on a sink tip line. I thought that the afternoon would hold great promise, as water levels and conditions really couldn't have been better.

However, despite seeing fish in Roan, Palamore Island and Palamore Pools no one managed to hook or pull another fish.
On Saturday, August 13th, the river had fallen back reading 1'9" on the Forres gauge and 8" on the Shenachie gauge. Water clarity was really perfect, however the weather had suddenly become much warmer and brighter and the warm sun was beating down over the pools throughout the morning.

I was joined by another regular visitor, Brian Taylor. We started off down in the Roan Pool on the Lower Beat, which was looking in perfect order. We certainly saw some good numbers of fish showing in the pool, but we could not get an offer and I thought that the bright sun on the water was not helping our chances. We moved up to the Upper Beat and systematically fished through all of the great Upper Beat pools. Yet again, we saw fish in each pool, Palamore, Roehillock and even Soldier's Hole was starting to look promising as the water fell away. However, by lunchtime we were blank and so decided to enjoy a quiet and enjoyable lunch in front of the hut on the Roehillock Pool. Then just after 2:00 p.m., the clouds suddenly appeared, the sun disappeared and it was feeling a much fishier day. I suggested to Brian that we should head on back down to the Roan Pool and take advantage of this sudden cloud cover. I put Brian down the pool ahead of me and fish were showing all the way down the pool. It was only a matter of minutes before Brian got a good pull and tightened into a lively fresh fish of around 7 lbs. It was a small summer salmon, hooked on a small orange cone head tube fly and gave some great sport before we netted, photographed and released it back into the water. Then about ten minutes later and following Brian through the pool, I too hooked into another fresh fish of around 8 lbs., which was another cracking fresh sea-liced fish, hooked on a size 6 Purple Cascade double and quickly released back to the pool. A little while later and Brian made it number three, this time a smaller grilse of around 3 lbs., again hooked on the orange cone head tube. We continued to see many more fish showing and presumably running for about another hour or so, but we didn't get any further interest. We went back up to the top before returning to the Roan Pool, but here it had gone very quiet and after about another hour, we decided to call it a day and head for home. It had been a really fabulous day and with some very enjoyable sport on the fantastic River Findhorn.

~ Speycaster Photo Albums ~

>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here

Fishing News Update July 16th, 2011

I am delighted to report that the Summer run has already started after some very heavy prolonged rain on July 10th brought the river into a huge spate by Monday July 11thth. Unfortunately, on Altyre the Monday fishing was lost as all we could do was watch as the brown torrent swept trees swiftly past us and downstream. The river levels were reading nearly 7' on the Forres gauge and so we had to abandon any hope of a cast until the following day.

By Tuesday July 12th, river levels had fallen back dramatically and reading 2'9" on the Forres gauge and water clarity was improving all the time. The weather was still overcast and feeling a little cool for middle of July. I was joined by one of my regular fishing clients Lady Grant, who has fished with me for many years on Altyre and Glenferness. However, this was her first trip to the River Findhorn in July and she was excited to hit river conditions spot on. So was I! Altyre water has such a great variety of high and low water pools and at 2'9" offers such opportunities for anglers. I decided to start in Palamore Island Pool, one of my real favourites at this height. I had tackled up a 14' Bruce and Walker Norway Speycaster with a floating line and 5' fast sink, Poly leader sink tip. I opted for a small ½" Orjok tube, which would be perfect in these peaty conditions. Almost, as soon as we got there, we saw a fish head and tailing tantalisingly towards the tail. Within a few minutes of starting, Judy got a pull off a fish, followed by another tentative tweak, but nothing came of it. Then, soon after followed a really good strong pull off the reel and she was into a good hard fighting salmon. It was a really lovely fresh fish of around 9 lbs., not sea liced, but certainly a fresh fish moving up on the back of the spate. We were both thrilled and what a great start to the day. We continued to see fish showing in the pool, but no more offers, so we moved up to Palamore, but this was very quiet.

After an early lunch, we headed off down to the Scur Pool, which again is another good pool in high water conditions, as the fish tend to come up on our side and we can catch them here right under our feet. I decided to change the fly this time and tied on a slightly heavier Purple Cascade tube fly of around ¾" in length. I put Judy into position and just casting out a shortish line, she soon got another pull off the reel and this time a bigger fish, which simply took off downstream in a series of cartwheels! This was a really strong fish which gave some tremendous sport and after about a 10 minute fight, I managed to get it into the net. It was just a stunning deep hen fish of around 12 lbs. and covered in long tailed sea lice. After a quick photo, I released her back into the water and she took off like a bullet, none the worse for wear after the epic battle.

We then headed off downstream to the Roan Pool, which should be running at a perfect height for us. Sure enough, it was looking superb, although running a little too high at the upper neck of the pool. We started in a little further down and it wasn't long before we started to see fish running up through the pool. About half way down, Judy got another solid take off the reel and she was playing number three. This was again, another larger fish, not a grilse and it really gave a good account of itself by running and jumping across the pool several times. I managed to get some great aerial action shots before I netted another cracking fish of around 8 lbs. and quickly released back into the river. This fish, again, had fallen to the Purple Cascade tube fly fished on the 5' poly leader sink tip line. Judy decided to take a break for a while and it was my turn to have a cast in the Roan Pool. I carefully waded back in just above where she had caught her last fish. It wasn't too long before I too got a good pull off the reel and I was playing a very lively fresh grilse of around 5 lbs. and again covered in sea lice.

