Fishing News for rivers Spey, Avon, Dee and Findhorn - Season 2004

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Fishing Update: March 28th, 2004

Suddenly it is the end of March and the spring salmon run continues to build up momentum on all of our main salmon rivers in this area of the Highlands. It has been another good week on the Dee with all beats apparently catching fresh spring salmon. The one comment that seemed to be consistent from all of my contacts was the large numbers of fresh fish being seen running on all beats, although not necessarily catching them! It appears that as the water levels have risen over this last week mainly from snowmelt and rain with water temperatures now in the low 40's F. These fish are now starting to run harder and faster through many of the lower and middle beats. Park ended the week with 8 salmon. Crathes Castle had a very good week with 14. Invery and Upper Crathes landed 6 salmon. Lower Blackhall also a good week with 10 salmon including a monster of 27 pounds!

Over on the Spey, the spring fishing is still producing good numbers here, also with most of the Lower beats having good sport. I hear that the middle and upper beats are also picking up more fish now. This is also due to higher water levels and temperatures, urging these fresh fish to move on upstream. I was back on Delfur again last Thursday with some old friends who have been fishing guests of mine for a number of years now. It was such a pleasure to see Ronnie Sneddon hook and land his first ever spring salmon from the River Spey; a beautiful sea liced fish of 10 lbs seen here being held by ghillie, Mike Murdoch, just before being released. Mike will have to get used to posing like this for clients, as he is very shortly off on his travels as full time guide on the Ponoi River, Kola Peninsular in Russia. We all wish Mike the very best of luck in his new position at the Ryabaga camp. I know that I can say that he will be greatly missed by friends and colleagues up and down Speyside. Nostorovia, Mike!

Back on my home Findhorn River, the Forres AA managed to land 2 salmon this last week; a 16 pounder from Newton pool and a 9 pounder from Red Craig. I also heard that a 23 lb Springer was caught from the Meads at Darnaway. I was on the Altyre beat last Tuesday and Friday and the river was running very high on both days due to a combination of heavy rainfall and snowmelt. Having seen a fish head and tail in the tail of one pool, I managed to hook it on the second cast. It was one of those dogged head shakers and wouldn't do anything except bang its head! I saw it only once before it threw the hook and clearly in the mid teens of pounds! Here again, the water temperature is creeping up and now showing 40 degrees F. I feel it won't be too much longer before these fresh fish start negotiating their way over the Falls at Sluie once the water temperature reaches the magical 42 degree mark.

I will be guiding my good friends Willie Mair and Par Palm from Sweden this coming week as we work our way through some great beats along Deeside and the Spey valley.

Fishing Update: March 21st, 2004

It was a really great day for my guests at Delfur on the River Spey last Thursday, March 18th. The weather had certainly changed over the week with very strong and cold winds blowing across the river and Thursday was no exception! A relative newcomer to Spey casting and salmon fishing is Simon Thomas from Glenlivet, who succeeded in catching his first ever salmon; a well conditioned kelt taken from the Collie pool in the morning.

Just shortly afterwards, it was the turn of Nick Armstead from Edinburgh who hooked and landed a sea liced beauty of 8lbs, also from the Collie pool. Further upstream, Mel McDonald hooked and landed his first spring salmon of the season from Sourden pool, also around the 8lb mark. The river level was running at + 6 inches on the Delfur gauge and was pretty clear. This rise in water was mainly due to rain and snow melting off the Cairngorms. The water temperature was just on the 40 degree F. mark.

Later on in the afternoon, I went up to see how Nick was getting on in Sourden. The wind was pretty awful up there and just after Nick handed over his rod to head ghillie Ronnie Low, he too was into a cracking 10 pound Springer. The successful flies were generally brass tubes about 1-2 inches, black, yellow and orange patterns seemed to do the trick. Another brilliant day for us on the Spey! I understand that most beats are catching these early runners with at least 3 salmon taken off the Grantown on Spey water and another 3 caught as far up as Boat of Garten on the Abernethy Angling Association stretch. It may be that with a rise in water levels and temperatures these fish are dispersing throughout the river system.

