River Don Springers

The River Don has fished reasonably well recently and with decent water levels early in the month there were a few nice fish landed. I am grateful to River Don bailiff Martin Webster, Kildrummy Inn proprietor David Littlewood and Ralph Green for the photos. Hopefully the good fishing continues through out the summer months and the grilse make their appearance shortly. We could be done with a lift in levels just to freshen things up again but returning sea trout should be appearing about now to keep anglers interested and I for one will certainly be putting in the odd late night to try and land these hard fighting fish.

For more details on fishing the River Don check out the FishDon website.

A lovely fish from Kildrummy Water landed by Richard Bagshaw.

Ralph Green playing a springer just as the light begins to fade.

A prize well worth pursuing. Ralph Green with a beauty of around 12lb.

River Don bailiff Martin Webster's first fish of the season from Breda.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Report for W/E 28th May 2016.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Report for W/E 28th May 2016.

Spring salmon fishing on the Tay in Perthshire is now about to enter June after another successful May. The river has fallen back to summer levels giving excellent conditions for fishing plus warming temperatures are seeing catches improving rapidly. Expectation is high on the river for 2016 with now over 1500 fish recorded so far and after successful springs in 2015, 2014 and 2013 plus hopefully settled weather will continue with an improving run in June to give everyone a chance of landing a late spring �Bar of Silver�.

Spring salmon were landed throughout last week with better weather and catches have spread with higher river temperatures. It was another productive week especially towards the end with over 100 fish landed and the biggest one recorded was 23 pounds from Lower Redgorton. Spring is disappearing but improving runs are coming into the river and better weather is making fishing easier with lower water last week and a bit of fresh water last weekend may have encouraged more fish to run the river as the run strengthens. The spring fish that have been caught so far have been superb quality and of a good size overall.

On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are all over the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks have their first broods of young and Sand Pipers are on the river banks. Blue bells a coming out in the woods and the Loopins are starting to bloom as well as all the other wild flowers, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay.

Beat catches reported

The majority of the salmon were caught in the lower river in early spring, which is understandable with the cold conditions but that has changed with warmer water allowing fish to run further giving improving results up the river including fish from Loch Tay, Loch Faskally and beyond now as fish start to spread in the system. Recently the boats come off the lower river below Stanley with summer bank fishing now available. The middle river is now the barometer for the runs as water temperatures rise to the mid 50�s.

This past week saw a few fish from the lower river scattered throughout the beats with Islamouth area again proving the best beat as fish hesitate at the mouth of the Isla. The beats at Stanley and below are seeing limited sport but the small spate last weekend may just spice things up by encouraging Sea Trout into the river. The very lower part of the river saw some sport at the end of the week with fish caught at Waulkmill and Lower Redgorton including a superb 23 pounds fish caught by John Hogg in the Bleachings. This was one of 3 fish caught by him on the fly and others lost. Further fish were also caught form the Stormont Angling club water. Stobhall had 2 in the week but fish seem to be travelling fast through the lower areas up to Islamouth. Ballathie and Cargill had fish in the week and should see even better sport with the lower water levels prevailing now and suiting the beats. On Ballathie Fred Harrison caught in the Pot Shot. Friday saw fish caught on the fly from the Bridge Stream by Garry McErlain and Bob White and on

Saturday Derek Strachan caught an 11 pounds fish from the Cradle. Islamouth had another excellent week with the owner�s party enjoying success in the last 3 days of the week. This included Richard Schuster landing several fish up to 14 pounds on the fly. In the previous week an elderly gentleman in Richard Collett�s party enjoyed a memorable time on the beat.

Geoff Cooper, 92 years young caught 4 fish in 3 days casting the fly from the boat under the guidance of Billy Campbell and Alistair Scott. Motivation for all of us fishermen and women! Great story.

The middle river is fairing much better with rising river temperatures over recent weeks. The Murthly beats are fishing extremely well with 24 fish between them for the week. Glendelvine had a better end to the week with 3 on Saturday. It was the same for Newtyle with 4 fish on the same day as there appeared to be a healthy run going up the river.

Ronnie Fraser had an 11 pounds fish on the fly from the Deans Burn, Andy Gunn caught a cracking 18 pounds fish and

Mick Bell landed a 13 pounds beauty from the Steps.

