Ballogie - River Dee

I was fishing the lower pools on the Baloogie beat of the River Dee on Friday and managed to land a small coloured cock fish about 4lb. I had lost a good fish earlier on in the day with I estimated to be in the high teens of pounds in weight but this was a very welcome consolation prize. My set up for the day was a 14ft rod, floating line and a 4ips tip.

A 4lb coloured cock salmon from Ballogie last weekend.

A small 9mm Junction Snaelda did the trick.

Looking upstream toward Potarch Bridge.

Looking upstream at Lower Inchbare.

Little Blackhall & Inchmarlo - River Dee

My good pal Charlie Robertson and I found ourselves on the Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo beat of the River Dee the other week courtesy of an invite from beat ghillie, Martin Robson. Conditions on the day were good and the river level was sitting around 1ft 8in on the Woodend gauge. Fish were running the river most days and the beat manged to land a nice, clean fish on the Friday before we arrived. My set up for the day was my old 15ft Vision GT4 Catapult with a F/H/S1 shooting head and a 4ips tip. Fly of choice to begin with was a Willie Gunn tube.

Looking upstream from the Fawn.

Fishing down through Sandy Bay and the Otter Stone.

Covering the Roe Pot from both banks.

We were to be fishing with local angler, John Fyfe who is an expert in most disciplines of game fishing. He has certainly been in about the springers this year on the Dee and anyone who can catch fish like John can is a real asset to the river during these lean times.It's great to see the success he is having and long may it continue.Charlie and I were to start off fishing the upper part of the beat. This is where the fish was caught the previous day and we we encouraged by that. We started up opposite the gauge on the far side and fished right on down to the Floating Bank. Unfortunately neither of us touched anything for the morning and we saw nothing either. The water was in really good shape and we were both surprised not to have at least seen a fish moving.

Looking upstream from the Floating Bank.

Lunch time was spent chatting away in the hut to John about his fishing this season and how and why he has been getting the success he has. I'm never shy in asking good anglers about tactics and successful methods as you're always learning in this sport. Advice and tips from an angler of John Fyfe's caliber can be extremely valuable. We took on board all the John was telling us and after lunch we headed across the river for a crack at the Roe Pot from the South bank.

Looking upstream towards the hut from the Little Blackhall side.

I hadn't fished the Roe Pot from the South bank since February 2009 and was really looking forward to it. back then the pool was renowned for producing early spring fish and even today, it's still one of the more famous holding pools on the river. On arrival to the pool we were greeted with the welcome sight of a fish showing out from the hut. This really spurred Charlie and I on and we eagerly began fishing down the pool. I had changed tactics slightly and opted to get down a wee bit deeper. I started up the top of the pool and Charlie went in mid way down. We both covered the pool well as did John form the opposite bank but despite seeing six or seven fish thorough-out the afternoon neither of us could temp these running fish.

Charlie and I working our way down the Roe Pot.

Charlie and I decided to give the New Fawn a cast so we made our way up to this cracking bit of water for a final chuck before calling it a day. Again, it fished really well at this height of water but try as we might, we just couldn't temp any salmon with our offerings so we decided to call it a day about 6pm.

Looking downstream in the Roe Pot from the Inchmarlo bank.

Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo is always a pleasure to fish and it was no exception on this day. The water is perfect for fly fishing at anytime of year but especially in the Spring month where it excels. If you are looking to fish the Dee anytime and you could do a lot worse than fish here. It's all off the bank fishing and a pair of wellies is all you need. Check out their page on the FishDee website by following this link Little Blackhall And Inchmarlo. Maybe see you there some time!

Little Blackhall And Inchmarlo - River Dee

I had a day on the Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo beat of the River Dee last Saturday thanks to the ghillie, Martin Robson. The river was in fine fettle and was sitting at around 1ft 9in on the FishDee gauge. My set up for the day was my 15ft Mackenzie DTX rod, AFS Hover shooting head and a 10ft super fast sink tip. My fly of choice was the good old Willie Gunn.

Fishing down the Otter Stone.

The granite on the far bank has been exposed after the winter floods. I think it looks quite good.

Looking upstream in the Fawn.

Fishing down the Fawn Pool.

Looking upstream in the Fawn.

