River Tay Salmon fishing report for the third week in August 2010.
After 245 salmon being reported last week, this week was more encouraging with 326 salmon, which was the best week for the river of the season. A good few other salmon and sea trout were caught as well this week but not registered.
The river was settled on Monday giving the river a good start to the week. However there was rain during the week unsettling the river on a couple of days and the pressure dropped making life difficult otherwise the catch could have been much better.
This week the lower river, despite the salmon running hard up the river dominated the catches yet again. There were far more grilse caught as well, which was encouraging. The grilse run has been an improvement on last year and hopefully there will be more to come, as we approach September. Also with autumn now fast approaching some larger salmon will start to appear. It is absolutely imperative we continue to adhere to our catch and release policy to return as many salmon as possible to preserve what we have for the future. Thank you all for making this possible so far.
The lower river produced 243 out of the 326 salmon caught. All the lower beats caught as the salmon ran up the river with favourable river levels. The salmon seem to be continuing to run hard through the lower stretches with more showing now as they start to slow down and catches are improving. All the lower beats had good returns for the past week with Almondmouth topping the list with 58. The largest salmon fell to Cargil with a 20 pounder but larger salmon were at a premium as the catches were dominated by good quality grilse. The Stormont Angling stretch at Perth also caught a few fish this week, which are not recorded and mostly caught fly fishing.
A lovely fresh grilse from the Skellies on the Benchil beat at Stanley.
The middle Tay caught 36 salmon for the week but this is missing catches from the Murthly area, which would add at least another 20 or so. All the beats in this area of the river have been catching.
The Isla caught 23 for the week all reported from Coupar Grange. Quite a few others are being caught on the Isla and not reported.
The Upper River and Loch reported 23; there is room for improvement with the increase in river levels, which may come this week allowing salmon and grilse to run upstream. There are now over 3600 salmon through the Pitlochry fish ladder which is on a par with the 5 year average.
Virginia Fraser with her first ever salmon. It was a sea liced 5 pound grilse caught on a monkey fly on Findynate.
The Earn reported 1 salmon from the Lower Aberuthven stretch.
Many thanks for all the pictures and information everyone sent me in the past (ghillies and anglers) and also to all who have sent me their individual fishing experiences. I would be most grateful if you continue to send me information by emailing me at stanley.fishing@ukonline.co.uk to be included in this report.
Prospects for the coming week.
As of Monday the river will be settled and back down to summer level, a run of summer salmon and grilse is in progress. There is the prospect of rain this week, which should make this continue and encourage them to run up river. There is rain forecast for Monday and also for the middle of the week but hopefully this will not deter sport on the river by creating unsettled conditions. Higher pressure is expected by the end of the week giving better conditions.
The water temperature remains at 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 degrees Celsius. There is good availability throughout the river so why not have a go.
As to methods, spinning and fly fishing from the bank should enable you to catch the elusive Tay summer salmon and grilse. I would suggest using sink tips on the Tay for fly fishing, as it is a fast flowing river and this would stop the fly skating on the surface. When spinning at this time of year a Toby or Flying C spun quickly can do the trick. Cast slightly upstream then wind like mad. Harling is also a favoured method at this time of year if there is enough water.
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 hen salmon, male salmon over 10 pounds and all sea trout to conserve stocks for the future . i.e. the Tay has adopted a policy of 100% catch and release for hen salmon and sea trout. Please help preserve both them and the long-term future of your sport by following the recommendations.
A fly caught grilse from the Pitlochrie beat at Stanley.
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.
Tight lines.
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