We decided that it was time for a break and a cup of tea back up at the top hut on the Roehillock Pool. The weather was feeling a little warmer and brighter, but the river was still falling slowly and clearing all the time and the tail of Roehillock Pool was looking very inviting. I decided to have a cast first and once again hooked into another small grilse of around 4 lbs. just in the tail of the glide, which after a lively fight was also quickly released into the water.

This had certainly been something of a red letter day for us and after tea and delicious fruit cake, we decided to go and have another cast on Palamore Pool. I put Judy back into the pool and after about ten minutes, yet again another pull off the reel and she was back in action. This time it turned out to be a lovely fresh sea trout of around 3 lbs. and once again, hooked on the deadly Purple Cascade tube fly. We fished on for a while longer into the evening, but the river suddenly became much quieter and very few fish were to be seen and no other offers, so we decided it was time to head back to Bradbush and celebrate this amazing day of sport on the fabulous Findhorn River.

On Wednesday July 13th, the river was still looking in good order, but it had become very hot and bright throughout the day and therefore, fishing was a little slow. By Thursday July 14th, with levels still reading 1'1" on the Forres gauge, I was feeling a little more optimistic as the weather had become more overcast and cloudier through the afternoon. I decided to go and fish on Palamore, which was still looking in good order. Within a few minutes, I got a good pull off a fish, but that was it. Then minutes later and a little further downstream I got another good pull and this one stuck on. After a few minutes of some lively action, I beached a small grilse of around 3 lbs., which had taken a small Orjok copper tube fly.

At around 5:00 p.m., I met up with Brian Taylor and Alan Greene who had come down to fish for the evening. The weather remained cloudy and overcast and I had a feeling that they might just have some sport and they did. Brian managed to get another two cracking fresh salmon of around 8 lbs. and 6 lbs., both from Palamore Pool and both hooked on a small orange cone head tube fly. Not only did they enjoy some good sport, but Brian said that they were amazed at the number of fish that they saw running through the beat all evening and had seen several very large fish going through, as well as, a good number of grilse.

By Saturday July 16th, the weather had become very unsettled once again with the onset of further heavy rain falling in the River Findhorn catchment, which bodes well for the start of the new fishing week on Monday, 18th July.
It has been a really encouraging start to the Summer run here in this part of the highlands and I am feeling very optimistic that we may well see another wet Summer with improved runs of salmon and grilse over these next few remaining months of the 2011 season.

I still have some great fishing available on Altyre Estate and Glenferness Estate over the forthcoming weeks. If you feel like booking up some last minute fishing with me, then please do contact me, ian@speycaster.net, for further information on the fishing opportunities and costs. I still have fishing for 2-4 rods on Altyre Estate from July 25th-27th and from August 8th-13th, 2011. I also have three days available on Glenferness Estate for 2 rods from September 1st-3rd, 2011.

~ Speycaster Photo Albums ~

>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here

Fishing News Update July 2nd, 2011

As we moved though April and after the early heat wave conditions which took away all of the river Findhorn snow melt reserves, fishing conditions became extremely difficult as water levels fell away daily.

The combined effect of falling levels and continuing sunshine made fishing conditions very frustrating for all anglers. It was made even more frustrating by the fact that we were witnessing one of the strongest Spring salmon runs entering the river in huge numbers every day. The water temperatures remained high, and therefore, these fresh fish were quickly moved up and over the Poolie Falls and into the Middle Beats. In fact, Lethen Estate announced their first salmon for 2011 in the second week of April, two weeks earlier than in 2010! Despite the low water conditions though, the fish just kept on coming and I have never before, seen so many fish crammed into the pools in the gorge at Glenferness in late April. All we needed was a lift in river levels to get these fish on the move and keener to take the fly, but unfortunately, it was not to be and all we could do was watch as fish numbers built up each day. Needless to say, with high pressure firmly anchored over Scotland week after week and bright blue skies each day, fishing conditions remained difficult for many anglers.

As we moved into early May, river levels remained very low and there was still no sign of rain to give river levels a much needed lift. It was quite incredible though to see so many fish in the pools and the water had become so low and so very clear that it was easy to spot these big numbers of fish in all of the pools in the Middle Beats. Not only were there large numbers of fish, but there were also numbers of very large multi-sea winter salmon to be seen crashing around the pools with many fish between 20-25 lbs. and several going on to the 30 lbs. mark!

However, by the second week of May, there seemed to be a change of weather in the air at long last. After some prolonged rainfall in the Findhorn catchment on May 10th, river levels had at last been given that much needed boost.

By Wednesday May 11th, the river had risen by a staggering 6" and was reading 6" on the Shenachie gauge and 4" on the Forres gauge. I was back on Glenferness Estate with the Corin and Innes Smith party and it was just wonderful to see the river with some life in it again after all of these weeks of drought. Not only was the river flowing healthily again, but the clarity was still very good and fish were certainly seen on the move and running hard. Corin Smith soon hooked our first fish in the Churchyard Pool on Church Beat, which after a quick run, threw the hooks and was lost! However, it was encouraging to at least hook a fish and there was a feeling of some hope that conditions were at last starting to improve.