Dunkeld House had a much better week with 9 fish, this included Peter Sproston landing 3 fish in the Cathedral Stream on a size 10 fly casting from the boat. He also had other fish in the week again on fly. Dalmarnock also had 9 in the week. The week got off to a good start with 3 fish and Scott Ferguson landing a 10 pounds fish from Clachantaggart on the fly.

John Watson, Michael Turner and Stuart Binns caught fish. Stuart Graham had a good day on the beat with a couple on the fly up to 14 pounds. Late in the week David Oversby caught a 9 pounds fish on the fly in the Rams Horn. Dalguise had a better week with 5 fish. The Kinnaird beats finished with 9 in the week. This included Jock Monteiths guests

Pete Judson and

John Crehan both catching off the Upper beat.

The upper river is seeing steady sport with fish caught on Fyndynate, Edradynate and the Farleyer beats.

The Tummel is continuing to see sport from the Port-na-Craig beat administered by Pitlochry Angling Club with 5 landed last week and there are now well over 2000 fish through the Dam resulting in fish being recorded in Loch Faskally. It was a better week at the Dam with fish caught towards the end of the week.

Thursday saw 3 fish caught on the fly by Graham Fyfe, Michael Ross and Gordon Nichol. Graham then had another the following day and Jim Fisher caught an 8 pounds fish again on the fly. Loch Faskally saw a quieter week as well with only 1 fish.

The Isla are seeing salmon run up the river and progressing to the Ericht with 7 fish being reported last week from the lower Ericht.

Fish have been reported running the Lyon as well but low water levels have curtailed sport. No news from that part of the river last week.

Fish have also been running the Earn with Lochlane and Laggan recording 1 fish.

The Spring Salmon fishing season is now at the end of May and expectation remains very high after previous good springs. Last week�s catches were again heartening and more fish are running with warmer weather. Let us hope this is a sign of an upturn in catches as we go into June. It has been a reasonable start with well over 1500 fish recorded so let us hope the season lives up to every one�s expectations over the coming weeks and months. Tight lines!

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire prospects w/c 30th May 2016.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire prospects w/c 30th May 2016.

The Salmon fishing season on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland is now about to enter June and we have been encountering some lovely settled sunny weather last week giving excellent conditions for anglers to enjoy the elements in pursuit of that magical spring salmon with a settled dropping river after a small spate due to heavy rain at the start of last week which hopefully will continue to improve catches.

Spring salmon are running the river in better numbers and catches continue to improve from last month giving another reasonable week. The weather is to remain settled in the coming week which should help and give the river more settled conditions and benefit to give a greater chance of producing some sport and some "Bars of Silver" if you are prepared to brave the elements.

On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are all over the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks have their first broods of young and Sand Pipers are on the river banks. Blue bells a coming out in the woods and the Loopins are starting to bloom as well as all the other wild flowers, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay.

Currently the river is settling back after a small spate last week to a summer height (around 10� on the Ballathie gauge) and will drop back slowly now to a relatively low level for the Tay but you are now fishing a river within the mighty Tay and there is always enough water in this vast system to hopefully encourage more spring salmon to run.

The weather has been settled and much warmer over the last week with rising temperatures at long last with a touch of summer and this will continue with high pressure this coming week. Look out the sun cream! Milder temperatures have given the river some water from snow melt but the river has steadily dropped away to summer levels last week. There was water from heavy rain at the end of the last week which may helped to spice things up as catches showed in the last few days. This current week remains settled. Settled weather will settle the river back to good levels and make ideal late spring fishing conditions. The water temperature has risen back to around 54 degrees Fahrenheit or 12 degrees Celsius by the end of most days last week but may rise with a warmer forecast encouraging fish to run. These are typical temperatures for this time of year. The temperature has risen slightly with no frosts at night and higher day time temperatures, this may encourage more salmon to run resulting in fish being caught well up the system. The middle river is currently the hot spot in the warmer conditions and this confirms historical results in the past but as the temperature rise and fish run further the catches will spread. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river.

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method will have to be a bit quicker with large lures to catch the elusive Tay Springer. 20 pounds main line with a 15 pounds leader plus favoured lures include Devons, Toby Salmos, Vision 110�s and Rapalas, for spinning and smaller Temple Dogs, Tubes, normal dressed flies and Monkies for fly fishing. The Tay is a large river but modern lines such as Skagits or iflights make turning over and casting larger flies easier and the fish tend to be near the bank in larger waters. Floating lines and sink tips are now on the agenda as we go over the magical 48 degrees. Harling is also a favoured method on the river to cover the lies for the less experienced.