I fished the top part of the beat in the morning along side Martin and we covered the water pretty well but despite favourable conditions, we just couldn't temp a fish to take our offerings. Every pool was fishing the fly nicely and it was good to be back on the beat again. This was one of the first private beats I ever fished on the Dee and it's always good to come back. The fishing is easy whether it's off the bank or shallow wading, you just know that there is every chance of connecting with a fish given the right conditions.

The fishing hut at Inchmarlo.

Looking down the Roe Pot from the Inchmarlo hut.

Fishing down the Roe Pot. A classic River Dee salmon pool.

One of the Little Blackhall huts over looking the Roe Pot.

The Roe Pot is always a good bet to pick up a fish on the beat and I fished it down willing the line to tighten with every cast. As I neared the tail of the pool just above the timber pier in the picture above I had a good offer but sadly it didn't come to nothing and that was to be it for my day.

Looking downstream across the tail of the Roe Pot.

The Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo beat looks a lot different since my last visit here in 2015. All the croys which were once a feature of the famous Roe Pot have all but gone and large areas of granite banking have been exposed on the Little Blackhall bank on the upper parts of the beat. As well as this, much of the road leading to the upper pools was washed away and repairs are ongoing to get the beat back to full working order.

Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo is a cracking part of the River Dee and you wouldn't know it's just a few hundred meters away from the bustling town of Banchory when you are fishing the pools. It's always a pleasure fishing here and I will look forward to returning again soon hopefully. 

There is still some availability for the beat this year and if you fancy a day then have a look at the Little Blackhall And Inchmarlo on the FishDee wesite by clicking the link. It's great value and well worth a visit.

Ballogie - River Dee

Last Wednesday I was fortunate enough to pick up a spare rod on the Ballogie beat of the River Dee as someone had cancelled at short notice. This was an offer I couldn't refuse and I was grateful to head ghillie, Sean Stanton for asking me. The water was sitting at 1ft 2in on the Potarch Bridge gauge and was just slightly peat stained. As I had been successful the previous day on the River Don using my 13ft Hardy Uniqua, a floating line, slow sink tip and a #9 Kitchen Sink Shrimp I decided to use that combo again.

A nice fresh grilse around the 5lb marks taken on a Junction Snaelda. It always good to get a fresh fish this time of year.

I arrived at the beat around 8.30 and was greeted at the hut by Sean. I was to fish the bottom half of the beat in the morning and fellow rod Peter the top half. Sean suggested just starting at the top and working my way through the pools so that's just what I did. First up was the famous Bridge Pool. It's not a large pool by any means but casting a line in such an iconic place makes it special. I started up under the arch and made a few casts with a short line and let it hang off the rocky shelf. I could only have had a dozen casts when I had a sharp tug on the fly. Unfortunately, it didn't hook up but it was a great confidence booster that my tactics, which had worked so well on the Don was working on the Dee too. As I was roughly half way down the pool a group of around 7 kayaks entered the river just yards below where I was fishing and with a lot of splashing and disturbance to the pool left a bitter taste in my mouth. There was no conversation asking if they could come in below me or an offer to wait until I fished the pool so I was a bit annoyed that having had a good offer that there could have been a fish in there for me. I wound in and headed off downstream. I have nothing against kayaks and canoes using the river but when someone is fishing a pool these people have to show a bit of respect to fishers who are paying a lot of money to fish the water. It doesn't cost anything and it's little wonder there is conflict between river users and fishermen when they behave like they did.

Looking upstream towards Potarch Bridge whilst fishing the Bridge Pool.

The pool below the bridge pool is called Burn of Angels. This is another relatively short pool but it's another lovely cast. On arrival to the pool a small, coloured fish showed just below me and at least I knew my fly would be covering fish. I fished the whole length of the pool without an offer so I headed downstream to try another pool.

Burn of Angles just as the mist was lifting off the water in the morning.

Next up was Upper and Lower Inchbare. Both these pool are nice casts but the latter is seemed to be holding more fish as there were a good few showing whilst I fished through the pool. The fish were playing hard to get in the bright sun and although I managed to winkle out a nice clean fish in similar conditions from Lower Inchbare last September but try as I might, there was to be no repeat this year so it was off down to have a go in Kelpie.

Fishing down Lower Inchbare.