By Wednesday May 12th, I was joined by the Nick Armstead, Finlay Wilson, Gywd Williams and James Annesley party who were fishing on the Glenferness Beats for three days. The river levels had quickly fallen away, reading 2" at Shenachie and 6" at Forres and we were teased and taunted by a mixture of heavy showers and bright sunshine! However, there were plenty of fish to be seen on all beats, but despite a couple of pulls from fish in the Garden Pool, nothing was hooked.

On Friday 13th May, the river had risen by just 1", reading 3" at Shenachie, which was a small crumb of comfort! Once again, we were teased by the weather with a mix of heavy showers and then followed by prolonged hot sunshine. Gwyd Williams managed to get a pull off a fish right in the very tail of the Old Bridge Pool on the Church Beat first time down. A little later on, he hooked into a very big fish in the Cliff Pool on Church Beat, but having hooked the fish on the dangle and after a brief encounter this was also soon off! Later on, Fin Wilson managed to get a pull from a fish in the Churchyard Pool and another good pull off a fish in the Laird's Pool, but neither of these took a good hold. By late evening, it was really raining quite heavily and our hopes were up that we would see a change in levels by the next morning.

Unfortunately, it was not to be and levels remained the same and reading 3" on the Shenachie gauge! However, with our spirits not deterred we carried on with renewed optimism that maybe river levels would rise during the day and we might just get a chance at getting a fish or two. Unfortunately it was not to be, although levels did rise later in the day, needless to say, just when everyone had packed up and gone home that evening!

By Monday May 16th levels had fallen away once again and fishing remained difficult as we saw a return to high pressure firmly anchored over Scotland for much of the week. However, by Friday May 20th, we started to see low frontal systems moving across the country and at last it seemed that proper rain was heading our way. On Saturday, May 21st, after some heavy overnight rain in the catchment we were delighted to see river levels reading 7" on Shenachie gauge and 1'5" on the Forres gauge. I was back on Glenferness again with Fin Wilson, who by now had decided that the River Findhorn is the most stunning salmon river in the World, which of course it most certainly is! Even after three days of no rewards and fishing hard in low water conditions, he was absolutely mad keen to get back on the river for another cast and so a telephone call was all that was needed to bring him back up to the Highlands in a hurry.

The weather was feeling much cooler and overcast with further showers falling throughout the day. We were both keen to get onto the river on one of my favourite beats, Mini Daltra on Glenferness Estate. It was a real joy to see the water flowing a little stronger than earlier in the week. It looked perfect and I was optimistic of getting a fish in the Island Pool first time down. I put Fin into the pool first and kept close to his side offering words of advice and instruction. Sure enough and right in the hot spot, he hooked into a good solid fresh fish which fought hard and seemed to be well hooked. I took a few action photos and was getting the net ready, when suddenly the hooks pulled out and the fish was gone. Neither of us could believe it and we were totally stunned. We both fished through all of the other pools up and down the beat and it was strangely quiet except for Island Pool and Secret Spot, which is where we saw fish showing.

However, despite all of our best attempts, we were skunked once again and would have to wait for another day to set the record straight and get Fin into his first Findhorn fish.
As we moved into the weekend of May 22nd, rain clouds were definitely moving across Scotland the weather forecasters were predicting some heavy rain together with gale force winds to come. For a change they were finally correct in their predictions!

On Monday May 23rd, I was up on the delightful Cawdor Estate, Drynachan water for the week with the Michael Leather party, consisting of John Brownlie and Doug Forbes for the first three days. River levels were reading 5" at Shenachie and 1'3" on the Forres gauge. The weather was absolutely horrendous, storm force gales and lashings of rain, perfect!! We were up on the top beat, Ballachrochin and Shenachie for our first day, which is simply surrounded by stunning scenery and heather clad hills descend rapidly down to the river banks. This Upper Beat generally tends to suit higher water by and large, although 5" on the gauge is not too bad for this beat. We started up on the Lower Pool, Quillichan, which was looking in perfect order and fish were showing as soon as got out of the cars. The winds were simply howling and casting was interesting, but within a few minutes of starting John Brownlie briefly hooked into a fish, which soon came unbuttoned. Not only did the wind howl, but the heavy rain soon set in with a vengeance.

We covered some good looking pools throughout the morning and there were certainly no shortage of fish to be seen in most pools, but no further offers. After lunch and with the rain continuing to pour, we suddenly noticed the river starting to rise very rapidly and before long had become very dirty and unfishable.

By Tuesday, May 24th, the river had risen overnight, but starting to fall away and reading 1'9" on the Shenachie gauge. We were fishing on Daless beat and I was hopeful that the Bridge Pool should be in perfect order if the water clarity was alright. The Bridge Pool is a classic high water pool and I was delighted to see it looking in perfect order when we arrived in the morning. In fact, it looked in great order from top of the pool right into the tail and fish were showing everywhere. It was yet another very breezy day with a mixture of heavy showers and odd bursts of sunshine thrown in. It wasn't too long before John Brownlie hooked the first fish of the day, which turned out to be a fairly fresh fish of around 9 lbs., hooked on a black and yellow 1" copper tube fly, fished on a sink tip line.

