Weekly Report for week ending 6th February 2010.
The first week of February on the Tay was a bit disappointing after last week’s 29 spring salmon. This week 18 salmon were recorded from all over the district.
The river was running at about 3 foot on Monday on the lower Tay and gradually dropped away as the week went on with good conditions for spring fishing and it remained cold. There was rain on Friday and a rise in temperature prompting a slight thaw. On Saturday the river had risen 2 feet and was slightly coloured but still fishable.
The river temperature remained at 36F or 2C for the week, which should be good for the coming week especially for the lower Tay.
This week the catches were more evenly distributed between the lower and middle river and 2 spring salmon came from the upper river. The milder weather in the previous week enabled some salmon to progress upstream.
The lower river did not produce as many as the previous week, which meant the run had weakened. Waulkmill and Lower Redgorton caught a Springer each on the Tuesday plus Ghillie Stuart Lean lost another good one on the same day after playing it for 20 minutes. Taymount had 2 for the week with Robin Whiteford catching both of them.
Catholes at Stanley, Perthshire, Scotland caught 3 salmon on Tuesday with Alex Graham landing 2 in under an hour on a flying C from the boat in the Black Stones weighing 10 and 11 pounds.
The middle Tay produced 8 salmon with Newtyle continuing to catch lovely spring salmon.
Notably was the 30 pounds sea liced Springer caught by Craig Binnie on a Toby Salmo from the bank. Beat owner Ian Massie caught another good salmon at Kercock; it weighed in at 18 pounds. Kercock accounted for 3 springers last week. A special mention should go to Perth & District AC member Ian Johnston of Stanley who caught his first ever Spring Salmon fly fishing on the Kercock beat last week from the bank, it weighed 8 pounds. Coupar Grange and Dunkeld House caught their first salmon of the season last week as well.
The upper Tay produced 2 salmon. 1 came from the Loch at the Killin based Falls of Dochart.
Pitlochry Angling club got off the mark as well with a 16 pounds salmon caught by Russell Boyd from the lower Tummel fly fishing.
Many thanks for all the pictures everyone sent me of opening week spring salmon and thanks to all who have sent me their individual fishing experiences over the last season on the river. I would be most grateful if you to do the same this season by emailing stanley.fishing@ukonline.co.uk to be included in this report.
Prospects for the week for week commencing 8th February 2010.
As of Monday the river is settled and running at a good height.
The weather is to be more settled this coming week with a high pressure and colder from Tuesday. There may even be more snow.
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, the rise in water and milder weather last week 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 should favour the lower Tay beats.
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 to be included in this report.
Fishing Salmon River, Salmon River, Fishing for Salmon, salmon Fishing Alaska, Fishing Alaska, Fly Fishing Salmon, Fly Fishing, Salmon Fishing Report, Trout Fishing, King Salmon Fishing, Salmon Fishing Forum, Salmon Fishing Scotland, Salmon Fishing Holidays Scotland, River Tay Scotland, Scottish Salmon, Salmon Rivers Scotland, Fishing Tackle Scotland, Salmon Fishing Flies, Fly Fishing Flies.
No comments:
Post a Comment