A Look Ahead To The 2018 Salmon Season

After a fairly quiet 2017 season on the blogging front, mostly to do with yet another poor Salmon season on the Tweed and Teith,  I am intending to do a bit more reporting on my various outings this coming season.

In the early season, I have trips lined up to Knappach on the Dee on the first Saturday of the season (3 February 2018), as well as further day trips to Catholes, Tay, (17 February 2018) and Upper Kinnaird, South Esk, (3 March 2018). I have 3 days on the Naver in March, followed by a week on Craigellachie, Spey, late in the month; this is a rod week which I have purchased with pal John Webster also buying into a week.

I have a syndicate rod at Old Melrose (or Ravenswood, if you prefer), Tweed, which I will get stuck into from April and, as the season progresses, I have further trips to Sluie on Deeside and a return to the Thurso, plus I hope to add in some fishing on the Inver.

Bolster Pool, Kinnaird Dyke; a classic Spring pool.

Plenty of fishing coming up, therefore, and I am planning on experimenting a bit with some more concise, photo based reports, along with the usual longer reports; feedback welcome!

I hope you all have successful 2018s and that you all get off to a good start in the next few weeks. I'd be pleased to hear how you are getting on.

Happy New Year and tight lines for 2018.

Calum


A few fish from last season which failed to make it into my reports(!):

Cloichfoldich, Tay (24 January 2015)

My 2015 season had started on 12 January on the Helmsdale, with my fishing buddy Russell. We had two days on the river in some of the harshest conditions of the Winter, but, in doing so, had the opportunity to see some fantastic water and make some good new fishing acquaintances along the way; definitely one for the Salmon angling socialites amongst us!

I had planned to put my rod away for a few more weeks and to make a proper start for the season at some point in February. I'm not very patient though and so I suppose it was inevitable that I'd end up out on the river sooner. By the time I decided to head out on Saturday 24th January, the whole middle river was booked up and so I decided to continue my exploration of Upper Tay that I'd started in July 2014 on Edradynate. Findynate Estate's Cloichfoldich beat, the upper-most of their two beats, was available and so I thought I might as well have a shot at getting an early-running Loch Tay springer.

I arrived at the beat at the back of 9am and had a coffee and a look at the hut, before studying the principal pool on the beat, Cloichfoldich, from the hut balcony. The upper river was at 2' 4", rising a few inches over the course of the day. The height was fine; the more consequential factor - and the reason I'd looked to Middle Tay first - was the freezing temperature. The mild pre-season weather may have meant a few fish had made it up to the Grantully area and beyond; however, since the colder weather set in, most fish would be likely to have slowed up in the middle reaches, if not at Stobhall/Taymount's Linn Pool. The odds were not in my favour, but in January - at least for me - it's more about getting out. 

Pictured: Findynate's beats are well looked after, with great facilities.

Standing over Cloichfoldich with my coffee, I thought it'd be rude not to have a cast in it, first off. I rodded up and opted for a floating shooting head with a fast sink tip and a big copper Willie Gunn, left over from the Helmsdale trip. The water was very clear and I always think of Willie Gunns as peaty water flies, but you're never wrong with a Willie Gunn so it got my vote anyway. I started just downstream from the neck of the pool, on the left bank. The neck was raging through and so I thought I'd look to fish the more sheltered margins of the main flow. I worked my way down, fishing the three croys on the left bank carefully. Similarly to Edradynate, the place has a real sense of Salmon fishing history; the banks are worn with the footholds of generations of anglers and the massive main croy is a remnant of an era when such engineering feats were perhaps not seen to be so ambitious or extravagant. 

Pictured: Some nice looking water, running off the main croy in Cloichfoldich Pool.

Next, I headed downstream to investigate The Pot, the lower-most of the four pools on the beat, just before the beat march with the lower Findynate beat. On arrival downstream, it became apparent that - especially at 2' 4" - this was really a right bank pool. It was possible to drive round to the right bank to fish this and Upper Craggan, which I later discovered was similarly a right bank pool, but by this stage I had realised that my attention was perhaps best focussed on Cloichfoldich itself in the conditions. The boat banked on the side of Cloichfoldich was very tempting indeed, but safety comes first, until there's more fish about!

