River Tay Opening Day 2017

Thanks to a kind invitation from Tony and Philip Black I found myself fishing on the fantastic Murthly 2 beat of the River Tay on it's opening day which is January 16th. The river was sitting at 4ft 6in on the beat gauge but was running clear considering the rise the night before. Regardless of the river height it was just good to be out on the river banks again after the long winter months.

John Fyfe fishing down through Willie's.

The evening before the trip was spent sorting out all my fishing gear in anticipation of fishing the Tay on Opening Day. I had never fished the River Tay on Opening Day before and couldn't wait to get there. I set off at 6.30am to get through the Aberdeen traffic and I arrived at the gates to Murthly Castle at 8.30am where I was greeted by Philip Black and fellow Aberdonian, John Fife. I followed on behind John and Philip along the castle road down to the hut where toasted in the new season with a wee dram of whisky. After a good chat about how excited we were for the new season and how we fared in 2016 it was time to set the rods up and get out on the water.

The entrance to the long driveway which leads up to the fishing.

My first cast of 2017.

Philip showed us the pools on the beat and where to concentrate our efforts and I was to start of in the Meetings Pool. This was a lovely bit of water even though the levels were on the high side. The water an along the side of the an island where it met the flow coming down the far side of it. This created a lovely seam through the centre of the river and it was in this area where Philip pointed out as a good spot to pick up a fish. I firstly fished through the pool with a 30g Toby Salmo but I didn't temp anything. I had another quick run down the pool with my fly rod and a 2" Willie Gunn but again to no avail.

Looking out to the Meeting's pool. Can be a very productive pool.

The next pool down was Willie's. This was another nice looking stretch of water and I opted to begin in here with the fly. John was fishing the tail just in front of me and landed a wee kelt just as I was starting. About half way down the pool a kelt had a go at my fly but it didn't take properly. It was good to know the fly was fishing attractively though. By the time I fished out the pool it was lunch time so it was off back to the hut or a bite to eat.

Fishing the fly on the Tay. I had a good offer from a fish just of the point of the corner, It didn't stick unfortunately.

One of the well equipped fishing huts at Murthly 2.

After lunch we didn't do much fishing to be honest as we spent most of time chatting and catching up after the winter. Having said that, I did have a run through the pools again and despite my best efforts with the fly rod and Salmo I couldn't temp anything. At this time of year though, fish are few and far between but it was great to be out on the water again.

Fishing a Salmo down through the Meetings Pool.

I find myself heading back down to Tayside this weekend for another go so we shall see what happens there, but again, it's more of a social gathering than a proper fishing trip. Any fish caught will be a bonus.

New Season Approaching

Firstly, I would like to wish everyone a happy new year and I hope the fishing gods will be smiling on us all in 2017. Secondly, and more importantly, the new salmon fishing season in Scotland is almost upon us again! Rivers in the North of Scotland such as the Naver, Helmsdale and Thurso open their doors on the 11th of January and the River Tay follows soon after on the 15th. My local rivers the Dee and Don open on the 1st of February and the 11th of February respectively.

A fine opening day springer from park on the River Dee in 2016. It turned out the be the largest fish caught on opening day.

The River Oykel. One of the finest salmon rivers in Scotland.

I really can't wait for the season to start. It has been a long, but mild winter but I was really hoping for a bit of a cold snap just to bring back to some sort of normality for the salmon after the far from normal warm and wet Decembers of the last few years. Hopefully it will cool down in the early months of the year though and a bit of snow and frost wouldn't go a miss just to cool the river temperatures and slow down any of these early running fish.

A still from my GoPro of a lively 14lber from the Ballogie beat of the River Dee.

My first outing of the season is nearing ever closer where I'm on the River Tay just one week from now. The customary tying of flies and tidying out the the tackle boxes has been done and the online chats and messages are in full swing. As the anticipation grows, the days seem to get longer and run up to that first fishing trip of the year feels like it takes forever! I'm looking forward to sharing my fishing experiences with you again. Tight Lines to anyone lucky enough to be out on the river in the coming weeks.

A selection of salmon tubes for the early Spring. From left to right- (L) and (C) Gold Willie Gunn (R) Black & Yellow.

An annual necessity. Lines all cleaned and reels serviced ready for the new season.

