travelly: The Salmon Fishing Forum

I had my first salmon fishing outing of the 2016 season last Saturday on the Lower Kinnaird beat of the Mighty River Tay. January fishing is not for the faint hearted and the cold temperatures only attract the hardiest of anglers who are eager to blast of the cobwebs of the long close season. The chances of landing the coveted prize of a January springer are slim at best but it's the feeling of being out on the river again clinging onto that slimmest of chances than keep us coming back.

Tackling up after a wee Sloe gin to warm us up for the morning's fishing.

With the alarm sounding at 4.45am I was up and raring to go in anticipation of the first cast of 2016. My pal Bill and I traveled down together and we were to meet fellow Salmon Proboard Forum members, Kenny, Alan, Andy and Craig at the Ballinluig services just a 5 minute drive from the beat. After a good catch up over a bacon roll it was off down the beat.

Gearing up in freezing cold temperatures.

The water was sitting at around 3ft on the gauge but was running clear and was looking in great shape. Martin, the head ghillie paired us up and I was was to fish with Kenny where we were to start off in the Ash Tree pool then the Guay Pool after lunch. We headed off to the river and on arrival to the Ash Tree pool I realised just what a fine part of the Tay this was. It looked like fantastic fly water at this height and Martin assured us that it is even better with a couple of feet less on it.

Looking upstream from the banks of the Ash Tree pool to the snow covered hills beside Pitlochry.

Kenny and I fished down the Ash Tree pool having to contend with the rod rings freezing with every cast as well as ice freezing the reel solid. Despite this I did see a fish head and tail near the bottom part of the pool and not long after Kenny hooked into a fish. After a spirited fight in the faster water Martin tail out a well mended kelt which would have been a very good fish when fresh. this was to be the only action from either of us during the morning session and we headed off back to the hut around 1pm.

Kenny into a kelt in the Ash Tree pool.

Martin unhooks the fish in the water and it was released quickly without harm.

During the build up to our trip to Lower Kinnaird there had been numerous messages exchanged and lunch was high on the agenda. Kenny was bringing some famous steak pies from a baker he knew so I offered to bring the beans! It was all good craic and I think the lunch was built up more than the fishing. We sat down to a very welcome hot lunch in the well equipped hut and Kenny's pies, just like he said they would, went down a treat. There had been a few kelts caught during the morning with nothing fresh seen but at this time of year it's just a matter of searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. If the fly or lure is not in the water then you haven't got a chance so we were keen to get going again.

Tucking into pies and beans at lunch time.

After lunch Kenny and I were to fish another fantastic looking pool, Guay. This was more of the same in terms of fly water and looked every bit as fishy as Ash tree did. Kenny and I took turns in following each other down the pool and apart from a half hearted pull on my Black and Yellow tube around 3.30pm there was nothing to report so called it a day just after 4pm as the temperature and snow started falling rapidly.

Looking upstream in the Guay Pool.

Looking downstream in the same pool as above.

Back at the hut there was nothing else to report from anyone in our party as the freezing temperatures mus have put the fish off the take. We enjoyed a good laugh over a hot cup of coffee before saying our goodbyes and heading our separate ways again.

I always enjoy these Forum meets in January. It's a great way to get everyone together again after the long close season and with the home brewed Sloe and Damson gins ready for sampling too then it's well worth the effort. We all keep in contact through out the year and banter is always good but nothing beats meeting up in person to have a cast on some of the nicest rivers in Scotland. Looking forward to our next trip to Castle Forbes on the River Don in April. I stupidly dropped my camera in the river just before I finished up for the day so I'd just like to thank Alan, Kenny, Craig and Bill for kindly sending me and allowing me to use their photographs as somehow the memory card in my drowned camera was blank! Thank you gents, much appreciated.

For more information on fishing the River Tay at Lower Kinnaird have a look at the their website by clinking on the link.

During the close season, along with friend and fellow River Don angler, Bill Cook, we decided to host a couple of days fishing on the Don for members of The Salmon Fishing Forum. Since the Don is local to both of us, we thought it would be a good to show just why we enjoy fishing there so much and also to let others see what it was like.

The water on the Don has been very low for the last few weeks and we really needed some rain to get the levels up to encourage fish to move upstream. The week before we were due to fish rain had been forecast but it never materialised and we were left with the prospect of the river being very low with little chance of anything other than trout to catch. Or so we thought.