The Kelpie Pool always holds fish just off the big rock near the top of the pool and it was no different this time. I change fly over to a Junction Snaelda just to get down a bit deeper and to put more action in the fly by rocking it through the pool. The Kelpie fishes nicely from the Ballogie bank as you are casting into the deeper part and swinging the fly into the shallow giving the fish a "take it or leave it" choice to make rather than hanging it in their face. Despite the presence of quite a few fish in the pool I couldn't tempt any so it was down for a cast in Bulwarks before heading back upstream to the Bridge Pool.

Kelpie. A nice cast in a lovely setting.

I just had a quick run through the Bulwarks as it had just been fished by a rod on tne Sluie bank. There was one or two fish showing in the pool but none were tempted by the Junction Snaelda so I made the long walk back up to have a proper run through the bridge pool before lunch.

Fishing the Bulwarks.

I started the Bridge Pool under the arch again and not long after making my first cast there was a nice fish showed mid way down the pool. I fished down the pool rocking the Snaelda back and forth as I went and as I reached the boil mid way down the pool I had a thumping take and I lifted into a lively fish. It was just a small fish and it tried to stay deep but I soon had it under control and I beached the fish on the shingle. It was fresh as paint and would have been around the 5lb mark. After a quick photo I sent it on it's way again so I headed up to the Gannets hut for lunch delighted to have landed a fish. As it transpired it was the 100th fish caught from Ballogie this season. Not a great score as the beat should be catching 3 or 4 times that amount but given the poor salmon runs the North East of Scotland has experienced this year it was a welcome milestone.

A nice fresh grilse from the Bridge Pool. A perfect way to close my 2015 River Dee season.

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Top Gannet. Plenty fish splashing about but none willing to take my fly.

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After lunch I was to fish the upper part of the beat and first up was another famous pool on the beat, the Top Gannets. I was fortunate enough to catch a lovely wee sea liced fish from the pool back in September and there were plenty showing in the pool this time round. I started up in the neck with a short line and fished down the top half of the pool then head back up to go through the pool again but with a long line as instructed on my previous visit. Neither run down produced any offers so I fished out the rest of the pool and depite several fish splashing about I just couldn't temp any. 

Mid Gannents with a Borrowston hut on the other bank.

After fishing Top Gannets I carried on downstream for a crack at Mid Gannets. I had never fished this pool the last time time I was on the beat so I made a point of giving it the once over. The pool looked fairly deep and with a nice peaty colour to the river I was sure there would be a few lying in it. I swung the Junction Snaelda through the pool but without an offer and there was nothing giving away their locations either so it was back to the car and off downstream to fish the Sands, Slips and Flats.

Fishing down the Sands

On arrival to the Sands it was quite clear that there were plenty fish hanging around in the pool so I started right at the top and worked my way down. Just as I reached a point near the tail of the pool I had a good pull on my fly. I have no idea how it didn't hook itself but I somehow failed to connect with it. It was a small reminder that my tactics were working well though and that gave me confidence in what I was are doing. I fished out the rest of the pool and despite the amount of fish in showing I just couldn't temp another one to take my fly so it was off on down to the Slips.

Looking downstream at the top of Slips.

The Slips was another pool harbouring plenty fish but covering them wasn't easy as the wading is pretty ropey in this pool. Huge boulders followed by big troughs then some more large rocks and so on and so on. As the day was drawing in a sharp breeze had kicked up and it started to make casting a bit more tricky whilst wading deep but I persevered and carried on through the pool but unfortunately no fish showed any interest and as I wanted a run through the Flats before dark it was off to try there.

The Flats. This is a cracking piece of water and Sean's favourite pool on the beat.

The Flats was up next but time was against me and I didn't really do the pool justice as I just had a really quick run through before I had to head home. It was the first pool on the beat today that I didn't actually see a fish in which was strange given how nice a pool it is. The air temperature had dropped sharply which would probably explain why the fish were reluctant but it was good to fish the pool again regardless. I packed up around 6.30pm and headed home quite pleased with how my day had went. Peter, who was also fishing the beat had a coloured fish from the Bridge Pool after lunch and he was delighted.

I'd just like to thank ghillies, Ian and Sean for their help this season. A couple of top lads and it's always a pleasure to fish in their company. Will look forward to meeting up with them again in February when I'm back at Carlogie for another season. Until then, all the best.

Invery - River Dee

I was lucky enough to get another day on the fantastic Invery beat of the River Dee last Friday. The water was sitting around 1ft 4in on the beat gauge and with news of a few fish about the day before, I couldn't wait to get going. My set up for the day was my trusty 13ft Hardy Uniqua rod, an AFS floating shooting head and a 6ft intermediate tip.