The Tay Ghillies Association are continuing their popular FISH OF THE MONTH AWARD to encourage good catch and release practice on the Tay. Each month the winner will receive 2 personalised crystal Whisky glasses engraved with details of the catch and they will automatically be entered into the fish of the year competition for a Stylish Crystal Engraved Decanter. Full details of this initiative.

Popular hotels to stay in the area are the Tayside Hotel in Stanley, Ballathie House, The Meikleour Arms, The Anglers Inn in Guildtown, Murrayshall Hotel, Scone and the Royal Dunkeld Hotel.

The Tay in Perthshire is a prime spring salmon fishing destination so why not give it a go?

The Tay's policy for April and May is that all spring salmon should be released, i.e. the Tay has adopted a policy of 100% catch and release for spring salmon. Spring salmon are a scarce and precious resource. Please help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations. It is vital the river system follows these guides to ensure the draconian rules do not get extended in seasons to come.

Finally, you are reminded that the Tay's policy from June to the end of 2016 Season is that
� All hen fish of any size and all cock fish over 10 pounds should be released.
� All coloured and gravid fish to be released.
� No more than one clean fish weighing, where possible, less than 10 pounds should be retained per angler per day.
� Anglers should not use worms in September or October in any part of the district.

When releasing salmon please try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible to give them every chance to recover prior to release. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended. Further information on the policy and good release practice.

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Murthly 1 - River Tay

I recently spent a day fishing on a delightful stretch of the River Tay at Murthly 1 thanks to Philip Black who invited me down. There were a good number of fish in the area prior to my arrival and I was looking forward to fishing some of the best fly water pools on the river with some good pals. I had high hopes of kick starting my season after a long run of very little to show for my time and effort.

My first pool of the day - The Bargie. A very famous pool where Miss Georgina Ballantine hooked her record 64lb salmon all those years ago.

I set off early and arrived at the beat around 8am where I was greeted by the ghille, Donald. We spoke of the good recent catches and he was telling me that there were plenty fishing in the pools the previous day but they were proving difficult to temp. Donald advised me that small flies and light sinking tips were were the order of the day so my set up consisted of my 14ft Hardy Demon, a 9/10 floating shooting head and a 10ft intermediate polyleader. Initially, my fly of choice was a #10 Kitchen Sink dressed on a Esmond Drury treble but this would change numerous time through out the day as it usually does!

A fly that does well on the Tay - the Ghillie. Designed by Tay ghillie, Tony Black from the neighboring Murthly 2 beat, this deadly pattern accounts for numerous fish where ever salmon swim.

The first pool I was to fish was the famous Bargie Pool. This the pool where the largest salmon ever caught on British water was hooked, albeit from the opposite bank on Glendelvine but it was still a thrill to fish a fly through such hallowed water. Donald suggested I start up the top of the pool in the fast water as they had seen a few fish in there the day before so this is exactly what I did. I fished down the pool as instructed and covered as much of the water as possible but I could only manage a half hearted offer which I think was probably a trout anyway. Philip Black followed me down from the opposite bank but there was nothing doing for him either although he had lost a nice fish on only his third cast of the morning up in the Garth pool which I will come to later. Philip suggested having a go through a wee run just above the Bargie so we headed off upstream to do just that.

Looking upstream towards the Bargie Stone, in which the pool takes its name from.

Looking across to Miss Georgina Ballantine's house which over looks the pool in which she made famous.

The wee run under the wires above the Bargie is a lovely run and it usually held a fish or two. It was just short casts required to cover the water and I worked my down trying to keep stealthy mindful of the fact that the best part of the pool was narrow close to the bank. Despite this, I worked through the pool with out an offer so it was back up to the hut for a bite to eat. On our way back to the hut we noticed Gerry, who was fishing Minister's Pool was bent into a good fish. The fish seemed very acrobatic but Gerry played it well and just as he was drawing it into the side ready to beach, the hooks pulled and the fish was free. Such as pity, as the hard work was done and it was fresh looking too.

Another view of the Murthly 1 hut.

The comfy interior of the hut at Murthly 1.