Over on the Dee most beats are catching their share of fresh fish. Here, also, the weather has been very wet, windy and cold generally. The water height at Park yesterday, was 28 inches and clear. Another good week of fishing with some 10 fish being landed on the North bank and a 20 pounder coming from the South bank. The week before a total of 30 fresh fish off both North and South banks were landed. Lower Crathes has also had a good week with some 23 fresh spring salmon landed. Over on Invery and Upper Crathes, they had a great day on Wednesday with 5 fish caught.

On the Findhorn it was a little slow on the Forres Angling Association with one fish being hooked and lost in Red Craig. However, I understand that fresh fish are being seen and caught a little further upstream on the private Darnaway beats. On Friday, I saw fresh fish and had a brief encounter with a salmon on the Altyre beat. Stephen Smith fishing below me on the Lower beat caught a lovely sea liced 9 lb salmon from the Garden pool. Here too, the water was quite high and really looked in excellent order with that lovely peaty colour in it. I got a temperature reading of just 38 degrees F. here, which does not surprise me at all. It looks like another unsettled week ahead with heavy showers and some snow on the hills. Just perfect and long may it continue!

Fishing Update: March 14th, 2004

It has been yet another busy and productive week here in the Highlands despite water levels falling back very slowly. The recent heavy snowfalls are still very evident on the outlying hills and freezing overnight temperatures are ensuring that we haven't faced a big snow melt flood so far.

Fishing Delfur on the Spey last Thursday with my friends produced another sea liced Springer to Graham Ritchie, taken from Sourden pool; an absolute beauty of 7lbs. The river has fallen back to minus 9 inches on the Delfur gauge and is absolutely gin clear. The weather was incredibly cold with strong South Easterly gales making for some tricky casting conditions. The water temperature was around the 35 F degree mark, which is really ideal for our March fishing. However, everyone had their share of kelts which kept the adrenalin flowing. I also heard of an 18 pounder being taken just above us on Rothes that same day. We must have let it slip through!

On Friday 12th, I was fishing with my old friend Peter Rippin, who used to work with me as a guide on the Ponoi River in Russia. We decided to head for the Altyre beat on the Lower Findhorn. Again, it was a bitterly cold day with strong S.E. gales. However, our body temperatures were soon rising as I hooked and landed a magnificent fat 8 lb spring salmon covered in long tailed sea lice, just off the tide. I was fishing a type 3 sink tip with a size 6 double Cascade shrimp fly. The water level was low and a temperature of just 34 degrees F.

Just after lunch, it was Peter's turn for the action. He too hooked and landed another sea liced chromer of 6lb from the Pallamore pool.

This was quickly followed by two kelts and then a large baggot salmon of some 12 lbs. This fish was in fantastic condition and looked like a genuine spring salmon, but carried the tell-tale fresh water gill maggots. This is indeed a very attractive stretch on the Findhorn and I have already made arrangements to take several weeks here for future spring salmon fishing, so please contact me for further details and costs.

On Saturday March 13th, I had been invited to fish with friends back on the Knockando beat of the River Spey. The weather had calmed and it became a beautiful early spring day with little wind and a warming sunshine. I started on Ian Gordon's beat at Lower Pitchroy in the morning and was rewarded with a large 13 pound cock salmon from the Slobs pool, on a size 6 double Ally Shrimp fly. This was a really strong salmon and gave me some terrific sport. After lunch, I was sent down to the Big Island pool on the Knockando beat itself. I managed to hook into yet another chrome silver Springer of 7lbs again on the size 6 Ally Shrimp. My host David and his friend Colin also took a fish apiece in the morning, making a total of 4 beautiful spring salmon for our fishing day. What terrific sport we are getting this year and so early too! I will be updating again in just over a week with the latest roundup of spring fishing on our main 3 rivers in the Highlands.

Fishing Update: March 7th, 2004

By the middle of February all of the rivers here in the Highlands had fallen back to summer levels. Water temperatures also fell back as a result of some very cold nights with hard frosts. Fresh run salmon were not keen on entering the river systems. The picture was soon to change, however, with the onset of heavy snowfalls throughout Morayshire and Aberdeenshire during the last week of February. This is just what we had been praying for, even though we lost several days fishing.