A little further downstream, Michael Leather hooked into a big fish near the tail of the pool, which after a good long fight threw the hooks. Before very long, John Brownlie hooked another fresh fish in the same pool, which was again around the 9 lbs. mark and quickly released. I decided that I should take Michael down to the Carnoch Stream, which should be in good order as well. Michael had only made two casts and his Snaelda fly was taken hard and he was into a good sized fish, which gave him some great sport. It really was a most beautiful fresh silver fish of around 13lbs. and must have been running very hard in the big water. I put Michael back into the pool and within a few minutes he had hooked into number two, which again was very fresh and a smaller fish of around 7 lbs.

I decided to head off upstream and see what was happening back at the Bridge Pool. I was delighted to hear that Doug Forbes had also had success and hooked and released another fresh fish of around 9 lbs. from the Upper Bridge Pool on a 1" black and orange cone head tube fly. After lunch and with the water level starting to fall away slowly, we decided to keep at it in the Bridge Pool, which seemed to be stuffed full of fish. I took John Brownlie up to check out the Daless Pool, but it was still running a little too high and no fish seen or touched. By the time we got back, Michael Leather had caught another big fish of around 15 lbs. from the Bridge Pool on his favourite Snaelda tube fly. A little later, John Brownlie managed to make it with another big fish of around 14 lbs., again in the Bridge Pool. By late afternoon and Michael looking decidedly tired, he offered me a cast and I willingly obliged! I did ask him if I could change the fly, however, and put on a 1" Orjok tube on his shooting head line and sink tip. Within a few minutes and I hooked into another fish of around 9 lbs. which was a little coloured, but I was very happy to beach and release her. It had, indeed, been a real red letter day with a total of 8 fish hooked and all safely released. By around 5:00 p.m., the river was starting to rise again and the fish had definitely gone very quiet, so it was time to head for home and open the champagne!

By Wednesday, May 25th, we were down on the Lower Beat, Dalbuie and river levels were reading 9" on Shenachie gauge and 1'10" on the Forres gauge. Water clarity was superb and I was very hopeful of another bumper day, but unfortunately, it wasn't to be. Doug Forbes hooked and released his second fish of around 14 lbs. in the Red Burn Pool on a black and orange cone head tube fly, 1". Despite levels and conditions looking in such good order, it was strangely quiet on most pools and even the big Dalbuie Pool didn't produce a fish. However, we had seen fish in the Dee Ford Pool earlier in the morning and I was hopeful of a fish from here later on. Unfortunately, Michael Leather hooked and lost a fish later in the tail of the pool.

On Thursday, May 26th, we were joined by Michael's two sons, James and Giles, who had brought respective wife and girl friend, Shakira and Victoria! We were back up on the Ballachrochin and Shenachie beat and the river had fallen back, reading 5" on the Shenachie gauge. However, the rain and windy weather had returned and it was feeling decidedly very cold for late May. The rain remained with us all day and one could tell that a change of river levels was on the way, so despite all efforts of trying to tempt a fish, the fish were not going to be tempted, so we returned back to the Lodge, very wet and very fishless!

On Friday, May 27th, we were back on the Daless Beat and after another night of heavy rain, river levels were reading 2' at Shenachie and 3'10" at Forres. The weather was calmer and brighter with occasional showers and very little wind, which felt extremely pleasant! When we arrived at the Bridge Pool, I was hoping that we might have a repeat day of Tuesday, but water clarity was not as good and fishing was decidedly slower. However, as always there were plenty of fish showing from top to bottom and some really large fish too. It was really frustrating and we threw every fly in the box at these fish, but they were simply not interested. However, after a day of persistence Gliles Leather finally hooked into a good fish towards the tail of the Bridge Pool, which turned out to be slightly coloured cock fish of around 10 lbs. The fish was hooked on a Snaelda tube fly fished on a sink tip line and everyone in the party was delighted. I really thought that with the level falling and clearing that maybe the fish were going to come on the take, as they seemed to be showing more and more, especially in the tail of the pool, where fish were obviously running through. However, they simply were not interested and presumably were just intent on heading upstream to the Upper River and the far away deep pools up on the Coignafearn Estate, where they most probably will wait until Autumn and spawning time arrives.

By Saturday, May 28th, the river had fallen back reading 1'2" on the Shenachie gauge and with much better water clarity. It was feeling a little breezier once again with more heavy showers returning across the Highlands. We were back down on Dalbuie Beat and it was really looking in great order. We started off in the morning at the Deer Ford Pool, which was looking superb. Yet again we saw plenty of fish on the move and Shakira Leather got a pull off a fish in the tail of the pool, but that was it and it didn't stick. A little later on, Giles Leather managed another lovely fresh fish of around 12 lbs. from the Dalbuie Pool, hooked on a size 6 Cascade double and fished on a sink tip line. Later on in the afternoon, James Leather finally hooked into a really big fish, which took off down Dalbuie Pool and seemed to be very well hooked. However, after a good fight the hooks pulled out and the fish was gone, which was such disappointment for me and of course his wife Shakira. James was very philosophical, however, and said that he had enjoyed hooking into the big fish and had also enjoyed the Findhorn experience over the last three days. At last after weeks of virtual drought conditions, the rain Gods had finally been kind to us and we had enjoyed some great sport on the fabulous Findhorn.