Pitlochry Angling Club - River Tummel

Back in January I booked a days fishing for the 29th April on the Pitlochry Angling Club stretch of the River Tummel. The last week of April, first few weeks of May are usually prime times for the beat and I was eagerly looking forward to going. As I had never fished the River Tummel before it was all new to me. the water was dead low for the time of year and was hovering around the 1" mark on the gauge. Not really ideal to encourage fish to take but catches earlier on in the week were encouraging and I was looking forward to getting started.

My first glimpse of the fishings at Pitlochry AC from the Pitlochry bank.

Fishing the beat involved an early start for me and I set my alarm for 4.45am to give myself plenty time to get down and give the water a good going over as I had to leave at 3pm. The journey down was fine until I hit Stonehaven where the roads were covered in snow and slippery which made driving treacherous. This continued all the way to Forfar where the conditions thankfully improved and allowed driving at speeds of more than 30mph. Not ideal driving conditions when eager to get fishing!

Looking upstream towards the Loch Faskally Dam from the Marker Stone.

I arrived at the beat later than I had expected at around 7.45am and tackled up. My rod of choice for the day was my 13ft Hardy Uniqua and I matched this up with a 8/9 Rio Scandi Shooting head and a 10ft 4ips tip. My initial fly of choice was a 3/4" Monkey tube.

Looking downstream towards the bridge from the Pitlochry bank.

There were already a couple of rods fishing when I arrived so started off mid way down the top part of the beat. My first cast had no sooner hit the water and three or four fish showed right in front of me simultaneously. This gave me great confidence that I was fishing in the right place, at the right time for a change and I concentrated hard on how I was fishing. I fished all the way down the pool and into the Burnmouth covering where the fish were showing but I got the impression that the fish were not going far in the low water conditions and had probably seen numerous flies for the last few days. Tempting them was proving to be more difficult than I had imagined. Sadly, I didn't get an offer so I headed up to the top of the beat to work my way down from there.

Looking across to the Port-na-Craig restaurant. 

I was fishing with two local rods from the angling club called Kenny and Roger and they made me feel very welcome. They were keen to give me advice and point out lies etc and I was grateful for that. I know with being in an angling club myself that members are not always forthcoming with advice on how to fish the water. Fortunately this was not the case here and I was even offered a cup of coffee and a bar of chocolate while we stopped for a wee break mid morning. I would just like to thank them for making me feel very welcome and they are a credit to their club. Roger had said that he had never seen the water as low as this in the 37 years he had been a member so as usual I had arrived at the wrong time! Still, there were fish showing and fish had been caught and I was still hopeful I might connect with something.

Looking upstream from the footbridge half way down the beat.

At 12.00 noon anglers must change side and fish the opposite bank. I made my way round to the Port-na-Craig bank and stopped for a chat with the anglers coming off the water. One of them was fortunate enough to land a nice fish of around 8lb from the top of the beat so again, I was confident that another fish could be landed before I left. I was hoping that I would be that lucky angler!

fishing down the Bluestones at the top of the beat on the Port-na-Craig bank in the afternoon.

Looking down stream from the footbridge.

I took a walk up to the fish ladder at the dam for a look since I was in the area and check out the number of fish going through to Loch Faskally. I was informed by one of the locals than only a single fish had went through the counter in the last 24 hours so the fish in pools didn't seem to be going very far in the low water.

The viewing station at the salmon ladder up at the dam. There had been 297 fish through the counter so far when I visited.

Looking downstream from up at the dam.

Looking over toward the dam.

Since I had never fished the beat before I thought I'd start at the top of the beat and work my way down. The top part of the beat was called Bluestones and there had been a few fish showing in here earlier on in the day and I was looking forward to covering them from the opposite side. I changed flies over to a Sunray Shadow as I thought I could maybe provoke a fish into taking the fly in the low water conditions. I fished all the way down to the Greenbank with moving a fin which was surprising as I knew that I was covering plenty fish.

Looking upstream from the Summer Stones. 

Plenty fish showing in this area of the Greenbank but they just weren't for tempting.

