Salmon Fishing Scotland Salmon and Dolphins.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Salmon and Dolphins.
This was an article in the Daily Telegraph last year but is another concern for the Salmon fishing Tourist business.
Dolphins outsmart salmon in Scotland
By Paul Eccleston
Fishermen stump up small fortunes for the chance to fish Scottish waters for the king of fish - the wild Atlantic salmon. But for local residents the fishing is free.
A pod of bottlenose dolphins were pictured ambushing the salmon last week as they neared the end of their long journey from their feeding grounds off Greenland to spawn.

A dolphin catches one of the unlucky salmon
The 15-strong pod waited patiently in the waters of the Moray Firth off Chanonry Point near Inverness for the salmon to appear before launching their attack.
The salmon (Salmo salar) returning to the North Sea from the Atlantic hug the shore for safety and then as the tide turns use its force to carry them towards the rivers.
The dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), well known for their intelligence, patrol the migration routes knowing the salmon is genetically programmed to return to the river where it was born to spawn.
Photographer Richard Austin said: " They weren't doing much at first just slowly breaking the surface to take in some air before diving again.
The salmon were occasionally leaping out of the water and then suddenly there was an almighty surge of speed from one of the dolphins as he caught a salmon just 20 feet from the shoreline."
Richard's dramatic pictures show the speed and strength of the dolphins, which can grow to 14-feet long, as they homed in on their prey.
The salmon, shimmering aquamarine-blue as they streaked through the water, were nevertheless no match for the dolphins.
The torpedo-shaped dolphins powered through the waters during the hunt with jaws gaping. The panicking salmon threw themselves out of the water in a desperate attempt to avoid the voracious predators.
Powerful salmon of 10-15lbs that would have cost £30 per steak in a top London restaurant were swallowed live and whole in a single gulp.
And when finally sated the dolphins, sporting their trademark smiles, or was it a self-satisfied smirk, cavorted for the camera.
"It was almost as if they'd had a bellyfull of the best wild Scots salmon and it was time to give their waiting public a bit of a show," said Richard.
"And what a show it was. Over two days in completely different weather conditions and in changing light between beautiful sunshine and dull overcast showery rain I managed to capture them hunting and playing. It was absolutely magical"
Scottish fishermen blame seals for taking too many salmon but our pictures point the finger at another suspect.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Seals in the Tay Estuary.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Seals in the Tay Estuary.

What a lovely aerial picture of the Tay Estuary.

What are these black specks in the picture?

Oh no this is a colony of seals that the tay salmon have to run past.

This is not the picture you want to see as a salmon fisher on the Tay but i guess this is mirrored all over Scotland.

Salmon fishing brings in millions of pounds to the Scottish Economy.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay Western Catchment Project.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay Western Catchment Project.
Tay Western Catchments Project

What is the project?
A large scale catchment management initiative covering over 1000 miles of rivers and watercourses in the western catchments of the Tay river system, centred on Glen Lochay, Glen Lyon and the Dochart/ Fillan/ Cononish system. Managed by Scottish Native Woods in Aberfeldy, Highland Perthshire.

Scottish Native Woods are working in partnership with, among others, the local angling community, local landowners and the Tay Gillies Association.

Over the course of the winter, we have had useful feedback from Forestry Commission Scotland, SEPA, SNH, Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park Authority, Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board and others, including a number of interested individuals.

We have yet to complete our fundraising efforts. With your help we hope to have the full £72,000 in place to complete the survey part of the project this summer.
For more information on this project click here.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008.

Video of the Horsey pool and the Skellies looking down to Benchil and Thistle Bridge just below Stanley, Perthshire, Scotland.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008 Boat Painting.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008 Boat Painting.

These are the Ghillies at Stanley, Perthshire, Scotland putting the final touches to their boats in preparation for the Summer and Autumn fishing which starts in July.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008.

This is the Gean Tree pool on the Catholes beat of the Tay at Stanley, Perthshire, Scotland where John Lessels from Leven in Fife caught two cracking fresh salmon spinning a Flying C. The fish weighed 13 and 14 pounds.
That is a good day by any body's standard. Well done John.

Salmon Fishing Scotland 2008 Tay News.

Salmon Fishing Scotland 2008 Tay News.
Salmon have it large in the Tay.
Ghillie Ernie Duff returning a salmon to the river
A 27lb salmon was one of those released back into the river

Anglers on the Tay are enjoying the best season for large salmon in more than 20 years.
In the first four months of the season, more than 225 fish weighing between 16lb and 33lb were reeled in - about 25% of the total catch.
In recent years, just 5% of the spring haul has been that heavy.
About 90% of this year's catches have been released back into the water, in line with the Tay Board's new conservation policy.
The fish landed have included six weighing more than 30lb and a further 11 at more than 25lb.