Pictured: I'll give Findynate a shot during the main Spring or Autumn runs, hopefully.

Pictured: Some other time!

After a quick wander upstream to take a look at the Upper and Lower Craggan Pools, the latter of which was washed over at this height, I had another run through Cloichfoldich. On approaching one of the bays between the croys, I looked down into the water to check the depth. Sadly, this chap was to be found sheltering from the strong current - I'd put him at about 8/10lbs.

After a short while studying the fish, I moved downstream and continued fishing. The tail of the pool has some beautiful fly water at a good height and I'd imagine that this is the most likely spot in such conditions, on what I'm told is otherwise a low water beat.

Pictured: Some of the best water on the beat, at 2' 4". The Pot is on the right bank, where the tail of Cloichfoldich breaks.

Unfortunately, it was to be a relatively 'express' trip, as I had to be back in Edinburgh for family duties at 3:45pm. Before I wrapped things up at 2pm, I - for the first time in a long while - thought I'd have a spin. I think 'When in Rome' applies equally in Grantully as elsewhere, although the saying feels a long way from its home when in rural Perthshire, in January, with a wind-chill factor of -7C! It allowed me to cover the substantial width of Cloichfoldich well and I suppose as least I can say I tried everything.

Pictured: Cloichfoldich Pool, from the middle and main croy. The flow is closer to the right bank at 2' 4", but there was a nice seam running most of the length of the pool which was slightly closer to the left bank.

It was great to get out and about again and to do some more exploring. It's one of the aspects I enjoy the most about fishing. The Upper Tay is very scenic indeed. It is a great shame that the fishing isn't as good as it is said to have been and that other factors have contributed to it falling away to an extent; however, I'm always intrigued by such stories. When I was on Edradynate the Summer before, there were certainly plenty of fish around (albeit in very bright, hot conditions), so I'd be keen to have a shot on Findynate or indeed Cloichfoldich, Edradynate or any of the other Upper Tay beats in their prime time. I'll try and arrange this for May or perhaps August or September.

In other news, I've joined the Tyneside Anglers' Syndicate for 2015 and so will be having a go at the Ettrick again, as well as the Whiteadder, Border Esk and hopefully the North Tyne and Eden also. I've also got some earlier day tickets and trips lined up and so there's plenty of fishing to come, which I'm looking forward to immensely. I hope you all are looking forward to the season ahead and that it is an enjoyable one.

Calum

Pictured: Well, it wouldn't be an Upper Tay blog without them...

Edyradynate, Tay (11 July 2014)

Edradynate was a last minute booking, as I had intended to take a 2 (fishing) day trip on the thursday and friday, but was unable to arrange anything in time. My initial thought had been to head to the West Coast - and to Wester Ross, specifically - if there had been enough water. July had been another dry(ish) month, following on from a dry May and June, and so this wasn't possible unfortunately. A trip to fish the Badachro, Kerry and Ullapool will have to wait, for the time being. Ultimately, I settled upon day trips to Burn Estate, on the North Esk, and Edradynate - who had had an 11 or 12lber the day before.

Pictured: One from Burn Estate, North Esk - Cement Pool, to be precise.

While my day on Burn Estate was enjoyable, it is perhaps the more obvious of the two destinations; it generally fishes well all year and has a consistent level of rods on the beat from when fishing starts (roughly March) until the close of the North Esk's season in October. Edradynate is the more interesting case of the two and so I'll write a little bit about why this I think this is.

I had previously read-up on the various Upper Tay beats, in search of ideas for locations for trips. However, I had until this point only fished an evening on Newtyle and a day on Dalmarnock by way of River Tay salmon fishing. I had an impression, from various different sources (none of which were 'word of mouth' of those that had fished the beat, incidentally), that Edradynate was a lesser stretch of the river, under-fished for a reason. I was quite wrong.

On arrival at the beat at around 10:30am (I was very generously sharing my day with non-fishers), I was welcomed by a beautiful stretch of remote Perthshire riverbank, in a clearing amongst the woodlands. A small wooden gate, with the character gained only by a half century or so on a salmon fishing beat, opened onto a beautifully mown lawn leading to the hut. I sat with my sister and her friend on the picnic bench overlooking the vast Church Pool, waiting to meet Willie - the ghillie (at least on the day in question) - before they set off for a day's kayaking, leaving me to try my luck. My sister took a photo of me with the pool in the background and, perhaps fittingly of its reputation, a salmon leapt in the background and made it into my photo collection. My excitement for the day ahead was growing.