 The river fished well form this bank but I just felt I covered the fish better off the opposite side at this height of water. The pool seem to be deeper over there but it was still a pleasure to fish. The Greenbank is a lovely cast with the fly but as time was running out I decided to give the last hour a cast with the spinner. I set up my spinning gear and tied on a Vision 110 but I fished the length of the pool down to the footbrige without an offer and it was then I had to call it a day. Fishing has to stop at 5pm anyway so I wasn't missing out on too much fishing time. I hadn't had an offer all day and with my very early start I was kind of glad to be heading home. Not before having a nice, cold 1/2 shandy in the bar though!

Looking downstream along the Greenbank form Port-na-Craig

Looking upstream towards the dam from the Port-na-craig.

Time for a half Shandy before hitting the road!

I really enjoyed my day on fishing the Pitlochry Angling Club water of the River Tummel. They are blessed with a fantastic stretch of water and it was be fantastic to cast a line through here when conditions are favourable. Unfortunately, as per usual, conditions were against me and I caught nothing but it was still good to fish here. The local members, Kenny and Roger were very helpful and the club should be proud to have their likes on their membership list. Hopefully I'll be back again next year to try again.

Murthly 2 - River Tay

I was invited down by ghillie, Tony Black, to fish on the famous Murthly 2 stretch of the River Tay as part of a group of like minded anglers who call ourselves the Salmon Nutters. Conditions were as close to ideal as we good have asked and there were good numbers of fish caught in the lead up to our day. Murthly is blessed with some of the best fly water on the Tay so fly fishing was first choice tactics for most. I chose to fish the pools first with the fly then again with the spinner afterwards. This is a method I often use on the Tay as I like to maximise my chances of landing a fish.

Team photo at Murthly 2.

We arrived at the beat around 8.30am and we were all treated to a sausage roll for breakfast kindly bought by Philip. This was accompanied by a good dram for some but I was happy to wash mine down with a coffee as I was driving. This was the first time most of us had met in the flesh after years of chatting on various Forums etc so it was good to finally put faces to the names and enjoy a bit of craic with, what have turned out to be good pals. After the rolls and drams it was down to business and Tony allocated us to our pools for the morning. I was to fish the upper part of the top beat under the stewardship of Tony's brother Philip. Philip is a fine angler himself and he made sure we all knew exactly where we were likely to pick up a fish.

Discussing tactics for the day ahead with Stuart, Gavin Kenny and Paul.

The top pool on the beat we were to fish was called the Tronach. This was a lovely looking pool and ideal for fly fishing. Philip started Colin in at the top with Kenny half way down the pool and myself in near the tail. The tail of the pool fished brilliantly but I didn't connect with anything so Philip suggested I headed down for a cast in the Greenbank with the spinner.

Looking up the Tronach from the seat on the South bank.

Looking downstream half way down the Tronach.

Good craic just before heading off for lunch.

The Greenbank was another nice bit of water but due to the high bank on the south side it wasn't the easiest place to fish the fly so it was to be covered with a Vision 110 to begin with. On arrival to the pool there were one or two fish showing which looked as though they were running so Philip suggested changing to a copper Salmo. I tied on the Salmo and made my first cast. I had no sooner started to wind when the line went tight and I lifted into a strong fish. First cast with the Salmo. We couldn't believe it! The fish stayed deep and pulled hard and but I managed to keep it under some sort of control. Just as I was gaining a bit of line back from the fish it somehow dropped off! I really thought I had it well hooked and there was still a good bend in the rod as I was playing it. Sadly, this tends to happen when fishing with tobys and there was nothing I would do differently if I had the time again. That's just part in parcel of fishing sometimes. Not long after I lost my fish, Philip's phone rang and it Paul, who was fishing further down stream, and he told us that he'd also just lost a fish. He was probably playing it the same time I had my fish on. I fished on down the rest of the pool but couldn't temp another springer to take the Salmo so I made my way back up to the top of the Tronach to have another run down it before lunch but unfortunately that proved fruitless as well.

Looking upstream into the Tronach from Greenbank.

Looking down the Greenbank into the Burn.

Lunchtime in the well equipped top hut at Murthly was once again provided for the lads by Philip and we munched our way through loads of sandwiches, crisps and cakes etc. Not to mention a large volume of drams as well! Paul was lucky enough to land an fresh run 10lber on a Salmo just before lunch to everyone was delighted for him. We sat and laughed our way through the lunch hour and had great time chatting about the forums and various pages we all know each other from. The company really does add to a good day's fishing and this was no exception but it was time to head back out onto the water and try again to land a mighty Tay springer.

