River Dee Opening Ceremony 2016

I attended the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 salmon fishing season on the River Dee yesterday at Banchory Lodge Hotel. The event is always well attended and this time was no different. This year the venue had to be changed last minute due to the bridges at Aboyne and Potarch being shut for repairs as a result of the flooding caused Storm Frank.

Banchory Lodge Hotel on the banks of the River Dee.

Marquee tent where drinks and bacon rolls were on offer to all that attended. A great time to reacquaint with friends, ghillies and anglers after the winter months.

Young Aberdeen and District Angling Association member Sean Rennie was presented with the Callum Mackenzie Cup for the best fish caught by a junior angler. Sean landed a sea liced grilse of around 4lb at a Junior Day held at park last August. It was a good day for the Aberdeen and District Angling Association as fellow member, John Fyfe received the Park Trophy for the largest fish of the season which was a 26lb salmon from the Crathie beat. Well done gents.

Sean Rennie receiving the Callum Mackenzie Cup for his fish last year at the Park Junior Day.

John Fyfe receiving the Park Trophy for his 26lber from Crathie.

Deacon Blue drummer and TV presenter, Dougie Vipond had the honour of the first cast this year and he made a great job of it considering the howling gales. He is a passionate countryman and his enthusiasm and love of the countryside came through as he addressed the 200 strong crowd. He blessed the river with the customary quaich of whiskey and made a few casts in the Hotel Pool. It was good to have the river open for business again after the torrid winter of flooding and rain. Fingers crossed it's a good season to keep spirits high on the angling front up and down Deeside.

Dougie Vipond addresses the crowd with ghillie, Craig McDonald to his right and River Dee Director Mark Bilsby to his left.

Dougie made a passionate speech about Scottish countryside which was received very well by the audience.

Dougie takes a quick sip of the whisky before blessing the river to signal the official start of the 2016 salmon fishing season on the River Dee.

The whisky going into the river.

The ceremonial first cast with Glen Tanar estate ghillie, Craig McDonald.

Park Junior Day - River Dee

I attended an event hosted by William Foster of Park Estate and Ross McDonald from the River Dee for Junior anglers of all levels who were invited along to fish on the fabled waters of Park. Gary Scott - an AAPGAI casting instructor was on hand to show the kids how to spey cast and to make sure they knew the dangers of the casts. The day couldn't have went any better and conditions were excellent. The river was sitting at around 18" on the beat gauge and there had been good numbers of fish caught leading up to the day which gave them all an extra insentive.

Gary Scott AAPGAI, William Foster, Keith Cromar. Photo: FishDee

A group photo of the attendees at the Park Junior Day. Photo: Gary Scott

I was helping out Aberdeen and District Angling Association junior Sean Rennie as all juniors had to be accompanied by an adult. Sean is a keen salmon angler and is very talented given the short length of time he has been fishing. Although he has caught a few salmon Sean is still very keen to learn and really takes on board what he is being taught.

Casting Instructor Gary Scott addresses the juniors in attendance before showing them the basics of Spey Casting.

The crowd look on as Gary demonstrates the fundamentals of a Spey cast.

After a casting demo by instructor Gary Scott, four of the juniors, who could cast a salmon fly rod competently were sent on their down to fish the famous Durris Stream by ghillie Keith Cromar. Not long after starting we noticed a good run of fresh grilse moving into the pool and the lads were focused on trying to get in contact with one of them. It didn't take long and after a change of fly to an Ally Shrimp and a few tips on the best way to fish the fly in the slower water, Sean had a good solid take from a fish. He lifted into a strong wee grilse and all the lads rushed down to watch him play his fish. Ross and I stood on giving him some advice on playing the fish but he played it like a pro and I soon tailed a cracking sea liced grilse of around 4lb.

Four of the competent junior fish their way down the famous Durris Stream on Park.

ADAA Junior bent into a lively wee grilse in the Durris Stream.

A delighted Sean Rennie poses for a quick photo before returning his fish. Well done Sean!

Sean returns his fish back into the Dee.

There was nothing else caught by any of the other juniors unfortunately but it was great to see Sean land a fish and I think Keith, Ross and myself were as happy as he was! I really enjoy these junior events and it's great to see good numbers attending. Hopefully these kids are now "hooked" on the sport and we will see them fishing on the river banks in the future.

Orton - River Spey

Last Saturday saw me back on the River Spey and this time I was accompanied by my good friend Charlie Robertson and ADAA Junior Sean Rennie. We were fishing on the Orton beat which is situated about 8 miles from the mouth of the river. The water had risen a good bit due to snow melt a few days prior to us arriving and the wind had really whipped up making casting a fly very tricky at times. The water temperature was still on the cold side at 36f. Due to the high, and slightly coloured water, my set up for the day was my 15ft Mackenzie rod, Hover/Intermediate shooting head with a 10ft super fast sinking tip and a 6ft 7ips tip on the end of that. Heavy flies were on order just to try and get down to the fish quicker due to the fast flowing river.

The lunch hut over looking the Cooperee Pool.

We arrived at the hut about 8.45am to see the river sitting at around 3ft 6in on the gauge. After a sausage roll and chat about tactics we were allocated our pools for the morning by the ghille, Andrew. I was to start my day in the bottom half of Upper Cairnty with Sean and Charlie starting down below in the Lower Cairnty.

The hut midway down the Cairnty Pool.

ADAA Junior member Sean Rennie fishing the Lower Cairnty opposite the hut.