Pictured: A well kept beat.

On arrival, I began chatting about the beat with Willie and he told me about how the beat had been bought over in March 2014 with the hope that it would be fished more consistently and would be accessible to all. He opened up the newly-improved hut to fetch the oars for the beat's new boat, allowing the fisher to fish the croys spread down the Church Pool's right bank with a gentle Double-Spey. I was told it was even possible to fish the pool 'on the dangle' from the boat. For £25 (for each day of the season), a day on beat on a prime river with a boat and a hut was already good value for money; but what about the fishing?

I started with a brief cast from top-most croy on the left bank of the Church Pool . The pool is shallow at the neck and, in the low water, there was only four of five casts up here. I did have a take, probably from a brownie, before moving on, however.

Pictured: Church Pool from the left bank.

Next up, I made use of the oars to glide across in the boat and moor up behind the second-topmost croy of the right bank. I worked my way down the croys, wading the gaps in-between, with a 7.5.' intermediate tip with 2.5' of T-11, 10' of leader and a small Black and Yellow Ally's on the end. Even in low water, I like to make sure I'm getting the fly down to the fish, especially if there will be residents amongst them. Fish were leaping at the tail of the pool's right bank and also in mid-stream around half-way through the pool. I had lost count, so it was a question of catching one rather than of whether there were any.

Pictured: Church Pool from the croys on the right bank. The faint boils at the end of the croy show where the little flow in the pool was.

The aforementioned low water did not lend itself to fishing a fly through a big, deep pool such as the Church Pool. While a small section of flow (probably a 'glide', to be correct) allowed the fly to move round nicely, the rest required a figure of eight retrieve and even then it was difficult to achieve movement across the pool. I gave this a try, though, before covering the upper stretch of the pool with a Sunray Shadow fished high in the water column. I gave the tail of the pool a quick covering, fishing from the boat, before moving on. This all took perhaps 2 and a half hours, by which point it was lunchtime.

As ever, I was eager to take in as much as possible during my time and so I made sure I had the full-afternoon session to try the beat's streamier water. I had been informed by Willie that 75% of the beat's fish come from the runs and pools below the Church Pool and so I'd have been a fool to ignore this.

Picture: The run below the Church Pool. There are 3 or 4 runs and pools before the downstream limit.

The run immediately below the Church has a heavy flow, taking time and distance to calm down. By this stage, I was fishing a very small Silver Stoat, which was flashing across the currently quickly in the flow. Near the tail of the first run, moving downstream, I had a heavy take at the far bank in front of a fallen tree. At perhaps 2lbs, I had decided that this was a brownie, but as the fish was drawn closer, I realised it had no red spots and was in fact a Sea Trout. In typical Sea Trout manner, it then took off, thrashing around on the surface before unhooking itself. Encouraged, I moved on downstream.

The whole stretch to the bottom of the beat is comprised of interesting fly water and truly beautiful Highland scenery. It is quite similar in character to the nearby River Garry.  It does however have a principal feature; the Glide Pool. This is a big, wide pool of consistent depth. It has a series of croys down the left bank, allowing ease of casting - something like a smaller, inverted 'Steps' on Newtyle. This is a great stopping point before the ascent to the Church Pool, which has little shelter in its heavier flows. I picked up a couple of brownies, as are so often incidental to fishing a small Silver Stoat (I picked up 10 or more while fishing Fairnilee late in the evening, early this month). There is also one key feature at the bottom of the beat, after the Glide Pool; a fallen tree in a run between pools provides a glassy, sheltered spot, perhaps 10 to 15ft long on the far bank. I had been told to 'fish hard' here, by Willie. I did and had great confidence of a take with every swing of the fly, but nothing came of it this time, unfortunately.

Pictured: Glide Pool - surviving in the low water, but probably a greater prospect in high water.

Pictured: Derculich, the beat downstream.