The Tay was traditionally known as a heavy salmon river, with a strong run of fish which had spent three winters at sea before returning to freshwater.
However, over the last two decades smaller salmon - generally in the 7lb to 10lb class - have dominated the river's spring runs. These fish have spent two winters at sea, and therefore gained less weight.
John Milligan, chairman of the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board, said: "It is most heartening to see fish of this calibre coming back to the Tay in good numbers, giving so many anglers the opportunity to catch what is very much the 'fish of a lifetime'.
It would seem that many of the young Tay salmon that went to sea in 2005 have spent an additional year in the north Atlantic
Dr David Summers Tay Board director
"These salmon are in really superb condition - as good as one could ever expect, very deep as well as long.

"It is also particularly encouraging that most anglers have whole-heartedly embraced the Tay Board's new conservation recommendations by practising catch and release, thus allowing fish to continue on their upstream migration to spawn."
Fishery managers have no simple explanation for this year's resurgence of big Tay salmon.
Tay Board director Dr David Summers said: "It is very much conjecture but it would seem that many of the young Tay salmon that went to sea in 2005 have spent an additional year in the north Atlantic.
"It is possible that this has been triggered by a scarcity of prey species in the ocean feeding grounds during 2005 and 2006.
"Indeed this theory ties in with the fact that the fish that actually returned to the Tay in 2006 after one winter at sea were often under-nourished and in poor condition."

Salmon Fishing Scotland Festival of the river Tay at Stanley Mills Perthshire Scotland.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Festival of the river Tay at Stanley Mills Perthshire Scotland.
Superb day at Stanley Mills, Perthshire, Scotland.

This is a model of a Tay Salmon the Stanley Girl Guides and Brownies were working on at the festival. Well done girls it was very good.
This was Fly fishing at the Stanley Mills open day festival of the river Tay at Stanley, Perthshire, Scotland. I was teaching some of the youngsters to cast a fly as part of the day. This was Alan and Ian Merchant from Stanley having a go and they are budding fly fishers.

This is the p5's doing their unique Stanley Country dance which won a prize in a recent competition.


Finally a view of all the crowd of people attending. This event was well attended by locals a from afar. We look forward to next year.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008 Fly Fishing.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008 Fly Fishing.
Day away fly fishing at the Newtyle beat of the Tay.

I enjoyed a good day Fly Fishing on the Newtyle beat of the Tay at Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland on Friday even although i did not catch a Salmon.

The pools were in great order and it was a joy to cast a fly over them.

Jock Menteith is a great host and is a true ambassador for the river Tay.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008.
Pitlochry Dam on the river Tummel.

This is the Pitlochry town stretch of the river Tummel at Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland where Geordie and I had a day away from the Stanley beats on the lower Tay.
Unfortunately there was nothing doing with few fish showing in the low water. However on a positive note there was several fish running the dam and the counter now stands at 800.

This was a salmon caught on the other bank by Belgian visitors. The salmon was caught fly fishing and was returned to the river.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Salmon Flies.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Salmon Flies.
This is the start of a new range of top quality Salmon flies which are now available through the Salmon fly shop. Click here for details.

Fly Size details click here.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May 2008.
Fly Fishing on the Tummel at East Haugh.

This the East Haugh beat of the river Tummel in Perthshire, Scotland where Cohn and myself went for a day away from Stanley.

We spent the day fly fishing but alas there was nothing co-operating.

The East Haugh beat offers good fly fishing with some lovely pools to fish. Maybe the next time!

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay Ghillies meet Orri Vigfusson.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay Ghillies meet Orri Vigfusson.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tweed Angling Fair 2008.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tweed Angling Fair 2008.
The Tweed Angling Fair has been running now for 3 years and has become a very prestigious event in the Angling calender. It is well run and is a must for enthusiastic game fishers.

This was the final of the Roxburghe Spey Casting Championships with a first prize of £1000. Unfortunately the casting conditions were not good due to the bad upstream wind but there was still some long casts with the Scots and the Norwegians doing battle for the longest cast.

Orri Vigfusson from Iceland gave a talk in the Indoor hall about the on going battle to keep Atlantic Salmon to the fore on the world stage and help conserve our stocks.

There were numerous casting demonstrations from casting experts from all over the world. These included Way Yin from America, Klaus Frimor from Scandinavia, Hywel Morgan from Wales and of course our own talents such as Andy Murray, Scott MacKenzie and Eoin Fairgrieve to name but a few.