Weekly Report for week ending 23rd January 2010.
After all the excitement of the opening day ceremonies it was down to the real act of fishing and the first whole week of the season. I am pleased to say the river got off to a flying start with some good spring salmon landed and there was a great feeling of expectation.
The dirty water last weekend cleared making good conditions for the week, which resulted in success for some of the lower Tay beats as well as some higher beats. Very cold water meant ideal conditions for the lower river, which has not happened for many years. The river temperature was 36F or 2C which meant fishing methods of spinning and fly fishing were slow and deep.
18 salmon were reported last week with the best salmon of 22 pounds being landed by Colin Sommerville at Findynate on Monday whilst spinning.
Keith Greenwell with a cracking 12 pounds springer caught on the Linn Pool just above Stanley, Perthshire, Scotland.
Richard Greenwell also had a lovely 20 pounds Tay springer from the Stobhall beat just above Stanley fishing on the Linn Pool caught on a Devon. On Saturday there was another 20 pounds fresh spring salmon caught on Stobhall.
A few other spring salmon were caught around Stanley on the lower Tay with Bridge of Allan angler Alan McCaig catching 2 fresh springers in under half an hour from the Aitken Head pool on the Benchil beat on the Upper Scone Fishings.
Scottish ghillie George McInnes celebrated his 70th Birthday by helping Ian Tait land a lovely12 pound springer at Ballathie.
Newtyle was successful as well on the middle river with 4 salmon during the week including a 16 pound salmon on Saturday. Unfortunately the lower river was virtually unfishable on Friday and Saturday with very dirty water from rain on Thursday night, although we did give it a go on Saturday. This should clear out for Monday and make the prospects good for next week.
If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on stanley.fishing@ukonline.co.uk to be included in this report.
Prospects for the week commencing 25th January 2010.
The river is flowing at a good height and slightly coloured on the lower river from the Isla downstream due to rain and a slight thaw. The colour should disappear with colder weather but conditions above the Islamouth mouth should be good.
The weather is to be more settled at the start of the week through to Wednesday with a high pressure.
Hopefully the water colour will improve as the week progresses to allow some sport on all beats.
The water temperature is 36 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius meaning you have certainly to spin or fish a fly slow and deep.
With very cold water recently it is likely that most springers will have been bottled up in the lower river. However, this rise in water should encourage them to move, but with water temperatures still low they might not run that far, i.e. race through to Loch Tay. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the lower and middle river. There will no doubt be quite a few kelts about on many beats and possibly some later run fish which have yet to spawn. Hopefully the return to higher water conditions will see the spawning season wind up quickly, but if you find such fish, please avoid gravelly areas where they might be spawning.
The river is running at a good height and cold meaning the salmon will be running slowly and favour the lower Tay beats conditions permitting.
There is good availability throughout the river so why not have a go.
As to methods, once the river settles fishing by any method will have to be slow and deep with large lures to catch the elusive Tay Springer. Harling is also a favoured method at this time of year but be warned wrap up well or it will not be a pleasant experience.
Finally all anglers are reminded that the Tay's policy for Catch and Release in 2010 is that we now recommend every angler should release all spring salmon to conserve stocks for the future . i.e. the Tay has adopted a policy of 100% catch and release for spring salmon. Spring salmon are a scarce and precious resource. Please help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations.
If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on stanley.fishing@ukonline.co.uk
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1 comment:
first class pics, always good to look into the blog.all the best for the season.
alan wales
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