The early part of lunchtime was spent discussing the ones that got away over a dram and a sandwich but attentions soon turned to the afternoon. By this time the rain was hammering down so we sat it out and waited for the showers to pass. Donald and Philip were on top form and poor Gerry took the brunt of the stick for his lack of movement whilst fishing a pool. Donald even referring to him as a Oak tree which had taken root at one point! It was all taken in good spirit but at least Gerry had had some sport for his morning which couldn't be said for a few of us!

Paul fishing down the Garth in the afternoon. Cracking pool for fishing the fly.

Looking down stream in the Garth.

I was to begin the afternoon off in the Garth and was to fish with Paul. Paul drove me up to the pool and explained the tactics so it was on with the Sunray Shadow in an attempt to provoke a fish into taking. The Garth was a lovely stretch of water ideal for fly fishing and as Philip had lost a fish in here early on in the morning we were hopeful that there would be one or two sitting about. Paul let me fish through the pool first but despite how well the pool fished my efforts proved fruitless as did Paul's. Every cast you were just waiting for the line to tighten or a fish boil at the fly but it wasn't to be so we headed off down river to have a go in Minister's.

Fishing down through Minister's Pool. A big, long pool which fishes the fly  well from top to bottom.

The Minister's is a big, long pool but the water is superb for fish the fly in. I kept on the Surnay and began right up at the neck of the pool and began to work my way down the pool, casting as far as I could in an attempt to cover as much water as possibly. As I made my way down the pool there was a huge hatch of flies coming off the river and the place became alive with trout of all sizes. Some were well into the 3-4lb range and would have been fantastic sport on a wee #5 rod or something but we were here for the salmon and ploughed on down the pool. Just as I got opposite the hut I noticed a nice salmon head and tail below me so I covered the area above it several times but it wasn't for tempting and was probably long gone as well. This really is a long pool and my casting arm was beginning to tire with fishing the Sunray all afternoon but I persevered and finished the pool out. I didn't get even a rise from a salmon but I did get an offer from one of those greedy trout which were hammering into the flies but it was off just as quickly as it was on so it was back to the hut for a wee breather before deciding on the where to fish next.

Looking across to the Murthly 1 hut from Minister's.

Fishing down under the wires in Minister's. Loads of trout rising in this part of the pool.

Sitting down at the hut after going down the Minister's with the Sunray wasn't the best idea and I soon felt tiredness kicking in. The early start and the constant casting and stripping had caught up with me and I decided to pack up around 7pm and head off up the road.

I really enjoyed my day at Murthly 1 and I was grateful to Philip and Donald for asking me down to fish it. It really is good to say that I have fished the pools where Georgina Ballantine caught her famous 64lb salmon all those years ago and it certainly gets the mind wandering back to the old days, especially when you look across to see her old house which over looks the mighty Tay and the pool where she hooked her fish. The only thing missing for me was a fish on the bank but you can't have it all and sometimes that's just how fishing goes. I'll certainly be back again one day to have another go!

Salmon Fishing Scotland Traditional Wooden Boat Building.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Traditional Wooden Boat Building.

This is a traditional quality wooden boat building business run by John Ferguson at the Linton, Stanley PH1 4QQ. Tel 07759547324

John offers traditional wooden clinker boats, a repair service and advice.

The Clinker boats have Larch planking, Oak ribs, keel and bows with copper fastenings.
He does Cobbles for Salmon fishing in 16 feet for large rivers and smaller 14 foot boats for smaller rivers such as the Dee, Tweed, Ness and Spey.

The boats are very stable and comfortable to fish from in varying conditions thrown at them throughout the year.

John also does traditional Loch boats in a smaller way with deep keels to ensure a slow drift.

If this of interest please contact
John Ferguson Boat Building
The Linton
Stanley
Perth PH1 4QQ
Tel 07759547324

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Report for W/E 21st May 2016.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Report for W/E 21st May 2016.

Spring salmon fishing on the Tay in Perthshire is now in mid-May after another successful April equaling last year�s totals. The river has fallen back to summer levels giving excellent conditions for fishing plus warming temperatures are seeing catches improving rapidly. Expectation is high on the river for 2016 with now well over 1000 fish recorded so far and after successful springs in 2015, 2014 and 2013 plus hopefully settled weather will continue with an improving run in May to give everyone a chance of landing a spring �Bar of Silver�.