I had a quick look downstream to the Derculich beat below (which, incidentally, looks beautiful), before heading back upstream to meet my sister and her friend. It was 4:45pm and the day had flown by. The result of this is that Edradynate is now near the top of my list for a re-visit. It is a beat that deserves far more attention than it gets and can surely provide one of the best chances of a big fish in the area - both Glide Pool and Church Pool look like the sort where a 20lber would 'hole up'. I'd certainly anticipate that this beat will become more prominent on the salmon fishing scene, at least locally in Perthshire, in the next while. I'm certainly looking out for an opportunity to return, probably sooner, rather than later.

Tight lines.

Calum

Newtyle, Tay (26 June 2014)

Anticipating having a few hours spare after an afternoon spent in Perth for work-related purposes, I had been planning (literally, rather than figuratively, speaking) to squeeze in a cast on the Tay in the evening. I had looked into Lower Kinnaird or a return to Dalmarnock as options, before settling on Newtyle as my destination. A few minutes up the road and I was at the hut by 4:30pm, where I met gillie Andy Gunn for a cup of tea and a chat before I eventually started fishing down The Trap at 6pm.

Pictured: Newtyle's beautiful hut; not a bad spot for a cup of tea.

The lack of rain in May and June meant that - like everywhere else - the river was very low. As a result, The Trap was one of a few main ports of call on the beat at this height, The Boil and Steps also being worth a go. The pool is comprised of two smaller pools, created by a series of croys which generate streamy water; this seemed like a a good spot to focus on in a warm river where oxygen levels would be low, for the most part. I fished through with a small Black and Yellow Ally's Shrimp without a touch, although a fish did jump in the lower pool while I was in the wrong place at the right time. Cotters - in between The Trap and The Boil - could have been fished, but my 15fter was out of action and so I was coming in under-gunned with my 12fter - not a good start when you're on Tayside! The cast required would have been a bit ambitious for the 12fter and so The Boil it was.

Pictured: Fiddler's - a bit low, but time was the reason for missing this one out.

Pictured: The Trap in low water.

The Boil starts with a streamy section as the river turns a corner. Once round the corner, and as the pool deepens, a huge underwater boulder in mid-stream causes a glass-like, still patch of water, around 10-20ft long - presumably the main lie in the pool and certainly a likely looking spot. A fish jumped right at the neck of the pool as I was reaching the limit of my 12fters range at the wider tail of the pool and thinking about moving on. Next stop would have been Steps, but, as this was a similar long range cast to the tail of The Boil, I decided to take a wander down to the bottom of the beat so as to take in as much as possible during my few hours there.

Pictured: The view upstream from the neck of The Boil.

The final pool of my evening session was Ash Tree, which runs down the left bank side of the island at the beat's lower extremity. The neck of the pool is a rapid, heavy stretch of white water where the river drops a couple of feet in height over a very short distance and some of the best fly water on the beat - as far as I have seen it - is the result. I fished through this with a Gold Munro (a new Summer favourite) and a simple Double-Spey, expecting any prospective takes to come in the final few metres of the fly's swing, as it reached the shallower and more sheltered glide on the inside of the river's bend. This was the sort of pool where the angler is almost surprised when a take doesn't come; unfortunately, however, my last cast reached 'the dangle' with this sense of surprise enduring.

It was good to tick another beat from my list, but, alas, not to be. I sensibly decided to wade back to the left bank from the island before dark, losing my polaroids in the process(!), before heading back to Edinburgh. It was a school night, after all.

Tight lines

Calum

Ruan Ruarie, Garry (7 June 2014)

My endless trawling of the Fishpal website in search of the perfect fishing trip had left me intrigued to fish the Garry, months before the opportunity arose early this month. My new friend Russell Lugton, who - as mentioned in a prior blog - is also a Fairnilee rod, expressed an interest and I took little persuasion from there. After a little discussion, we booked in for 7 June, one of the earliest fishable Saturdays of the Garry's season.

The beat received some heavy rain during the Thursday of the week leading up to our day on the river and so a rise to 1' 7" on the Friday left us optimistic about our prospects. We agreed to meet early (very early) to optimise our chances and managed to be on the water and fishing by just before 6am; not bad considering I set off from Carlops, in the Scottish Borders!

