Regardless, we set off on the Wednesday evening keen to be in the middle of nowhere while the rest of the country was squabbling over politics and, for those who have been, the Woodend beats are some of most beautiful and secluded beats that you can come across.
There was a rise on the Wednesday which dropped away during our three days; this resulted in 'textbook' fishing conditions for Lower Woodend, a low water beat, by day 3. To be precise, the morning gauge levels at the Woodend SEPA gauge - just 4 pools upstream - for our three days were 1' 10", 1' 5" and 1' 2".
Pictured: The fast water between Woodend and Lower Woodend's huts, from the Girnal on Woodend. You can just make out the Upper Blackhall hut on Scobboc/The Hut Pool in the trees in the distance.
On the first two days, while the water was higher, I took the opportunity to explore the beat a little, although I had fished 3 days there before, all in very high water. At the bottom of the beat, just above the Cairnton march, two pools - Sandy's and Lower Intake - both fish fairly well in high water. Sandy's is a big, deep hole in front of the reservoir intake for the water supply for Aberdeen. This is probably the second-best pool on the beat, behind Hut Pool (or Scobboc, for those on Upper Blackhall on the far bank). This pool runs into Lower Intake, which is a fast stream running down a channel on the outside of the bend, with a few rocky lies to aim for. A couple of fish were seen in Sandy's during our days on the beat, one of which was surprisingly coloured for this stage in the season.
Pictured: Lower Woodend's pools, as shown above the fireplace in the hut.
Sandy's is fished fairly heavily by Upper Blackhall, as are The Rocks, which is known as The Corner Pool to Upper Blackhall Rods. This pool lies in-between Sandy's and The Hut Pool and, as the name gives away, lies on a fairly sharp bend on the river. As Lower Woodend is on the deep, outside of the bend, it fishes better from the Blackhall side, but is fishable from Lower Woodend also. It's especially worthwhile at the tail where the flow spreads and the pool shallows. A favourite of the Upper Blackhall rods, a couple of fish were also seen in here during our three days.
Pictured: Looking downstream through The Fence and The Rocks to the tail of the beat.
The Hut Pool, the main pool on the beat, is a low water pool which fishes best from around 1' and below. All five fish in the Lower Woodend book for the 2015 season have been taken from this pool and, where it had been noted, the relevant height was around 1'. We focussed on this pool on day 3 and this approach seemed justified by the 10 to 15 fish we saw jump during the day in the pool. The best spot in the pool is given away by the Upper Blackhall hut, which looks onto the rocky lies which hold most of the fish. There is a deeper pot above this which Upper Blackhall don't fish, but which can be investigated with a fast-sink top from Lower Woodend.
Pictured: The Hut Pool/Scobboc.
Despite the increase in activity on day 3, no fish were taken from any of these pools from either our side or among the Upper Blackhall rods during our three days. A heavy take on the afternoon of day 3 in the tail of The Hut Pool turned out just to be a big brownie, which was frustrating as the fishing seemed to have picked itself out of the doldrums for the surrounding beats on the Saturday. Congratulations in particular to the friendly Woodend rods upstream who got 3 for their days, plus a Sea Trout. At last contact, these had come from the famous Morel Pool and the Garden Pool further upstream. Woodend is another fantastic place to fish, if you get a chance.
Pictured: The Garden Pool, also Woodend, with Commonty on the far bank.
A shame about the fishing and the fishless run continues, but it's a fantastic spot and we'll be back for these days next year and hopefully other Dee rods will keep the faith.
Hope you're all having good starts to the season.
Calum
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