As was well-publicised, the Dee had not had the best of Winters following its very poor 2015 season. Storm Frank had battered the catchment, causing extensive damage to people's homes, most importantly, but also to all sorts of other facilities including the river's famous fishing beats. We had visited the Dee in both of the previous two Februarys and decided to show our support following the river's recent adversities by booking three days on Woodend, just upstream from Banchory. Unfortunately, Woodend House was badly affected by the flooding, being right on the banks of the river, and so we hope that the repairs required go well and that the owners, the McHardys, can get back in as soon as possible. Surprisingly, though, the beat seems to have remained for the most part unchanged and the beautiful Moral Hut - above the pool of the same name - survived also, except for a couple of armchairs and some damage to the verandah.
On the drive in to the beat on the first day, we stopped to take a look at the damage to Lower Woodend, the sister beat which was sold off around the turn of the millennium. It had lost its nice hut, which is to be replaced, and the main Hut Pool appears to have gained some nice-looking lies.
Pictured: Looking onto the Lower Intake pool, Lower Woodend, with the damage to Cairnton's hut balcony in the background.
Pictured: The site of Lower Woodend's old hut.
Pictured: Lower Woodend's hut in August 2014.
Pictured: Some new lies in the The Hut Pool (or Scobboc) on Lower Woodend.
Pictured: The Moral Hut - still there!
There had been a little rain on the Sunday evening at the top of the catchment and so the river was cold and at 1' 10" and dropping on the beat gauge (which equates to a good few inches higher on the SEPA equivalent, positioned on the Long Pool, Woodend) on our first day. I fished the morning with a fast intemediate shooting head and a 15ft sink 8 tip to get down into the deeper pools.
In the morning, my Dad started in the Moral Pool with a 1" brass Black & Yellow tube while I went upstream to fish a 2" copper Gold Bodied Willie Gunn in the Long Pool, reputedly a good cast in higher water from the Woodend bank. There were no rods fishing the first part of the week on Commonty, who fish the opposite bank for all pools bar the Moral and Girnal Pools, and so we were spoilt for choice in choosing pools on the upper part of the beat. Upper Blackhall (who fish the far bank of the Moral and Girnal) did have rods out and had had 5 fish so far in season 2016, mainly caught by the gillie. Nothing was doing in the Moral or Long Pools and so we retired for a coffee, a dram and a warm-up by the fire.
Pictured: Looking back up the Long Pool on day one.
Pictured: The view out on to the neck of the Moral from the hut verandah.
After a break, we headed up to the top of the beat to both fish the Garden Pool, my dad fishing the neck and me the tail. By this stage, I'd changed to fish a Monkey slightly higher up in the water. There are plenty of nice lies in the Garden Pool and it fishes really well from the Woodend side, but nothing was doing and the more exposed nature of the pool meant a strong wind coming towards to bank was making life difficult.
Pictured: The Garden Pool at 1' 10" on the Woodend beat gauge.
In the afternoon, after another break by the fire, we both had a go at the Moral Pool, dad in the neck and me fishing the lies in the tail. No action again and so we retired to the hotel before going for dinner at the Boat Inn in Aboyne. Later, we learned that only two fish came off the river on Monday, both from Lower Crathes and West Durris, downstream from Banchory. We were surprised at this given the settling conditions and good catches the week before, when 30 fish were caught in poor conditions.
By day two, the river had dropped by 4". We headed straight for the Garden Pool and decided to fish back down to the hut from there. I was now fishing a Black Snaelda, which looked the part. We had a quick few casts in the House Pool and the Loop on the way back down, both of which were starting to fish better in the dropping water. There were works going on on the Commonty bank to repair a footpath and bridge down from the hut to the Bend, Loop and Points pools.
Pictured: Looking down to the Boat Hole and Loop from the House Pool.
Pictured: The Loop; there was a lot of damage to the banks and rocks on the Woodend side, at Boat Hole and the Loop, but this doesn't seem to affect the pools at all.
We again finished the day in the Moral Pool, having at least spotted what I think was a small springer in the slow, cold water lies at the tail of the Long Pool while walking back. On this evening, we headed back to Aboyne for an Indian before heading to the Douglas Arms in Banchory for West Ham - Liverpool in the FA Cup. We learned of one fish being caught from Ballogie, but nothing else.
On day three, our final day, the river was down at 1' 4" on the gauge. Similarly to the Tuesday, we headed up to the Garden Pool - Commonty's most productive pool - for our first cast of the day. I was now fishing a brass Black and Yellow one inch tube, which looked nice in the cold, clear water. Dad fished a one inch copper Magenta Gledswood in order to try something a bit different (I'd imagine every fish in the Dee has seen enough black and yellow for a lifetime!). We again had no results from the Garden Pool and so headed down to the Loop to cover a big rocky lie in mid-stream a couple of times. To finish off, we fished the afternoon in the Moral and Loop pools to no avail. There really didn't seem to be many fish about at all, having tried various depths and keeping a close eye on the pools. There was only one fish from the river on the Wednesday (caught at Carlogie) and again only one (caught at Commonty) on the Thursday, all in good conditions. 5 fish on the Saturday helped the week's catches, but it was a disappointing week after the hope arising from the previous one.
Pictured: Cack-handed double-Spey casting in the Garden Pool, to beat the strong downstream winds.
Pictured: Looking back up to the Boat Hole from the Loop.
We'll be back up on Deeside in late Spring to fish Sluie and we hope the river gets a break and begins to fish better soon.
Cheers
Calum
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