I was guiding Robert Booth from Cambridgeshire from March 1s t- 3rd at Invery and Upper Crathes on the Dee. The weather was indeed extremely cold with minus 14 degrees recorded at Dinnet on Sunday and Monday nights. Fishing was, therefore, postponed as we watched the grue and ice flowing steadily downstream. In these conditionsone has to be very patient and wait for this grue to clear which happens as soon as water and air temperatures start to rise above freezing. We kept ourselves busy and warm as we set to work breaking the ice off our main pools which would hopefully pay off over the next few days as the weather became milder.

We were able to cast a line after 4:00 p.m. on both Monday and Tuesday and magically the fish turned on. Robert hooked 5 salmon, landing 4 kelts and lost a fish before the reel and rod rings started to freeze at about 5:30 p.m. Keith, who is head ghillie at Park, said that his rods landed 2 fresh Springers and lost another big fish on that Monday afternoon during the same time scale; so at least they were now running the river! On Tuesday, conditions were exactly the same and we managed just the one kelt, but losing another 4 fish later on in the day. By Wednesday, the weather turned milder and we were able to fish all day. Robert was indeed rewarded with a beautiful fresh spring salmon of 8lbs taken from the Pantich Pool just before 1 p.m. This was his very first spring salmon (see below) and was safely returned to the river. He also landed another 4 kelts during the day and went home a very happy man. Since starting Speycasting instruction with me in September, 2002, Robert has now become a very competent fisher and he will go on to catch many more in the years to come.

On the 4th March I was back on the Spey with another team of regular guests, fishing on the delightful Delfur beat. It was a perfect spring day, sunny and warm. The river had risen by 6 inches after overnight rain and snow melt and was in excellent ply for this beat. It was the turn of Willie Mair to catch his first spring salmon of the season, a beauty of 8 lbs caught in the Sourden Pool on a special Par Palm cone head tube fly, landed at 10:30 a.m. Some friends of mine were fishing at Knockando last Saturday and had an amazing day of 4 spring fish up to 14 lbs. This early run of fortune on the Spey continues.

I understand that Park ended the week with 6 fresh fish with a big fish of 20 lbs landed in the Upper Kirks. Invery and Upper Crathes also ended the week with 6 fish. I hear that Crathes Castle had a blazing two days with 4 salmon on Friday and 5 salmon on Saturday! The snow is melting very slowly here and keeping water levels at a steady pace, which is just perfect for this time of year. Water temperatures seem to be around 34 - 36 degrees F which is ideal for slowing these early runners.

Finally, I am delighted to mention my local river, the Findhorn, which has also got off to a cracking start. There were 6 spring salmon taken from the Forres Angling Association this week. Abbie Gammie caught 3 fish from the Newton Pool; Dave Faulkner caught one salmon from the Newton and another fish was taken from Antons Pool. However a Mr. Bartlett landed a monster of 26 lbs caught in the Broom of Moy Pool, what a tremendous spring fish to catch!

The long range weather forecast shows that winter is far from over with more heavy snowfalls and cold weather is still to come our way. I shall be updating again within the next two weeks with hopes that this run of early spring fish continues to build up over the forthcoming weeks.

Update: February 23rd 2004

I was keen to hear of some news from the Findhorn today and made my way down to the Forres AA. It has become bitterly cold here in the Highlands again and we are preparing for some serious snow falls this coming week. I hear that the first fish to be caught on the Findhorn was taken last week from the Meads at Darnaway. Talking to some of the locals I heard that a run of fish was seen entering the river off the high tide yesterday, so they are moving in already. I was invited to fish on the Altyre beat last week for a day and I must say it is indeed a spectacular bit of fishing situated opposite Darnaway below the Poolie Falls. This is just prime water for Spring salmon especially through March/April. Anyone who would like to come a fish here with me over the next couple of months please contact me for further details. The Spey is still picking up a few early fish and I understand that Rothes and Aikenway in particular got off to a cracking start this season.

