Finavon Castle Water, River South Esk (28 & 29 April 2014)

There had been eighteen fish caught from Finavon Castle Water so far in April before our days on the River South Esk and so it was with a degree of cautious optimism that my dad and me set off for Angus, early on the monday morning. I won't be the first person to mention that Tony Andrews' beat is evidently very well run - a fact that is apparent long before arrival at the riverside; there is a highly detailed website with a full background and details of the characteristics of each pool, as well frequent news articles on the beat, the river and the area in general. This, coupled with the beat's good utilisation of social media, meant that it was hard not to notice the frequency of catches from the very pools we were booked in to fish, as well as the quality and condition of the fish being caught. There had recently been 14lb and 10lb fish from the Indies beat on which we would fish, as well as a 15lber just two days previously.

In the days prior, the forecast had suggested that there would be rain on the saturday and sunday and that our two days would be overcast and warm. The rain on the weekend materialised, resulting in a rise to 1' 6" on Sunday afternoon. However, having had a quick coffee on arrival and set the rods up, it became apparent during our initial casts into the head and tail of the Indies Pool that the water wasn't as high as anticipated and that we were also in for a gloriously but somewhat frustratingly sunny day. After an elongated edition of my trademark line-tinkering (coming in at a record 45 minutes or so), we set up each with 10 feet of intermediate tip to suit the height of around 1 foot above summer lows on the Monday, which later dropped to around 10 inches on the Tuesday.

Pictured: the Indies Pool

Although suggestions had been made to us as to the main pools to focus on in order to optimise our chances of success, the first day was used as something of a 'reccy'. After fishing down the Indies Pool, directly in front of the hut, we moved upstream to Frank's Stream and later to the Melgund Pool (below).

Melgund was the only pool on the beat that can be fished from both sides, so we each took a bank and worked our way steadily down the pool. There was a small drop, or weir, at its head and it was apparent on arrival poolside on the right bank that it was deep throughout. It was the sort of pool that makes you think, 'There's definitely something in here, so I'd better fish it thoroughly'. The top section
and a back-eddy close to the right bank were fished from above the drop into the pool, before I stepped down into the pool to wade down the sandy-bottomed right side, thigh-deep and about 2 feet from the bank - nothing doing.

I had quick chat with our exasperated Glasweigian neighbours on the Bogardo beat (a novel concept, is a Glasgweigian frustrated by a lack of cloud-cover!), before we finished the day by fishing down the well-reputed Tollmuir Pool - the source of the 15lber recently caught by Calum and Doug Dunsmuir - a couple of times until agreeing around 7pm that it was dinner time. Encouraged by a couple of fish sightings during the day (despite the weather) and by the clouds forecast for the following morning, we were asleep early after a beer, some steak and ale pie and beef stir-fry and the end of the Arsenal-Newcastle United match.

Pictured: Tollmuir Pool

Conditions on day two were more encouraging from the outset; the forecast had been correct and the unrelenting glare of the previous day was gone, at least for the time being. We decided between us that Melgund Pool was the place to be. Having decided that it was best to fish the pool more gently, with one rod at a time, I started at the top of the left bank. I'd hoped that the extra depth to this pool would allow me to get away with a T10 tip, in order to fish deeper and therefore closer to any fish holding up in this substantial and prolific stretch of water.

I had snagged a couple of times on the near bank and was thinking that I had been mistaken when, swinging a 1.5" copper Posh Tosh across the tail of the main flow, there was an aggressive tug on the line and my rod-tip bent towards the water. The following few minutes demonstrated the allure of Spring salmon, with the fish touring the pool by running up and down the far bank and even threatening to go up into Harry's Bar, the Bogardo beat pool above. A few nervy moments while the fish was splashing around on the surface under the rod-tip and it was swiftly netted with a minimum of fuss (the best way to do it!).

On inspection, the fish was 25 inches long which, on reference to the tidy little booklet provided by the beat, equated to 6.5lbs. It was a strong-looking and perfectly-conditioned fish and so, after a quick photograph or two, it was no surprise to see it swim strongly down into the depths of Melgund again; a great moment which, as I'm sure other anglers will relate to, increased our enjoyment of the rest of our second day, one of the principal objectives of the trip having been accomplished.

The sunshine returned and the remainder of the day was spent touring the pools, fishing only for short spells in each in order to minimise disturbance given the conditions. Apart from a brown trout with eyes bigger than its stomach and a parr with even more ambition in this regard, there were no further catches, although on our second visit to the Tollmuir Pool we were greeted by three jumping fish in half an hour or so.

With the sunny conditions persisting and the drive home ahead of us, we wound up at around 5:30pm. After a few moments to reflect while our entry was made in the healthy-looking Indies beat catch returns book, we set off via Arbroath for cod, chips and mushy peas with tea, thinking about other likely suspects for a couple of days fishing, perhaps in the summer months. One thing is for sure is that it will take a good deal of searching to find such promising and good-value fishing on as comprehensive and carefully thought-out a fishery as the Finavon Castle Water.

Tight lines.

Calum