I was back up on Glenferness just last week on Thursday, June 23rd and after some heavy rainfall the day before, river levels were looking good once again, reading 9" on the Shenachie gauge and with excellent water clarity. This was the first decent spate that we had seen since late May and, therefore, fishing conditions had been difficult over the last few weeks. However there were still reports of fresh multi-sea winter salmon moving into the river system, despite the low water conditions in previous weeks. Therefore, I was feeling quite optimistic about the day ahead and was on one of my very favourite beats, Mini Daltra. When I arrived, the water looked perfect and the weather was settled, a little overcast and feeling fairly fresh. I started my day in the Island Pool and began to work my way down. I saw one or two fish showing further down below me and felt happy that there must be fish moving up. I was fishing a small ½" Orjok copper tube fly fished on a 5' poly Leader sink tip line. Just as I moved into the hot spot, I got a good solid pull and that was it, fish on and what a great feeling to hook into a hard fighting Spring salmon. After a good fight, I finally beached a fine slightly coloured cock fish of around 12 lbs., which was quickly unhooked and released and shot off like a bullet.

I moved up to the Lady's Pool and saw several fish showing in the tail of the pool, but couldn't get an offer from any of them! I went back down and made a cast in Secret Spot, which was looking perfect. Here again, I saw fish showing and even had a fish follow the fly and boil at it right in the tail of the pool, but that was it and no other offers. After another run down through the Island Pool and nothing doing, I decided it was time to head upstream to the Garden and Kennel Pools. When I arrived, I thought that the Garden Pool was looking absolutely spot-on, just about as good as it gets and I was feeling very hopeful. As soon as I got into the side of the pool, I saw fish showing just about everywhere from top to bottom. It was simply alive with fish and surely I was going to get one here! I fished down through the pool carefully and it was incredibly exciting and very frustrating to see so many fish, but they just were not interested. I managed to get two half-hearted tweaks down towards the tail and that was it, quite unbelievable.

I looked upstream and decided that the Kennel Pool must be worth a go and with so many fish showing in the Garden Pool, surely one or two must stop for a breather in the Kennel Pool. I managed to get myself into position to fish the tail of the pool, which is really the best option from our side and has been very kind to me in the past. Just as I made a cast towards the far side of the tail, I saw a large fish show below me on our side, it was a big fish and my adrenalin was flowing! I made another cast across into the far side of the tail and just as the wee Purple Cascade tube had started to drift it was taken savagely that it almost pulled the rod out of my hand! I was actually taken by surprise really and couldn't quite believe what had happened, but then the reel screamed hard and the fish simply left the pool and into the rapid water below. At this point, every fish in the tail of the pool seemed to burst into action and I think that they also disappeared into the fast water below me! However, I kept my head and kept a tight hold of the fish, hoping that I could tempt the fish to come back into the pool, which it did and unbelievably the hooks stayed firmly intact. Once the fish was back in the pool, I thought that I had a chance of getting the fish safely beached. However, it simply took off again and charged across the pool, cart wheeling several times and then headed of upstream very quickly. This was a really strong fish and after a few more exciting minutes I was finally able to beach a lovely fresh hen fish of around 10 lbs., hold her up fleetingly to admire her and quickly set her on her way back into the river, hopefully to spawn later in the year to produce more such hard fighting offspring in years to come.

Well, here we are in late June and the season is moving on rapidly. For the Spey and Findhorn there are only three months remaining, for the river Dee there are still three and a half months left with the season now officially closing on October 15th, 2011. So, if you haven't already booked up some fishing for the rest of the remaining season, now is the time to think about it. I have a feeling it is going to be another wet summer here in the Highlands and, therefore, I feel we are going to see another great Summer of sport on the River Dee, Findhorn and Spey. Tight lines for the remainder of the season!

~ Speycaster Photo Albums ~

>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here

Fishing News Update April 17th, 2011

As we moved into the week commencing March 21st, it was a frustrating period with river levels becoming tremendously high and the onset of milder weather causing a raging snow melt torrent on the river Findhorn, peaking at 7' on the Forres gauge. The river remained high and barely fell below 4' until Wednesday evening and therefore, three days of the week were lost to high and dirty water.

The Colin Brook party and Philip Vickers were fishing with me for the next few days. By Thursday 24th March, the river was at last starting to fall away on Altyre Estate and levels were reading 3'7" on the Forres gauge. The river was still really too high for many pools and just as it was falling away another surge of snow melt water came down rising levels again. However, Colin Brook hooked a kelt in the Roehillock Pool and that was it for the day!
On Friday, March 25th, the water had fallen back a little more, reading 2'9" on the Forres gauge and looking clearer. It looked like things were starting to look much better as a good number of fresh fish were seen running through the Roan Pool for much of the day. Philip Vickers briefly hooked and lost a fresh fish in Roan Pool later in the afternoon.

The river had fallen very slightly by Saturday morning and reading 2'7" at Forres and with excellent clarity. Again, there were good numbers of fish seen running through the Lower Beat for much of the day and then Colin Brook hooked a fish in Roan Pool, which gave a good account of itself and utter disbelief when it finally came to the net, turned out to be a very large and well mended kelt!

On Monday April 4th, I was back on Altyre Estate on the river Findhorn with regular clients, Des Dunlop and Jim Bishop. They were joined by Håkan Nilsson and Kim Uusimaki both from Sweden and fishing the River Findhorn for the first time.