Spring salmon were landed throughout last week with better weather and catches have spread with higher river temperatures. It was another productive week with over 100 fish landed and the biggest one recorded was 22 pounds from Cargill. Spring is disappearing but improving runs are coming into the river and better weather is making fishing easier with lower water last week and a bit of fresh water at the weekend may encoura more fish to run the river as the run strengthens. The spring fish that have been caught so far have been superb quality and of a good size overall.

On the nature front the first Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows have arrived, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks have their first broods of young and Sand Pipers are on the river banks. Blue bells a coming out in the woods and the Loopins are starting to bloom, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay.

Beat catches reported (week ending 21st May)
SALMON & GRILSE: Benchil 1, Stobhall 1, Taymount 3, Ballathie 4, Cargill 7, Islamouth 33, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 1, Kercock 7, Delvine Burnbane 2, Murthly 1 3, Glendelvine 2, Murthly 2 7, Newtyle 4, Dunkeld House 3, Dalmarnock 6, Dalguise 1, Lower Kinnaird 6, Upper Kinnaird 4, Findynate 1, Farleyer Lower 1, Keithick Mains 2, Ericht Fishing 1, Portnacraig Pitlochry 3, Loch Faskally 3.
Total: 106 Largest: Cargill 22lbs

The majority of the salmon have been caught in the lower river in early spring, which is understandable with the cold conditions but that has changed with warmer water allowing fish to run further giving improving results up the river including odd fish from Loch Tay and Loch Faskally now as fish start to spread in the system. Recently the boats come off the lower river below Stanley with summer bank fishing now available. The middle river is now the barometer for the runs as water temperatures rise to the mid 50�s.

This past week saw a few fish from the lower river scattered throughout the beats with Islamouth area proving the best beat as fish hesitate at the mouth of the Isla. The beats at Stanley and below are seeing limited sport but the small spate at the weekend may just spice things up by encouraging Sea Trout into the river.

Benchil saw action on Saturday with Davie Grant landing a 10 pounds fish from the Little Shot. The warmer water is seeing fish shoot through the lower beats with Stobhall and Taymount catching odd fish between them. The lower water levels are benefiting Ballathie and Cargill with 11 fish recorded in the area.

On Ballathie Dennis Mortram and Neil Barcock had good success on the fly with fish up to 11 pounds.

On Cargill Peter Sheard caught his first ever salmon on the fly. Then Mark Schofield caught a superb 22 pounds fish as Keith Schofield�s party enjoyed a good week on the beat. Islamouth had a superb week with 33 salmon caught all on the fly. Richard Collett and Angus Johnson�s parties had a very enjoyable week with supreme sport. Meikleour and Upper Islamouth had a quieter week with just a single fish.

The middle river is fairing much better with rising river temperatures over recent weeks. Kercock had 7 in the week with some outstanding fish being caught on the beat recently. The Murthly and Glendelvine beats had a quieter week but still with consistent catches with 12 between them. On Delvine and Burnbane a couple of fish came off on the same day. John Ogden from the USA caught a 7 pounds fish and John Cranston landed one at 9 pounds. On Newtyle 4 fish were landed in the week with Jon Amos catching a couple on Thursday evening. Dunkeld House had a quiet week with 3 fish.

Dalmarnoch continue to do well with 7 fish caught. The beat is seeing a fair bit of action with James Creany landing an outstanding 14 pounds fish on the fly.

3 were landed on the beat on Wednesday with Will Park and Willie Paton being successful catching fish up to 12 pounds. Later in the week Michael Turner was successful on the fly from Clachantaggart. Dalguise had one in the week with Andrew Sutherland catching a 12 pounds fish from Calum�s Corner on a Flying C. Kinnaird had a good week with 10 fish off the beats.

The upper river is seeing steady sport with fish caught on Fyndynate and the Farleyer beats.

The Tummel is continuing to see sport from the Port-na-Craig beat administered by Pitlochry Angling Club with 3 landed last week and there are now 1700 fish through the Dam resulting in fish being recorded in Loch Faskally. It was a much quieter week at the Dam with only fish caught on Monday. Alun Williams, Steve Watt and Davie Stewart all caught fish on the fly up to 13 pounds but then the rest of the week was fruitless as fish raced through the dam at over 100 a day. Loch Faskally saw a quieter week as well with only 3 fish.