The cold conditions are not encouraging many anglers at present so the results are good for such light fishing pressure. The rivers have fallen back low and clear. The Dee is running at summer level now and we were on Park on Saturday and managed to catch 4 kelts between us but no alas no Springers this time. Only one fresh fish was taken last week. Interestingly this sealicer was caught on a Sunray Shadow stripped across the surface on a floating line! The angler also hooked and lost another two in the same afternoon! The water level was 12 inches on Saturday but after hard frosts every night since, the water is now back to 6 inches. The water temperature is around 32 to 34 deg F with the air just above freezing during the day. I gather that some of the other beats in the Banchory area have been taking a few fish, with Crathes recording 4 in one day just over a week ago. However it is the same story here on Deeside with very few anglers fishing at the moment. So with the impending blizzards upon us we can be thankful of more heavy snowfalls in the mountains. This makes for difficult fishing conditions in the short term but with a guarantee of hard packed snow in the corries to sustain water levels as the air starts to warm over the forthcoming Spring months.

OPENING DAY ON THE RIVER SPEY, February 11, 2004

Another fine and mild day saw the opening of the River Spey here in the Highlands of Scotland on February 11th. A gathering of some 80 people at Aberlour Bridge toasted in the new season which, as always, was sponsored by The Glenfarclas Whisky Company. A lone piper played on the bridge as Jenny Henderson from Perthshire poured the ceremonial bottle of Glenfarclas Single Malt into the River Spey as a sign of great fortune to all anglers and ghillies for the coming season. This honour is bestowed to the angler who catches the first fly caught salmon on the river from the previous season. Jenny was also awarded the Silver Spey Quaich for landing a fine 9lb. Spring salmon on the opening day of 2003.

On an even brighter note, it appears that this was the best opening day on the River in seven years. I hear that a good number of fresh fish were taken on many beats from Castle Grant downstream. The person to win the Silver Spey Quaich this year is Bill Goodlad, who managed to land a magnificent 17 pounder from Rothes and Aikenway. Bill actually managed a double whammy, as he not only landed the first fly caught salmon but also the largest and is awarded a bottle of 30 year old and 10 year old Glenfarclas Single Malt, plus two hampers kindly donated by Walkers of Aberlour. So very well done and congratulations to Bill! This is indeed a very encouraging start to our season here in the Highlands and we hope for a fantastic fishing year ahead.

I was also able to capture the moment of fourteen year old, Elliott Noble from Elgin, playing his first salmon of the season at lower Pitchroy, Knockando.

The Spring fishing has started very well here in the Highlands. Lets hope this continues and that the memories of 2003 will be diluted like that fine Glenfarclas malt as it met the waters of the Spey.

PARK, RIVER DEE, MONDAY FEBRUARY 2nd, 2004.

Another season dawned on the Aberdeenshire Dee. We were there in force to toast the start of a new season after the prolonged low water conditions of 2003. Despite weather warnings of gales and rain conditions really couldn't have been better for fly fishing. For early February it was reasonably mild with still some few inches of snow on the ground. When we arrived the water height was 17 inches on the Park gauge, the water was gin clear with a temperature of 36 degrees F. The air temperature was similar.

My party of five were all tackled up and on the water by 9-30 a.m. Fast to medium sink tips with 1 inch brass Templedog tubes seemed to be the order of the day. Ian's splendid supply was rapidly poached as our party neglected the old favourites and plucked from his selection, which had been specially tied for the occasion. The morning was very eventful with everyone in the party landing at least one or two kelts. By 2 pm, after a late lunch, we were all back on the river and optimism was in the air for a fresh fish. The air temperature was climbing into the low 40's F, the river was starting to rise with some fresh snow melt water and the air had a gentler feel. Just after 2-30 pm Ian took the first fresh fish, a cracker of 13 pounds from the House Pool.

Then not long after that Mike landed another of 9 pounds from the Cellar. Just before dark Ronnie Sneddon landed a 10 pounder from Durris Stream. This was better than ever anticipated. We always knew there is a chance of a fresh fish from the Dee on opening day but 2004 surpassed our wildest dreams. Between us we also landed over 20 kelts for the day and everyone had enjoyed some terrific sport.

I understand that some 15 fresh Spring salmon were landed during the day on and around other Dee beats. This bodes well for our Spring salmon fishing in the weeks and months ahead.