River levels were really quite excellent and reading 1'9" on the Forres gauge and with perfect water clarity. It was quite a chilly and overcast day with very little in the way of wind, who could ask for more! Des and Jim started off on the Lower Beat and made their way to the Roan Pool. Within three casts, Des had hooked his first fish, which after a good fight dropped off. He then went on to hook another five fish with two more falling off before lunch. The three fish that actually stayed on were lovely fresh fish of around 9 lbs., 8 lbs. and a cracking fish of around 12 lbs., which he hooked just after I arrived in the late morning. After a couple of quick photos the fish was quickly released back into the river. All six fish were hooked on a yellow and orange 1" cone head tube, fished on a 5' poly leader sink tip line. Jim Bishop also managed a lovely fresh fish from the top of the Roan Pool of around 8 lbs., hooked on a 1" orange cone head tube fly, also fished on a 5' poly leader sink tip. This was indeed, a really great start to the week and Des and Jim had enjoyed some truly fabulous Findhorn sport before lunch time.

After lunch, it was the turn of Håkan and Kim "Newhill" to change over and move down onto the Lower Beat. I took Kim down to the Garden Pool, which was looking in excellent order and showed him the best way to wade through the pool, trying to avoid the deep hole near the tail. At this height, it is just perfect for fishing, but wading can be somewhat demanding in places here! I left him to carry on and moved upstream to see what was happening in Roan Pool. Little did I know what I would have witnessed, if only I had stayed on a little longer!

I walked up and sat down on the bank beside the deep hole which was where Des had seen so much action earlier in the day. Just as I sat down, a large fish showed opposite me and I waved Håkan to move quickly down towards me. Within a couple of casts, he was soon playing his first Findhorn salmon, which turned out to be a cracking fish of around 10 lbs. The fish was hooked on a lime green and black tube fly with a longish wing and fished on a sinking tip line. After a quick photo and releasing the fish, I then went back down to the Garden Pool to see how Kim was getting on. As I approached, I could see him just starting back in at the head of the pool, which I thought was a good sign as he must have either hooked a fish or seen fish showing. He walked back out as he saw me coming down the bank and with a big smile on his face told me the story of his epic battle with a huge fish, which he had estimated to be around 10 kilos, over 20 lbs. He had caught and eventually beached the fish, measuring alongside his rod from snout to tail and simply a stunning deep Findhorn Spring salmon. We later measured the mark against his rod, which came to 40" and checked this on my trusty salmometer, which showed the fish to be just over 24 lbs.

However, there was a story and the big fish had indeed given him some interesting sport, as when it took off down the pool, the reel handle hit his thumb hard and the screw became loose, therefore, he had to keep trying to tighten it up as he played this monster fish. I believe that at one stage, the knob actually came completely out and he managed to somehow or other get it back into place, to continue the battle. After a while, he was able to get the fish safely beached, photographed and measured before he quickly released the fish back into the water. This was also Kim's first Findhorn salmon and a fish that he will certainly never forget!

I then walked back up to see how Håkan was getting on and found him walking back down to the car with a broken rod tip on his favourite 11' rod! He explained that he had just caught another fish of around 7 lbs. in the Roan Pool and as he was trying to beach the fish had just put too much pressure on the rod tip and it snapped as he moved down to unhook the fish. After replacing his reel, Kim returned to the Garden Pool where he also hooked and lost another fish later in the afternoon. It had been a truly memorable day for all of my clients and with a total of seven fish landed up to 24 lbs. and another four hooked and lost, was a really encouraging start to their week.

By Tuesday April 5th, the river had risen once again and was back up to 2'3" on the Forres gauge. Håkan and Kim were back on the Lower Beat and it was not long before Håkan had hooked and released another fresh fish of around 9 lbs. from the Roan Pool, hooked on a black, yellow and blue cone head tube. It seemed that the big run of fish had moved further upstream and we were seeing numbers of salmon showing in Roehillock, Palamore and Palamore Island on the Upper Beat.

Jim Bishop had pulled a fish in Palamore and Palamore Island during the morning. Jim and I had also seen some fish head and tailing in the tail of the Roehillock Pool just before lunch, but none of these fish seemed to be keen on looking at our various offerings!
Then just at around 1:00 p.m., the river suddenly started to show signs of rising, yet again and before we knew, it had come up around 12" within ten minutes, which is most probably what the fish had been sensing. However, the clarity remained reasonably good and therefore, I was hopeful of a fish being caught in Palamore Island after lunch. Sure enough, it was Håkan Nilsson who managed to hook another lovely fresh fish of around 10 lbs. from the tail of Palamore Island, this time on a size 6 General Practitioner. The rise in the river level had made the Roan Pool a little too high for any hope of success and the Garden Pool was definitely out, so Jim and Des would have to wait for levels to fall back to be in with any chance of success on the Lower Beat.

By Wednesday April 6th, river levels were at last starting to fall back again and reading 2'1" on the Forres gauge. The weather had also changed and was feeling decidedly very much warmer with the air temperature reaching a staggering 17 °C. This is really very unusual for so early in April and my fears were of losing our valuable snow reserves up in the Monhadliaths before we had even reached mid-April! To make matters even worse, heavy rain set in by mid-afternoon and continued well into the evening, which would only have one effect for the following day. However, Jim Bishop was soon back in business on his first time down through the Roan Pool and had hooked another lovely fresh fish of around 7 lbs. from the tail of the pool on an orange cone head tube fly. The river started to rise again a little later on, which seemed to put the fish off the take and no more fish were caught and very few seen for the rest of the day.