By mid morning the gusty wind was really making things difficult. Trying to cast a fly into the teeth of a gale isn't the easiest thing to do but we battled on regardless. Sadly, it was to no avail as neither of us had a touch on our first run down the pool. Andrew suggested to Charlie to have a go in Willows so Sean and I had another run down the Lower Cairnty. Again, this proved fruitless but it was fishing really nice when you could get the fly out straight!

Cooperee Pool looking downstream.

Fishing down through the Willows Pool.

After lunch Sean and I headed up to give the Willows a go. Fishing this pool effectivly involved wading out 20ft or so to cover the water just that bit better. By this time though, the water clarity was worsening all the time and we could hardly see the river bed. We did however see a fish show near the tail of the pool and gave us a bit of encouragement but try as we might, neither of us had an offer so we made our way back down river to have another crack in the Lower Cairnty.

Charlie and his dog Bracken take a break from the howling wind on the Cairnty Pool.

Sean, Charlie and ghillie Andrew Hall watching the logs floating down the rising river in the afternoon.

By mid afternoon conditions were really against us and we didn't really fish that much. The water had risen about 8 inches since morning and had coloured up a good bit. The gusty winds had now turned into a constant wind so we decided to sit on the bank and have a good blether with Andrew instead. We called it a day around 4.30pm but probably could have left long before that with conditions the way they were but you don't catch salmon without having your fly in the water so we made the most of it.

Looking upstream into Cooperee from Upper Cairnty.

Sadly, nothing doing for any of the rods apart from Charlie landing a well conditioned trout about 1.5lbs in the Willows. I will be back in a few weeks time to give it another go and with a bit of luck the fishing conditions will have improved and I will have the chance of catching my elusive Spey springer.

River Spey At Orton

Yesterday saw me fishing the Orton beat on the River Spey. My friend Charlie Robertson couldn't make it so River Dee Board member Dave MacDonald kindly stepped in to fish his rod. Also accompanying me was Aberdeen and District Angling Association junior member Sean Rennie. Earlier on in the week, snow melt had caused the river to rise sharply but by yesterday morning it had dropped back down to 2' 6" on the beat gauge. The water temperature was 37f. A very strong wind was blowing right down stream and this would make casting very difficult at times.

We arrived at the beat around 8.30am and were met by ghillies Kevin and Andrew. We sat in the hut for a few minutes to acquaint ourselves with the fellow rods and to discuss what lines, tips and flies to use. As the water was carrying a nice peat colour, after some deliberation, my set up for the morning consisted of the Scott Mackenzie intermediate shooting head with a 9ft tapered leader attached. I opted for a 1 1/2" Gold Bodied Willie Gunn tied on a copper tube.

I was to fish the morning with Sean and Kevin the head ghillie took us over on the boat to the right bank where we were to fish the House Pool and Cooperee. I started mid way down Cooperee and Sean went up to start at the neck of the pool. I fished down to the tail without a touch so Kevin suggested that I went and try the House Pool. We set off leaving Sean to carry on fishing Copperee. Last year when Charlie and I were at Orton, conditions were not suited for fishing the House Pool so this would be my first time on the pool. I started at the neck of the pool and Kevin pointed out the lies and where I would expect to find a fish. The wind was a good bit calmer up here which made casting much easier so I was more confident that I was presenting the fly better. I fished on through the pool without and touch so headed off back down to have another quick run through Copperee. Neither Sean nor I touched anything in Cooperee so Kevin took us back over the river on the boat to fish Upper Cairnty for half an hour or so just before lunch. By this time, the wind was so strong that it made casting almost impossible so we decided to head back to the hut for an early lunch.

Lunchtime in the hut was good craic. Many stories and anecdotes were exchanged along with the sinking of a few drams for those lucky enough to not be driving . There was no let up in the gales however but fish don't get caught sitting in the hut so it was back out to give it another go. I decided to change lines and put on my Scott Mackenzie Float/Intermediate shooting head and a 5ft fast sink tip. Sean and Dave went across the river with Andrew to have a go in Cooperee and I was to fish the Upper and Lower Cairnty Pools. I fished down through Upper Cairnty without a touch. As I got to Lower Cairnty, the wind eased off just enough to make casting a bit more manageable. I felt I was fishing the lower part of the pool much more efficiently and was just waiting for the line to be drawn away on every cast. It was not to be though and I fished the whole pool without a touch. The let off in the wind was only short lived so at about 4.50pm I called it a day. We all retired to the hut for a dram and chinwag before heading off about 6pm.

Another very enjoyable time fishing on the Spey at Orton but just a pity the wind was so strong for a majority of the day. Having said that, we all agreed that it was a good day out regardless of the conditions. The good company and craic certainly made up for it. I'll be back next Saturday to try again and hopefully the wind has died down a bit by then. Looking forward to it.

Here are a few pictures of the beat.

I started my day in Cooperee Pool from the right bank.

The top part of the Cooperee Pool.

Looking upstream from the House Pool to the Railway Bridge at Boat O' Brig.

 Fishing the House Pool. Lovely bit of water.

Looking downstream in the Upper Cairnty Pool from the boat.

Andrew the ghillie rows Dave and Sean over the Cairnty Pool after lunch.

Upper Cairnty. This pool was full of kelts last year. Same cannot be said this year.

Half way down the Cairnty Pool.

The hut and boat at Lower Cairnty.

Lower Cairnty. It fished really well at this height and the fly was swung round perfectly.