The hut on the Top Water at Murthly 2.

After lunch I was to fish the Girnal pool along with Kenny, again with Philip as our ghillie. This was another good pool for the fly and there were also fish showing in it and they seemed to by lying in the pool which was encouraging. By this time though, are strong wind had built up which made deep wading and long casts difficult so I opted to persevere with the Toby. Kenny had an offer on the fly not long after starting which sadly didn't stick but it was a good sign that the fish were still keen. I followed him down the pool with the Salmon but neither of us could temp another fish into taking our offerings.

Kenny fishes the fly in the Girnal.

Fishing down the Girnal with a Toby Salmo.

Daffies out on the banks of the Girnal.

Stuart Norris spinning the Girnal.

After fishing the Girnal I decided to head back upstream for a crack in the pool opposite the hut. this was where Paul caught his fish in the morning and it certainly looked a great bit of water. I had first run down with the Toby before finishing off the pool with a Sunray Shadow. Neither method fooled the salmon though and it was time to call it a day and head back to the hut for a blether with the lads before heading home.

Spring has sprung on the banks of the Tay at Murthly.

Ghillie, Tony Black and Gavin Hunter doing some harling in the afternoon.

I really enjoyed my day on the Tay at Murthly. It was great to meet new pals and enjoy the banter in person just like we do when we are on line. I have met some cracking lads through various forms of social media and forum and I can honestly say I have made some good friends because of this and our passion for all things salmon fishing. I will really look forward to the next meet where ever or when ever that may be.
 In the mean time, why not check out the Facebook page  "Salmon Nutter Flies" and say hello or post a few photos of your tying. Maybe see you there?

Dalmarnock - River Tay

I had booked a day on the River Tay at Dalmarnock  earlier this week and with the amount of fish getting caught from the river just now, I was really looking forward to it. The water was sitting at 3ft 7in on the beat gauge and was clearing and dropping away nicely after a spate earlier in the week. Tactics for the day were both fly and spinner due to the size of the river and water height but I tried the fly on my first run down the pools. I had my 15ft Mackenzie Shooting Head rod set up with a 10/11 Float/Intermediate shooting head and a 10ft 2.6ips tip. Flies were anything between #7 doubles and 1" tubes. Spinners for the day would be spoons, Flying Cs and rapala type lures.

The Dalmarnock Fishing Hut.

After a two hour drive I arrived at the beat hut around 8.15am and was greeted by the beat ghillie, Colin Mcfayden. A steady trickle of rods arrived within the next half hour and after the introductions we all sat down to a cup of coffee before hitting the river just before 9am. As I had never fished the beat before, Colin took half an hour to show me the pools I'd be fishing and where best to concentrate my efforts to give me the best chance of hooking up with a fish. He suggested trying the fly first and follow on down the pools again using the spinner. As the Tay is such a large river I was happy to get his advice and I made my way down to my first pool.

Inch Stream. The pool where I started my day off.

I was drawn to fish the lower half of the beat in the morning starting in the Inch Stream first of all. The Inch Stream was a fast flowing pool at this height and Colin pointed out the hotspots which, like most pools that have overhead cables, was right below them. I decided to give a #7 Kitchen Sink first run down the pool and follow that up with a silver Toby. Neither method tempted any fish so I made my way down to the next pool.

Sowerby. A nice streamy run for fishing the fly.

The pool below Inch Stream was called Sowerby. Colin had pointed out the likely area to concentrate earlier on in the morning so I went in at the top of the pool and made sure my fly covered the lie just off a big stone which was only a few feet off the bank. I fished over the lie several times without a touch and I carried on down the pool but only with the same result. I made my way back to the neck of the pool to fish it down with the spinner but again, I couldn't temp any salmon so it was on to the next pool.

Fishing down the Rams Horn in the pouring rain.

Fishing the lie under the A9 road bridge.

Rams Horn was next up and this was a lovely pool but due to the water height Colin suggested that the spinner would be my best bet as the fish run up the far bank. I changed over to a Toby and worked it down through the pool. By this time there was a huge hatch of flies coming off and there were trout and parr bubbling the whole length of the pool, despite the heavy rain. Sadly though, there was no sign of any salmon so it was off downstream a bit further to have a run through Oak Tree.