By Thursday April 7th and just as I had feared, the river was back in a full raging torrent and reading just under 4' on the Forres gauge and really very dirty. My clients for the last three days were Simon Lewin, Paul Humphrey and Andrew Shaw, so we decided to meet up at the Upper Beat hut just after lunch to review the situation. By 2:00 p.m., the river was certainly falling away very quickly, but still very dirty and not looking very promising at all. Andrew Shaw managed to hook a well mended kelt from the tail of Roan Pool!

On Friday April 8th, the river had fallen back quite alarmingly to 1'7" on the Forres gauge, but with clarity restored. It was a cloudy start to the day, but before long we were soon feeling the effects of bright sunshine and a heat wave was setting in! The fishing was generally very quiet on both beats, but later on in the afternoon we saw fish showing in the Soldiers Hole, where Andrew managed to get a fish to come and look at a Sunray Shadow, but that was it.

On Saturday April 9th, the river was 1'4" on the Forres gauge and steady. It became another bright and very hot day in the sunshine and some fish were seen running through the Roan Pool and Palamore. However, later on in the afternoon, Paul Humphrey managed to entice a lovely sea-liced fish of around 5 lbs. to a size 8 Cascade from Palamore Pool, which he was really delighted with. So, we finally ended the week with a total of 11 fresh Spring salmon up to 24 lbs. which considering the conditions, had been a great result.

By Sunday April 10th, the air temperature reached a staggering 20° C in this part of the Highlands, simply amazing for the time of year! I also saw Jimmy Maclean, who is head ghillie on the Upper Home Beat, Darnaway on that Sunday morning. He told me that his rods had ended up the week with a very respectable total of 18 salmon up to just over 22 lbs., which he was clearly delighted with. However, he pointed out that with the onset of the warmer weather that the water temperature had climbed quickly to 43°F and that numbers of fish were now running up and over the Poolie Falls at Sluie. He mentioned that he was seeing good numbers of fresh fish going over the Falls each day and certainly many more fish than had been seen at the same time last year. Whilst this is not really good news for the Lower Beats at this time, it certainly bodes well for the fishing on the Middle Beats over the forthcoming weeks, which have already recorded fish being caught. I see that Lethen have already caught six fish this week and it is only being very lightly fished at this time of year. However, my only concern at the moment is that river levels have fallen away, although many beats/pools are still in good order, but we will need rainfall to top up the river before too long, as all of the snow reserves in the catchment have now all melted away after this early spell of warmer weather.

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>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here

Fishing News Update March 21, 2011

The season on the rivers Findhorn and Spey opened on February 11th, 2011. I was delighted to hear that Evie Glass from Phones Lodge, Newtonmore caught the first salmon of the season on fly, a cracking fish of around 14 lbs. from Orton Estate in the morning of the opening day. The first fish on the Findhorn was caught in late February, a fish of around 9 lbs. from the Forres Angling Association water.

From March 10th - 12th, I was looking after regular clients of mine, Ian Vann, Bill Hannan, Don Milne and Paul West on Altyre Estate for their first outing of 2011. After a somewhat early mild spell in late February, I was a little concerned that we might lose much of the precious snow melt water from the upper Findhorn catchment. Water temperatures had also been creeping upwards and 42° F. had been recorded on the Spey and Findhorn for a couple of days during the last week ofFebruary!

On March 9th, the river had risen and was reading 1'11" on the Forres gauge after heavy rainfall throughout the system and I was really feeling optimistic of catching our first fresh "Spring" salmon of 2011 over the next three days.

By Wednesday March 10th, Winter had returned with avengence in this part of the Highlands and with a bitterly cold North East wind blowing, it was feeling really Baltic! However, the river had fallen off a wee bit and was reading 10" on the Forres gauge, which is still a good all round height for us on Altyre. By lunchtime, the river was showing signs of rising again, but the clarity was excellent. Then at around 4:00 p.m., I went down to see Bill Hannan and Ian Vann on the Roan Pool, who reported having seen some kelts and at least one fresh fish running through the pool. Ian had also had a pull from a fish a little earlier on. As I was standing beside him and chatting away, he got another good solid pull and had indeed hooked his first salmon of 2011. It was one of those classic deep Findhorn fish of around 8 lbs. and still with sea lice on its' back, just perfection. The fish was hooked on a size 6 General Practitioner and fished on a Rio shooting head line with a small length of sinking tip attached.

I was so delighted for Ian and after a couple of quick photos, the fish was released safely back into the river and shot away like a bullet! Then at around 4:45 p.m. and a little further upstream on Palamore Pool, Don Milne had also hooked into another fish, of around 8 lbs., which also was safely released back into the river. The fish was hooked in the tail of Palamore Pool on a 2" Willie Gunn tube fly fished on a sink tip line. Don was indeed delighted and it was great to be off the mark and up and running with two fish for the day.

By Friday March 11th, the river was running at 1'11" on the Forres gauge and looking in excellent order. It was still bitterly cold with some sunshine and more snow showers falling. Despite the conditions, it was quiet on the river and only a couple of kelts hooked in the Roan Pool.