Ghillie, Karl Revel and Paul Pritchard outside the hut.

I arrived at the beat around 8.15am and was greeted by the ghillie, Karl who introduced me to the other rods who were over from Norway and Sweden. Karl informed me that I would be fishing over on the opposite bank and pointed out the most likely spots to concentrate my efforts on. As I had never fished the water from that side of the beat before I decided to start at the top and fish my way down through the pools.

Signal Pool looking into the Station Stream.

The first pool I was to fish was the Signal Pool. This is the upper most pool on the beat and no sooner had I started a few fish showed just opposite where I was standing. I covered them several times but I couldn't temp one to take my fly. I did however, hook a small trout which took a liking to my #10 Kitchen Sink fly. Apart from a few parr I didn't touch anything else so it was on to the next pool.

A stunning view looking upstream from the path which runs along the banks of the Dee.

The next pool down is the Station Stream. Like a majority of the pools on the beat, this fishes the fly very well and is a pleasure to fish from either bank. As temping as it looked though, I didn't see nor touch a fish as I fished the pool. I'm sure there would have been fish in the pool but the bright sun and a cloudless sky wasn't helping and this maybe put them down.

Looking upstream from the Station Stream.

Karl suggested giving the Kirk Pot a go since I was passing so that's just what I did. The Kirk Pot is a short but deep pool which looked like it could harbour a fish or two. On this occasion it wasn't giving up it's bounty so it was on to the next pool.

Looking upstream into the Kirk Pot.

I made my way down to the Holly Bush and Karl had told me to really give this pool a good go as there were fish hooked in here the day before. Unfortunately, they weren't landed but it was a good sign and I was eager to get in there. I waded out up at the neck of the pool to the broken water that Karl had pointed out and fished my way down the pool. As inviting as it looked though, the fish had other ideas and I fished through the pool without a touch.

Wading down the Holly Bush.

The S Pool. I didn't fish this pool but I just went down to take a photo.

Fishing down most of the likely spots in the morning proved to be fruitless apart from a small brown trout and several salmon parr. It was good to see plenty parr about down the margins which will hopefully bode well for the future. Given the current crash to fish stocks in the river, a healthy juvenile population is always a welcome sight. The lack of fish returning to the Dee is very worrying though. Juvenile fish are leaving the river in good numbers but once they are out into the North Sea who knows what's happening to them. The ever growing population of dolphins and seals ambushing the returning fish is, in my opinion a major factor in the decline of fish returning to the Dee. The narrow harbour entrance is perfect for these creatures to get their fill of salmon without much effort at all. Anyway, it was back over the river for some lunch down in the floating bank hut.

The Hut at Invery.

After a very entertaining lunch with Karl and the fellow rods, it was back to business so Paul and I made our way up to fish the top beat but from the opposite bank this time. I was to follow Paul down so we started at the top and fished our way down through all the pools just like I did in the morning. First up was the Signal Pool but, by this time the wind had really whipped up and it was raining quite heavily. In between showers, the good old Scottish midge was out in force and I think I spent more time fending these little buggers off than concentrating on the fishing! As a result, I fished down through the pool without an offer.

Looking upstream in the Killing Hatch with some welcome cloud cover.

Paul and I fished our way down through all the pools without so much as a pull but we were encouraged to see a few fish showing. Especially in the Greenbank where a good run of sea trout appeared to be moving through the beat. Try as we might though it just wasn't our day. Paul decided to call it a day but I went downstream to give Floating Bank a going over.

The Floating Bank. A lovely cast and there were a few fish showing in here too.

I always really enjoy fishing the Floating Bank whether it's from the Crathes bank or from the Tilquillie side. It's just a cracking pool to fish and there were a few fishing showing up near the rocks at the neck of the pool. I covered them several times but to no avail. I called it a day around 6.30pm and headed home to treat my midge bites!

Invery - River Dee

Thanks to a last minute shout, I was offered a days fishing on the Invery beat of the river Dee last Wednesday. Invery is a beat I always enjoy fishing and has some fantastic pools so I didn't take long to accept the invitation. The river was sitting around 2ft on the gauge and was is good shape with water temperature hovering around 46f. My set up for the day was a 15ft Mackenzie Shooting Head Rod, Intermediate shooting head and a 9ft tapered leader. Fly of choice was the Sunray Shadow.