The first pool to be targeted (at least by me) was the Grilse Pool. We had heard that this was a likely holding spot and so the precious, early, pre-sun period was reserved exclusively for this. It can't be left unsaid that to get to this pool requires the angler to be ready to risk death for the chance of a catch; I don't know how many of you carry carabiners in your tackle bags but, if you're planning a visit to this particular pool on your visit to Ruan Ruarie, it could be wise!

Pictured: Grilse Pool; a slightly awkward cast, but clearly full of fish.

Russell very kindly offered for me to fish this pool first and set off for Run Below Viaduct, Pan Handle and Frying Pan, with the Viaduct Pool itself too low for the fly. While I was tackling up, a medium-sized fish leapt, centre pool, and so I knew that there was a good chance right from the first cast. A further three leaps were witnessed - one in each of the two necks of the pool and another in its centre - while fishing down it with a small Cascade and then a small Tosh. As the sun made it over the side of the glen, behind me, I had a go with a Sunray Shadow before leaving the pool to rest.

Pictured: 6am in the Grilse Pool and fish were showing at the end of the streamy water.

After Grilse Pool, I manoeuvred my way downstream to Run Below Viaduct, where Russell had seen a fish, and fished all the way down the long stretch with a size 10 Gold Munro, to match the peat-stained river. My first cast was from the tail of Viaduct Pool proper, so as to cover the very neck of the run. This approach was validated when a fish of around 6 or 8lbs leapt in the textbook inside 'corner' or back-eddy lie at the very top of the neck. This was a very nice stretch to fish which gave the impression that it would be a good place for a take; something like a mini version of Middle Pavilion's The Whirls (for Tweed regulars) or a very mini version of Dalmarnock's Fernie Haugh (for Tay counterparts). The idea seemed to be to cast out into the fast flowing water, get your fly down a bit, mend the line and hope for a take in the more sheltered glide on the inside of the current. It felt wise to stand back from the water, as wading wasn't necessary, but none of these aspects of approaching the pool produced a catch to justify them, unfortunately. Still, a very nice pool to fish, with many good-looking lies.

Pictured: Run Below Viaduct, with its nice 'inside' water.

By this stage, the sun was really getting into gear and the fishing conditions were therefore becoming less than ideal. I fished on down through Pan Handle and Frying Pan, the neck and dub of what are really one extended pool. Russell went up to fish Grilse Pool, before we met for lunch and a comparison of notes at the cars.

Pictured: The top of Frying Pan, with the aptly-named run, Pan Handle, in the middle distance and the very tail of Run Below Viaduct in the background.

After lunch, we relocated to the lowest of the three lay-bys on the beat map (you could probably save some time by fishing straight down from the pools at the middle car park) to explore the downstream pools. Russell tried Pulpit - a streamy section, flowing into a gorge and ultimately along the bottom of a cliff - while I tried Pier - a very deep holding pool with a shallow, gravel tail. Pier surprisingly had an 'empty pool' feel to it, while in Pulpit there was a fish showing in a back-eddy along the face of the aforementioned cliff. Again, no takers in the sun.

Pictured: A good lie behind a rock at the tail of Pier.

Pictured: Russell working his was down Pulpit, which provided some welcome sheltered spots in the otherwise sunny conditions.

Between us, we managed to cover the remaining named pools on the lower section of the beat (bar Lower Bridge, which is really spinning territory) before heading to the top car park for a look at the pools up there. By this stage, the glorius sunshine had been replaced with hostile-looking clouds and the occasional rumble of thunder from distant lightening. While examining the Station and Cauldron pools from the upper bridge, the weather broke and it became increasingly apparent that fishing was over for the day.

Pictured: The top of the beat, as the rain began to really set in.

No fish, but we left feeling that we had found a real 'hidden gem' of a beat. Ruan Ruarie is less than 2 hours from home for me and is a remarkably beautiful and secluded stretch of river, its pools set away from the road and passers-by. The greenery of late-Spring/early-Summer contributed to this impression, but equally I'll be ensuring that I have a go here in the Autumn also. A few of the main pools had a 'better for spinning' feel about them, but in-between these was an abundance of interesting fly water with plenty opportunity to develop and exercise knowledge and skills in reading the river.

Tight lines

Calum