On Saturday March 12th, the river was reading 1'5" on the Forres gauge. It had been a very cold night with a hard frost on the ground and an appalling forecast of further heavy snow to come! The river, once again looked in excellent order. Paul West told me that he had a good pull off a fish on his third cast in the Roan Pool, followed by a kelt hooked briefly before it dropped off. By lunchtime, the predicted snow started to fall and most of the team decided to head back Southwards as the road warnings were severe. I stayed on for a little while with Don Milne, but the river became very dirty by mid afternoon, so we also decided it was time to abandon ship.

On Wednesday March 15th, the river was reading 1'5" on the Forres gauge. I was delighted to report that father and son team, Alan and Philip Green from Forres had enjoyed a memorable day of sport on the Lower Beat on Altyre Estate.

Young Philip Green, just 17 years old had hooked and landed his first ever Findhorn Spring salmon in the Roan Pool. It was a glorious "Springer" of around 14 lbs. and hooked on a size 6 double hook, Posh Tosh, fished on a sink tip line and safely released. Young Philip was over the moon with his first Findhorn fish and now hooked for life!

As I write this report, we have seen another mild spell in this part of the Highlands over the weekend and therefore, the river is now running very high, reading 5'3" on the Forres gauge and rising! Much of this is snow melt water coming in from the Findhorn catchment and the Dava Moor area around Lochindorb, where the snow has been melting quickly and running into the Dorbach burn, which in turns runs into the Divie at Dunphail, where it joins the Findhorn at Logie.
Hopefully with the effect of this high melt water and a combination of high Spring tides this coming week, we might start to see the main run of early Spring salmon moving into the system now.

~ Speycaster Photo Albums ~

>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here

Fishing News Update, February 6th, 2011

After what has seemed like a long close season, a new season dawned on the Aberdeenshire Dee last Tuesday, February 1st. It was really one of those perfect opening days with excellent river levels and clarity combined with a fine bright and breezy day. The water was reading 8" on the Park South gauge at 9:00 a.m., but started rising by the afternoon, which may have been a combination of milder weather and snowmelt water from the catchment. Not only was it a perfect opening day for weather/conditions it was also a perfect day for catching some fresh sea liced Spring salmon, with Park Estate recording 11 fresh salmon for the day and the river Dee recording 57 salmon registered on the Fish Dee website. I expect it has been many a year since these beats have seen such terrific sport so early in the season and long may it continue.

It was my friend, Nick Armstead from Edinburgh, who was first to score on his third cast of the morning, which most probably gives him the first salmon of the year on the Dee. It was a cracking silver fresh fish of around 12 lbs. and hooked in the Durris Stream on a Cascade tube fly. Sadly, no photo of this as he lost his camera!!

A short while after and just upstream, Gary Webster hooked into a large fish in Greenbanks Pool, which after a good fight was netted by ghillie, Bert Webster and tipped the scales at 25 lbs., an absolute beauty. The big fish was hooked on a black and yellow Dee Fox tube fly. Further downstream on Bakebare, Lawrie Hickmans' guest, Andreas hooked a fresh fish of around 7 lbs. After lunch, the river started to rise and was reading 16" on the Park South gauge. However, Gary Webster made it number two with a fresh sea-liced fish of around 7 lbs. from the Jetties Pool on beat five.

I understand from Keith Cromer that the North Bank also enjoyed some great opening day sport wth three fish from Park Inn up to 14 lbs., two fish from the House Pool between 8-10 lbs. and another two fish from the Jetties Pool up to 10 lbs. I am truly grateful to Keith Cromar, Head Ghillie, for supplying these super photos of those glorious fresh Spring salmon. The photos below, show Mark Bird with a cracking fresh fish from the Jetties Pool, Stuart Hooly with an 8 lb. fish from the House Pool and Paul Devlin with 14 lbs. "Springer" from Park Inn.

There were also a good number of kelts to be caught throughout the day, offering further sport for the anglers. By the end of the first fishing week of the season, I am delighted to report that 137 fresh fish have been recorded for the Fish Dee website catches, which is truly encouraging and bodes well for the rest of the season. Park Estate recorded a total of 30 fresh fish for their first five days of the season.

On February 11th the Rivers Findhorn and Spey open their doors for business and I think that after the great start to the river Dee, anglers here are feeling very optimistic of another great season ahead.

We have seen a prolonged period of early winter weather since late November until early January. This early snow combined with sub-zero overnight temperatures, will have given the hills and corries a good solid base of ice and snow. However, we have seen somewhat milder weather over these last few weeks, which has already caused river levels to be running very high at times lately. Of course, it is still early days, as far as winter is concerned and there are still several months to go before we have seen the worst of the winter weather. Ideally, we could do with more prolonged colder weather over these next few months, so that we do not lose the valuable reserves of snowmelt too soon. Given good water levels and conditions over the next couple of months, I feel optimistic that 2011 is going to provide good runs of multi-sea winter Spring salmon and offer good sport for all anglers.

May I wish everyone good luck and tight lines for the 2011 season and I look forward to meeting up with old friends and making new acquaintances on the river bank throughout the season. I shall be updating the website with all of our Fishing News periodically, as always.

~ Speycaster Photo Albums ~

>>To view images of our growing online photo library which covers the prime beats we fish on the River Findhorn, River Dee, River Spey, River Avon, and Ponoi River, please click here

~ Season Reports ~

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