The well maintained fishing hut at Invery.

Looking upstream at from the neck of the S Pool.

I arrived at the beat around 8.20am and met the ghillie Karl Revel at the hut along with fellow rod Craig. We were given the choice where to start and I opted to have a run through the S Pool first and then work my way down from the Signal and into Greenbanks. I started up at the neck of the pool and fished it down with a Red Frances to begin with but this didn't produce an offer so I had another run down with a Sunray Shadow this time. Again, it didn't attract a fish so I made my way up to the Signal to give it a go.

On my way up to Signal I stopped to chat with Craig who said he'd had hold of a fish on a Sunray Shadow which sadly threw the hook. This was encouraging so I was eager to get going. I started right at the top of the beat and began to work my way down, concentrating on the areas Karl had said were the most likely spots. There were one or two fish showing just down from the beginning of the wall but I covered them several times without a take. As well as the pool was fishing it proved to be a fruitless run through it so I made my way down stream a little to have a cast in the Greenbank.

Looking upstream from the Killing Hatch. A cracking pool.

Not long after starting in the Killing Hatch I spotted a fish show just downstream from me. I couldn't really see if it was a fresh fish or not but at least I knew where a fish was lying. I made my way down the pool with a Sunray Shadow and as I was level with the burn mouth my fly just stopped. I was stripping it slowly so I pulled on the line as normal and this seemed to wake the fish up! It made one or two short runs but I soon had it beached and it turned out to be a very well mended kelt. Not the springer I was after but at least I knew my tactics were working. I fished the rest of the pool and into Greenbanks without and offer so I headed off down stream to have a crack in the Jetties before lunch.

Looking upstream into the Greenbanks.

The Jetties as this height required a long cast to get into the likely areas so I stripped plenty line off my reel and fished my way down the pool. I saw a fish show just out in the streamy run so I covered it a few times but it didn't take. It showed a few minutes later and it appeared to be a kelt anyway but it's a good sign that kelts are in the pool just to help slow down the running springers.

The Jetties. You can see the concrete jetty where the pool takes it's name.

At lunch time my pal Paul appeared for a cast and after swapping stories and with fellow rods and Karl it was time to get going again. I was allocated the lower part of the beat along with Craig. Craig started in the Floating Bank and I started in Pantoch. We were to swap over mid session.

The Pantoch. There were several fish splashing about in here during the afternoon.

As I arrived at the Pantoch pool I spotted a fish show about mid river. This was followed by another soon after. It looked as though they were sea trout. Not like the kelt that have been around of late as these were short stocky looking fish. I fished through the pool first with a #7 Kitchen Sink and then second tIme down with a Sunray Shadow. Neither run through the pool produced anything so I made my way down to have a crack at the Floating Bank.

The hut on the lower beat over looking the Floating Bank.

Fishing down the Floating Bank. Probably my favourite pool on the beat.

The Floating Bank is up there as one of my favourite pools on the beat. It is a classic fly pool which fishes very well. There are usually a few fish lying in this pool and today was no different. As I made my way down the pool there were fish showing down it's whole length. They were howerver, what looked to be kelts and they didn't seem interested in what I had to offer. I fished the pool from top to bottom without a touch. Maybe the bright, sunny conditions were putting the fish off. I made my way back to the hut at 5pm to say goodbye to Karl and thank him for his advice. Karl suggested we fished on as the sun was now cooling down a bit. I decided to give it a few hours so I made my way back up to the Signal whilst Craig and Paul headed off downstream to fish the lower pools again.

An evening cast on the Dee at Invery.

The sun setting on another day fishing the Dee.

My evening didn't produce any offers unfortunately and I called it a day around 7pm. At least I got a bend in the rod from a kelt and there were a few other kelts caught through out the day also. Just a pity that springer didn't stick for Craig in the morning. That would have been a good start to the day for him. It's a fantastic beat and has plenty pools to keep you occupied all day long. Each has their own characteristics and charm and they all produce fish from opening day until the last day of the season. The ghillies, Karl and Jim are great lads too and are always eager to help the vising anglers giving advice when needed and to point out the likely spots where fish can be taken. I will hopefully be back one day for another cast on at Invery in the future.