A field of Bluebells overlooking the Oak Tree Pool.

Fishing down the Oak Tree pool.

Looking up towards the bridge from mid way down the Oak Tree Pool.

The Oak Tree pool was another nice bit of water for fly fishing so I got the fly rod out and this time thought I'd try a big Sunray Shadow just to try something different as I was the third rod to fish down the pool. I fished it all the way down without moving a fish but I did see a good fish head and tail just out from the whin bushes about two thirds the way down the pool. This gave a bit of encouragement so I fished right down the bank to cover where it showed. Unfortunately, my efforts were not rewarded so it was back to the hut to dry off and have a spot of lunch.

Lunch time was a good laugh with plenty stories exchanged of this season's catches as well as tales of fish from previous seasons. All the fellow rods were nice guys and I was made to feel very welcome by all with Colin providing coffee on demand. Being salmon anglers, we will always have something in common and it's easy to talk to like-minded people about something we are passionate about. The next topic of conversation soon turned to where to fish in the afternoon so it was time to set off to have a go at the Dalmarnock Bank Pool at the top of the beat.

First run down the Dalmarnock Bank Pool with the fly.

Looking downstream near the tail of the Dalmarnock Bank Pool.

I was to start at the neck of the pool and the two other rods were spaced out below me. As the pool is very wide and very long, there was more than enough room for us all. Again, I opted to fish down the pool with the fly first of all and then follow on down with the spinner. It took me well over an hour to fish down the pool with the fly but sadly, I couldn't find a salmon willing to take my offerings so it was back up to the neck of the pool for a go with the spinner.

Fishing the Blair Spoon in the Dalmarnock Bank Pool.

Looking upstream in the Dalmarnock Bank Pool.

I lost my fish just out from the point of the submerged croy (mid picture) after having it on for several minutes.

Colin had suggested a black Flying C would be ideal in these conditions so I took his advice and rigged one up. I made my way down the pool but I got snagged on a big rock up near the neck of the pool. I just couldn't free it and my line eventually snapped. I tackled up again but this time decided to put on a Blair Spoon. I was given this spoon several years ago by a polish gentleman who was fishing the River Don whilst on holiday in Scotland. It is great for high, fast flowing water and I have had a good few fish using it in such conditions so I thought it would be ideal for today. I cast as far as I could and fished it round like a minnow with my rod held high and letting the spoon work in the current. I got about half way down the pool and made a long cast across the stream, wound in the slack line and held the rod high as per usual. No sooner had my spoon started to flutter in the current, it was hammered by a good, solid fish! It pulled quite hard initially but then it decided to cross the river from the far bank right over to opposite where I was standing to just above a submerged croy. All the while, I had the fish in control and thought surely it couldn't come off now. I shouted for help and John who was fishing above me ran to get my net which was up near the car park at the top of the pool. John was just making his way down the bank when the fish decided to thrash about on the surface and do a few acrobatic jumps. In doing so, it somehow manged to spit out my spinner and it was off! I couldn't believe my luck as I thought it was nearly ready to be landed but it seems the fish had other ideas. I had it on for a good few minutes and had done the hard work in playing it but it obviously didn't want to get it's photo taken and have it posted all over this blog! It was a bar of silver and probably in the region of 8-10lbs and it looked fresh as paint. That's now five fish in a row that I have lost recently and I am really cursing my luck at the moment. Hopefully it will change soon and as long as my fly or spinner is in the water, I'm sure I get my season up and running sooner rather than later. I fished down the rest of the pool and from top to bottom again without another offer and decided to call it a day around 7pm.

I really enjoyed my trip down to fish the "Mighty Tay" again. The river sure lives up to it's name as the sheer size and volume of water than flows down her is incredible. I seems I was fortunate to hook a Tay salmon yesterday as none of the other rods had an offer all day but it's just a pity it came off. Colin the ghillie was really helpful and his advice was greatly received and proved invaluable given the size of the pools in which you are fishing. Pointing out lies and hotspots maximises his angler's chances as getting fishing in the book because at the end of the day, that is what we are all there to try and do. Maybe next time I'll get one on the bank. I now have a score to settle with Dalmarnock and I will return to try and even this up with Salmo Salar in the near future.

http://www.tayfishingscotland.co.uk/