The Isla are seeing salmon run up the river and progressing to the Ericht with 3 fish being reported last week from Keithick Mains and the lower Ericht.

Fish have been reported running the Lyon as well but low water levels have curtailed sport. No news from that part of the river last week.

The Spring Salmon fishing season is now in May and expectation remains very high after previous good springs. Last week�s catches were again heartening and more fish are running with warmer weather. Let us hope this is a sign of an upturn in catches as last May proved. It has been a reasonable start with well over 1000 fish recorded so let us hope the season lives up to every one�s expectations over the coming weeks and months. Tight lines!

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire prospects w/c 23rd May 2016.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire prospects w/c 23rd May 2016.

The Salmon fishing season on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland is now in mid-May and we have been encountering some lovely settled sunny weather last week giving excellent conditions for anglers to enjoy the elements in pursuit of that magical spring salmon with a settled dropping river until Saturday when there was a small spate due to heavy rain which hopefully will continue to improve catches. Spring salmon are running the river in better numbers and catches continue to improve from last month giving another reasonable week.

The weather is to remain reasonably settled in the coming week which should help and give the river more settled conditions and benefit the river to give a greater chance of producing some sport and some early "Bars of Silver" if you are prepared to brave the elements.

On the nature front the first Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows have arrived, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks have their first broods of young and Sand Pipers are on the river banks. Blue bells a coming out in the woods and the Loopins are starting to bloom, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay.

Currently the river is settling back after a small spate at the end of last week (around 3� 6 on the Ballathie gauge) but will drop back quickly to a relatively low level for the Tay but you are now fishing a river within the mighty Tay and there is always enough water in this vast system to hopefully encourage more spring salmon to run.

The weather has been settled and much warmer over the last week with rising temperatures at long last with a touch of summer. Milder temperatures have given the river some water from snow melt but the river has steadily dropped away to summer levels last week. There was water from heavy rain at the end of the week which may help spice things up. This current week remains reasonably settled. Colder conditions certainly benefit the river at this time of year slowing the spring salmon run down and giving everyone a chance to catch as they run up the river slowly. Settled weather will settle the river back to good levels and make ideal spring fishing conditions. The water temperature has risen back to around 54 degrees Fahrenheit or 12 degrees Celsius by the end of most days last week but may rise with a warmer forecast encouraging fish to run. These are typical temperatures for this time of year. The temperature has risen slightly with no frosts at night and higher day time temperatures, this may encourage more salmon to run resulting in fish being caught well up the system. The middle river is currently the hot spot in the warmer conditions and this confirms historical results in the past but as the temperature rise and fish run further the catches will spread. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river.

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method will have to be a bit quicker with large lures to catch the elusive Tay Springer. 20 pounds main line with a 15 pounds leader plus favoured lures include Devons, Toby Salmos, Vision 110�s and Rapalas, for spinning and smaller Temple Dogs, Tubes, normal dressed flies and Monkies for fly fishing. The Tay is a large river but modern lines such as Skagits or iflights make turning over and casting larger flies easier and the fish tend to be near the bank in larger waters. Floating lines and sink tips are now on the agenda as we go over the magical 48 degrees. Harling is also a favoured method on the river to cover the lies for the less experienced.

The Tay Ghillies Association are continuing their popular FISH OF THE MONTH AWARD to encourage good catch and release practice on the Tay. Each month the winner will receive 2 personalised crystal Whisky glasses engraved with details of the catch and they will automatically be entered into the fish of the year competition for a Stylish Crystal Engraved Decanter. Full details of this initiative.

Popular hotels to stay in the area are the Tayside Hotel in Stanley, Ballathie House, The Meikleour Arms, The Anglers Inn in Guildtown, Murrayshall Hotel, Scone and the Royal Dunkeld Hotel.

The Tay in Perthshire is a prime spring salmon fishing destination so why not give it a go?

The Tay's policy for April and May is that all spring salmon should be released, i.e. the Tay has adopted a policy of 100% catch and release for spring salmon. Spring salmon are a scarce and precious resource. Please help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations. It is vital the river system follows these guides to ensure the draconian rules do not get extended in seasons to come.

When releasing salmon please try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible to give them every chance to recover prior to release. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended. Further information on the policy and good release practice.

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White