If anyone would like to take up a day or two guided fishing on the Dee or Spey over the coming weeks please contact ian@speycaster.net for further details of early opportunities.

A Winter haven

The Atlantic Salmon is a wonderful creature. It returns to the river of it's birth and starves itself for many months whilst heading for the headwaters of our great rivers. It negotiates many obstacles in it's course to the spawning grounds in the streams of the higher terrain of our country. Even after consummation there is a long arduous wait before the warmer floods encourage a steady traverse downstream and back to the sea. Not all fish survive this ordeal. There is no more beautiful place, to Salmon or man, than the upper Findhorn at Coignafearn. This is a wild place of Red Deer and Eagles and Atlantic Salmon left alone to do the needful. The pictures below were taken by Ian on a crisp December day just after Christmas. The snow has started to accumulate in the high corries and gullies and when packed hard will sustain the Findhorn River well into Spring when the angler below will be starting to enjoy the anticipation of a new season.

The new 2004 season rolled in on the Helmsdale in Sutherland - January 12th, 2004.

Suddenly, as all the Christmas lights come down, a new season dawns on us here in Northern Scotland. January 12th sees the start of a new season on some of the more Northern most rivers in Scotland. I therefore decided it was time to cast a fly into the peaty waters of my old friend, the River Helmsdale.

I have to admit that as I made my way Eastwards from Forres to Inverness early last Monday morning and with the rain lashing hard against my windscreen, I did begin to doubt my sanity a little. One wave short of a shipwreck, I thought, as I left the warmth and comfort of my cottage in Dallas! Anyway, as I turned North and headed over the Kessock bridge at Inverness, the rain eased and it was looking decidedly brighter ahead. I arrived in the village of Helmsdale just after 10:00 a.m. and signed in for my free opening day ticket. This ticket is offered to anyone by the Helmsdale Fishery board for the first two days of the season every year and enables one to fish on those fabled private beats up to the Kildonan Falls.

As I drove up the Strath, out of the village, I could feel the hair on the back of my neck begin to rise as memories of some wonderful days of Spring salmon fishing came flooding back. The river was busy and about 100 tickets had been issued to anglers from all over the country, keen to catch the first Scottish salmon of 2004. I soon pulled up by my old favourite pool, the Lower Caen, to find it deserted. I tackled up and looked across towards the river. Once again, my mind was full of my largest ever salmon, taken from this pool just over 20 years ago. It was 28 ½ pounds, taken on a cold late February afternoon. By now, the weather had settled and it was looking like a fine day for the time of year. The water height at 1'9'' was ideal. Before long, I was fishing this sacred river and it felt wonderful to be casting a fly into one of my favourite Scottish rivers once again.

I had only been fishing for a few minutes and turned my head upstream to see a young chap above me on another pool with his rod bent into a fish. I just had to go and investigate. Fourteen year old, Sandy McLennan (below), from Kildary, was into his first fish of the year and looking clearly delighted as he enjoyed playing the salmon on his new fishing rod, reel and line given to him as his Christmas present just a few weeks before! I took some pictures and wished him well, as his father and other friends came to lend a hand with the net. I returned to my pool and within 3 casts, I too felt the line pull away and the reel screamed out, as I tightened into my first salmon of the season. What a truly wonderful thrill to feel that line going away as the rod bent into action once again. It too, turned out to be a salmon kelt of about 7 pounds, but in very good condition and was quickly returned to the water.

It was a wonderful day and I heard stories of other fish being caught from most pools up and down the river. I understand that the first fresh Spring salmon was caught by Mr. Bob McKay, from the Park pool on beat two. He was rewarded with a bottle of champagne for his prize.

In a little over two weeks, the season opens on the River Dee and I shall be over there to mark the occasion with a group of friends who are joining me at Park Estate for the great day. I will, therefore, be reporting our adventures and hopefully news of our first Spring salmon of 2004. Then on February 11th, it is the turn of the Rivers' Spey and Findhorn to open. So, from then on, as usual I will be sending my regular updates via the website with details and photos of all the action over the forthcoming season.

I wish everyone a really great fishing season and look forward to seeing all of my friends, old and new on the riverbank very soon. Good luck.

Ian.

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