Laggan - River Spey

Last Friday I had a day on the lovely Laggan beat of the River Spey. Conditions were as close to ideal as I could have hoped but the fish had other ideas. It certainly wasn't for lack of effort as I gave it my best shot but I didn't get a touch all day unfortunately. The water was sitting around 2ft on the gauge when I arrived in the morning and was dropping away nicely. The water temperature was just above 40f and the clarity was spot on too.

The Laggan beat hut.

The comfortable interior of the Lagaan hut.

After an introduction with fellow rods and ghillie, Mike Murdoch I was drawn to fish the lower part of the beat for the morning session. This consisted of the Gas Pool. Mike showed me down to the pool and pointed out the likely spots at this height but the whole pool fished very well at this height. You were just waiting for the line to tighten but sadly it didn't. Still, it was a pleasure to fish it.

The Gas Pool.

Mid way down the Gas Pool.

Looking upstream from near the tail of the Gas Pool.

After a good lunch with the other rods it was time to get going again. I was to fish the upper part of the beat this time which consisted of the Big Griggle and Bridge Pools. Again, Mike took me up and showed me the water as well as giving me a few tips on how best to fish the water. The Big Griggle was a stunning pool and I would never tire of cast a fly here. It fished beautifully at this height. We did see a fish show in here as I made my way down it but I didn't touch anything. There were plenty trout rising for the March Browns and some crackers too. After a fruitless run through the pool, Mike suggested I try the Bridge Pool but from the Carron bank and starting above the bridge.

Big Griggle. A cracking pool for fly fishing.

Looking upstream in Big Griggle.

The Bridge Pool is a very iconic place and fishing by the Carron Bridge on this hallowed ground, I must say, was a privilege. Sadly, as with the pools previous to this, I fished through them without a touch. I tried several depth in here too but to no avail. Mike and I agreed that there must be fish running in this water and sure enough, the Carron rods appeared to say that they had caught their first and second fish of the season from the upper beat.

The iconic Carron Bridge from the Carron bank.

Fishing down the south bank above Carron Bridge.

The Bridge Pool looking upstream toward Carron Bridge.

At 5pm Mike asked if we were fishing on. I decided to give the Big Griggle another run through as I enjoyed it so much the first time. I tried fishing a bit deeper in there this time round but try as I might, I couldn't get the fish to play ball and I called it day around 7pm.

Fishing down the Griggle Pool for the second time with a sinking shooting head set up.

I have to say that I was glad I'd booked a last minute rod to fish this beat. It is a fantastic setting and the pools are not bad either! The middle Spey is a special place and I'd love to see it when there are loads of fish about. It must be great to be here when it's in full swing. Hopefully one day I will return here and have a go on the upper beat.

ADAA Junior Day On The Dee

The Aberdeen and District Angling Association hosted a Junior Members day on the River Dee at Altries and Lower Drum today. The weather was kind to us today with just a slight breeze and good, overcast conditions. The water was in really good ply and was sitting around 1ft 10in on the gauge.

Seven junior members came along to learn spey casting with AAPGAI instructor Ben Dixon and also to learn the basics of fishing with spinners. Each junior in attendance was paired up with an adult member who was on hand to assist with their casting and to generally give advice when required.

Unfortunately, and not for the want of trying, nothing was caught this year but everyone went away happy at the end of the day and hopefully, a lot more confident about the way they go about their fishing.

A thank you must go to renowned, local fly tier, Philip Glendinning who kindly donated a bag of flies for each junior who attended today. I'm sure they will get well used judging by the good feedback we got from the kids who all said they would like to get out and try to catch a salmon. The ADAA would also like to thank an oil company (who would like to remain anonymous) for generously paying for the lunch laid on for all who attended today, it was very much appreciated. Finally, a big thanks to the beat and it's ghillie, Kevin Fleming for allowing us to have the day there and to all the volunteers who gave up their time to help out today.

It is always good getting the younger kids involved in fishing and to see some of them become competent casters having never tried it before is even more pleasing. Hopefully the seeds are sown and we see them all on the river bank in the very near future.

Here are a few pictures from today.

The ADAA Land Rover and the beat's fishing hut.

Alistair had never cast a double handed fly rod before today but was a really quick learner and his casting was very good by the end of the day, even into the wind. Well done Alistair.

17 year old Sean Rennie fishing the fly in the Hut Pool. Sean is an excellent caster and is a very keen angler already.

Looking downstream in the Hut Pool. Was bubbling with trout this afternoon when the March Browns were hatching.

Ghillie, Keviin Fleming rows us back over to the hut to begin packing up..

Some of the lads show off their packets of flies kindly donated by Philip Glendinning.

Discussing the day and handing out the last of the sweets!

Posing for a group picture after another successful ADAA Junior Outing. Looking forward to the next one.