BREDA

On Friday I met up with Bill, Kenny and Brian as we had booked a day fishing on the Breda beat near Alford prior to the main meet at Castle Forbes on the Saturday. Breda can be really productive given good levels of water but when we arrived, the river level was sitting around 4 inches at most. Not ideal for salmon fishing so we spent most of the morning sipping whiskey and chatting about all things fishing! We did have a token effort for salmon before lunch but it was clear it was going to be tough to find a pool that would hold any salmon at this height of water so in the afternoon we decided to target really what the Don is famous for, the wild brown trout.

Apart from a few small trout between 8-10oz no bigger fish were landed until expert trout fisher, Brian spotted a group of larger specimen fish readily taking flies off the surface. he made a few casts with an emerger type dry fly and was soon bent into one of the fish. At first he thought it was just an average sized trout but several seconds after hooking it, the fish woke up and tore off downstream taking Brian right into the backing! The fish left the pool and down the weir into the pool below. Whilst leaving the pool, Brian's line became snagged on a rock so he and Bill waded out to try and free it. The fish was still on and soon the line was free. No longer was the line free when the fish parted company with the fly and was lost. Bill had seen the fish going over the falls and estimated it around the 4lb mark. Fish like this are what the Don is famed for. It was not to be on this occasion for Brian but hopefully something he will remember about his trip to Breda and the River Don.

We didn't really fish much after that so we headed off to the hotel for a few beers and some supper, raring to go for Castle Forbes the following day.

Here a few pictures from Breda on Friday.

Fishing down Smith's Brae. As you can from the picture, the water is very low.

Kenny Carr having a cast in The Rock before lunch.

Looking upstream in Beech Avenue.

A wee 10oz Brown Trout from Ghillie's Run which took a #14 Klinkhammer.

Looking downstream from the bench in Laird's Pool.

CASTLE FORBES

Yesterday was the main day for our River Don meet with Mel, Brian, Alan and Andy joining Bill, Kenny, Brian and myself to fish the Castle Forbes Water. Heavy overnight rain lifted the river an inch or two and added a bit of colour to the flow as well. Levels were sitting around 5in on the gauge but was to rise slowly and colour up all day.

We all met at the estate office around 8.30am. It was good to finally put faces to some of the names. Two lads had to call of late due to work commitments so we would have 4 rods above Keig Bridge and 4 below. We all had a good natter for a while then it was down to business. I was allocated the top half of the beat in the morning along with Kenny, Andy and Brian. After a wee dram in the car park we headed off to our allocated pools. I tackle up with my 13ft Hardy Uniqua, floating line and due to the coloured water, my fly of choice was a #8 Kinermony Killer.

I was to start in No Name Pool and work my way downstream taking in Upper and Lower Auchreddachie, Peir, and Phillips. I fished No Name Pool without a touch and headed off down to Upper Auchreddachie. Just as I got to the bend, I was taking a photo when I had a thumping take on my fly. Unfortunately, the photo was taken just a split second before the fish broke the surface. After a very dogged fight, Brian expertly tailed the fish for me which we estimated to be around 8lbs. I fished the rest of the morning without another offer but I was delighted to get a fish. As we made our way back to the estate office for lunch, it was pleasing to hear that Bill had landed a nice fish also around the 8lb mark. 2 fish for the morning was a great result considering the water conditions.

After lunch we were to fish the lower beats. This consisted of pools such as Dam, Craig Pot, Nursery, the 3 Deepstane pools and Upper and Lower Rake. I started in the Nursery Pool which was a lovely looking pool. Just about 3pm, Bill gave out a shout to signal he was into a fish down in Middle Deepstane. As I was on the opposite bank, I couldn't help him but made my down just to get a few pictures of the action. Brian had also heard Bill's shout and made his way down too. Fortunately, he was on Bill's bank and arrived just in time to tail a cracking fish of around 12lbs for him. Our total for the day was now 3 fish which was a great achievement in the low, dirty water. By about 4pm the wind picked up and the fog was rolling in from the hills which made it quite cold so we decided to call it a day and headed back to car park to talk over the weekend.

The feedback for the guys who attended the meet was all good. Those who had not fished the Don before were very impressed with what it had to offer, not only for salmon but the wild brown trout too. I also really enjoyed myself and to get a fish was a very welcome bonus. It has been one of the most successful forum meets in regards to fish caught and to achieve that on a low river which coloured up and rose all day was all the more pleasing. I wonder how we would have faired with 1ft on the gauge and dropping after a rise? Who knows. During this weekend, I have met some great, like minded people and look forward to meeting them all again at the next outing. Tight Lines.

Here are some pictures from our day at Castle Forbes.